<p>My daughter has a 3.0 GPA (A's in English/Art/Social Studies and C's in Math & Science classes) and average SATs. She wishes to major in Studio/Visual arts, perhaps minoring in Fashion merchandising or Design. </p>
<p>She takes challenging classes and has the normal spread of ECs and sports and works very hard. She also does volunteer work & has a part time job. </p>
<p>She does not wish to go to an Art school... but is looking at colleges with 4,000 to 15,000 students, with strong art programs. She prefers East Coast locations including NE, SE & Mid atlantic. </p>
<p>She has Appalachian State U, University of Denver & Radford U on her short list. We'll be visiting Univ of Rhode Island and Roger Williams U soon. </p>
<p>Any other suggestions for schools that the average student could get into?</p>
<p>Can't specifically help with the specific arts program questions, but there's been a few other threads on the topic of "B" students that you might want to look through:</p>
<p>You also might want to consider subscribing to the US News "Best College" online edition. Regardless of what you think about the rankings, the paid site has a lot of good information, including a feature on "A+ Schools For B Students". I'd also suggest the Colleges That Change Lives website, but I think all of those schools are smaller than what she's looking for.</p>
<p>You are fortunate: There are about 2,000 colleges in the U.S. and probably more than half of them are good schools for average students. </p>
<p>In addition to checking U.S. News college site (It is worth it to pay the $15 for full access), check also Loren Pope's "Colleges that change lives" site and his books for some recommendations.</p>
<p>Why doesn't she want to go to a good art school? Majoring in studio art, minoring in fashion merchandising -- that's what good art schools are for. My daughter has a friend at Pratt who's loving it, including the academic component. She's a smart kid with a profile like your daughter's, who could easily have gone to a "regular" college. But she's getting much better, more focused art instruction (and art-world networking) at Pratt than she would have elsewhere, and there is still a meaningful academic component.</p>
<p>{check also Loren Pope's "Colleges that change lives" site and his books for some recommendations.}</p>
<p>I've aleady checked out "colleges that change lives" and "colleges of distinction". Many of them are very small, but there are a few worth looking at. </p>
<p>{Why doesn't she want to go to a good art school? Majoring in studio art, minoring in fashion merchandising -- that's what good art schools are for}</p>
<p>Most of the art schools she's looked at are very narrow and don't include the liberal arts academic aspect. Also, she wants a school that has strong athletic programs, football team etc. She wants a more traditional college experience with a mix of student types; not just the typical art student. </p>
<p>She is also considering a BFA degree rather than just a BA in Art, which would have many more art classes.</p>
<p>Dudedad, I recently did an extensive search for student interested in Interior Design who doesn't have good grades or scores and actually Marymount University was on the list!</p>
<p>D was also "average" student and looked at schools in NE too. Some of the schools that seemed to have solid art departments included VCU, Temple (both those schools may be too urban for some, but I liked the environment of both schools and felt safe), Montclair State (d did not want to go to school in NJ, but based on the website it looked promising to me and it also seems to have a very solid art design program. SUNY New Paltz has strong art dept and Oneonta does have a design program. Though your d's stats may be on the cusp of getting into the SUNY's, I believe that a kids portfolio for art is often the deciding factor. New Paltz has always had the reputation of being one of the "artsy" Suny's - nice campus and a cute little town not too far from NYC. OOS tuition for the SUNY's is around $11,000. Good luck.
Don't forget about FIT (Fashion Institute of Tech) in NYC. It is also a SUNY school so tuition is also reasonable. Dorms are available for those who live out of town.</p>
<p>I hate the title of this thread, it somehow infers that the student is lesser because they won't or don't want to go to an ivy league school</p>
<p>why not say: D is looking for a good school with this characteristics, and not interested in the ivies....</p>
<p>By using the term "not ivy material" it in a way says the student isn't good enough...and that is not fair to students who just don't like the ivies...</p>
<p>i don't think saying someone is "not ivy material" is insulting. it's not for everyone (clearly), and the most important factor is whether a school is a good fit, not whether you've climbed, as it were, to the top of the greasy pole.</p>
<p>OP, you may want your D to consider FIT in new york. <a href="http://www.fitnyc.edu%5B/url%5D">www.fitnyc.edu</a> . the Fashion Institute of Technology surely has plenty of resources on which to draw, and she's guaranteed a good time.</p>