<p>I would love anyone's input on good college suggestions. We are in FL , and are looking in southeast US , maybe to TX,northern boundary DC/VA.
Here is background. S is bright but not very motivated to study. Currently at a private prep school, hanging on to that 3.0 (UW) barely. Weighted still a 3.1 No AP, just honors math classes. Took SAT one time cold , got 1280 or 1830 all 3. Retook it May 3 after a review course,hoping for improvement.
Here is problem: he wants a big SEC football school as he is a sports nut & would prob love love football season. He even started the fantasy football club at his school. But those schools are so huge, and I fear he will swirl down sink in a 300 person class ( some of these intro FL univ classes). I conference with teachers to keep him where he is at grade wise now, and ride him to study.So we are thinking around 10k undergrads ideal, but really 4-18k or so fits. At the same time , he will have NOTHING in common with a really artsy environment,which some of these smaller schools seem to take pride in. Great for them,but wrong for S.
Also, I want "some" academic reputation, not just a college that will grant a degree to anyone willing to pay.
Also, no school where there aren't a reasonable number of out of staters...
Here is possibilities so far:
UNF ( Jacksonville, FL)
Clemson
Furman
High Point ( mixed reviews tho)
Auburn
Alabama ( too big?)
Mississippi
Catholic U
Loyola ,Maryland
Baylor (a stretch admission wise)
anyone? Div 1 football and small ? lol</p>
<p>Auburn or Clemson. Has he visited either school? Very nice campuses and great atmosphere. Small enough to not get lost big enough to offer diverse degree programs, Super football fans (especially Auburn).
A friend of my son is at Alabama and is loving it there also.</p>
<p>We went to Clemson & likes it a lot. I am a little worried about the 3.0 GPA there, though. Their average gpa last year was much higher.
Going to Auburn in July</p>
<p>Alabama has 28k undergrads now. IDK …lol
ty !!</p>
<p>University of SC if you want SEC school. If he can get a higher SAT might pull him up into range of some tuition reduction scholarship. Furman is nice size but more selective than Clemson, etc. Maybe Elon?</p>
<p>Have you tried Texas State University? Small school in a safe environment with a warm weather that is cold (in a Texas or Floridan sense) in the winter. Basketball tends to be the predominate sport there since the school has no football team. It has about 30K students.</p>
<p>He might like Texas Tech. Its football team is known throughout the state.So much so that they have a tradition of throwing tortillas on the field whenever they play against their rival, Texas A&M! And in such as small town (Lubbock), football is pretty much the main focus but not the ONLY focus and it’s more academics and sports based than it is artistic… It’s temperature can be anywhere from 100 degree to about 17 degrees though the girl I spoke with said she has walked to classes in -7 degree weather… Its acceptance rate is 64% and its tuition is around 20K OOS so he may not have too much trouble getting in or affording the school. Lubbock is not a “bustling city”. The closes city that fits that description is probably Dallas which is a considerable amount of hours away. </p>
<p>I just visited Texas Tech a two weeks ago for a competition and spoke with a girl that went there. I quote her words “everyone is pretty much stuck out here so we have nothing better to do other than be nice to each other”</p>
<p>Texas Tech is probably the smallest (and cheapest) of the most well known universities other than Stephen F. Austin and Texas State.</p>
<p>@scmom12 we are visiting Elon in July. But I think it might be a reach . Looking forward to seeing it though ! Great suggestion; exactly what I was looking for</p>
<p>@GoldenState2015 I have never heard of that one; Will definitely look into it !! Texas A&M sounded up his alley but 40k undergrads too big. We are used to hot weather so that’s a non-issue. great ! Will check out-ty !</p>
<p>Definitely not Furman. He would need higher grades and scores to gain admission, and Furman has a fairly intense workload. Clemson may be a reach with that GPA, but it helps if you are OOS full pay. U of SC is rather large. What about TCU? </p>
<p>@overtheedge yeah, I was thinking Furman & Elon both a stretch, but we will be in NC/SC over summer, so wanted to peek. Plus I have a sophomore with higher stats that might as well look while there…</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about TCU . Texas Christian? ( just googled) . Is it very religious or loose affiliation.? We are Catholic but have ruled out strict Baptist type colleges</p>
<p>If you are looking as far north as Loyola MD, take a look at Towson University in Maryland. It is a few miles from Loyola. Towson is large enough to field a football team, but the largest lecture hall holds only 100 students, and most people will only take a psych intro class in that room. It is an instate public university, with a fairly large number of OOS students, mostly from neighboring states. </p>
<p>Also, take a look at James Madison University in Virginia. Quite similar to Towson. </p>
<p>@eastcoascrazy ty! not familiar ; will do :)</p>
<p>Check out Coastal Carolina. It fits most of your criteria.</p>
<p>@my-3-sons I did consider it, but it gets kinda slammed on this board as well of word of mouth.
