<p>Any suggestions for a good student (3.4 GPA some honors classes, 2 AP classes, 1700 SAT) who has worked through his junior year, plays in a band and is intellectually bright and interesting but not a "grind" of a student? He's organized, has very good study skills, loves to read, write music, hike, etc.</p>
<p>He's the kind of student that good teachers love: bright, well-prepared, opinionated but respectful. </p>
<p>He wants a LAC/smaller university with attentive professors and a "college" feel? Sports totally unimportant. Location: perhaps the southeast or mid-Atlantic, elsewhere if he finds his "perfect match." </p>
<p>Reading through these posts about colleges, I'm wondering if he really has any options at all.</p>
<p>stillnadine .. he has plenty of options but i cannot help you here. I am guilty to only being knowledgeable about the universities i am applying to. However, this student seems like an above average decent student who could have some good choices in his hand. I am sure someone more acquainted with a vast number of universities can help you out and there are a lot of those on this website. Just wanted to say that this website does not really represent most of the students in the States.</p>
<p>What kind of atmosphere is he looking for, and what academic areas might he major in? Academic fit is usually one of the easiest areas to narrow down, and to gather recommendations as a starting point. Then, start researching each school's culture and other factors (culture, FA if needed).</p>
<p>With thousands of four year colleges in the states he will have options. While his academic record will limit him at the highest end, there are a large number of schools that meet his requirements if he has the finances. Finances are a key as while many schools will accept someone with his record, few of the schools that will accept him will provide much if any financial aid, and he is unlikely to get merit aid at a match or reach school. More info about his areas of interest will also be useful.</p>
<p>Financial aid is not crucial but, of course, welcome. He's interested in everything: art, music history, literature, environmental science, film, politics... that's why a solid liberal arts program, with a focus on undergrad education, would be fine. </p>
<p>Where ever he goes, he always manages to make the smartest and most interesting friends, though not always the students with the highest GPAs. He attended a 3 week program at Yale last summer and loves the idea of "college." But he is not focused on a major or a career. In fact, last year, at a college visit, he was relieved to learn that he had 2 or 3 years before he had to declare a major.</p>
<p>Right now, he's only interested in UNC Asheville but he really needs to expand his list.</p>
<p>He's got loads of options! Some of the colleges I most admire take students like him and give them a place to really shine. He sounds above average to me, and there would be plenty of schools that would be thrilled to have him, especially in the area he's thinking about. Not knowing his career direction is no barrier to having a super experience at an LAC.</p>
<p>He has plenty of options. There are some 3,000 to 4,000 colleges and universities in the US. US News and many posters on CC focus only on the top 50 to 100 (25-50 research universities and 25-50 LACs).</p>
<p>His GPA is pretty good, and he sounds like an engaged, active, hard-working kid who most colleges would be delighted to have. With 1700 SATs I'm guessing that puts him somewhere around 1150 or so M + CR (the data that's still reported on US News)? At that level he's potentially competitive at some quality LACs in the southeast and mid-Atlantic, like Wofford (middle 50% M + CR SAT 1120-1350, 53.4% acceptance rate), Drew (1030-1280, 61.0% acceptance), Ursinus (1110-1320, 52.7% acceptance), Allegheny (1115-1310, 57.1%), Hampden-Sydney (1025-1230, 66.9%), Juniata (1065-1260, 67.3%), Goucher (1050-1290, 66.3%).</p>
<p>And don't overlook the schools US News lists as "regional universities." Some of these are excellent: Elon (1130-1310, 41.3%), Stetson (980-1190, 64.3%), College of Charleston (1140-1300, 64.6%), Ithaca College (1070-1260, 74.1%) are some. Some of these might be a little "reach-y," others less so. I'd suggest you get the US News listings (on-line edition is convenient and ont that expensive) and look at LACs in the #35-#150 range, as well as the regional listings for "master's universities" and "baccalaureate institutions." You and your S can pick out a few, then look up their websites online, see which look interesting, and come back on CC to see if you can ferret out any additional info. Your problem, it seems to me, will not be a shortage of options, but a surfeit of options. Good luck!</p>
<p>I am not familiar with the souteast. In California, your requirements and matching student population would be found at Chapman College, University of Redlands, U of San Diego, University of the Pacific, Loyola Marymount University, and a bunch more.</p>
<p>Your stats are well above average... just not for a Top 75 university. Yet there are about 3000 more universities and colleges (mostly colleges in the size you prefer) beyond the Top 75. Have fun exploring.</p>
<p>As a starting point check out the "Colleges that Change Lives" Colleges</a> That Change Lives a group of liberal arts colleges that are just below the top tier. I would also check out the Fiske guide and focus on the three and three and a half "book" schools, though some four book schools might be acceptable reaches. Schools that come to mind are Goucher, Hood Washington, and St. Marys in Maryland, Juniata, Allegheny, Susquehana, Washington and Jefferson, Franklin and Marshall, Dickinson and others in Pennsylvania, Warren Wilson In North Carolina, Mary Washington In Virginia, St. Lawrence, Wheaton and Clark in Massachusetts, Alfred, Clarkson, Hobart and William Smith, Ithaca, SUNY New Paltz, and others in New York.</p>
<p>Average students in Colorado attend the state university system eg University of Colorado, Colorado State, Univ of Northern Colorado. Still others attend schools within the community college system eg Metro College of Denver, Arapahoe CC, etc</p>
<p>I'm so glad you started this thread. Your son sounds like mine. He loves to learn, but doesn't always translate that into A's. Someone on CC told me about how to find scholarship calculators. I found quite a few schools where my son would qualify for merit aid.</p>
<p>If I knew how to link my "B+ student parents' thread" from the Parents Cafe, I would link it here. This is exactly the student I had in mind when I started it.</p>
<p>Here are some more in addition to those already mentioned: Hartwick, Marist, Manhattan College, Siena, High Point, Queens University (NC), Roger Williams, Quinnipiac College. </p>
<p>There are many more, these are just off the top of my head.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the suggestions! I've been reading through the "Brag about Lesser Known Schools" sub-forum on the parents Forum. So many possibilities!</p>