Help me make a list for 3.5 GPA junior who wants big school sports but I want academic support

Applying to College
101

Thanks - if you are good at college geography and are willing - please send me some ideas for stopping - I have been to Allentown - he will hate it…

102

These schools all have an A or A+ for Athletics from Niche and are definitely in northern states:

  • Kansas State: About 15k undergrads, 20% Pell, 79% white, 20 Bachelor’s in history, 5 Master’s, and 0 PhDs. A in athletics from Niche (#64 of 1344).

  • Quinnipiac (CT): About 6100 undergrads, 15% Pell, 74% white, 14 Bachelor’s in history. A in athletics from Niche (#103 of 1344).

  • South Dakota State: About 9900 undergrads, 21% Pell, 86% white, 29 Bachelor’s in history. From Niche, an A+ for academics (#36 of 1344).

  • North Dakota State: About 10k undergrads, 20% Pell, 86% white, 8 Bachelor’s, 3 Master’s, and 1 PhD in history and 1 Bachelor’s in Public/Applied history. From Niche: A+ in athletics (#25 of 1344)

  • U. of Louisville (KY): About 16k undergrads, 33% Pell, 64% white, 26 Bachelor’s in history & 2 Master’s. A+ in athletics from Niche (#28 of 1344).

  • U. of Minnesota – Duluth: About 8800 undergrads, 21% Pell, 74% white, 20 Bachelor’s in history. A in athletics from Niche (#83 of 1344).

  • U. of Montana: About 7200 undergrads, 31% Pell grants, 74% white, 28 Bachelor’s in history, 6 Master’s, 0 PhDs. A in Athletics from Niche (#71 of 1344).

  • U. of North Dakota: About 9900 undergrads, 16% Pell, 77% white, 7 Bachelor’s in history, 1 Master’s, and 0 PhDs. A+ in Athletics from Niche (#40 of 1344)

  • U. of Wisconsin – Whitewater: About 9400 undergrads, 27% Pell, 81% white, 23 Bachelor’s in history & 3 undergraduate certificates. A in athletics from Niche (#52 of 1344).

Here are some smaller schools that had an A- or B+ for athletics that your family may want to consider:

  • Drake (IA): About 2800 undergrads in Des Moines. 22% Pell grants and 72% white. Got a B+ for athletics from Niche (#337 of 1344).

  • Hobart & William Smith (NY): About 1600 undergrads. 24% Pell and 66% white. Got a B_ for athletics from Niche (#403 or 1344).

  • Illinois Wesleyan: About 1500 undergrads with 25% Pell grants and 69% white. Got a B+ for athletics from Niche (#376 of 1344). Despite the name, no religious affiliation.

Have you considered a community college where your son could live on-campus? These New York options all have on-campus housing available, so he could have that experience, too. And the classes would (hopefully) all transfer nicely to a SUNY…perhaps Buffalo, as that seems to have the most athletic spirit among the SUNYs? The bolded campuses below are the ones that seem to have the demographics of greatest interest to your family (i.e. most diverse).

  • Dutchess CC: About 7k undergrads in Poughekeepsie, 36% Pell grants, and 52% white

  • Finger Lakes CC: About 5300 undergrads w/52% Pell grants and 76% white

  • Jamestown CC: About 3800 undergrads w/51% Pell grants and 79% white

  • Sullivan County CC/SUNY Sullivan: About 1700 undergrads, 48% Pell, and 46% white.

  • SUNY Adirondack: About 2700 undergrads, 44% Pell, and 83% white.

  • SUNY Broome: About 5400 undergrads in Binghamton, 52% Pell, 62% white.

2 Likes
103

So this was posted from another student’s parent - just five minutes ago - but I include it to show you how schools are grouped. You can see they include UMD in good company.

In case anyone is still following this. I tentatively added William and Mary, Purdue, Maryland - College Park, Brandeis and Vanderbilt to the list.

104

I’m not good with geography. I said Muhlenberg. I meant Goucher. Muhlenberg is out of the way.

I mean, just set your map - if you’re driving.

You’re in NYC? and going to College Park?

So U of Delaware, Towson, Goucher, UMBC, College of NJ,

Others will have ideas - but maybe pick one or two for the way down or up.

But again - I don’t know the “services” offered, etc.

105

Yes driving

1 Like
106

image
image1083×792 152 KB

I ran out of spots on Google Maps, but The College of New Jersey is 3 miles from Rider U, so you can essentially consider those the same location. There are schools of a variety of sizes here, from small to medium-large (and large when you consider College Park). Obviously you would not visit all of these, but these might provide you with an idea of schools to investigate to see which might be worth a stop. I would probably give a good nudge to looking at Drexel, as it is the most urban campus and seeing what a co-op focused school is like might let him know if it’s something of interest or not.

  • McDaniel (MD): About 1800 undergrads and part of the Colleges That Change Lives association (McDaniel College – Colleges That Change Lives). It has a good reputation for offering supports and services to its students. B- for athletics. Forgot to include: 36% Pell grants, 54% white.

  • Stevenson (MD): About 3k undergrads, 31% Pell, 50% white. B- for athletics, but #8 of 1363 for best college dorms.

  • Goucher (MD): About 1k undergrads, 30% Pell, 50% white. C for athletics. Another CTCL school: Goucher College – Colleges That Change Lives.

