Schools Like Villanova/Community/Suburban Vibe

College Search & Selection
1

I am looking for universities with a friendly atmosphere, and a strong sense of community, (such as in Villanova?). I have a 29 ACT, 31 superscored. 1340 SAT. a 3.87 uw, and 4.18 W GPA. I am hoping to get some scholarship money, but it is not mandatory. Also, I am from Illinois so within 900 miles is preferred, (but not mandatory if the school is so amazing) so I can be home more often than just holidays? I enjoy city life, but I could not live there I need nature. I was hoping for some schools that are in proximity to some major city, but not in them per say like NYU is.

I most likely want to become a high school Social Studies teacher so the school needs some sort of Undergrad Secondary Education and Social Studies program

My school is rigorous and sends numerous students to Ivy Leagues every year so this GPA was not easy to obtain

Senior year work load: Student Council, Argument/Debate, Philosophy/film, AP Psych, AP Macro, AP Computer Science, Precalculus, Concert Choir Honors (Did not have room for AP GOV, or AP Spanish )

AP/IB: Waiting on scores back on AP Lang, AP APUSh I predict I’ll get mostly 4s and 5s Got a 5 on Euro last year

Awards: Daughters of the American Revolution, Sugarman Award (Spanish excellency, Elected into JR. Leaders program)

Extra Curriculars: Here we go!!
Tennis team (Varsity two years, JV starter two years)
NHS
VHGIVE (Exec Board)
STUCO (exec board, been involved since 6th grade)
VIP (Exec Board)
One Acts (acting) two lead roles, (Will hopefully direct this year)
Basketball, Intramurals (started the frisbee intramurals)
Fresh-Soph Play
Junior Leaders (students are selected by the teachers)
RITE Assembly Leader

Volunteer/Community service: Habitat for Humanity 10 hours, +20 hours for Stuco/NHS, went to FMSC with family

Teacher Rec: Already got two teachers to agree, they should be very strong as I always have had strong relationships with my teachers

Jobs: Worked at a Summer Camp where I had an amazing impact on my kids . I can get a great rec from there

Other
State (if domestic applicant): IL
School Type: Public, extremely competitive
Ethnicity: White (Jewish)
Gender: Male
Hooks: Interview great, family friend is alumni, parents been divorced since I was 2 years old? Parents are divorced custodial parent has a very income?

2

How about U Dayton? Maybe Xavier? Not automatic awards, but you are likely to get merit at both. Both are within the city limits but not downtown.

You are Jewish but mentioned Villanova, so I hope suggesting Catholic schools is OK. Both seem to have inclusive, welcoming environments.

Don’t know whether custodial parent has a high or low income; text got cut off.

3

If you really think you’re interested in teaching, I would recommend staying in state with a public school to keep costs down. If you do decide to go out of state, make sure the state you go to has a reciprocity agreement with IL, if that’s where you plan to attend.

Last year Villanova was a very tough admit. If you get accepted, I wouldn’t expect much merit. Good luck!

4

I agree with@NJWrestlingmom, for teaching going to college where you hope to teach does make life easier.
If you still look out of state, The College Of New Jersey is very strong in graduating teachers. Rated high academically
Extremely close to Princeton and close to Philly.
Good luck

5

Fairfield U is in a very nice suburb, has a reputation for community and has an education program. You are likely to get merit money there.

6

Brandeis. We are not Jewish and visited and were impressed. It’s in a suburban town outside Boston. Top-notch academics. I don’t know about the culture, but students did seem happy and enthusiastic.

Wellesley. Would you consider a women’s college? It is a stunning campus, in a great town, also outside Boston. Great sense of community. School has lots of academic/social connections to MIT/Harvard. We know one recent grad who took several classes at MIT their last couple of years. I’m not sure how that worked.

Denison, outside of Columbus, OH (already recommended that one, right?

University of Richmond: meets your criteria, Richmond is a “hot” city with great nightlife district (The Fan), beautiful campus. It is southern and preppy, if that is appealing or a deal-breaker.

Denison is probably safety-ish for you. The others are maybe high matches, give or take.

7

@TTG the OP is male so Wellesley is out of the question :slight_smile:

8

Whoops! Scanned back and missed that. Never mind.

9

I know a lot of suburban Chicago educators (including both my wife and my best friend from college).

As someone else noted, be sure that any out-of-state education programs will apply to the Illinois state education requirements if you want to come back here because it’s not apples-to-apples in all cases. If you don’t want to come back to Illinois, then it’s simply a lot easier to go to college in the state that you ultimately want to live in. In this field, location actually matters quite a bit.

Assuming that you want to teach in Illinois, the baseline for your scores both financially and academically should be UIUC, which has a great education program along with in-state tuition in your case. In almost other cases, you’re probably going to end up paying more for a lower-ranked school and/or a location where the Illinois education requirements may not be fulfilled, which wouldn’t make too much sense.

Now, if you’re really looking for more of a Villanova-type place that isn’t too far from home, both Marquette and Butler are close by and they might provide merit aid for your stats, although they’re not quite as suburban as Villanova. Personally, though, I wouldn’t pay more than UIUC to go to either place if you ultimately want to teach in Illinois.

10

Frequently an education degree applies well to neighboring states, so look at schools in IN, WI, IA, etc to see if they mention teaching to the IL licensing test.

11

(I can’t seem to edit my last post. Oh well…)

One other thing to consider is grad school. Educators frequently get paid for the next degree but they don’t tend to make a ton of money, so anything you can save at this point will make the Masters a lot more affordable. It sounds bad when you say it out loud, but avoiding the loans today will make it much easier to get started on the next stage of your life. Take a hit on the undergrad prestige at a cheaper or lower ranked school and maybe pick up some merit money. In ten years you’ll be happy you did.

12

@StPaulDad - Agreed and in this case, there isn’t even a prestige factor since UIUC is as highly-ranked as Villanova and higher-ranked than my Nova-like suggestions of Marquette and Butler.

My wife had a similar profile as the OP: top 10 in her class at a super-competitive North Suburban Chicago high school and always wanted to be an educator. She was accepted to both WUSTL and Michigan, which were both a clear tier above UIUC in prestige, but UIUC simply made the most sense for her intended goals both financially and professionally (which was to teach in the Chicago area).

Now, I understand if there’s simply a fit issue since a large Big Ten campus isn’t necessarily for everyone. It’s just determining how much more is finding that fit worth (whether it’s financial or going further away from home) and then you can perform a cost-benefit analysis. “Worst case” for the OP right now is in-state tuition at a flagship that is very highly-ranked for his intended major (and he’s in solid shape to get accepted there with his stats), so that’s a really good baseline.

13

At SMU and it has been described as the same as villanova near the city in an extremely nice suburb. If you are still focused on practicing your faith there is a hillel at SMU and a few temples in the area. Good financial aid and a fair amount of folks from Chicago. Best part is never walking to class in the snow as i am from columbus ohio and know what crappy weather can be.

Also throw on vandy though it will be a pretty big reach with your test scores.