<p>My son is a rising senior and doesn't really have a clear list of schools to apply to. His interests are: English lit and creative writing; sociology; history and biology (Liberal Arts). Size is not a really strong consideration, but he's very involved in music performance (jazz, rock and funk) and he's looking for a "hip urban enviromment." He tends to be liberal, but not extrmemly so. He would like to avoid schools heavy in partying, frats, or jocks. His stats are:</p>
<p>GPA 3:65-3:70 uw; weighted should be at least 4.0
SAT 1 800m; 730v; 800w
SAT 2 750 US History; 690 Math 2; 590 Bio (Will take two more in Oct)
ACT 30
AP ushistory 5
AP biology 5
AP english lit. 4
AP Calc ab 4</p>
<p>I would be interested in any suggestions for good fit schools (reaches, matches or safeties)</p>
<p>U Chicago, NYU, GWU, Georgetown, UCLA, BC, Emory, Vanderbilt, Rice.
Of course it would be reasonable to try the ivies, stanford, MIT. But the other schools are all in Urban areas.</p>
<p>He's caucasian. I don't think he needs to stay close to home (the northeast) and he likes NYC so Columbia is high on the list. He also liked U of Chicago, but didn't care for Tufts or Northwestern.</p>
<p>Novice, here's one for you, Occidental. With his great stats and love for all things funkadelic, Oxy would love him and I think the feeling could well be mutual. Very diverse. Very up and coming. Really cool school-I mean hip or.... whatever. LOL. Check it out.</p>
<p>I'm not getting much feedback. Maybe I should be more specific. My d did visit about ten schools and he really likes Brown, Columbia and U of Chicago. But I consider them reach schools and he doesn't really have any match or safeties yet. He's very interested in UCB, but again, a stretch for him as an out-of-stater; plus he's never been to the west coast.</p>
<p>For hip urban environment, you can't beat New Orleans. Tulane, I am guessing, would be close to a safety for him, or a very, very safe match. It's stats are improving quickly each year, though, so don't pay too much attention to older stats.</p>
<p>I didn't suggest it before, because I'm not sure of its strength in his areas of interest. I do know that it is very strong in biomedical engineering, environmental law and in medicine; so I am guessing that the biology will be strong. You could check on the Tulane thread or elsewhere for its strength in other fields of interest. It is not a big jock school, frats do not predominate. Of course, New Orleans has a party reputation and that slops over to the school's reputation. However, there are plenty of very serious students there, large honors dorm, etc.</p>
<p>S is headed there in the fall for Engineering. He, too, is a musician, in particular jazz and rock. He has found the Music Department extremely welcoming for kids not majoring in music. He will be doing private lessons/ensembles for credit. When there in April, already met some possibles for forming his own/joining existing rock band.</p>
<p>Also (just a small, teeny point ;) ) - your S would be strong for the substantial merit aid Tulane offers. DSA was $22K, Founders $15K this year; and DHS (the only one which requires a separate app) is full tuition. S got the DSA with lesser SATs, slightly higher GPA to your S.</p>
<p>Other match/safeties: BU, GWU, American, Villanova; Hofstra in NY would be very safe.</p>
<p>I don't really know the southern schools and my s avoided them because he has the perception that they are dominated by frats and sororities (which Tulane is not). I was just talking to my brother-in-law who is a college history professor and he also suggested Tulane. Sounds like a very good possibility. Thanks</p>
<p>George Washington (DC), Loyola (Baltimore), Fordham (NYC), Davidson (outside charlotte), TCNJ (Trenton), CMU (Pittsburgh), Case (Clev.) would all be matches/safeties u could look 2.</p>
<p>Having lived in New Orleans from junior high through high school, left N.O. for college, and returned for my first 3 years of work I can say without reservation that N.O. is a fantastic place to be a single young man. It is a terrible place to work or raise a family, but for a college student it is fantastic. There is a sense of no limits or barriers that lets the mind really open up. On the one hand that means you could fall victim to the house of the rising sun, but on the other hand you can find yourself real fast and be accepted for who you are. The art community is also strong in N.O. since it thrives in a no limits environment.</p>
<p>On the academic side, while I learned about beer in the Rathskeller, my wife did some post-graduate work at Tulane and loved it. As jmmom mentioned, their biomedical engineering work is cutting edge, and their environmental law work drives the corporate world (and state economic development agency) nuts. While those two areas are definitely stellar, I cant say I have heard any complaints about any of their programs. I know lots of Tulane grads and all loved the place.</p>