<p>D just finished her sophomore year. So far great gpa, great scores on practice PSAT and PLAN. We can afford to pay for our state schools, but not a lot over that (so for private schools would need guaranteed merit and/or financial aid). </p>
<p>We are in Florida, and will look further at the state schools, but D really doesn't like the Big State U type schools, preferring small to mid-sized schools. Her current interest is in neuroscience, which might change, but she'd certainly want a school that can offer good science programs.</p>
<p>So, other than Florida state schools, what other schools, maybe in Florida, Georgia, SC or similar distances might be good for us to look into as a likely safety?</p>
<p>what part of florida do you live? north fl–jax, panhandle-Pensacola , west coast naples ft myers tampa, south florida boca fort laud. Miami)
how far does your daughter want to travel?</p>
<p>When you say that you’re financially comfortable with state tuition, are you taking into account the Bright Futures Scholarship? New College in Sarasota might be of interest for your daughter. It is a small, public LAC.</p>
<p>Ecmotherx, we are not counting too much on bright futures since it changes from year to year and can theoretically be greatly reduced or cancelled at any time, but would certainly be helpful! She crossed New College off her list pretty quickly after a brief visit. She didn’t like their ‘no grades’ policy, thre is really nothing around the school. It seemed fairly isolated, and it has a reputation for being pretty alternative/ hippy like. Some ‘alternative’ is good, but perhaps someplace with more of a mix.</p>
<p>Zobroward, we are in northern florida. Anywhere in florida, or anywhere within about a day’s drive (6-7 hours), or a direct flight, or direct train travel…might be considered.</p>
<p>[Wofford</a> College - Neuroscience](<a href=“http://www.wofford.edu/neuroscience/]Wofford”>Wofford College | Neuroscience)
[url=<a href=“http://neuroscience.richmond.edu/]Neuroscience”>http://neuroscience.richmond.edu/]Neuroscience</a> - University of Richmond School of Arts & Sciences<a href=“a%20bit%20further”>/url</a></p>
<p>Thank you so zoboward,<br>
both of those look interesting! Where did you find them? When I pulled them up on the one of the college search sites it noted that there was no neuroscience at either one so eliminated them from our list…obviously wrong since the schools websites say they have it!</p>
<p>University of Alabama was a great safety for me. I was accepted in August and it was nice to know that I had somewhere to go. They offer very generous scholarships to NMF people and high scorers in general. Although it might be a little large, Alabama has honors programs and is definitely on the rise.</p>
<p>I am personally curious as to why your daughter didn’t like New College’s narrative evaluations as opposed to grades.</p>
<p>Here are some:</p>
<p>Agnes Scott College - small women’s college in Atlanta (offers great financial aid)
Berry College - a small LAC 75 miles NW of Atlanta (good financial aid)
Oglethrope University - small LAC in Atlanta (competitive full-ride scholarship)
Georgia College & State University - public LA university
College of Charleston, Charleston SC
Furman University - SC
Birmingham-Southern College - Birmingham, AL
Rhodes College - small respected LAC in Memphis
Sewanee-University of the South - small respected LAC, but it is in the middle of nowhere</p>
<p>No way to advise on safeties without knowing the student’s stats (GPA, SAT/ACT), and without knowing financial situation. A true safety is assured admission and assured affordable.</p>
<p>I realize your daughter doesn’t want a “big school”, but neuroscience is a research-intensive field, and an NRU would have many advantages. I would think having the McKnight Brain Institute right on-campus, along with the in-state tuition, would make the argument for UF fairly compelling…</p>
<p>[What</a> is the McKnight Brain Institute? » McKnight Brain Institute » McKnight Brain Institute » University of Florida](<a href=“http://mbi.ufl.edu/general-information/what-is-the-mcknight-brain-institute/]What”>http://mbi.ufl.edu/general-information/what-is-the-mcknight-brain-institute/)</p>
<p>Thank you! I see some good suggestions here that I hadn’t had on our ‘possibles’ list. I will research them all further, but I do see some that just wouldn’t fit for my D. She hopes to find a school that leans more liberal than conservative, but not to the extreme. We may just have to visit to see what the students are like, but some, particularly in the south, seem to be reported as ‘preppy’ and that does not describe my D. She would prefer to be somewhere that fashion is not a major consideration.</p>
<p>I didn’t know about the Brain Institute at UF. It does sound intriguing, but I do suspect that D would be much happier in a smaller school environment. But…you never know!</p>
<p>I can all but, promise you if your daughter goes to check out mulenberg college she will find the perfect all around fit, if you do visit you can also visit Lafayette , Dickinson and Gettysburg all on the same trip. it is worth the travel it is super close to [Lehigh</a> Valley International Airport (ABE)](<a href=“http://flylvia.com/index.html]Lehigh”>http://flylvia.com/index.html) lehigh valley airport an easy in and out airport. just saying.
U of Florida like another poster mentioned is an amazing school but, is like a city unto itself and is easy to get “lost” in the crowd. U of F is a school I would eye for a graduate education. a strong science base (IMO) is gotten in a supportive LAC setting.</p>
<p>University of Arkansas isn’t terribly huge compared to the other state schools in the south. They aren’t too selective and often times let out of state students pay in state tuition if their stats are good enough. Also they have an honors program.</p>
<p>Check out Furman and Presbyterian. </p>
<p>Also Emory, but it’s not a safety… For anyone.</p>
<p>UAB would be a safety with likely good merit and good neuroscience.</p>
<p>Wofford, Furman and Presbyterian are great schools in SC but there are some considerations. Wofford and Furman have good pre-med reputations. Wofford is more heavily Greek and there is nothing to do just walking off campus even though close to Greenville. Furman is bigger and I think you would be happier if you don’t want a sorority, but it is not a financial safety by any means. Presbyterian is great little school but not sure they have major you want. One the plus side, all of these have 4 year housing (Woffords is really nice). </p>
<p>College of Charleston is worth a visit. I think it’s science/pre-health career options are pretty good and blocks away from medical school.</p>
<p>I encourage you to look at state schools. For instance, USC is big but not as big as UGA and if you qualify for honors college can feel a lot smaller (prob. same at UGA also). Good stats at South Carolina can get you a tuition waiver that makes it very affordable. A larger school also allows you more types of people to hang with…yes USC is big in to Greek life, but in a large school that means about 30% greek as opposed to some small schools. I personally don’t think Clemson’s FA is as good as USC, but it’s another “large” school that doesn’t feel that way.</p>
<p>The OP asked for safeties that weren’t big state universities. I’d say UF is the complete opposite of that criteria. Selective admissions combined with 50000+ students makes UF unsavory for OP’s daughter.</p>
<p>OP, what’s your financial ability? Do you want to restrict colleges to Florida to benefit from in-state tuition, or is cost of attendance not an issue for you?</p>
<p>We just went through the admissions process and we are also in FL. My son was in the top 10 of his class but carefully selected a mix of reaches/matches and safeties. He also applied to large and small schools. He ended up selecting UF because it has the exact program that he wants for his major, but some of the smaller schools in the Southeast that he really liked were Wingate (small) and Elon (mid sized) both of which are in North Carolina. Good luck:)</p>
<p>Flor1 - OP noted they can afford basically equal to instate costs, which is why I suggested some other state schools that aren’t as big as UF since many private schools are probably not going meet that criteria. Really depends on stats and if OP can anticipate merit aid.</p>