Also Davidson. They call their first years “freshmen”.
Eckerd in St Petersburg.
The problem with the term “freshmen” is that it implies that new students have a limited shelf life.
I suspect that no school wants to be stuck with a bunch of “spoiledmen” after only one year…
[QUOTE=""]
“Freshman” may be regarded as implicitly gender biased by social liberals; “first years” may be regarded as objectionably “correct” by social conservatives.
[/QUOTE]
What a fascinating linguistic marker! I’ve noticed that people from the East Coast tend to be way more sensitive about these things. I’m not sure that’s something he’ll encounter in the CA or OR publics but that doesn’t mean they aren’t very liberal on average.
Can you tell us more about the environment he’s looking for?
I can think of some great privates in Washington but the conservative ones (I’m thinking Whitworth in particular) are mostly on the east side of the mountains and therefore cold in winter. But hearing what he’s looking for, Whitworth could be a great choice. Very conservative, very Christian, in a pretty libertarian environment (Spokane).
Edit: I just cannot for the life of me figure out quote on this message board. Very irritating.
[ quote]Edit: I just cannot for the life of me figure out quote on this message board. Very irritating.[/ quote]
@MmeZeeZee It’s the markup above. Remove the spaces in front of the two "quote"s to make the second sentence look like the first.
Tulane perhaps?
@damon30 Thank you! I forgot the old tried and true markup option. I will do that manually from now on. I assume that this doesn’t add functionality of quoting in thread like some boards have (i.e. the “quote” button which then notifies someone they’ve been referenced).
@MmeZeeZee Correct. You have also type their @screen-name. Very manual here.
I can’t believe no one has suggested Miami of Ohio. Excellent merit, public ivy, conservative, preppy, he would be a big fish in a little pond. Exactly the opposite my D18 was looking for LOL but it sounds like it might fit the bill here! 
What about a not-huge not-flagship state U somewhere south of where he’s living now? There would be plenty of options for eventual major(s) and possibly an honors program for kids with good GPAs like his. Towson in MD, ODU or George Mason in VA, etc.
OP in reply #3 wrote about another college that “his comment was “too many preppy white kids” (noting that he’s white and attends a very preppy HS)”, so “preppy” may not be a desired aspect.
Richmond. Is Wake too top shelf? Villanova or UDel (on the bigger side). Interesting about the first year… I associate that vernacular with UVA and there it has nothing to do with gender.
@ucbalumnus Oops— I missed that. Well then cross JCrew U off the list then 
Sewanee
You might want to read about Mercer. LSU bigger than what you are looking for but diverse. Kennesaw State also bigger than what you are looking for but diverse with very happy students. Highpoint University Might also might be worth a review. GCSU is another school. Sewanee is in the middle of no where. Furman is preppy. Rhodes seemed very inner city to us.
First years are also used heavily in engineering schools because students take as much as six years to graduate.
@eb23282 I posted pretty much the same thing and got SO much helpful advice. I’m still sorting through all the info I got. I hope the link works! Good luck!
Lots of colleges and universities use “first year” now, even publics. It’s more precise language, and it does include transfers or those with many AP credits who are in their first year at the college. It’s not a political statement.
Emory? Or the Oxford campus of Emory?
Try Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. Bright students but not intellectuals. Challenging academics but not overwhelming. About 2500 students near downtown San Antonio (300+ days of sun a year and far from NJ)!
My niece (graduated summa cum laude in an IL high school, top 3% of class of 700) is now a sophomore there with a substantial scholarship. She turned down big name schools and chose Trinity University. Acceptance rate is around 35%, so definitely requires your student to be in top 10% of class to have a good shot at acceptance. Hope this helps!
I know he wants to get out of New Jersey but TCNJ is a smaller middle of the road kind of school with a pretty good accounting program. I don’t think an application would be a bad idea.