most challenging OR/CA/WA/AZ college that would accept B+ student

Parents Forum
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<p>Whitman is too much like the OP said she didn’t want though plus rural. </p>

<p>OP: Check out Western Washington University. There are a LOT of smart kids there because a lot of kids who are qualified for UW don’t want to stay in Seattle and they are attracted to Bellingham. Fairhaven is their honors college and that might be reachy for her, but you could check it out. It’s big enough and mainstream enough she might like it.</p>

<p>I also second, third, fourth the votes for U of O. In any state school you are going to find smart, inspiring, motivated students because the financial reality is that not everybody has unlimited choices about where they get to go to school. </p>

<p>U. of Montana in Missoula is another one to check out–it is part of WUE, so tuition is affordable if you live in a member state. Here’s a link to their site: <a href=“http://wue.wiche.edu/[/url]”>http://wue.wiche.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Santa Clara is very rich, very blonde, very Catholic prep so it is not for everybody. Seattle U. and USF are more urban and have a little bit more diverse student body.</p>

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<p>Oh, one other thought: USD (University of San Diego) is supposed to have strong life sciences. Somebody here wrote a trip report and was very impressed.</p>

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<p>I agree with Mini…they will work her hard at Santa Clara University if she gets accepted there. My daughter is a freshman there…was a very high achiever in high school…top 5% graduated, excellent GPA and class rank. She has a 3.2 GPA at SCU. To be honest, she has been completely stressed out at times over her grades. Also, SCU is on a quarter system so each term only lasts 10 weeks. The courses move along VERY quickly. Midterms come only a month into the term or so it seems. The pace is very fast and takes some getting used to. But having said all of that, Santa Clara has been a terrific school, and I can heartily recommend it for others.</p>

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<p>Before assuming that the UC’s are in or out, check to see if she would meet the minimum UC requirements for out of state. The minimum UC GPA OOS (probably going to be different than her high school’s computation) is 3.4, she needs to have taken certain courses, and she’d also need to take two Subject exams. Here’s the link: <a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/paths_to_adm/freshman/scholarship_reqs.html[/url]”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/paths_to_adm/freshman/scholarship_reqs.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Thank you, all - great responses! </p>

<p>I did the UC calculation painstakenly and her GPA came out way too low for out-of-state, because they only look at certain courses and only for 10-11 grades. So, UC system is out. The good news is that I don’t have to push her to take SAT II’s, which would have been a battle. Plus, we won’t have to waste time and money on UC applications.</p>

<p>Santa Clara sounds too intense and not right in other ways - she is not blond, not rich, not Catholic. She is uncomfortable going to any school with a strong religious bend, which will probably rule out USD and USF. Not sure about Chapman.</p>

<p>U Oregon is sounding better and better :-)</p>

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<p>Chapman is not religious or pretentious. It is private and therefore, more expensive. They will accept a B+ student. It is small but friendly. Look into it! It is very popular at our high school. Also consider Loyola Marymount in LA. Even tho it is a catholic school, lot of kids that are not catholic go there. Pepperdine is another one and is in Malibu.</p>

<p>I agree with your assessment re: the UC’s and I would think the Claremont Colleges (Pitzer is one) are probably out. </p>

<p>She could probably get into almost all of the CSU’s. They are moderately challenging, certainly not like the UC’s but on par with most of the other schools you have mentioned including U of O. They are mostly BIG and have a lot of commuters, but some are smaller and residential, such as Chico. Students really like Chico, but it is not near a city…
SLO is for students who know what they want to major in. It is not for the undeclared.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>My daughter is not blond, rich or Catholic. She loves it there. How about Whittier?</p>