<p>It may be a bit early for my soph son since he has no SATs etc yet, but hes doing very well at a competitive school, and taking honors and APs as well as good ECs and two varsity sports. Id like to get a start finding schools *~and Safeties~ *for him. Of course there are the obvious: places like Duke, UVA, Wake, W&M, Stanford, USC, but two years from now, those may prove too much of a reach for a very good all round student with no hooks. What are the others? Hed like a big school with big school teams. I think he might forgo warm weather for a school like Cornell or UMich but he's looking for that big school experience.</p>
<p>Berkeley...definitely big school experience with some big sports programs. Plus the weather ain't too bad. :)</p>
<p>University of Florida and University of Georgia could be two safeties.</p>
<p>UNC-CH, Texas, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Miami University (FL)</p>
<p>Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson, Auburn.</p>
<p>Notre Dame is certainly not warm, Sage, but sports are top-knotch.</p>
<p>top: Berkeley
Very good and a little easier: UCLA, UT Austin, UNC
Safety: Florida, Tx A&M, Maryland, Arizona</p>
<p>Tennessee is a HUGE sports school. The weather is quite nice, except in the winter. It can get a bit chilly.</p>
<p>Thanks, Dorian...being originally from New England, I guess my sense of climate is a bit off. ;)</p>
<p>I was going to say Texas and Georgia- he might have a shot at the honors programs at either.</p>
<p>University of Miami, Wake Forest(better than NE weather), Duke, Georgia Tech, UT-Austin, USC, UCLA, University of Arizona.</p>
<p>My son had very similar requirements for his college search. He wasn't really sure about the warm weather requirement, but for sure wanted good academics & great sports. Some schools he applied to: Clemson, U of Miami (FL), Duke, USC, U of Alabama, Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana & UConn. </p>
<p>For warm weather, I would look hard at Miami & Clemson (son's top 2 choices). Both are big schools, but not huge. Academics are important, but not everything. And sports are big! He ended up picking Clemson and is thrilled!</p>
<p>Texas sounds good</p>
<p>I think what sports might be helpful. Does he play or want to watch?</p>
<p>He plays varsity football and tennis now, but I don't think he'd be able to play at any of the schools where he wants to go. He loves sports and is really looking for a place where he enjoy watching and probably find a team to root for for the rest of his life.</p>
<p>There have been some good picks here ~ a real range of selectivity. I'm writing them all down. Thanks</p>
<p>Wake Forest, Notre Dame (cold), Duke, UCLA, are all good picks. If you are trying to get more info, check out TheU.com, they have stats and info about a ton of schools</p>
<p>University of Nebraska is also known for its sports- and I believe they offer full scholarships to National Merit Finalists. They kept sending me something in the mail about that.</p>
<p>nothing like watching bigtime men's basketball in allen field house at ku. they also have an up and coming football program.........and......... the KU Relays.</p>
<p>Don't know enough about some of these schools to evaluate their quality, but I can't exactly see Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio, Penn State etc. as..... "warm" weather.</p>
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<p>Do be too sure, I think he can walk onto duke's team :D</p>