Vanderbilt is my top choice school but my numbers are way below their range (1400 SAT). I was wondering what other schools have similar campus vibes. I want a really southern school with strong academics and a lot of school spirit. Also, I love Nashville, so if anyone can recommend schools in cities like Nashville, that would be great. Thanks in advance.
People here have compared SMU in Dallas to Vanderbilt. I’ve never been on SMU’s campus, so I can’t vouch that it’s a valid comparison.
Tulane, Southern Methodist, Texas Christian, Wake Forest, U of Miami, College of Charleston, Richmond, Georgetown.
University of Richmond for sure!
Rhodes fits the bill, though it lacks a big athletic scene like the SEC schools.
A 1400 SAT score coupled with a 3.5 GPA would net you $19K per year in merit aid at Alabama.
@moooop list is right on. I would agree too with the comments about Rhodes and Richmond. Maybe the University of Georgia too. You would very probably like UNC also–great area for students immediately adjacent to campus (Franklin Street)–but it’s almost as much of a reach as Vanderbilt, but not quite, as Vandy’s incoming class has ridiculous numbers, which is not necessarily ideal in every respect.
Note that at Wake Forest, and probably some of the others, visiting and interviewing are a very important part of the admissions process. If you can’t make it to campus, Skype interviews are available. Sign up ahead for either, they fill up fast. Good luck!
I would think that Rice and Emory, having excellent academics, would be worth investigating for fit, though I have never visited campus. Duke has great academics and school spirit.
currently at smu - many people i have met applied and to vanderbilt some were accepted too though much more of a safety for vandy than one people are deciding between.
Can someone comment on how Richmond and Vanderbilt compare further?
I don’t have ties to either but have visited both and am familiar with Richmond. Like Vanderbilt, Richmond has a very nice campus in an upscale area close to downtown bars/restaurants/businesses (google images for the campus to see what I mean). It’s about 4.5 miles straight down to the Fan, Richmond’s most popular nightlife district, just like it’s a short drive from the Vanderbilt campus to the main nightlife area in downtown Nashville. Richmond is undergoing a real Renaissance. It’s redeveloping after the long decline of the tobacco industry. College grads seem to be gravitating there more often, and one sees RVA (Richmond, VA) stickers on cars all over the place. The University of Richmond has a law school and an especially strong business school. I think it’s a little smaller undergrad than Vanderbilt, but in the same ballpark. Richmond is obviously not as competitive as Vanderbilt (few schools are), but still very competitive.
As an aside, one thing that is a little odd to me is that in-state students with top stats/grades overwhelmingly look to UVA and William and Mary, and to Virginia Tech and JMU to some degree. Obviously cost is a big factor; those are all public. In-state students looking at private schools, though, very much focus on out-of-state schools. I don’t often hear of local high school students (Northern Virginia) looking at Richmond and Washington and Lee, which also often ranks very high and has a strong national reputation. Sometimes Richmond, but very rarely W&L. But both schools draw really strong interest from students outside VA. I do know several local students who have moved to Richmond to work after graduation.
One more note: Winston-Salem (home of Wake Forest) was also an old tobacco town. It has redeveloped nicely. An old R.J. Reynolds tobacco factory just reopened this year as the home of Wake’s biotech/bio/health sciences teaching and research programs. You can google Wake Downtown to read about that. It looks great and is spurring further downtown development.
Do you think you could describe SMU’s campus culture a little bit? Like what type of students are there and what is it like being in Dallas?