College for Secondary Education in the South

College Search & Lists
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My daughter is a Junior in HS and knows she wants to be a HS Math teacher. We are from Maine and she wants to go to school and ultimately live in the Southeast. She is a good student with a 4.05 GPA (all honors and AP when available) and 1240 SAT (she is studying to retake and hopefully improve). She works hard for her grades and is looking for a collaborative environment, no super competitive, cut-throat schools. Any school suggestions would be great. We are planning on looking over Feb vacation. Thinking Elon, High Point, Furman and it seems Auburn has a good program. Any suggestions, feedback, input, advice will be much appreciated.

Thank you!!

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Look up the teacher credential requirements in the states of interest. That may help evaluate how good each school’s academic fit for that goal is (probably extensive math courses or major plus teacher training).

Since she will not be a pre-med or biology major, she will presumably avoid pre-med competitiveness.

Do not forget to check net price calculators.

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Prepare her for a little culture shock! :slight_smile: She may be a little suspicious at how friendly everyone is (I speak as a Texan who moved to New England).

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Wake Forest could be a good reach school. It’s test-optional (and a retake might get her to their 1350 median anyway if she’s been prepping). ED would boost her chances (44% ED acceptance rate vs. 28% overall) Could be worth a look when you’re touring. http://education.wfu.edu/undergraduate-programs/secondary-education/

U of Richmond is another reach possibility that has a big ED bump, but it isn’t test-optional
https://education.richmond.edu/teacher-education/index.html

UNC Asheville could be one to consider - offers a LAC experience for a public U price, in a gorgeous setting.
https://www.unca.edu/academics/honors-program/
http://www.smcm.edu/educationalstudies/academic-offerings/what-you-learn/minor/
St. Mary’s of Maryland is another public LAC that could be worth a look if Maryland is far enough south for her.
http://www.smcm.edu/about/whats-public-honors-college/
http://www.smcm.edu/educationalstudies/

Agnes Scott https://www.agnesscott.edu/education/majors-minors.html and Sewanee http://www.sewanee.edu/academics/education/ could also be worth a look. And Rhodes https://www.rhodes.edu/academics/majors-minors/educational-studies

Also check out the Honors College at the College of Charleston
http://honors.cofc.edu/index.php
http://teachered.cofc.edu/index.php

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Auburn
Clemson
Rhodes
Furman
Elon
Winthrop
High Point
Sewanee
College of Charleston
Coastal Carolina

Without knowing your budget, it’s hard to speak more specifically. Those we’ve toured that seemed “collaborative” were Elon and Rhodes. Both have beautiful campuses.

Agnes Scott is all female but looks beautiful. We never toured but it is where Melissa McCarthy’s “Life of the Party” was filmed so you can get an idea. ?

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For more public options: App State (mountains!) and UNC Wilmington (beach!).

The former leans more earthy, crunchy though it’s big enough there’s all types of social groups. The latter is more preppy and perhaps conservative.

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@MaineLonghorn Haha. So true. I do wonder about the culture shock. I asked her about TX and she didn’t want to go that far.

@aquapt Thank you. We toured Wake with my son. Beautiful campus. U Richmond was one I had thought about. I’ve heard a lot about College of Charleston too. Might have to check that out. I hear it’s a city campus, but when I look at pics I do see grassy areas and trees so I’m not sure. Have you visited?

Thanks @mommad23 A lot of confirmation from my current list which is nice. I was thinking we’d check out Elon, High Point, Furman & Auburn over vacation. I haven’t heard of Rhodes, Winthrop or Sewanee. I’ll check them out today!

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@mamawitch College of Charleston is a city campus, but there lots of hundred year old Live Oak trees and greenspace. It’s a nice mix of old and new. My son goes there and loves it. My youngest will most likely be going there as well.You may want to check out some videos on YouTube.