Hi! I’ve been searching for schools and feel totally clueless. I have a bunch of things I want in a school, and though I realize no school is “perfect” I would love to find one that has as many of these things as possible. I would like a mid-sized school that is in either the northeast, mid-Atlantic, or southeast (essentially the right side of the US), has a form of school spirit (not necessarily the typical football spirit, though that’s not bad, but rather a “we’re happy to be here and love the school!” type spirit), and is well rounded (not ONLY stem or ONLY liberal arts). Additionally, one of the most important things for me is that the school is not isolated. I do not need a city school, but I want a school that isn’t in the middle of nowhere: I want to be able to always have somewhere to be able to go off campus and be able to get there without a car. I have an A- average in school (my school doesn’t calculate GPA nor does it offer AP/IB classes), and a 32 on the ACT, 33 with superscore. I am on track to be taking calculus in my senior year, and I also have a HUGE list of extracurriculars, so that isn’t an issue 
Not exactly sure what I want to do yet so I would be applying for liberal arts most likely, because I am much more of a humanities person than a STEM one. If anyone has any suggestions that would be great!
What is your budget? There are many schools up and down the east coast that fit your description.
I suggest to go to campus tours at the schools you are interested to get a feel of what the campus is like. If you can go on weekdays during the semester, I suggest you go during those times to also feel what the students are like. That will help you determine whether you want to go to the school or not.
What were the schools you were going to recommend? I’m not worrying about the budget as of right now, just trying to find schools I’m interested in.
I’ve been on a lot of tours! But do you have any specific school suggestions?
I wouldn’t worry about the size of the school too much. You may want to stay away from huge schools where class sizes are huge; and, you may want to stay away from very tiny schools where the option on campus are very limited. Anywhere in between (say 3,000-16,000ish students) should be fine. I think it is demonstrative of my point that I have very little conception of what the numbers I gave mean. I am not sure I would really notice if a 16,000 student college had 3,000 more or fewer students. I am also not sure I would notice if a 3,000 person college had 1,000 more or fewer students. Almost any college you go to will be meaningfully bigger than your HS and have way more things to explore. I would prioritize other factors if I were you.
In the South I’d recommend Tulane, Miami, Richmond, Wake Forest and Elon. In the Northeast, I’d recommend Lehigh, Boston U, Boston College. This is a place to start.
If you’ve been on a lot of tours, let us know what you liked and those that you will pass on. That is the best way to help you. Also, the “don’t worry about the budget” quote is wasting everyone’s time if there is not an UNLIMITED budget. Do your parents have $300,000+ set aside for your education and are they willing to spend it? If the answer is not yes to both questions, then there is a budget. This is like asking someone to pick a house for you but not giving much indication about which type of house you are drawn to and also not giving a budget. I might suggest the charming cottage by the lake on the edge of a great tourist town, another poster might suggest an ultra modern condo, a McMansion in the suburbs, a mid century modern, or a huge sprawling estate. Start with a budget range. Then let us know what you have seen and found appealing on your tours. The posters here are great at finding hidden gems and matches to meet what people are looking for.
Ok, to respond to all: class size isn’t my biggest concern right now, though I think it is important to mention that I do not want a tiny school, and also do not want a huge one. To the schools mentioned by @kanfly, I’ve actually looked at a bunch of those! Tulane I liked but I do not think I am seriously considering it because I did not love the feel of NOLA (felt very different, which isn’t bad, but to me, it didn’t feel like a strong school environment). Miami I ruled out because I do not want to be in Florida. Coming from the Northeast, I’m looking for a school with “seasons”. Richmond, Wake Forest, and Elon are all schools I still have to look into. Funny that you mention Lehigh and Boston U-- two of my top choices right now! Lehigh I worry that it is too STEM-focused though… I would love any input you all have about that. In response to @bamamom2021, I’ve toured a LOT of schools in the past year or so, and that is how I’ve come to this list of things that I am looking for. And in regards to $, I do not feel super comfortable sharing but luckily, it is not an issue for me.
@lovesummer123 We just toured Boston University last week. My son had low expectations since it is urban and he ended up really liking it! He has a lot of the same criteria as you. I was very impressed with the school and there are so many opportunities to study just about everything. Even though it is urban, it has it’s own campus and the brownstones are beautiful. It’s hard to beat Boston as a college town!
@kanfly If had had similar criteria what were some other schools he liked? I really want to keep seeing if there are others I may like.
The University of Delaware
James Madison University
Syracuse University
U of South Carolina
Clemson
Boston University
Lehigh
Wake Forest
Right now his favorites are WashU, Georgetown, Virginia, Colgate, Boston U and Tulane. He also visited Cornell, Syracuse, Rochester, Miami, Emory, USC, Chapel Hill. Still need to check out Wake, Elon and Richmond
@kanfly thank you!! looking at a few of those too
@twogirls will look into those!! thank you!!
GW
American
Chapel Hill
Keep in mind that I am not distinguishing between safeties, reaches etc…and I am not thinking about cost. Many of these schools are quite expensive.
If you’re not adverse to Catholic schools, take a look at Boston College, College of the Holy Cross and Villanova. They fit what you are looking for.
I’ve looked at GW and American. I didn’t love GW because it didn’t have a strong campus feel, and American was okay but not my favorite. A lot of people here have mentioned Chapel Hill, but isn’t it very difficult from out of state?
@wisteria100 unfortunately I’m not Catholic, but thank you for the suggestions!
Just as an aside: many of the STEM majors are actually Liberal Arts. This includes almost all of the sciences and math, so both the S and the M of STEM are in the Liberal Arts.