Please help me build a good list.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey,</p>

<p>I'm trying to build a list of schools to apply to so that I will know I have a good mix of reaches, matches, and safeties to ensure that I have some choices at the end of the day. Generally I'm looking for schools in the Southeast, preferably larger than 4-5,000. I want schools that are a good mix of strong academics, social scene, traditional campus and warm weather.</p>

<p>Little bit about me:</p>

<p>Secondary School: Prestigious New England boarding school, pretty competitive
GPA: 3.0 (this is giving me a tough time, because it's pretty low for most schools but it was a pretty strong student body so I think that mitigates it a little/ also had a nice upward trend with a decent amount of AP's and Honors)
SAT: 2010 (730 M, 670CR, 610W) Only took it once, taking it again and a 2100+ wouldn't surprise me
SAT II's: 720 Math1, 720 Literature, a few 5's and and 4 on AP's</p>

<p>EC's: 4 years on the rowing team, prefect, a few clubs and community service</p>

<p>National Commended Scholar, couple semesters on the honor roll</p>

<p>the rest I don't really know, I like to think my recs/essay are pretty strong, but obviously impossible to really tell</p>

<p>so here is the list I was thinking before:</p>

<p>UVirginia
Vanderbilt
UNorth Carolina
Wake Forest University
Washington and Lee University
College of William and Mary
URichmond
UFlorida
UGeorgia
Tulane University
Clemson University</p>

<p>Basically, what are your thoughts on this as a good list for me (Is it too top heavy?) and what would you recommend as some possible additions/subtractions?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance</p>

2

<p>Um, my D was a CT Prep school grad with better stats. Based on her experience your list is definitely top-heavy. Nothing wrong with that of course, as long as you'd be happy with the "match" colleges you list. You do have the advantage of being male. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>If you're not a North Carolina resident, scrap UNC. Only about 15 to 20% of non-resident applicants are admitted and they tend to look for high class rank ahead of SAT scores. W&L might be quite a reach as well, unless you are a legacy or some other hook. </p>

<p>A few suggestions for additions or substitutions are Furman, Elon, or College of Charleston... maybe Rhodes, Millsaps or Rollins if you are OK with slightly smaller colleges. Really, there are only a few dozen premier southern schools from which to choose, so the lists end up looking pretty similar with a lot of overlap!</p>

4

<p>A lot of those are kind of hard to get into, especially for OOS, so I think you should drop a few that you're not as interested in and pick up a few safeties. I think you'll get into Clemson, and I also second the idea of College of Charleston. U South Carolina is another option you should definitely consider for a safety--if you're awarded a merit scholarship, they give you in-state tuition as well. And they have an honors college that you have a good chance of getting into. I also think you'd get into Furman, if you could stand the smaller LAC atmosphere. I don't know about universities outside of SC, since I mostly looked at LAC's, so I can't really say anything about safety options in other states.</p>