<p>My brother's eldest step-son is a bright HS sophomore. I just had a nice conversation about college with him. My brother and his wife haven't even talked about whether he wants to go or not. I am sure they will support his decision, but they aren't encouraging it. </p>
<p>I was thinking this summer I might take him to visit a few schools and see whether he's interested in pursuing the option of going to college or not. I'd like to come up with a list of drive-able(from SE Virginia) schools that would give him a little flavor of his different options - big, small, rural, urban, liberal, conservative, liberal arts-focused, science-focused, artsy, etc... I will take a week of vacation to do this trip with him. This is the kid that cried the first time he was outside during a blizzard, so it will probably have to be a warm-climate school for him to be interested.</p>
<p>My nephew is very like-able, a good conversationalist and excellent negotiator. He is in honors pre-calc and the rest of his classes are your standard fare sophomore classes. He's mostly a B student, with a few As and an occasional C. He scored a 176 on his 1st attempt at the PSAT. He plays JV football and Varsity basketball; probably a candidate for Div 3 athletics. There's a chance he may at least minor in a studio art - he has been a cartoonist since he was 6. He is AA and will be full-pay. He can be in-state in GA, PA or VA. He currently attends a mediocre large city public. </p>
<p>Are there any schools that should be a must-see on our tour, to give him a chance to see if he's even interested in college?</p>
<p>Auntie – what a great auntie you are! – I don’t know much about that part of the country, so I won’t comment. I will instead refer you to the Parents Forum, where there is a wealth of experience & advice. You may also address that pesky issue of finances: will your nephew require financial aid? That is a crucial piece of information – and something for you to keep in mind. No sense have him fall in love with a school that proves to be out of his family’s financial reach…</p>
<p>Here’s some suggestions: Univ of Scranton for a Jesuit school. Georgia College and State University for a public school. George Mason, Mercer, James Madison as good private schools. Morehouse for a historically black university. Virginia Tech as a public reach. Possibly also Clemson for the sports.</p>
<p>Katliamom - I don’t know the details of my brother’s finances, but I made conservative best guesses and filled in a financial aid calculator. It came back with an EFC of $29,758, so he’ll be full-pay at most publics and some privates.</p>
<p>Ricegal - Thank you for your suggestions, I am adding them to our preliminary list.</p>
<p>Greorge Mason and James Madison are publics.</p>
<p>I’d visit UVA and Virginia Tech for sure. These are classic, college-town feels. Then I would look at Washington and Lee (aristocratic, LAC, conservative) and William and Mary (great school with a liberal arts feel). Those should provide a solid contrast. But hoenstly, those schools will all by reachy, unless his grades improve junior year and he does well on the SATs.
Look at JMU and GMU as more reasonable schools, and maybe Mary Washington. Lastly, VCU has a great arts program, and its a good example of a city school.</p>
<p>not sure how he can have the choice of being instate in three different states? Make sure you research residency requirements to confirm.</p>
<p>Your nephew’s selection index of 176 would predict SAT scores in the 1800 range, if I am not mistaken. That together with a rigorous curriculum, an A/B record, and URM status should make him a good candidate at many fine schools.</p>
<p>In PA consider Pitt (for a city environment) and Penn State (large state flagship). Both will have all in cost of approx $25 K per year on an in-state basis.</p>
<p>In VA there are a fine selection of public schools; I am currently researching them as well. U VA (may be a reach); James Madison; George Mason; University of Mary Washington; Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>You might try to focus on schools where something is going on - just seeing buildings doesn’t do much for some folks. Spend some of that travel time just talking about what college can be like too.</p>
<p>Take a look at Pitt (for an urban school), Clemson and Virginia Tech (for rural technical schools), UNC-Asheville and St. Mary’s College of Maryland (for liberal arts schools) </p>
<p>Let me know if you have any questions about Clemson since I’m a student there!</p>
<p>Since AuntieElle said her nephew disliked cold weather and would prob. concentrate on warmer weather schools, PA schools wouldn’t seem to be a good choice plus they are a pretty long drive from southeastern VA. </p>
<p>Other VA schools (not mentioned above) that he might want to check out …
Christopher Newport Univ.
Old Dominion Univ.
Radford Univ.
Emory&Henry College
Bridgewater College
Roanoke College
Lynchburg College
If he would be interested in historically black colleges…
Norfolk State Univ.
Hampton University,
Virginia Union univ. </p>
<p>Not in VA but a close drive …East Carolina University</p>