Need a few more safeties

Would love some feedback for my son. Looking for some safety schools that have good reputations. His stats are as follows :
Gpa : 4.1 ( w), 3.6 unweighted
7 Ap classes ( English 11 and 12 , Apush, government , calculus , stats, physics ), ib Spanish 5 and 6. All honors classes .
Nhs
Beta club
Key club
Jv soccer
Jv track
Camp counselor for several years
Major criminal justice/psychology
Schools he’s looking at :
Upitt
Temple
Umass amherst
Jmu
Northeastern ( huge reach )
Ohio state ( reach )

Maybe ;
Syracuse
UVM

He likes a big school , preferably in a city with good athletic programs that he can root for .

Thank you so much !!

Is he looking to stay in the Northeast?

@gallentjill I think he prefers the northeast ( although Ohio state is on the list ). He doesn’t want to go south and not really west. We are in Virginia ansnhe would prefer to go some place else . ( though I got him to agree to Jmu )
And money , fortunately , not an issue .
Thanks for responding .

Standardized test scores?

Test scores?

@LuckyCharms913 Woops . Forgot that :
1240 total

@intparent . Sorry , I forgot .
1240 sat .

Towson U in MD may look too much like JMU, or seem too close to home. There is a reasonable amount of school spirit for the college teams, and easy access to professional sports in Baltimore.

@happymomof1 thanks . I’ve thought of Towson before . May need to introduce it . Thanks

Drexel?

Rutgers?
Fordham – football, in NYC

University of Cincinnati

Not quite the northeast, but closer to you than OSU (I think) and a safety would be West Virginia U.

You need to quickly clarify the geographic regions he’s ok with. If he had a 1500 SAT there would be lots of great schools to choose from in the Northeast. But with a 1240, and with a desire for bigtime sports, the Northeast is not a target-rich environment.

What are his geographic restrictions based on? Has he been to other southern states or to the Midwest? It seems very common on this site for people to assume these areas are full of barely literate hayseeds who wear nothing but bib overalls and trucker hats.

@moooop thanks for info . We live in the south , not the Deep South. I know there are options down this way but he’s set on being north . Maybe he’d be open to Midwest . He did like Ohio state .

North is pretty big! If he’s willing to go that far, then he might like to try U of Minnesota or U W Madison.

If he likes UVM he may like U of Maine at Orono – it’s about the same size, is in a small city, and happens to be a pretty campus. It’s also pretty cheap compared with UVM as they are matching your in-state flagship currently.

With all due respect, an OOS student with an unweighted 3.6 unweighted (which is all UW looks at) and 1260 at Wisconsin is not a viable option. If the OP were willing to look in the midwest, Iowa and Kansas are possible options.

Syracuse? Vermont? Villanova? OSU sounds like a good suggestion. Butler, in Indiana – big time b’ball and soccer. I’m not familiar with how competitive OOS admissions is for U Conn, but that might be worth looking at.

Based on your indicated criteria, schools such as Syracuse, tOSU (Columbus), Ohio University (Athens), UDelaware and UNH may all make sense. These might not all serve exactly as safeties, but the range appears about right for reasonable purposes. UMD could be a tougher admit, but might suit him generally. American would be worth a look for academic reasons.

I don’t think UConn would be a safety but probably a match.

Thanks everyone for your replies . I appreciate the suggestions.