My stats 3.6 GPA, projected to get around a 1500 on the SAT
Want a school between 4-17K students
Really want to go somewhere where the students love it, and go to sports games
Sororities and warmer weather are bonuses, but not essentials
Looking to study econ and math
Fully pay (can afford OOS and private unis, not a deciding factor for my family)
This process is really confusing and overwhelming so any guidance that can be provided would be greatly appreciated!!
If you would be willing to extend your size range somewhat, look into the University of Richmond. UR matches all of your other preferences, and would be a top school at which to study economics (see link).
3.6 weighted or unweighted?
How about U of Miami? It’s private, 11K undergrads, has Greek life and big sports and warm weather, and would be a realistic admit even if your 3.6 is weighted. (Richmond is is a great suggestion too but reachy for your GPA even if the 3.6 is unweighted.)
Lehigh and Tulane come to mind immediately.
USNWR top 10-100; D-1A sports, greek, warm location, not too big/small gives you roughly:
Duke
Vandy
USC
Wake
UVA
GTech
UNC
Florida
Tulane
Miami
Clemson
SMU
Baylor
Happy hunting.
The 3.6 is unweighted, I take lots of Ap and honors classes though
@northwesty can an unhooked 3.6 get into duke or vandy?
To give you an idea from which you can compare other colleges, the University of Richmond reports a middle-range GPA of from 3.68 to 4.0 (UW) for admitted applicants.
“@northwesty can an unhooked 3.6 get into duke or vandy?”
That’s the list from USNWR 10 thru 100. Which took about 45 seconds to come up with.
Up to you to do the further homework – like can I get in, do they have my major, etc. etc. etc. etc. And when compiling any college list, make sure you have a good mix of safe/match/reach.
Since you don’t have any $$$ concerns, your process is WAY simpler than most. For most kids, affordability is the hardest piece of the puzzle by far. In contrast, suitability and admissibility are much more straightforward.
Get going and good luck.
I would get your hands on a good college guide book (ex. Fiske, Princeton Review) and start reading. These books can often be borrowed from a HS guidance office or a library if you don’t want to purchase one.
I think Duke & Vandy are too reachy without a hook. But applying Early Decision to Wake Forest could bring it into reach - they accept 44% of ED applicants, vs. 25% RD. Seems like a perfect fit for your criteria - 5000 undergrads, lots of school spirit and Greek life, and stellar academics. https://bulletin.wfu.edu/courses-instruction/economics/bs-mathematical-economics/
Richmond has similar accepted student stats to Wake, but slightly higher acceptance rates: 49% for ED and 32% RD Both have both EDI and EDII.
Overall, since you’re not too price-sensitive and your unweighted GPA is a little soft for the most competitive schools, playing the ED card is probably a very sound strategy, especially if the schools you like are ones that give a good “bump” for a binding ED application.
Since money is no object, agree on playing the ED card.
Duke’s probably out of reach (but you never know with ED, which Duke pushes very hard).
Vandy REALLY digs high test scores. If the SAT turns out to be 1550-ish, then an ED1 to Vandy might make sense.
Otherwise, consider ED1 to Wake, Tulane or Miami.
FYI, Vandy, Wake, Tulane and Miami all also have ED2. So you can get a second bite at the apple if you miss the target with ED1.
For Tulane ED2, note that you have to apply EA (or RD very early in the cycle) first. Then they’ll offer you the option (often after deferring you in the EA round) to upgrade to ED2.
FYI, most think the boost for ED1 is bigger than for ED2. But data on that is hard to come by.
Out of the box are Kansas and Kansas State. At Kansas State my S17 has been challenged (pre vet) and loves it! Lots of great sports spirit. The students and teachers love it there, great sports, sororities that aren’t too crazy or too expensive but fun. Lots of opportunities for jobs. The small town it is in is fun and has almost everything you would need. Unlike you might think it isn’t flat! Your state would get you a merit scholarship there too. The downside is not a ton of diversity but diversity is welcome. It has 18,000 undergraduates so is a little over but is on a compact campus and feels smaller. It is warm most of the time but in Nov - Feb it can be cold but it hasn’t been bad and S is from the south and a big city!
This resource could help you evaluate the economics departments of the larger schools that have been suggested: https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.usecondept.html.
SMU seems to tick a lot of your boxes. Richmond and WFU, both already mentioned, seem like obvious choices also. Maybe try Boston College.
If you are interested in Wake Forest, it has rolling ED admissions. That allows you to apply a soon as Junior year of High School is over and hear back before the ED1 deadline for other schools. In essence, you can apply to 2 ED1’s and an ED2 if Wake is your first choice.
In Texas, Baylor and TCU would meet your criteria. SMU is a little less sports obsessed, mostly because their teams are worse.
Gonzaga is sports crazy about basketball but they don’t have football and it isn’t a warm weather school.
Notre Dame might work but isn’t a warm location.
Miami might check off all your boxes.
Miami Ohio maybe? You’d be eligible for merit (though I know that’s not an issue - it IS nice) and you’d maybe get into the honors college. It’s not D1 but students love it and have a decent amount of spirit. Hockey games are particularly fun.
OP hasn’t logged in since March, so I’m not sure this new wave of advice is going to help…
Lehigh, Tulane, Northwestern, USC, Duke, Syracuse (safety), etc.