I believe her point is that any school with an acceptance rate in the teens, probably even those in the 20’s, is not an up-and-comer, it has already arrived. She’s not focused on great schools gaining in the ranks but schools that haven’t been part of the top school conversation that have a shot of becoming part of it. Seems like the exercise is to find some great hidden safeties and possible matches. If it’s a reach for most people, it’s not a hidden gem.
@Lindagaf Well, USC’s acceptance rate this year is 13 percent, so it is getting more competitive (as are many colleges).
Waterloo for CS. It’s been acknowledged as world class for years by academics, but their rep is now getting out to the masses. Doesn’t hurt that CS is such a “hot” major.
From @Corbett : “So what private schools in California should an A-student consider if they want a “match”?”
Naming places without looking up the stats which is always dangerous but…
The other Claremont schools (Pitzer, CMC, Scripps… although all still probably too selective to be match);
USD, USF, and LMU;
Mills;
Pepperdine
Cal Lutheran, Cal Baptist, Biola, Chapman (probably safeties for an A student).
We (CA) do seem to be lacking in non-religious private match schools for the unhooked A/A- kid. I think places like Willamette (I’ve got a kid there), Lewis and Clark, U of Puget Sound, and Whitman are getting a lot of CA kids who want that sort of school.
No offense taken.** I guess it comes down to what the true metrics are that determine “up and coming.”
If, as the original poster indicated, we’re talking about “underrated” schools, I think you might be making the case for JMU by underrating it.
I can tell you that the campus has completely changed in the 26 years since I graduated. The expansion across 81 is impressive. The UREC center rivals any rec center that I’ve seen, and definitely contributes to quality of life on campus. JMU is routinely rated in the “Top 10,” and frequently 'Top 5" for food across varied publications. Their athletic teams are successful, though football is D1-AA (and yet VT keeps ducking them… 
) It ranks highly in the “Value Schools” category and is always ranked highly in USNWR, though it doesn’t qualify as a “National University” for whatever reason.
Their 10 year plan is abmitious:
I anticipate popularity of the school continuing to rise. I don’t believe that JMU will ever be the “next big thing” but it will certainly outperform sterile app/yeild calculus because that’s not what retains students and in no way contributes with overall satisfaction of the campus population. No 21 year old graduate ever said, “I really loved my time at XYZ because they consistently grew their yeild.”
**Disclaimer: I’m a completely unobjective alumni that’s about to spend tens of thousands of dollars sending my son there. The opinions expressed here are of a JMU fanboy and are in no way based in quantifiable facts.
I’d add to the schools listed by @washugrad St. Mary’s College and University of the Pacific. UoP is one of those elusive non-religious based schools and the campus is stunning. If it weren’t located in Stockton…
@citivas I am not sure I can answer this well. But in CA you have Stanford, USC, the five Claremont colleges, Cal Tech, Occidental, Redlands, Whittier for more secular private options. For a more religious bent, University of San Diego, University of San Francisco, Pepperdine, Loyal Marymount, St Mary’s and all the small but more conservative colleges, such as Westmont, Point Loma, etc. Chapman is sort of in between secular and religious. There are a lot of private options in the state that would appear to a wide range of good students.
Rightly or wrongly, I have always thought of Santa Clara and Occidental to be just under Stanford, USC, Claremont colleges and Cal Tech.
Excellent, 13% is more proof that USC is not underrated. Most schools with an acceptance rate under, say, 25%, are not underrated, IMO.
@oneofthosemoms , is Stockton still not fantastic? I remember driving by UOP as a kid, and being super impressed that there was a university in my neck of the woods. I had heard of UOP before I had ever heard of Harvard, lol! Regional awareness is definitely a thing.
I completely forgot about UOP as a California private. Good school. My DD went to a choir regional performance there. I am afraid Stockton was a deal breaker for her. Too similar to home and the coast was calling.
@Lindagaf, I’m sorry to say that Stockton is still something short of fantastic, to use your word. My son liked UoP as a school, but the Stockton factor took it out of the running. It’s such a shame. If you plopped that campus down in, I don’t know…let’s say Walnut Creek, it would be an entirely different situation. I would not have hesitated to have him attend UoP, but suffice to say it’s not what one would consider a ‘college town”.
Which is the point I’m trying to make here.
Santa Clara is a great California private university, in the heart of Silicon Valley, that is still surprisingly accessible to good students (48% acceptance rate). Granted, it ranks “just under” better-known universities like Stanford (5% acceptance rate)), Caltech (8%), or USC (13%). But what good are those options, if you can’t get into them?
Occidental is a great California liberal arts college, in the heart of Los Angeles, that is still surprisingly accessible to good students (46% acceptance rate). Granted, it ranks “just under” better-known LACs like Pomona (9%), Claremont McKenna (9%), or Harvey Mudd (13%). But again, what good are those options, if you can’t get into them?
Are there other private colleges and universities in California worth considering? Sure. In my opinion, though, Santa Clara and Oxy seem like the ones with the best combination of broad appeal and relative accessibility.
Should you just forget about chasing privates and simply go to a UC? Sure, if you qualify for in-state tuition. But if you are an out-of-stater who wants to study in California (and judging from college confidential, there seem to be a lot of people like you), then the privates are likely to be better values than paying the out-of-state price at a UC.
Any and all private universities that are already in the top 100.
And some private California schools give good merit and/or financial aid to out-of-state students.
Baylor is going up even with athletic controversies. Many high stats students pick Baylor as they give good scholarships, solid pre-med track and better shot to get a higher GPA and research oppurtunities. Some of them turn down ivies, some turn down other top colleges to avoid being smaller pre-med fishes there. Several NMSF kids from Texas turn down almost full rides at UTD and A &M to go to Baylor. I don’t know about other regions but in Texas, Rice, Baylor and SMU are considerd holy trinity. They provide better college experience compared to overcrowded state schools. I’m noticing this trend since many years.
UT is becoming overcrowded and UTD can’t shed their boring mediocre college for commuters tag even though they try to buy national merit students. Rice is now in big leauges with other elite top 20 colleges and getting more attention. A& M is doing well though even with merit money and cult like alumni they can’t get near UT Austin’s status.
University @ Buffalo (SUNY).
The state is pouring a lot of money into it, biotech, and Buffalo in general (“Buffalo Billion”). They now have the new Med School campus.
By the mid 2020s the metro rail train line will be extended to the main campus to connect both north and south thereby opening up Buffalo to the entire school with an easy train ride. Its pretty easy now with the shuttle but but a rail line makes it even easier.
Agree @NoKillli on University at Buffalo.
Few people know that UB is one of only 60 university members of AAU (Association of American Universities). The other 59 schools are HIGHLY recognizable (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, etc). According to their site, “the 60 AAU universities in the United States award nearly one-half of all U.S. doctoral degrees and 55 percent of those in the sciences and engineering.” UB also has the best undergraduate engineering programs in the SUNY system.
Trinity University in San Antonio.
If UB was closer to NYC, say in the Husdon Valley, it would rank just under Georgia Tech. That’s why BingU gets all the high stats kids, location,location,location. People think UB is an easy school because their admission rate is high. The most popular major is “Former Engineer” a/k/a Business. At work I see no difference between engineers from any of the upstate NY engineering schools (UB/RPI/RIT/Clarkston/Union), including Cornell.
disclaimer: I am not a UB grad but do have a non-engineering kid there now but his roommates and friends are all CS, engineers or pre meds and all had Ivy level stats.
SMU is definitely not in some Texas holy trinity. Baylor either.
If I had to pick top three, I’d say UT, A&M and Rice.