<p>At wits end, we have a list, but not nearly as focused as an older sibling who was academically stronger…</p>
<p>The profile…</p>
<p>Sat’s Two part 1230, Three Part about 1850
90 Weighted average (somewhat challenging schedule)
excellent public service EC’s
Senior Class VP
Three years varsity soccer
Two years varsity baseball
Good community activities as well…</p>
<p>The list so far…</p>
<p>UMass Amerst
SUNY Buffalo
Union College
Ithaca College
University of Delaware
University of Marlyland
ELON
SUNY Binghamton
Quinnipiac</p>
<p>Is this list appropriate? Undershooting? Overshooting? Any other schools we should consider. My biggest concern is that we’re overly focused on schools that are becoming way to popular.</p>
<p>He or she needs to decide whether to go big or small. For example, Union is much smaller than any of the other schools mentioned, Elon and Quinnipiac are more in-between and UMass, Delaware, Buffalo and Maryland are much larger. They also have different personalities and different alumni connection advantages (it is not just the number of alumni and where they are placed, it is whether they really identify with the school). My son is at Union and I can tell you that it has the feel of an elite prep school. Very classic, tons of traditions, deep frat scene, small campus, the type of school with active alumni. Most of the other schools you mentioned are quite different from this (not sure about Elon). Union is going to be far more personal than the other schools you mentioned (my son is a first trimester freshman and he has 20-25 kids in two of his classes, 10 kids in a lab and 7 kids in a third class), but schools like Maryland and UMass are going to have many more programs available. Union is a liberal arts education while the others (again, with the possible exception of Elon) are not. As you pointed out, some of the schools you mentioned have become hot, with rising reputations, in the past 10 years. I am not sure if this matters (I guess reputations can go up and down). Also, there is an obvious cost difference between the schools you list.</p>
<p>If you decide to look small and private, there are many schools that may be of interest. If you are looking large and public and you live in the northeast, you seem to have a pretty decent list (many kids where I am seem to add Penn State to that list).</p>
<p>Consider other SUNY schools (New Paltz?) as well as Marist College and Indiana U. I don’t know enough about these schools to know if you have a safety in there or not.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies everyone, I’m pretty sure that UMass Amherst is fairly safe as well as Buffalo. We’ve visited Union (with his brother who is attending Carnegie Mellon) and liked it a lot. I encouraged him to apply to Skidmore as well, especially since the soccer coach had expressed interest but he’s decided against it.</p>
<p>I think he’s the kind of kid who can fit in most anywhere, pretty easy going, makes friends easily. (Nothing like me!)</p>
<p>Syracuse is a bit scary from a tuition standpoint. I think the dichotomy between schools is because he feels he might still play ball at a smaller school, but if not would like a school with a lot of spirit (D1 sports, etc)</p>