It could be a default school…
ty for suggestion!</p>
<p>Mariemom, your son’s stats are not that good. I think you are going to have to consider one of the MANY schools others on CC think are inferior for their high stat children. But know that there are thousands, yes thousands, of students who go to schools that are ‘slammed’ on CC and have a wonderful educational experience.</p>
<p>I don’t understand your list though. UNF doesn’t even have a football team and has 15,000+ students. Loyola Md. has a sports feel to it if your chosen sport is lacrosse. Catholic? I’m not seeing how these schools match your son as you describe his interests.</p>
<p>Is it too late to tell him that he needs to get his stats up if he wants D1? </p>
<p>Correction: Texas State does in fact have a football team and has just within the past couple of years added onto the football stadium. It is in San Marcos, Texas, which is roughly halfway between Austin and San Antonio. It’s a beautiful place . . . with lots of distractions! </p>
<p>I am a Texas Tech graduate (of some years ago!) but Lubbock definitely has a small-town feel to it. I grew up in a suburb of Dallas so Lubbock was different but I liked Tech a lot. It is not the most academically challenging school and the campus is very spread out — flat, but spread out. </p>
<p>In NC…don’t waste your time on High Point. As others have said, his stats are unlikely to get him in Elon.
Possibilities in NC…Guilford College, Appalachian State University
How about Ole Miss…SEC football, admissions not as tough as some of the other SEC schools.</p>
<p>@twoinanddone Fair point. Many schools seem to get slammed. My list is weird bc while he may want Div 1 football, we (parents) would like smaller, likely private. Yes, he is at a Jesuit high school ( Catholic) school now,so the Jesuit colleges are very real possibilities.
So I agreed to look at his schools if he would look at mine. Make sense?
UNF has 14,400 undergrads by the way, while UCF ,USF etc have 50k/40k . Thought it was worth a look ,anyway. Thank you for response</p>
<p>@TempeMom yeah, it’s probably 10 years too late -lol
We have 2 others kids whose do very well in school ( husb & I are both lawyers, get the school thing). My oldest just beats to his own drum. What can you do … 
</p>
<p>@cgpm59 Texas Tech has piqued my interest. Would never have heard of it, so ty !</p>
<p>@PackMom Elon is bc we are in area & my sophomore will be eligible. I have heard very mixed reviews abt High Point too. But recently trending upward? I get the feeling of rich,lazy kids though? Not trying to offend anyone, haven’t been there yet. Just the sense I get
And yes, Ole Miss is on list. App State was on list but too liberal for us-would be culture shock :)</p>
<p>@mariemom1 - I agree with your take on High Point.</p>
<p>I did not previously suggest College of Charleston because it doesn’t have a football team. I think Elon is likely a reach and no D1 sports. A lot of the SEC schools are academic matches, but most have 20k plus students. I think Ole Miss and Miss State have around 16k students. A little out of the geographic region, but you may want to check out University of Louisville (now ACC) and University of Tulsa. </p>
<p>TCU is the size you want with big sports. It is religiously affiliated, but Ive heard that all faiths feel welcome. I’m not an expert on TCU so you may want to seek advice from parents and students on the TCU thread.</p>
<p>It’s hard to find D1 sports and a smaller school. If S is willing to give up one of those criteria, it would open up a lot of possibilities.</p>
<p>@Overtheedge see, you are on the right wavelength ! We went to College of Charleston last month . I love loved it !! But S didn’t really care for it. He would not get much out of the art tests,jazzfests,foodfests,etc that Charleston has to offer.
I think it doesn’t have to be Div 1, but it seems that is where the school spirit is as far as attending football & basketball games. My husb went to Duke for 6 years, so my boys grew up watching lots of college basketball. I think they envision college to include going to football and/or basketball games. The Greek part they they are undecided on. But COC is a great suggestion- I loved it
Yes, Elon a massive reach Just wanted to see it
I like the TCU idea- need to research it further. Thx for confirmation on HPU</p>