<p>Santa Clara and Stanford are by far SUBurban not Urban campuses. USC is urban but right on the edge of the ghetto.</p>
<p>I second whoever suggested Pittsburgh. Also, look at Georgia Tech and South Carolina. Both are in medium to large cities.</p>
<p>this might be an uncommon opinion, but Columbia has a solid stand alone campus in nyc and I found great camaraderie and school spirit in my time there. We’re not known for amazing sports by any means, but more students are pretty proud to be there, I certainly was.</p>
<p>Too smart for USC? What the heck does that mean?</p>
<p>*So they’re prepared to pay $200,000? *</p>
<p>Be sure that your parents KNOW that these schools cost over $50k per year…they may be like many parents who have no idea that college costs so much these days. Ask them if you’re not sure if they know how much college costs.</p>
<p>It’s best to know now what the financial situation is. My neighbor’s first child went to college this fall. When I spoke to him a year ago, he was dumbstruck when he found out how much room and board were. He had underestimated tuition as well, but the cost of room and board was just a total shock to him. He thought private tuition was about $25k and that room and board was only a small bit more…LOL So, he had no idea that the COA for many privates is really over $50k per year.</p>
<p>Also…be sure to talk to BOTH parents. Many kids only talk to one parent and then later sadly learn that the other parent is not in agreement with paying as much.</p>
<p>Be sure to apply to some financial safety schools as well. Those are schools that would give you assured scholarships.</p>
<p>Santa Clara might give you a scholarship, but since it wouldn’t be assured, you can’t depend on it.</p>
<p>Notre Dame definitely has school spirit. Urban? Not unless you count being located in a small, broken down, rust belt town that’s a one hour train ride away from a major urban area, “urban.”</p>
<p>these come to mind for univs in URBAN area + school spirit</p>
<p>UPenn, USC, Northwestern, UCLA/UCB maybe</p>
<p>Penn, USC, Northwestern, Georgetown.</p>
<p>the OP’s stats are more than okay. he has a good chance at better schools such as Northwestern, Rice or the like. USC should just be his fallback. what’s wrong with that?</p>
<p>
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<p>OP seems to want not only urban but also highly walkable places - places with lots of pedestrians on streets with shops/restaurants/bookstores (Harvard Sq, Georgetown, Tenlytown in Washington DC). If that’s the case, USC and perhaps Rice (never been but I’ve heard Houston in general is very spread out) should be excluded.</p>
<p>Agree with Penn (near Center City), UC Berkeley (Berkeley + easy access to San Fran), and Northwestern (Evanston + easy access to Chicago).</p>
<p>I realize the OP said he isn’t looking for additional top schools, but I’d add Vanderbilt because it’s urban (adjacent to a very walkable area of Nashville, with downtown just blocks away), has a gorgeous campus, and does indeed have some serious school spirit. I know their teams in big name sports haven’t always come out on top, but men’s and women’s basketball do well, there’s always a crowd for SEC football even if Vandy isn’t a title contender - and don’t they have a pretty fine baseball team? (Just going on what I’ve overheard - not a sports mom here.)</p>
<p>Also recommending Pitt - although my kids didn’t attend, they loved it and it was a top contender on their lists until the decision was made. Amazing spirit, a very nice campus in a neat section of Pittsburgh, and great sports. I think the OP would qualify for the Honors College and some merit aid there.</p>
<p>What is the OP’s definition of “urban”? </p>
<p>Does he mean a mega-sized city like Chicago, LA, NY, etc </p>
<p>Or does he mean any school that is in a medium or large city? (such as with populations of - say over 75,000 people?)</p>
<p>Or…Is he just trying to avoid rural schools that have only a few off-campus hangouts and few off campus things to do???</p>
<p>Also…is he looking for some reaches, some matches, and some financial safety schools that fit his parameters? or just match schools?</p>
<p>University of Minnesota</p>
<p>Big Ten, Big City.</p>
<p>O.K., thanks again everybody for answering. Right now, financial stuff isn’t an issue; I’ll cross that bridge once I actually get into places. I already have some back ups (SUNY schools) in case my parents can’t afford some of these places. However, they do know how much college costs as my brother will be graduating from a private college this year. As for cities, I’d like a pretty well known city, where there is a lot to do outside the college, including music, art, theater, etc. I’m also not looking for reach schools, I’m really just trying to find some schools I can realistically get into. Thanks for all the suggestions, I’ll definitely check them out, and I have a meeting with my guidance counselor tomorrow, so I’m sure she can guide me in the right direction.</p>
<p>I REALLY think you would like Tulane. It’s a nice sized university in New Orleans, and it would be very matchy for you. Maybe even safetyish.</p>
<p>Some suburban schools like Stanford have things to do outside college. The SF symphony, for example, gives concerts in the South Bay. And, driving to SF for art museums is only an hour on the weekend. San Jose has a lively theater scene. Rock concerts are at venues in Mountain View and San Jose. You do need a car for all this stuff, though, as public transportation is limited. There are trains that run to SF, but don’t know how late they run.</p>
<p>Right now, financial stuff isn’t an issue; I’ll cross that bridge once I actually get into places. I already have some back ups (SUNY schools) in case my parents can’t afford some of these places. However, they do know how much college costs as my brother will be graduating from a private college this year.</p>
<p>I can understand that kind of thinking, but consider these options…</p>
<p>Would you rather have a situation where you can’t afford your top choice schools and must go to a SUNY…</p>
<p>OR…</p>
<p>Would you rather have a situation where you apply to your reaches, matches, and SUNYs…and have a couple OTHER schools in your pocket that will give you big scholarships. At least then you’d have a couple of other choices besides SUNYs in case schools like Georgetown are not affordable.</p>
<p>Also…
Did your brother get any scholarship money or take out any loans…or did your parents pay full freight for him?</p>
<p>“I’ve heard USC is in a pretty bad part of the city though, I’m not sure how safe it would be.”</p>
<p>In that case I’d say UCLA. Plenty of school spirit and it’s in a much better part of town. It’s campus is not quite as pretty as USC’s though.</p>
<p>Columbia woo!</p>
<p>You should focus on:
Georgetown
USC
UC Berkeley
BC
GTech
Stanford (bit suburban, but close to a big city)
Minnesota
Washington
Pitt (though it is Pittsburgh)
Miami
UT-Austin (Austin is a small city, but a city)</p>
<p>Fails from this thread:
UMich- Ann Arbor (suburban, not urban)
UNC- Chapel Hill (suburban, not urban)
Notre Dame (rural)
Northwestern (school spirit?)
Rice (bad athletics)
Duke (suburban)
Holy Cross (what? no school spirit and not urban)
Ohio State (Not urban at all)</p>
<p>Have you ever been to Northwestern? There’s purple everywhere. Definitely a lot of school pride, even if subtle.</p>
<p>It is suburban but you could say Evanston downtown is urban enough. You can also hop on the intercampus shuttle, which takes you to Downtown Chicago in 40 mins.</p>