After I meet with her again, I should know more. For now, I’m going to give her a spreadsheet of several suggested schools on this thread along with stats, location, etc.
If one of the high stat schools her GC is recommending works out, that’s all positive. I want her to apply within her stat range too so, she has a couple of likely acceptances. The test optional schools look like some great opportunities. Someplace with a caring community feel would be a plus, where she’s less likely to be just a number. Resting on the boarding school reputation feels too risky.
In the end, she’s a person who will make a smart decision. This community has been such a help!
Resting on boarding school reputation may seem risky but I’d argue that those boarding school college counselors do know their stuff. They don’t operate individually either, but the whole college advising office meets to discuss candidates and their options both individually and within the context of the class as a whole. They are proactive in meeting with the AOs from colleges across the country to get their school and the students understood in context. I guess its my way of saying please don’t discount the advice they are giving you. Perhaps it can vary from school to school but following one school’s placement for 5 years I’ve never heard of one student not having a place to go to by May. Again, I think Naviance access would be a very helpful input.
Is Maryland too far north for this student? I’ve heard good things about St. Mary’s. She might also be interested in the “Great Books” programs at St. John’s College in either Annapolis or Santa Fe.
In addition to what others have mentioned, some warm weather smaller schools for her stats include:
Birmingham-Southern
University of Tampa
Florida Southern