Safeties

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>My D has pretty much settled on her school list, except for a good safety. A bit about her:</p>

<p>GPA: 3.9 UW, comfortably into top 10% of class
APs: 7 total, about evenly split between 4's and 5's
SAT1: 2130, retaking Oct
ACT: 33
SAT2: 770 Lit, 750 Math1
ECs: good, but has not cured cancer or fed orphans in Somalia yet :-)
Essays: I think they are original and pretty good, but probably this what every parent thinks of their kid's essays</p>

<p>School preference: medium-large, residential campus, 5-10k students, strong preference for an urban environment, or at least something very near a large city (e.g., Boston, NY, Chicago, LA, SD, SF), definitely not interested in LACs. She visited a few and hated what she described as the "fishbowl" atmosphere there.</p>

<p>I have encouraged her to consider Clark U, but she thinks it is too small, a bit out of the way, and too much like a LAC. We visited Fordham and she did not like it at all, partially because it is still a 50% commuter school. NEU seems too much like a vocational school, and she is undecided, so it does not appear to be a good match. She is already applying to BU, but it is more of a low match than a safety for her, IMO.</p>

<p>There are number of state schools that would be a low match/safety - Rutgers, UConn, Pitt, Penn State, SUNY-Stony Brook. With the possible exception Rutgers, these do not fit with her strong preference for close proximity to a large urban area.</p>

<p>Any suggestions for alternatives, other than the second tier UC's? Thanks a bunch!</p>

2

<p>American, Drexel. Pitt is an urban campus and Pittsburgh has all big-city cultural and recreational amenities.</p>

3

<p>Umich is awesome.</p>

4

<p>fordham 50% commuter? where did you get that statistic?
check out northeastern. I'd recommend some others but I guess she isn't into LACs.</p>

5

<p>
[quote]
fordham 50% commuter? where did you get that statistic?

[/quote]

When we visited they stated that explicitly, at least for the Lincoln Center campus. 1000 of the 2000 students there commute. When the tour guide was asked about the co-mingling of the two groups (commuters vs live-in), he stated that they were pretty much independent.</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
Pitt is an urban campus and Pittsburgh has all big-city cultural and recreational amenities.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>We are from Portland, OR, and she considers Portland a "small city". This would make Pittsburgh the same, or "large town" in her book :-) Thanks for the suggestion, I do agree that Pitt should be one of the schools she puts on her short list.</p>

7

<p>Holy Cross near Boston.</p>

8

<p>What does LAC's mean if you dont mind me asking?</p>

9

<p>^Liberal Arts College</p>

10

<p>There are two beautiful schools in Chicago that are very urban, yet have a sense of campus. Both are popular safety schools for top Chicago-area kids.</p>

<p>The first is Loyola University Chicago. Loyola has two campuses (as does Fordham), but the Lake Shore campus is the one I'm referring to. One drawback of LUC is that the school is 75% female and the school is affiliated with the Catholic Church. If you're looking at Fordham, though, I guess that's not a concern for you.</p>

<p>The other school is DePaul, which has a fantastic city/campus blend (take the hip neighborhood of NYU, add some buildings clustered together, grass, and a campus, and you have DePaul). DePaul has a better male/female balance and is also affiliated with the Catholic church.</p>

11

<p>I agree with mtngoat1. Northeastern sounds like a good safety.</p>