<p>We always assumed our son would attend a UC, but things are going from bad to worse with the budget and we have seen a measurable deterioration in the educational experience on UC campuses. His SAT & AP grades were excellent, but he has done less well (B's) in coursework. That pretty much rules out USC or other "top tier" private schools. In a search on College Board we came across Reed and Willamette in Oregon. They are small, but that might suit his quiet personality and may help in adjust to life on his own. Any other suggestions for moderately selective private schools on the west coast?</p>
<p>Evergreen? Whitman? Not sure if they would be match or reach with his GPA, but a lot depends on the trend. Schools recognize that many kids (especially boys) get off to a slow start in freshman year, so as long as the trend is upward, that will be taken into consideration.</p>
<p>About 90% of Reed and Whitman students had GPAs of 3.5 or higher in HS. The 75%ile SATs are 1410 for Whitman and 1470 for Reed (M+CR). Willamette is somewhat less selective than Reed or Whitman. However, admissions is “holistic” at most private LACs, so there is no hard cut-off for GPA or scores.</p>
<p>Average test scores at Reed and USC are about the same.</p>
<p>Maybe Lewis & Clark?</p>
<p>Occidental?</p>
<p>Reed is far more selective than Willamette, and while the two attract somewhat similar students, it emphasizes fit more. Whitman would also be a stretch.</p>
<p>I would suggest looking through this thread:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/907349-western-schools-3-0-3-3-kid.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/907349-western-schools-3-0-3-3-kid.html</a></p>
<p>If you can get into Reed, you can get into USC. Great, great school; but I’d cross it off my list if I were afraid of USC. -.-</p>
<p>
I’m just curious what first hand knowledge you have of this?</p>
<p>^Online classes that will cost the same price as ordinary classes at UCLA. Yay!!!</p>
<p>Colorado College?</p>
<p>To Erin’s Dad – You may have read some of my posts where I’ve been sour grapes about the UC System. I don’t mean to offend anyone, but I just have not been all that impressed with my experience. The class sizes are massive, and many professors seem to think of teaching as an inconvenient necessity for their job. Not all, but many.</p>
<p>If I could do it all over again, I would apply to Cal Poly (for engineering). It’s smaller, cheaper, and the education is much more practical than the UC’s. For B students, San Jose State is a close second. Also, if money is not an issue, Santa Clara University is a small school with smaller class sizes.</p>
<p>Thank you for all of the good suggestions.</p>
<p>With regard to admissions, according to the US News & WR web site USC accepts 24% of applicants and Reed accepts 40%.</p>
<p>The LA Times has documented the effects of the CA budget crisis on our state’s educational system. Each campus was handed a number, in the millions, that they must cut from their budgets. President Yudof has graphically characterized the cuts as hitting “bone” and “sinew”. My neighbor’s daughter, a Sophomore at Cal, had to take summer school courses at the local community college after her first year because she couldn’t get in to the classes she needed at Cal.</p>
<p>Teenmom, I think you’re smart to be, at the least, wary of the UCs. The situation is still not settled, but already there have been massive tuition increases, at the same time that course offerings are being cut and class sizes are being increased. More OOS are being sought, which cuts the number of slots for in-state students. The CSU system is now looking at a big tuition hike as well. Even the community colleges will be turning away hundreds of thousands of students. Higher education in this state is a mess, and will be for the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>For your son, check out this website of LACs. There are some really great under-the-radar schools on this list. Under the tab “School Profiles”, you can select by region. [Colleges</a> That Change Lives](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/]Colleges”>http://www.ctcl.org/)</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad, my D has a number of HS friends in the UC system. All of them are having some degree of difficulty in getting their first-choice general ed classes, and I’ve heard complaints about the furlough days as well. I’m grateful that my D is at an LAC, where the student:teacher ration is 12:1, where the largest lecture hall has 80 seats, where classes are taught by professors, and where there is virtually no chance of her ever being closed out of any class.</p>
<p>I agree with the poster who said that if you can get into Reed you probably can get into USC. In fact, a kid at my boys’ school was accepted at USC and rejected at Reed. The fact that USC has a lower admission percentage doesn’t say much to me, other than the fact that Reed’s applicant pool might be more self-selective, and that USC, by virtue of its incredible name recognition, might get a ton of relatively unqualified applicants (in addition to the many well qualified ones).</p>
<p>OTOH, I’ve read that Reed is not adverse to looking closely at really smart students with very high test scores but who for various reasons underperformed in high school. So Reed might be worth a try.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/687793-selectivity-ranking-national-us-lacs-combined-usnews-method.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/687793-selectivity-ranking-national-us-lacs-combined-usnews-method.html</a></p>
<p>I agree with sunmachine that Reed is likely to get a much more “self selecting” applicant pool than USC. It is not as well known as USC; lacks the fun and sun, frats and football draw; and has a reputation for being academically intense.</p>
<p>Princeton Rev rates USC and UCLA a 98 for selectivity, Reed a 97, Whitman and Colorado College a 95, Willamette and Lewis & Clark a 93.</p>
<p>Teenmom, would you care to post your son’s class rank and scores? If you don’t have his rank, the GPA is the next best thing (bearing in mind that the trend and course rigor may be as important as the number).</p>
<p>How about University of Puget Sound in Tacoma?</p>
<p>I feel I must have read a little something about every liberal arts college in the country when I was starting research for my D (who has now taken ownership of her own list, but I got her started). I found the Fiske Guide to be most helpful, but Princeton guide is also good. Seems there are a lot of “University of Somethings” on the West Coast that are moderately selective. University of Puget Sound was one that seemed interesting. (In addition to others mentioned above.)</p>
<p>Also Seattle University.</p>
<p>There has been some discussion on this site in the Whitman and University of Puget Sound forums about students at both schools having trouble getting the classes they need. This is something you will want to look into. If true, it may neutralize one of the disadvantages of the UC system.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that most discussions about not getting classes at liberal arts colleges usually end with some form of success. When students can’t get the classes they want at LACs (and this is a problem initially at MOST of them) the student can petition the professor. This often works. Also, if enough students want a class it’s not uncommon for the schools to add another one in the schedule. These are not options at the UCs. The LACs are very protective of their graduation rates. I’ve never heard of a student at Whitman having to take longer than the 4 years to graduate because of not getting classes.</p>
<p>I second what Kolijma posted. My son, a freshman at Whitman, found that the Calculus II classes were all full when he registered for this spring semester. Several other students also needed Calculus II, so the school added another section to accommodate them all.</p>