I am a prospective college student and am hoping to get more holistic responses about which schools would be a good match for me. Here are my stats:
SAT: 1190
GPA: 3.4W
AP’S: 3 on APUSH, AP Gov & AP Psych
Honors: Multiple Honors, I believe 9.
EC’s: Gay-Straight Alliance Club, Art Club, Walk in Knowledge Club
Rank: 119/298
Major: Undeclared (Aiming towards fine arts and social sciences though)
I am looking for colleges that are in an Urban setting, but preferably with a well-defined campus. Diversity is also an averagely important factor to me! I am really interested in schools in either Boston or Chicago right now. I live in PA, so I would be applying OOS. (But I’m honestly open to any and all suggestions!!)
I’ve looked at college matches but I know i can receive more personal responses on this site. Thank you so much!
How much of an issue is paying for school? My answers all might be on the expensive side for you. You can run the net price calculators on their websites to get an estimate for yourself.
Clark University in Worcester, MA. Worcester has improved a great deal in last 10-20 years. Clark is not in the best part of the city, but campus is nice. Worcester is a pretty big college town (Holy Cross, WPI, Clark, Becker, and several others). It’s a commuter train ride (hour or so) to downtown Boston.
One outside-the-box idea is Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, VA (RVA). It does not have a well-defined campus, so that’s a downside for you. But it is very strong in the arts (one of the best really), and Richmond is a very “hot” city with a fun nightlife district (The Fan, google it) right near campus. The RVA metro area itself is still southern, but the school has much more of a funky, arty vibe. It attracts arts students (the student who won the top art student award at our very large suburban high school went there) and is very LGBT+ friendly. Weather will be much nicer than Boston or Chicago. Every student we’ve known who has attended has loved the experience. And they are a diverse group.
If you would consider the PNW, you might look at Lewis & Clark in Portland, OR. It’s a spectacular campus with a rainforest in a ravine that cuts across campus (with a great trail). Portland is an amazing city. Downsides: probably expensive, it’s in a nice area in the city but somewhat difficult to get downtown. In terms of admissions, it might be a low reach/reach for you.
Maybe also the University of San Francisco.
If you want to go more outside the box, what about Canadian universities?
Had an idea, UNC-Asheville. It’s a public LAC, not a typical state university. Asheville is a fantastic arts city. It’s in the mountains, so very beautiful with lots of outdoorsy opportunities. Weather is very nice, but cooler than on the eastern side of the state, has winter weather. The school has a campus about two miles from downtown. (It’s personal preference, but I think Asheville, Flagstaff, and Burlington, VT are terrific college towns.) I’m not sure about admissions.)