<p>My older D successfully weathered the college admissions last year and has had a wonderful Freshman year at Northeastern. We had tears about not getting off a waitlist at her first choice but she got to choose between UCSD, USC as well as her several so-so schools and her safeties.....
NOW MY YOUNGER D IS A HS JUNIOR WITHOUT THE SAME HIGH GPA AND SAT SCORES. She is a solid B student except for A s in history (A in both AP US and AP Euro this year). She blew Chemistry and is re-taking it to bring up a "D" from her Freshman year.<br>
She has tons of EC (Girl Scout Gold, School leadership offices, Congressional Award). Her final GPA will only probably hoover around a 3.5. We live in Cal so Calif State Schools are a great option but she thrives in small groups and I'd love to give her some direction regarding other smaller schools to look into. The Cal State schools are huge and friends at Cal tate Fulerton and Cal State Long Beach are talking about huge classes. They are also commuter schools which creates a different feel than a school where the students reside on campus.
HER INTERESTS: History and Political Science (active in fund raising and increasing awareness of Human Traffiking in Africa-The Invisible Children Organization) Traveling this summer with the Global Youth Leaders Program
Drama/Theater-has been acting since about 4 years old in community theater and attends an Arts High School
Tolerates math and science</p>
<p>ANY IDEAS?????????? She loves North Carolina and the East Coast but really is a California Girl</p>
<p>what does she want to study, what size schools, what kind of enviroment, urban or rural, needs to be near water, hot or cold weather, greek life, athletics, drama</p>
<p>*<em>She would like a mid size school (class size more important about 30 students in most classes)
*</em>MAJOR IN political science or International Studies
*<em>drama/theater for fun not to major in
*</em>She has only been in Southern Calif but she loves rainy, chilly weather too Her sister is surviving in Boston and she sys she could handle snow as long as she has cute clothes!
*<em>She is interested in VOLUNTEER opportunities not necessarily Greek-she dis annoyed by her college friends who are into drinking more than studying
*</em>No preference urban or rural (but rural would have to be within a couple of hour drive of a city with a major airport)
**We live near the beach but she never goes so that isn't important
THANKS!</p>
<p>Couple of resources. Loren Pope's Colleges That Change Lives (new edition coming out this Summer) and Looking Beyond the Ivy League are both good and contain a lot of info on options for B students. Also, the US News Best Colleges online edition has a nice article on "A+ Options for B Students". From our search (I'm most familiar with southern schools)</p>
<p>UNC Asheville (NC)
Roanoke (VA)
Lynchburg (VA)
Bridgewater College (VA)
Emory and Henry College (VA)
Guilford College (NC)
Winthrop University (SC)
Presbyterian College (SC)
St. Andrew's Presbyterian College (NC)
St. Anselm's (NH)
Saint Michael's (VT)</p>
<p>Since you mentioned NC, Elon is a school that is not too big, nice drama dep't, very into community service and hands on learning. The campus is beautiful as well. Worth a look.</p>
<p>The choices next year can be a lot better with good SATs. My D did minimal prep and only took the SATs once. She was lucky, but I would recommend a more serious approach.</p>
<p>I thought of Elon as well. Didn't mention it because it is becoming a good bit more competitive. You're right about the drama dept. and the campus!</p>
<p>Don't give up on the Cal States. Not all of them are huge commuter schools - e.g. Sonoma, Humboldt, and I'm sure many others are possibilities. There are over 20 Cal States. I'd carefully look at them campus by campus to see if any of them are good fits.</p>
<p>I also recommend the Colleges that Change Lives. Just read through it. If she thrives in small groups a residential college may be a very good thing for her.</p>
<p>Check out these great schools: Beloit, Lawrence, Allegheny. All are snowy though. If they were located in Ma or Ct, they'd be much more selective.</p>
<p>In Ca you could look into U of P, Chapman, Redlands.</p>
<p>Midwestern & southern LACs tend not to get the huge # of applicants, and a kid from California is geographically desireable, so the odds for admission are better. Yet these schools are wonderful educationally. Kalamazoo, Hendrix, Denison, Wooster, etc.</p>
<p>My son has a slightly higher gpa and should have decent SAT scores we are looking into Sonoma State and Monterrey Bay. Both are smaller Cal States. Sonoma appears to have quite a lot of on-campus housing for it's size so I am hoping it isn't a commuter school. Another school we are looking at is Northern Arizona. I think for my son those are all sure bets. We are now looking to find some smaller match and reach schools.
A good friend's D who is a senior now has a similar gpa. She ended up in at all her schools. She surprisingly was admitted to Cal Poly SLO. They were shocked. Her SAT was low. They think it was because she was interested in a major that is not impacted.
Also look into the liberal arts colleges in Oregon and Washington. Willamette being one. Also if she doesn't mind a Christian College we have a friend loving Seattle Pacific.
Also my older D hated going in the ocean. What she didn't realize that as much as she didn't like going in she craved seeing the water.</p>
<p>What about Humboldt State. That one always looked interesting to me. Also Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Great location. A couple of CA schools. I second Redlands. And of course, I am partial to those WI places and Wooster.</p>
<p>Waitingmom, I just sent you an email. There are HUNDREDS of good choices for students like your daughter and I'd be happy to give you some suggestions. If you're interested, email me back.</p>
<p>(edit: I just checked your recent posts so I guess you've been a back for awhile. I guess just on different threads. I'm glad that you're back.)</p>
<p>in cali, i'd look at usf, santa clara, redlands, uop, cal poly & maybe ucdavis. i'd also consider willamette in salem, oregon w/ many poli sci opportunities as it is located across the street from the capital, as well as lewis & clark. is oberlin a possibility?</p>