<p>My son is a junior - high school class of 2010. His high school record is excellent but I'd rather not get into specifics and turn this into a chance me thread. </p>
<p>The things that matter are:</p>
<p>excellent liberal arts program - major undecided - probably humanities or social science
prefers to be in or close to city
prefers the south
openness to minority opinions - no political correctness</p>
<p>These are the colleges he's considering: (somewhat in this order, but we've only visited about half so far)</p>
<p>Stanford
Vanderbilt
Claremont McKinna
Tulane
Haverford
Rice
Northwestern
Chicago
Emory
Virginia
William and Mary
USC</p>
<p>Here are the safe schools we're considering:</p>
<p>Pittsburgh
Maryland
Delaware
Michigan
Ohio State
American
Richmond</p>
<p>All of the above have honors programs, but we haven't visited any of them and barely know anything about any of them. In fact we've only talked to one person who has first-hand knowledge of any of the safe schools.</p>
<p>A couple of other things to mention are: 1) We'll probably narrow the list down to about a total of eight applications by September, 2) Money is not that important and 3) Prestige doesn't matter at all. And one other point. Both Rhodes and Davidson are near misses. Rhodes because it's too isolated in a bad part of Memphis and Davidson because it's too preppy. I'm wondering if there's someplace we're missing that's similar to Rhodes and Davidson - LAC, southern, urban - but easy enough to get into.</p>
<p>So, the question is: do you have any thoughts or recommendations about the safety schools? Should we erase any from the list? Add any?</p>
<p>Probable Reaches:
Stanford-not southern
Vanderbilt-though it’s very preppy
Rice
Emory-Southern but without the southern feel (no football team)</p>
<p>Probably not Reaches but still very competive:
Tulane
Virginia-preppy though
William and Mary-somewhat isolated </p>
<p>Safe schools:</p>
<p>Maryland-not really southern but similar atmosphere as I understand it
Richmond-somewhat preppy
Millsaps College-very small but southern and not too preppy
Southern Miss
Spring Hill College</p>
<p>I listed some problems, for your particular case, next to the school names. I ommited schools that didn’t meet the qualifers, eg Chicago. If you are leaning towards the South, then a school in such a cold city may not be a good idea.</p>
<p>If your son is truly the way you describe him, please look into Swarthmore. But in terms of safety schools for him.<br>
Furman
UGA
Florida
Central Florida
Richmond
James Madison</p>
<p>Oh by the way, I think you should erase American. DC is not the best place, and Ameican is in a nice neighborhood, but as a general area, not so much. Also American tends to be preppy(money money money). But there also a lot of international students and hippies, but still… I’m not buying it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback so far. As I said, he “prefers” the south. It’s not a deal breaker. Neither is preppiness. Just preferences. Clearly no perfect school expected.</p>
<p>I don’t know how prudent it is to count University of Michigan as a “safety”. From the rest of the schools on the list, it sounds as though your son is probably very competitive for college admissions, but the University of Michigan is recognized as being among the best universities. </p>
<p>Has your son considered Duke at all? It seems to fit the criteria of being close to a major city, southern and strong in a variety of fields.</p>
<p>I don’t agree with this at all. Central, Northern, and Northwestern DC are fantastic. There’s nothing in the other parts of DC so it doesn’t even matter. But yes, the other sections of DC are rough. However, we got lost for three hours in DC and only managed to get lost in the slums at two separate points and only for a short period of time. DC is way above Baltimore and St. Louis (and NYC hands down - does that even count?). If you stick to the majority of DC and don’t run off into the eastern side, it’s a beautiful city with a lot to do. It definitely has great places, especially compared to like, Baltimore (which has the inner harbor and slums but nothing else) or St. Louis (um… yeah… but it’s inexpensive and I’m sure there are nice parts).</p>
<p>In the south. In a city with decent public transportation. Quaker, so probably more toward the liberal side. A student I know there got into the honors program with a 3.9 GPA (unweighted) and 29 ACT score. That student did have multiple community service type ECs. The significant scholarships appear to have early filing dates (October?), but this is early action or rolling admission and not binding.</p>
<p>Another thread where someone considers Michigan a safety school. Michigan is almost never a safety school for someone from OOS unless he/she has an uw 4.0 gpa and very high test scores.</p>
<p>Delaware, Richmond, American…you probably already have a good choice of “likely” colleges, but to add one more, have you considered the College of Charleston?</p>
If they would pick that school up and put it inside or near a big southern city, this discussion would be over. At least according to one of three team members (the father). It sounds perfect for my son…except for location.</p>
<p>I think UMich shouldn’t be a safety. It’s one of the top public universities in the nation, unless you live in Michigan and is one of the top students there.</p>
<p>You have to be from bum**** Alabama to think DC is “not the best place”. DC actually IS the best place. American’s location is kind of isolated from Downtown DC, as well as the trendy Georgetown area, but it’s still DC. It’s close to Embassy Row if I remember correctly. The thing I disliked about American is that it didn’t feel like your typical DC college…it was mostly newer, less impressive buildings. Georgetown and GW pawn American for sure.</p>
<p>I know you say too much preppy is bad and medium preppy is ok, but Sewanee is REALLY preppy. A good chunk of the population follows the Sewanee traditions of “dressing up for class”. Tucked in the woods, it’s like going to a Southern-themed summer camp. There’s the occasional go-greener but… pack polos!!</p>