<p>Loyola College of MD is probably a good safety, and if your math/verbal is over 1350, you would begin to qualify for merit aid. It is a very nice school, very happy students and solid academics.</p>
<p>It is located in a nice section north of Baltimore City.</p>
<p>Bump!</p>
<p>I'd prefer a university over a smaller college.</p>
<p>Furman is not in the middle of nowhere. I just it depends on what you need. If you need Rome, Paris, New York or LA, yea it's nowhere. There's plenty to do in Greenville, but it's also 1.5 hours to Charlotte, 2 hours to Atlanta, 3 hours to the beach.</p>
<p>I would think Oxford would be a good safety for you. I have known several professors who went to very good grad schools after going to Clemson. As to how strong its reputation is in your field, I do not know. What is your home state? UMD may be a possibility. College of Charleston is another good school. I do love that school.</p>
<p>Allyross, I was referring to the main campus of the U of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa. Like Auburn, Mississippi and Alabama, U of Arkansas is also half the size of many major state universities, and seems to have benefitted from the Wal-Mart fortunes with lots of new and interesting programs.</p>
<p>It seems like these smallish Southern public universities would offer lots of opportunities in beautiful settings. Their main drawbacks seem to be that they aren't really difficult to get into, and they aren't all that tough academically. I've attended a lot of universities, and to this I say, so what? If your high school record is less than stellar you can still get in, and at such schools a serious student will stand out and get lots of professors' personal attention, get good grades without killing himself/herself (good for getting in grad school), and will have all the social life and bigtime sports anyone could want--all at decent prices, even for out of staters. What's not to like about that?</p>
<p>I would have to disagree w/ your thoughts on GMU and JMU. James Madison has gained a reputation as a great school and this year their average GPA was 3.8. George Mason is more of a commuter school but its location is great! It's located in a small city and is only about 20 minutes from D.C.</p>
<p>Allyross just for your info.............JMU, Mary Wash, and George Mason are NOT in bad parts of Virginia. What are you talking about them not being strong schools? Yeah, Richmond Virginia (although URichmond is a beautiful campus)is the armpit of Virginia where a murder occurs every 5 minutes. Maybe you need to take a gap year. Don't diss unless you back with facts.</p>
<p>Peace out.</p>
<p>Furman is not in the middle of nowhere. Greenville is a decent sized city. It is probably the most city-like city in South Carolina (I live in SC). Furman would not be a safety for you.</p>
<p>Clemson, on the other hand, is in the middle of nowhere. It is probably the best public school in SC. Furman is the best school in SC.</p>
<p>Have you looked at Birmingham Southern? Birmingham is definitely a city.</p>