  • West Chester (PA ): About 14k undergrads, 27% Pell, 73% white. B for athletics (#641 of 1344)

  • Ursinus (PA ): About 1500 undergrads, 20% Pell, 75% white. B- for athletics. Another CTCL school: Ursinus College – Colleges That Change Lives

  • Drexel (PA ): About 14k undergrads, 25% Pell, 45% white, B+ for athletics (#336 of 1344). This school has a very strong focus on co-ops, which might be helpful/of interest to your son if regular school is not really motivating him.

  • The College of New Jersey: About 7k undergrads, 20% Pell, 59% white. B- for athletics

  • Rowan: About 15k undergrads, 32% Pell, 63% white. B- for athletics

  • Rider (NJ): About 3200 undergrads, 35% Pell, 52% white. B+ for athletics (#243 of 1344)

  • Drew (NJ): About 1500 undergrads, 30% Pell, 55% white. C+ for athletics

3 Likes
107

Thank you!

1 Like
108

Goucher is a terrific college for a kid who either wants or needs some academic support, is looking for a warm and friendly student body, has lots of interests both in and outside of the classroom (artsy, community service, etc.)

It is NOT a sporty place and a kid who is looking for that is not going to find it. Unlike a huge school where there is something for everyone, Goucher is small and fantastic for the right kid. Does not sound like OP’s kid cup of tea. One of its biggest selling points is its focus on study abroad.

3 Likes
109

Maybe Drexel is worth a look? I never thought of it as a sports school, but Niche gives it a B+ for athletics. (Basketball, no football.) urban, good academic supports, realistic (but not slam dunk) admit, strong in co-op education.

4 Likes
110

Depends on the school. It also depends on whether the desired major is overloaded relative to its teaching capacity (this is relatively unlikely for history), since an undeclared student may have trouble getting to a major later if the major is full.

1 Like
111

I think this might be the one we also try to stop at on this trip

1 Like
112

Does “the south” mean something beyond purely geography, in terms of the previously mentioned desires about diversity and related factors?

113

Oh, I totally agree about Goucher not being an ideal place for a sporty kid (unless they’re more of a dancer/equestrian kind of sporty, but definitely not a football/basketball kind of fandom).

But if OP’s son if looking for “types” of campuses to visit that are on the way back home, Goucher is that. (And for others looking down the road, I forgot to mention that Goucher & Stevenson are part of a consortium with other Baltimore area schools like Johns Hopkins, Loyola Maryland, Morgan State and others) that allows them to take classes at the other schools.

But OP’s son is likely going to need to make some compromises on the college wishlist, and visiting campuses can be a way of figuring out which compromises are doable and which are off the table.

For instance, OP’s son is looking for a “diverse” campus, and IU (18% Pell, 67% white) and Colorado (15% Pell, 68% white) are considered insufficiently diverse. U. of Denver has the same Pell/white metrics as CU-Boulder, so it may get nixed too. It’s likely to nix many (most?) colleges, too.

-Large sports fandom
-Preference for urban/suburban areas (no rural)
-Preferably more intimate size than big state Us, or opportunities for additional supports
-No religious affiliation
-Preference for geographic proximity, and definitely no on the south (and WV…same approximate latitude as Cincinnati and much of Ohio, qualifies as the south)

When all of the above are combined, I’m not able to think of many school options. So OP’s son is likely going to figure out which things are the must-haves and which are the nice-to-haves and which are the I-thought-I-wanted-this-but-I-now-realize-I-really-don’t. Visiting schools is a good way to figure out those preferences, and as OP’s son is a junior, this is an ideal time to explore.

4 Likes
114

Mix of the heat and and the southern vibe - there are lots of places in the south that do have the diversity he is looking for - and maybe he would be open to moving south again if the school had everything else but on balance - would rather he stay north (open to west but from a parent pov - would rather have him closer ideally). We lived in Georgia for 25 years (him for 14) and are happily resettled in the northeast.

115

I haven’t seen anyone mention Temple yet? And I love the idea of U of Cincy.

2 Likes
116

will add these to my list of investigate!

117

Was able to sign up for a Drexel Friday tour on way down to UMD. Thanks to this group for all the help!

7 Likes
118

@Clementine7624 Here is what I know:

Goucher is very small -many Jewish students. I suspect it is too small.

Ursinus- there are some Jews but even Admins hardly could find Hillel and any active Jews there. Dd applied and refused to go there.

McDaniel-do not have first hand info, but one of DD’s friends chose it over many top schools. Something good should be there.

1 Like
119

Look at Elizabethtown College in PA. It may work.

1 Like
120

My son’s were looking for similar combination requirements (sports environment, not very southern, academic supports, not a forced religious component).
A few thoughts for you (some of which have been mentioned above, so consider them seconded or thirded :slight_smile: )
If it’s about big-time sports but doesn’t have to be football look into the Big East schools. Some would be too much of a reach admissions-wise but suggest these:
Butler
Xavier
St. John’s
Marquette

Also non-football but big basketball and it would be a safety:
Wichita State

Others:
University of West Virginia
Coastal Carolina
James Madison
Iowa
Iowa State
University of Northern Iowa
University of Oregon
Oregon State

The bigger these get the more you have to dig into supports. Some are formal, in my experience it’s cultural. For instance a large school that has an “Undecided” major tends to also have supportive programming for first year students in general. One where you’re expected to come in knowing a major, less so on the “we’ll help you get from here to there” in general.

Also–if he’s looking for big school sports because he’s also an athlete, have him dive into club sports availability. Joining a group like that can help adjustment and focus in school. Competitive enough to have a schedule but flexible enough that it’s not a full-time job.

Good luck to him! It’s an adventure for sure.

5 Likes