SAT scores in, time to find a school. Help?

College Search & Selection
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<p>I've done this before with other kids, but this kid is just looking at the schools where siblings went. I've suggested a few schools to visit, but I get a "deer in the headlights" response.</p>

<p>D's SATS were 620/630 1st time. D has a 3.4 GPA, top 1/2 of a very competitive high school. School does not give out class rank. D has 12 community college credits with a 4.0, and is taking 10 more credits this summer. D has $20,000 per year to spend and must graduate in four years. If an OOS cost is higher than this, D is hoping for grants to avoid borrowing money for undergrad. D participated in some teams that won various awards, but doesn't have a lot of school activities or sports. D has been a caregiver for a degeneratively ill parent.</p>

<p>D knows that she wants:
Big school (more than 12,000 students)
Lots of majors (undecided; has considered engineering, nursing, genetics so far)
Not a city (ideally a small town or suburb with a cute college town atmosphere, take-out Chinese food, Starbucks and lots of little stores for fun shopping)
As close to 50-50 (or more guys than girls) as possible
Ideally not more than a day's drive from Western PA (had liked the idea of U-Maine, Alaska and Seattle, but had decided those schools were too far). Prefers cold to heat.
Not a joiner, so sorority scene isn't important. Not a drinker, so bar scene doesn't matter.
T-shirt and jeans or sweatpants atmosphere. Siblings visited two schools (Vanilla-ova and Miami U of Ohio) where it appeared that some students dressed up not down.</p>

<p>So far, thinking about applying to Pitt, Penn State, SUNY Buffalo, Michigan State and Ohio U. I'm not sure whether to encourage her to go look at U-DE, Cincinnati, or schools in New England. It's time to plan a college road-trip or two or three!!</p>

<p>All suggestions will be very much appreciated. She needs good safeties, a match and another reach or two.</p>

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<p>Indiana University-Bloomington</p>

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<p>Is she going, mom, or are you? Not to be smug, but isnt she the one who should be looking? College is about growing up and making decisions. And from my experience, when parents pick schools for students or do the “searching” for them, it ends in a disappointed kid. Let them pick, let them search. </p>

<p>Her stats are fine. The size of the school means you are looking for a large state school. Florida State, Clemson, USC-Columbia, NCState, Virginia Tech, Georgia, Ole Miss, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, UCincinnati, Miami-Ohio, Louisville, Ohio State, Ohio University, PennState, Maryland, Delaware, Michigan State, Missouri, Iowa, IowaState, Minnesota, Wisconsin all come to mind. Let her do the specific research on each starting with the school website (asking to be on the mailing list immediately), looking at programs, professors credentials, assorted interests; then go to public websites like CC, Princeton Review, etc and get a GENERIC feel for the schools. Make a list and visit as many as you can this summer. Then apply to 8-10 schools.</p>

<p>I wouldnt discount small private schools so fast either. They give excellent financial aid. And their atmosphere may be more conducive to her non partying, non sorority type of personality. </p>

<p>No school is perfect. There isnt just one school for your D to attend and be happy. Several will fit the bill. The really hard part comes a year from now when she has to select between colleges that accepted her.</p>

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<p>Some good suggestions for schools - thank you. </p>

<p>Endless - I don’t think you read or grasped the content of my entire post. I’m not a Mom. Kid has already eliminated Miami U of Ohio per my post. I’m just trying to make suggestions for kid’s research, and for possible road trips. That’s a far cry from picking a school for a kid…and as I said, I’ve done this before. Every kid’s approach to this process is different. I itemized what D has said she’s looking for. This isn’t what I’m looking for, or what her siblings looked for. </p>

<p>Smug isn’t the word I’d use for your initial response, but you’re forgiven since you then went on to make some school suggestions even though many of them do not meet D’s criteria.</p>

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<p>Delaware fulfills all requirements except gender ratio (60/40).</p>

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<p>It is tougher to find the 50/50 male/female ratio unless you look at some of the schools with strong engineering programs. I don’t know when you last visited Miami of Ohio but I was there a few months ago and I was surprised and how casual the campus had become. My son attended a few years ago and it was more like you described, a little more dress up. Clemson is a great choice also as is Pitt and Ohio State.</p>

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<p>None of the schools mentioned so far are anywhere near $20,000 all in. Only U of Minnesota ($24,000 all in) or a SUNY (a little less) get near that requirement. I assume the applicant lives in western PA? If so, obviously Penn
State. Also worth checking to see if neighboring states to PA have in-state tuition agreements for PA residents.</p>

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<p>Some of the Ohio State schools may work. It looks like Wright State in Dayton is close to $25K (If I read their site correctly).</p>

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<p>UGA will be too much $, and a reach with that GPA (I got in with something similar, but my CR was 60 higher on SAT)</p>

