Hey! So I’m currently a high school junior with a 4.0 GPA (weighted 4.5) and an ACT score of 31.
I’m involved in a lot of extracurriculars (JCL, MAO, Thespian, NHS, and two Church groups), and have had leadership positions in two of them (secretary, 2nd VP, & president of JCL; president of Thespian)
By the end of my senior year I’ll have 7 AP credits
While I’ve been looking at some colleges, I’d like to get others’ input as well.
I’m considering either an Accounting or Nutrition major, and if I go with Accounting, I plan on getting a CPA.
I’ve mainly been looking into colleges in the southeast (NCU Chapel Hill, University of Virginia, and the slightly further north Georgetown University, whose acceptance rate breaks my heart…), but I am more than willing to look into schools anywhere else in America.
I prefer classes with smaller class sizes (like I don’t like the idea of 100+ students in a room), and I wouldn’t mind an area where I could be able to enjoy outdoor activities, whether it be on campus or a few miles out.
If you have any recommendations, please let me know! I plan to start touring a few places this summer, and I’d love to check out places I haven’t thought of yet.
Thanks in advance!!
What state are you from? What is your budget?
William and Mary and University of Richmond. Both are still very competitive, though less so than Chapel (OOS) or Georgetown, and maybe slightly less so than UVA, especially now, because UVA is EA and receives lots of EA applications from students (in-state and OOS) who’ve applied ED elsewhere. The James River is just a few miles from both campuses. The Colonial Parkway runs right along the James from Williamsburg to Jamestown. Richmond (RVA) has a nice James River Parks system. A new, very nice bike trail now connects Jamestown and Richmond. Both are beautiful campuses and have terrific business schools.
If you are willing to go to the Pacific Northwest, Universities of Washington or Oregon might be great choices. UW has a beautiful campus near downtown Seattle. There’s plenty of outdoorsy things to do. Oregon is one of the best schools for people who love the outdoors. UW might be nearly as competitive. It receives a lot of OOS applications, though I believe it might be more challenging for a CA applicant than one from an East Coast state, especially one that does not produce a very large number of applications. Oregon is an excellent school but less competitive.
You might also look at Cal Poly. I don’t know it that well but do know a few alums and a current student. Sounds gorgeous with spectacular weather. Also competitive but probably an advantage again to be from the East Coast. Good luck!
From Louisiana! I could get a good scholarship from LSU with TOPS and a legacy, but I’d prefer out of state
Thank you so much! I’ll look into your suggestions 
Have you asked your parents how much they will spend? You might want to use the net price calculators and ask your parents if the cost is reasonable.
Ahh sorry completely forgot to answer that bit! They’d prefer something under $60,000, but they haven’t given me a specific budget. My mom has said I can go a bit over that, depending on what scholarship money I get. Sorry if that’s not too useful!
Is it under $60,000 PER YEAR? Or in total?
If per year, that puts you in the position to consider many very good private and public schools. But before you fall in like with a school, make sure it has the majors you’re interested in. For example, it looks like Georgetown doesn’t offer a Nutrition major.
Per year yes. Yeah, I noticed that with Georgetown, but they had a few others I was interested in. Trying to stay open-minded about majors, yknow? Thanks so much for your help!
I would start by narrowing down schools by size, major, etc. I would also get yourself a copy of a college guide such as Fiske Guide to Colleges. Lastly… recognize that several of the schools you reference are reaches… which is fine… but make sure you have appropriate safety and match schools.
University of Washington is definitely a fit if you are looking for outdoor adventures. Lakes, Puget Sound, Mountains. Skiing 45 minute drive away. But class sizes tend to be pretty big. University of Puget Sound is close by in Tacoma and has a gorgeous campus. Whitman on the other side of the state is also a great school in a beautiful area. Both are small liberal arts colleges. Both offer merit scholarships too.
University of Colorado, Boulder; University of Denver - neither has nutrition but both have respected business schools; Colorado State University has both majors you’re interested in. All three are outdoorsy places; Boulder/Denver are within two hours or less of fabulous skiing, hiking, mountain biking etc.
If you don’t want to be in classes with 100+ students, I suggest looking at liberal arts colleges.
The downside is that most do not offer an Accounting major and probably fewer offer Nutrition Science. (they pretty much all do offer Econ, Biology, and Chemistry…)
Here are some LACs that offer Accounting:
Washington & Lee
Claremont McKenna
U of Richmond
Bucknell
Scripps (women)
Pitzer
Muhlenberg
Trinity U
Berea
Gustavus Adolphus
Illinois Wesleyan
Furman
I had a hard time finding LACs that offer Nutrition/Nutritional Science.
If it is important that the school offer that major, then LACs might not be a fit academically.
The challenge then is to find universities with small classes. Typically there are some large classes in survey-level courses, which are typically taken your first two years – even at the most selective U’s like Harvard, Princeton and Stanford. Usually when you get into your major’s courses, and certainly the more advanced courses, class sizes tend to decrease sharply.
At LACs, it is pretty rare to have a class with more than 100 students. But you give up access to most of the pre-professional majors.
Thanks for the input!! Definitely helpful! I think someone’s actually recommended Furman to me before!
Whitman, Bates, Colby, Grinnell, st Olaf, Sewanee, st Michael’s, would all offer the type of environment you’re looking for. However I don’t think they offer accounting or nutrition, two majors that are seen as more ‘vocational’ . However you may want to explore the majors they do offer and see whether what they do offer interests you.
I’m a first year business student at DU and I love it! Of course it varies but Daniels is a wonderful business program and I really feel like I’m also getting the chance to explore the different fields of business. The Accounting school in particular is a separate entity within Daniels and is a great accounting school! Really good job placement, they have lots of money so lots of scholarships, and they also encourage the 5 year dual degree program where you get your bachelor’s and master’s in 5 years! So if you have any questions about DU or Daniels let me know!
Check out Wake Forest and Lehigh. Wake has the best CPA pass rate int he country. has for many, many years. LAC college with a great business school. Lehigh has a fantastic business school .