<p>Need some college suggestions for a midsize to large liberal arts college on the east coast that is near the mountains but in a real college town area. We loved University of Virginia- especially the beautiful campus and the area of Charlottesville but need to find safeties with the same "vibe." My son is still undecided as to what his major will be so it's important that he finds a school that offers choices. He was disappointed in his SAT scores which were in the high 1600s and will be taking tutoring classes to improve his scores over the summer but he has done very well academically in high school as well as participating in many extra-curriculars as well as working 14 to 20 hours a week. Any suggestions????</p>
<p>I think you already have JMU and Elon on your visit list… not necessarily safeties, but certainly match schools… particularly if he gets his SAT up a bit. Has he tried the ACT as well? Some students do better with that format.</p>
<p>Possibly look at Radford University , and Roanoke College in VA… Appalachian State in NC is also worth a look. Beautiful area in the mountains, lovely town and school. SUNY New Paltz in NY and Plymouth State University in NH are worth a look as well for similar reasons. </p>
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<p>Appalachian State bases its gen ed program off liberal arts but isn’t a liberal arts school. </p>
<p>UNC-Asheville is a liberal arts school and it has a GREAT city and beautiful mountain setting as well.</p>
<p>I second UNC-Asheville. It still might not be quite a safety with his SAT scores as-is–low match, maybe–but it was the first thing that jumped to mind. Several of my friends are happy at UNC-Greensboro, too, which would be a definite safety for him. I think it’s a little more urban than Asheville, but the campus still sounds gorgeous, although I’m afraid I’ve never been. (I’m not from North Carolina, I’ve just heard great things about those two anyway.)</p>
<p>Any price restrictions? (At least) Some of those schools will be OOS.</p>
<p>Total OOS costs for UNCA is about $19,000. That’s significantly less than a private LAC.</p>
<p>UNCA is $19K for tuition alone. Add on another $10K for room, board and fees for the year.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www2.unca.edu/controller/costs/2012-2013.htm[/url]”>https://www2.unca.edu/controller/costs/2012-2013.htm</a></p>
<p>While it’s more coastal and more suburban, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (not in Baltimore itself, despite the name) has recently earned a reputation for being one of the best universities for undergraduate teaching in the country. Again, OOS is ~$30k total (~$20k instate), but I can’t tell what middle-Atlantic state OP is from. If Virginia, KatMT has that more-or-less covered. (JMU’s campus is lovely.) I’d also add the University of Mary Washington, which sounds private but is public (~$22k total instate, slightly cheaper than UVA). It’s a liberal-arts-focussed public university, probably another low match, and a lovely school although not quite in the mountains.</p>
<p>Sewanee University of the South would be worth looking at</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions for schools in the south. How about options in the Mid Atlantic/North East?</p>
<p>In the northeast, you can look into University of Vermont and maybe Quinnipiac.</p>
<p>By mountains, do you specifically mean near ski areas?
I know someone who went to the Univ of Colorado at Boulder just to be near good skiing!</p>
<p>Yes. He likes to ski and hike. He’s talked about the Univ of Colorado at Boulder but I would prefer he stays in the east.</p>
<p>Bowdoin, Colby, Bates in Maine, UVM, Middlebury, Williams, Dartmouth, Univ. of New Hampshire.
A lot of these schools are very selective though! Not to mention expensive, even UVM is very expensive for out of state students. UNH is much easier to get into.
How about upstate NY? How close is Syracuse to skiing? Clarkson is way upstate but is not a LAC. NY state schools?</p>
<p>
To BeanTown’s list I’d add Amherst, Hampshire, Skidmore, Colgate, Hamilton, Conn College
Not any safeties on this list, but some may be matches, depending on how good his grades and scores actually are.</p>
<p>He should definitely prep and retake the SAT again. He should also take the ACT. Is there a reason that his scores are out of line with his grades? Is one area better than another. </p>
<p>Among grades, rank and scores (in my opinion) scores are the least important, especially if they can be explained or compensated for.</p>
<p>As others have pointed out, clarify the money too.</p>
<p>Some of those that you have mentioned are definitely out of his reach. He plans to look at Connecticut College, Wheaton and UNH. He’s away in July but plans to take private tutoring for his SATs starting in August when he returns. This weekend he’ll take the subject tests in SATs (Chemistry, Math II and US History). Usually he scores high on Math but Math was his lowest score- very disappointing for him. My thoughts are that now he has experienced the actual exam and will have had some tutoring, he should do better the next time he takes the test. Anyways, he is ranked 20th in a class of 435 kids and has a unweighted GPA of 3.6. Currently he is taking 3 AP classes (Chemistry, English Comp and US History) and will take 3 AP classes next year (Physics, Calculus BC and English Literature). He’s well rounded in that he participates in clubs (Mock Trial, Student Council, Adopt a Grandparent, Jazz and Marching Band and two different Ultimate Frisbee Clubs). He also has worked part-time 14 to 20 hours a week. Financially, we could not pay 100% of some of the private school tuitions out there but we have enough resources that we do not need to limit our son’s choices just to state colleges.</p>
<p>Pretty good grades, class rank, rigorous curriculum, decent ECs (including work). I’d second the suggestion to re-take the SAT and definitely try the ACT; some kids do much better on one test than on the other. But if the test scores don’t come around, this sounds like an ideal candidate for test-optional schools: clearly a good student, but possibly one who “doesn’t test well.”</p>
<p>Some of the better test-optional schools include Connecticut College and Wheaton College (MA) which you’ve already got on your list. Others: American, Bard, Bates, Bennington, Bowdoin (still pretty reachy even without test scores), Denison, Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, Hampshire, Holy Cross, Juniata, St. Lawrence U, Sarah Lawrence, Union, Ursinus, Wake Forest.</p>
<p>Here’s the complete list:</p>
<p>[SAT/ACT</a> Optional 4-Year Universities | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]SAT/ACT”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest)</p>
<p>Thank you for your insight and suggestions. It is a big relief to know that there are some schools that my son is interested in that will place more importance of his other credentials than just test scores. He will, however, take classes and re-take exams to help his chances for consideration.</p>