Last of my four DD’s now a Calif HS senior and working on app list. She wants to major in hospitality mgt but would consider straight business/marketing program. She likes the idea of a large U with national reputation, big-time sports, party atmosphere, etc. Stats: 3.7uw, 3.9w, ACT 26 (retaking), 7 AP’s. Good EC’s: mock trial (captain), debate, sports including 2 years varsity football (yes, football - she’s a kicker), work experience as barista. Looking at Penn State, Mich State, U Wisc, U Wash. Any other great ideas? Unfortunately, the only CA schools that fit her vision are beyond reach of her stats (Stanford, Cal, UCLA, USC).
Is that a UC WGPA? What can you afford? You won’t get any $ from Penn State or UW.
Auburn, Nebraska, West Virginia, Mississippi, Florida State, Purdue, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma state.
Why make her be cold all the time? 
Alabama Crimson Tide, Clemson Tigers, Georgia Bulldogs. Or closer to you, and still chilly much of the year – Colorado, Boulder.
A 3.7 unweighted GPA with 7 APs? Why are UCLA and USC out of reach? She has a strong resume. Would she consider Cornell? Great hospitality program, big school, good school pride, party atmosphere etc…Not so much of a football rep, but who knows, she could maybe make the team! 
She would need to raise her ACT a little, to roughly 29 to have a reasonable shot.
Otherwise, there are several schools with good Hotel Management programs that also happen to have good football programs. Here are a few:
Florida State University
Michigan State University (probably the best mix all things considered)
Pennsylvania State University
Temple University
University of Central Florida
University of Alabama (very good Hospitality/Hotel school which is housed, counterintuitively, in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. This would probably be my second choice after MSU)
University of Houston (you seemed to have overlooked that one)
University of Nevada-Las Vegas
Virginia Tech
Washington State University
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@Alexandre She would need to raise her ACT a little, to roughly 29 to have a reasonable shot.
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Really? My D scored 2300 SAT (between 34-35 ACT) and had a higher GPA, 7 APs, and didn’t get into Cornell (granted, Cornell engineering may be harder to get into than hospitality). I think she’d need to score at least a 32.
Having said that, Cornell does have the best Hospitality program in the country, so worth shooting for if she can improve her test scores.
insanedreamer, the CoE at Cornell is indeed harder to get into than the Hotel School, and they look for completely different things. The Hotel school looks for fit more than anything else. I am not saying that the OP’s daughter will get in for sure. Admission into selective universities is, at best, random. Just because one applicant with excellent credentials does not get in does not mean that another applicant with seemingly weaker credentials won’t. The data in the links below is a little dated (5 years old), but it shows that the CoE is slightly more selective than the Hotel School. But like I said, comparing colleges, or applicants, is pointless when universities have such a holistic and random admissions process. For instance, the admit rate for female applicants to the CoE was actually higher than the admit rate for female applicants to the Hotel School, at least back in 2011.
http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000176.pdf
http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000003.pdf
@Alexandre good points - you’re right it is hard to predict based on scores alone. Also, my D was waitlisted by Cornell so her scores were probably good enough to get into the SoE but just didn’t make the cut for some other reason or perhaps just (bad) luck of the draw (at a certain point I think it does come down to luck)
http://www.admission.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof13.htm
<5% chance with that weighted GPA.
Are grandparents paying or are you? What is the budget?
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Why make her be cold all the time? Alabama Crimson Tide, <<<
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Roll Tide! She could be with the 1000+ Calif students at Bama!
I think Nick Saban’s DD was a hospitality major at Bama.
Erin’s Dad, if you look at the link you provided, applicants with a 3.7-3.9 unweighed GPA have an admit rate of 30%. And for ACTs in the range of 26-29, a 20% admit rate. UCLA is clearly a reach, but I think a reasonable one. USC is more likely, but still a reach. Either way, I do not think DGDzDad’s DD should give up on either one of those schools…or Cornell for that matter. The girl has moxie. She was on the football team. That’s got to be worth a couple of pages in someone’s book!
Realistically, Alabama, Florida State, Houston, Michigan State, Penn State and Virginia Tech are her best options.
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USC is more likely, but still a reach.
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I wouldn’t say that USC is more likely. USC is more score-obsessed. A white Calif girl isn’t going to have a hook for USC even with the football mention.
USC often rejects those with an ACT less than 30 without a hook. Someone with an ACT 26 would have to be a recruited athlete or highly desired URM.
Cornell would be a super-reach for an ACT 26. the lower quartile is an ACT 29! Surely those with a 29 or below are hooked…athlete, URM, etc. Not a white girl from Calif.
What is the UC GPA?
mom2collegekids, in the case of Cornell, I already said she would require a 29 to have a chance. But do not ignore the narrative. We are talking about Hospitality Management. Personal qualities and motivation will weigh in very heavily in the decision. There is no way that 25% of Hotel students at Cornell athletes and URM. If she were aiming for a traditional major (CAS) or Engineering, I would agree that the odds of getting into Cornell (or UCLA or USC) would be very low (read nonexistent). But Hotel schools will have slightly different priorities.
Speaking of Hospitality, I don’t think UCLA and USC make much sense. The closest thing to it that UCLA offers is Business Economics and USC would be Marshall, which offers a traditional Business degree.
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There is no way that 25% of Hotel students at Cornell athletes and URM.
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You’re probably right, but the 25% quartile is not spread evenly across all majors/schools.
I think one of the best hospitality majors/schools is UNLV, but the school itself is not great.
Someone listed Auburn up thread, but I don’t think that’s a good choice (and not because I’m a Bama fan). The city of Auburn just doesn’t have the internships/opportunities. It’s still quite rural.
The CSUs probably have hospitality management. Maybe look to see if San Diego State has it.
I included UNLV on my list above, because it has a great Hotel school. But their football program is only so-so.
Wisconsin not going to be possible with a 26 for an out of state student, would take closer to a 30 to have a reasonable chance for out of state.
University of Iowa could be a possibility (though I did not look to see what they offer in her area of interests).
I think a 28 on the ACT is sufficient to get into Wisconsin with a 3.7 unweighted GPA, even for OOS applicants. Wisconsin isn’t significantly harder to get into for OOS applicants. But Wisconsin’s Hotel school (which is certainly good) is not in Madison, it is in Stout, a good 200 miles, 3 hour drive from Madison. I don’t think it is worth considering when you have options like Alabama, Houston, MSU and VTech.
@Alexandre – my kid is at UW, as an OOS student, and the competition for OOS admits has only gotten tougher since he applied. I’ve watched the UW board over the last several years, and while an incomplete sample for admissions results, it does seem that below a 30 seems to put an OOS at substantial risk of rejection. It is possible they could be postponed, and then admitted late in March, but just as likely will get rejected.
Agree that UW Stout doesn’t make sense when there are other better options elsewhere.
Auburn is not rural, it’s suburban (Clemsons rural - been to both). Auburn has its own Hotel & Confrrence Center (very nice but expensive) and students intern there, also in Montgomery (30-45 min away) and Atlanta (1 1/2 HR away). Check with the school and they will tell you who recruits there.