Is this the right track? Other schools she's missed?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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My daughter is a junior and we’re planning to look at some colleges over spring break. We’re a little confused as to if we’re on the right track, so this is kind of a match me/chance me thread. She really struggled academically her freshman year, we moved across the country and she attended a huge public school after years in private, also struggled socially etc. We actually moved back to where we’re from for her sophomore year and things are much better for her.

We live in Washington but she thinks she would probably like to go to school in Texas or the Southeast. She loves school sports but we are wary of a big SEC school because of her freshman year experience. She does not want an overly politically active school, would probably like a Greek scene. Trying to find the right fit.

She’s very artistic, does well in English but really struggles in Math and Science although works very hard for decent grades. Her goal is to work on the creative side of advertising/marketing/ branding.

Demographics

  • US citizen (dual Canadian)
  • Washington
  • Catholic High School
  • Asian/White female

**Intended Major(s) Communication/Public Relations/English with Design or Studio Art
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores Probably about a 3.65 overall 3.1 Freshman year, 4.0 Sophomore year and 4.0 first semester Junior
No ranking, will be test optional.

Coursework
*Will have done 6 AP classes by graduation, World History, English Lit and Lang, Enviro Science, Comp Government and Studio Art. Only has taken World History test so far, got a 3. Will likely do well in the English and Art AP tests.
*Slower math track, will complete Pre-Calc senior year. Did Bio, Chem, and AP Enviro Science but is leaning away from taking a science senior year. Only 2 years of Spanish.

Extracurriculars
-Varsity Cheer 3 years, Captain Senior Year, All American Cheerleader
-Varsity Track 4 years
-JV Volleyball 2 years
-National Honor Society Soph and Junior Years
-Leadership Team at school, head of events committee
-Designs all of the social media posts and advertisements for her private high school
-Summer Volunteer job (2021 and 2022) at local hospital

  • Waitressing job Junior Year/Summer

**Her essays should be good, her recommendations will be really good, she’s well-liked and always helping out

Cost Constraints / Budget
We’d like to pay no more than 50K a year, a little flexible. Net Price comes to 67K.

Schools
Here’s what she’s come up with, thoughts appreciated!
Baylor -1st choice right now - is it a reach?
Texas Christian
Furman
Elon
Samford
Sewanee (reach?)
Trinity University (big reach?)
Gonzaga (closer to home)
Washington State (safety)

Thanks all!

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Perhaps look into Southwestern?

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I live in Texas and can say Baylor is a good school, but expensive. TCU well the saying around here is the only thing Christian about TCU is the word Christian in the name. Have you looked into the University of Dallas? It is a small Catholic school in Irving that is great educationally.

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Thanks! Interesting info on TCU! I think University of Dallas may be a little too small for her and maybe not enough sports/social opportunities.

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Hadn’t heard of Southwestern, will check it out!

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I think you are on the right track with your list. I think both WSU and Gonzaga are great in-state options.

A friend’s daughter who sounds similar to yours based on your description was accepted at Baylor. However, the cost was ultimately too high. She ended up at Grand Canyon University in Arizona and is very happy there. I wasn’t aware of Grand Canyon before, but my daughter knows several friends who attend and are happy. (I think they offer good financial aid.)

Some other schools to consider:

University of Colorado - Boulder

Northern Arizona University - smaller and offers a WUE tuition discount to Washington residents; no big national football presence, but has a lot of sporty types (big in cross country/track scene in particular, I think?)

UArizona or Arizona State

Maybe Santa Clara University?

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I know I am not hitting her geographic preference, but she might find some of the options a little closer to home are not so bad and are more affordable.

If she can get her GPA up to 3.7, she might also look at University of Oregon where she would qualify for the Apex scholarship at 3.7+ — that could make it affordable and the school might be the right mix of spirit/sports and not overwhelming size.

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My dad actually went to Santa Clara and loved it. She doesn’t want to go to California though. Appreciate all of the suggestions though!

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Thanks, she definitely wants to leave the PNW :slight_smile:

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Is SMU too social?

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One more option NOT on the West Coast :grin: — Saint Louis University (Catholic, medium-sized, Division I sports without football)

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I thought maybe SMU was too hard for her to get into? I’m not sure if it would come in at a lot more than 50K…thoughts?

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That looks great! I’ll have her take a look. Along the same lines, I think Creighton maybe should be on her list as well…

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Check out the Parents of the HS Class of 20xx 3.0-3.4 threads. Lots of good info for kids who aren’t 4.0+ kids.

Here’s the 2023 thread:
Parents of the HS Class of 2023 3.0-3.4

And here’s the 2022 thread, which is also very informative.

It’s is definitely not all 3.0-3.4 kids. Lots of B+ students too.

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One more thought — Virginia Commonwealth University

Okay, I’ll stop now. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Southwestern, Trinity U, St. Edward’s, Austin College. I think she could get into TU coming from out of state.

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Thanks! These are great.

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I have a feeling that as she racks up another 4.0 semester, she’s going to be able to shoot a bit higher, and for schools that will look at her first semester senior year grades, even more so. I’m saying that schools may look at her not so terrible freshman year, and then her fantastic sophomore and junior and even first semester senior year, and be willing to discount that freshman year and take a chance on her.

For this reason, I think that you could certainly revisit your list, and adjust it accordingly, if she does as well in the spring semester of junior year as she has been doing.

Does she want to attend a Catholic or Christian school? Is it important to her? Does she want to continue to cheer, or something akin to that, in college? I’m wondering if with her cheerleading achievement, you could leverage her into a more selective school than her GPA (including freshman year) would have indicated.

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If she likes Furman, I would also look at Berry.

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Thanks for your post! I think she would be comfortable at a Catholic or Christian school, although it isn’t a requirement, I know she doesn’t want to go to a super politically active school in either political direction. We live in an area where a lot of her friends are very passionate about politics (near Portland) and she’s just not. She would love to do something like cheer. I’m sure she could make a D3 cheer team or maybe a spirit squad or something like that at a larger school. She is likely not Texas D1 cheer material.

I encouraged her to take a look at Trinity thinking they might overlook her freshman grades, Baylor and Furman kind of the same thing. Any other suggestions for reaches for her to consider? Thanks!

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