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<p>The school that I know best, Clemson seems to fit your daughter’s needs</p>

<p>Big school (more than 12,000 students): </p>

<p>-Clemson has 12,000 undergraduates, small for a large public but large enough to provide a lot of school spirit and resources.</p>

<p>Lots of majors (undecided; has considered engineering, nursing, genetics so far)</p>

<p>-Clemson has one of the best engineering, science, and nursing programs in the country. Agriculture, Education and Business are also strengths.</p>

<p>Not a city (ideally a small town or suburb with a cute college town atmosphere, take-out Chinese food, Starbucks and lots of little stores for fun shopping)</p>

<p>-Clemson is a small town devoted to the city with a Starbucks, lots of tiny stores for shopping, and if you need anything else, Anderson is a large city 30 minutes away by bus (public transportation is free)</p>

<p>As close to 50-50 (or more guys than girls) as possible</p>

<p>-Clemson’s male/female ratio is 54/46, more guys than girls because it is more of a technical school.</p>

<p>Ideally not more than a day’s drive from Western PA (had liked the idea of U-Maine, Alaska and Seattle, but had decided those schools were too far). </p>

<p>-Clemson is about 10-12 hours from western PA so it might be a stretch but I managed to drive from Boston to Clemson in a day :)</p>

<p>Prefers cold to heat.</p>

<p>-Could be a problem, the good thing is that students won’t be around in the summer for the intense heat. It stays mild in the winter and warm in the spring. It does snow once a year since Clemson is in the Blue Ridge Mountains</p>

<p>Not a joiner, so sorority scene isn’t important. Not a drinker, so bar scene doesn’t matter.
T-shirt and jeans or sweatpants atmosphere. Siblings visited two schools (Vanilla-ova and Miami U of Ohio) where it appeared that some students dressed up not down.</p>

<p>-Students in the south seem to dress up more but it wasn’t to the point of Miami U where everyone is wearing a tie and jacket to class. It’s mostly a t-shirt/jeans college because of the warm weather. Sorority scene is there but only 10% join so it’s not suffocating the campus. Also, there are plenty of activities for people who don’t party</p>

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<p>^^ Except Clemson is $35K Pierre.</p>

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<p>oh yeah I didn’t read the whole thread, yes Clemson is 24K for tuition and when you add up room/board you get 30-33K for everything, so only consider it if you can get some kind of loan or scholarship</p>

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<p>the following schools are similar to clemson but are much cheaper:</p>

<p>Virginia Tech
NC State
Texas A&M</p>

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<p>Have you tried doing a search for schools with an online college search site? College Confidential has a college search engine or myUsearch.com allows you to put in a bunch of criteria your looking for and it will give you a list of colleges. Hope this helps</p>

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<p>Princeton Review has a college match service called Counselor-O-Matic</p>

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<p>College Board also has a college match service. Petersons has one too.</p>

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<p>For her SATs and GPA, plus big school, lots of majors (including nursing and engineering at minimum), a college town (not a city), decent male/female split, driving distance of western PA, coldish weather, casual atmosphere… </p>

<p>I’m thinking she may like: UMass Amherst, Penn State U Park, U Delaware, Michigan State, U Maryland College Park, SUNY Stony Brook, SUNY Buffalo, Fairfield U, Bradley U, Quinnipiac U, SUNY New Paltz. Of those, she should really look at UMass Amherst and New Paltz, because I think the vibe of the places is what she wants, especially in terms of the cute college towns with lots to do. New Paltz may be a bit on the smaller size for her, but it offers what a large uni does, and I’m thinking maybe…</p>

<p>You’ll need to check costs. Keep in mind that, for many private schools, financial aid may come into play, so don’t necessarily rule out a more expensive school - see where she likes, see where she gets in, see what aid is offered to her, and then decide.</p>

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<p>I think people posting need to be reminded of this part of OP’s post that makes this a difficult problem to solve:</p>

<p>"D has $20,000 per year to spend ".</p>

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<p>I love SUNY New Paltz too, RoaringMice, my son transferred there last semester from a Southern private school and I think it is a much better fit for him. It has some great attributes but not all that the OP is looking for. It is smaller, about 6,000 undergrads and has a higher female than male population. However, it does have the coolest college town with lots of restaurants and little shops to explore and a down to earth and friendly student body and a liberal and diverse atmoshpere. I think it is a good choice for the student who would rather not be a number at a big state school and doesn’t put much stock in greek life and ra-ra sports. Someone who is an original thinker and likes to march to their own drummer yet likes the commraderie of a close knit college community. Oh and it’s relatively easy on the pocketbook too.</p>

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<p>UNC-Asheville is an amazing school that charges around $12,000-14,000 for OOS tuition, one of the best public LAC schools in the country if you are not looking for a huge state school. The College Of New Jersey also fits this same type of school.</p>