houndmom- thank you for that detailed response! Very helpful! Glad to hear the Greek life is a little less prominent. That was not a favorite part of Bama. It sounds like UK was a great fit for your son being in horse country. My hope is to find as good a fit for D but her interests are a little less defined.
I’m a bit worried about the party aspect of all the big schools (just read some super-party info about Ohio University!). D wants a larger/medium school with ‘spirit’ - I don’t think that means huge party culture (and I hope not!!).
At this late stage in the game she will probably apply to a wide range of large/medium schools with some small schools in the mix prior to Nov 1, then visit after any acceptances. Just want her to have a good range of large/medium - most thus far are NE area but could put in U of K and NC State for variety. This all seems like tee’ing up huge decisions on minimal data but what can you do in limited time if the $ is not more than a ballpark estimation of affordability!
As an addition to the out-of-area suggestions you have received, look into the University of Cincinnati. If rankings matter to you, it places a bit higher than Ohio University.
The first thing that I thought of reading the original post was Rutgers. U.Mass Amherst and Concordia (in Montreal, up the street from McGill) are two others that come to mind.
Thank you for those additional suggestions!! Will look into U of Cincinnati (had not thought of that one). She’s visited & will apply to U of Delaware (historically there are a ton of NJ kids there and based on kids w/similar stats it looks like she won’t get any merit aid but will give it a shot).
We looked at Magill initially (thought it would be perfect! lower cost than US schools, international component, etc.). Then read that Canada schools apparently grade much harder than even the top-tier US schools so crossed it off for that reason (didn’t bode well for graduate schools admissions if that turns out to be a future goal). Not sure if Concordia the same…
We had U Mass on the list - then saw some youtube videos of campus. Brutalist architecture abounds and D has a strong preference for a nice looking campus. That paired w/the party reputation (Zoo Mass? yikes) really scared me away. Wavering though since feel Northeast slightly less party-driven than southern big schools w/their dominant Greek life. Could be wrong on all of this, though!! D is generally amenable to throwing another school or two on the list so trying to understand it all as much as possible…