Whew! I went ahead with the assumption of moving past the metro area. Looking forward to following along with your son’s search for a college!
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Of the list that @AustenNut put together, we know students at (or recently graduated from) Goucher, Catholic and Mary Washington - all have been really happy with their school/program. Some of the schools on this list are more urban, a few are closer to exurbs/suburbs, and a few are truly rural. Do you think he’d have a preference? And if you are living out of the country, is (relatively) easy access to an airport important?
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Thanks so much. Building the list with y’all’s help and I am grateful. Looking forward to doing some visits this summer so we know his preference, my hunch is not urban. We toured some urban schools last year with his big sis and he didn’t seem sold. Who knows that might change. Airport access not an issue for us, we always look for an excuse for a road trip when we are home.
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If it meets his needs in other ways, I’ll say that Mary Washington has been such a nice fit for a number of kids we know who are “normal smart” and who are athletically inclined. It’s a nice pretty little campus that feels “college-y”, the kids are friendly and collaborative, and there’s good club and rec sports if he wants to keep up the soccer. It just seems like an all around good place to spend four years.
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Do you know if it has a really liberal vibe? We just visited UNC Asheville and the kids were very quirky. Just wasn’t the right vibe for my sporty son. Someone sAid Mary Washington is similar but don’t know if that’s’ true.
It’s by one is interested 8 just posted reviews of Eastern Tenn State, UNC Asheville, and Western Carolina in the “Colleges that moved up” thread. They are all great schools for this group of kids.
I think Mary Wash is a little more preppy / sporty. Not like polos and khakis or anything, not that kind of preppy, but more like the lacrosse and field hockey kids are probably comfortable there, along with some of the more artsy ones.
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Although this thread quietened down with most of the discussion just in the main 2026 parent thread, I thought I might update for future readers searching (I found the older versions of these threads helpful). C26 has a GPA of just under 3.4 at time of applying rolling/early action this year, overall application does span an upward trend in grades (with counselor letter mentioning late ADHD diagnosis), 1500 SAT, average ECs.
So far applied and accepted to two rolling schools for architecture: ASU (with Provost scholarship $15.5k per year) and Pitt.
Will update EA schools when applicable, Dec-Jan dates. I think they would be classified as one reach and 3 targets/likelies but it’s hard to know with architecture.
One note: UMN is EA with decision date end Jan, but does admit some students rolling -for C26 however the portal updated that they want to see first semester grades with a note that they will still be decided in EA round. (UMN will probably fall off the list now anyway given other admits as they have secondary competitive admission to major.)
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My D has graduated college and my S is in college, but they were both in this GPA range (well D was at the upper end of this range and maybe a little above) and here are some schools they looked at and applied to and also schools that popular with kids at the school I work at with GPAs in this range.
Northern Arizona University (NAU)- This school is located in Flagstaff, AZ. Great school for kids who love the outdoors, there is skiing nearby and lots of hiking opportunities as well. Both my kids toured and applied. Phoenix is about a 2 hour drive from campus and Sedona and the Grand Canyon are nearby as well. Flagstaff does have an airport, but it’s small so many kids take a shuttle or catch a ride with friends to the airport in Phoenix. Most kids at the school are from Arizona, mostly from the Phoenix and Tucson area, but lots of kids from Southern California, Colorado, New Mexico, and a pretty good number from Las Vegas. I had a co-worker who attended NAU (her mom and grandma attended too) and she had a great time there and still keeps in touch with people she met there. She grew up in the San Diego area. We also had a family friend’s daughter attend, she played on the soccer team there and met her husband there. The school has gotten much more popular in our area (Socal) recently. H had a colleague whose kid went there (Kid has graduated, but had a great time), and this year another one of his co-worker’s daughters is a freshman there this year and is loving it. My school (which is a private school) has had kids attend NAU these last few years and all of them seem to have a good experience there. NAU is also part of WUE. Cons- Flagstaff isn’t a huge town, it’s not super small, but it might feel too small for some kids. The dorms aren’t great, but that’s the case at a lot of schools. It can get cold and snowy there in the winter as Flagstaff is located at a very high elevation, but that does keep it from getting real hot like the rest of the state. For kids who grew up in Arizona the school could maybe feel like High School 2.0 if a lot of kids from your high school went there, but I think that depends on the student. On both our tours some parents (who were from Arizona), did ask if NAU would feel like a repeat of high school, but the tour guides who were both from the Phoenix area, said it didn’t feel that way for them. There a lot of out of state kids and it’s a big enough school were even if there are kids from your high school there, you may not even run into them.
St. Mary’s College of California- Small Catholic college in Moraga, CA. Surrounded by suburbia, but a very nice area and not too far from other major cities in the Bay Area. Lovely campus, my D toured the campus and applied, but didn’t end up attending. She liked it, but I think it was just a tad too small for her. S didn’t apply as he felt it was too small from the beginning. One of D’s friends attended and had a great experience. She has a learning disability as well as a physical disability and this school gave her a lot of help and attention. They also have the well regarded Great books program and the Jan Term where students can take unique classes and even go on some interesting trips. Some cons: It’s a small school, a bit isolated (surrounded by neighborhoods, kids might need a car to get around), the tuition is pretty high. That said, everyone I know who has attended has loved the school.
Dominican University of California- Nice, small Catholic school in San Rafael, CA (located in Marin County in the Northern part of the bay area). Very pretty campus and San Rafael is a lovely town. All the buildings are very nice and well-kept, but there isn’t one consistent architectural style, but that’s ok. The campus is pretty small, probably not much bigger than some high school campuses (in fact I think the campus might be the size of the campus of the school I teach at. The campus is located in a residential area, but the downtown area of San Rafael is really cute and it’s not too far by car. It would be a bit of a trek by foot, but probably still doable. The cons: It’s a small school and small campus, it’s expensive and located in an expensive area (when we toured they said they are generous with aid, but our aid offer wasn’t the most generous we got, and the financial aid lady, who was an alum, said she got great aid, but she was a first generation college student, so that probably made a difference), students would probably do ok without a car, but a car might make it easier to reach places off campus since there aren’t really any stores right next to campus. I think it would be the perfect place for a student who wants a small nurturing environment and doesn’t want to deal with a huge spread out campus. If I remember correctly, their nursing program is well regarded.
Sonoma State- State school located in Rohnert Park, CA. A bit north of the bay area in Sonoma County. Nice campus, but not the prettiest campus we saw when we were touring schools. Definitely more residential than a lot of the other Cal State schools. 3 kids in D’s class attended and from what I heard enjoyed their time there. S knew some kids who went and enjoyed it as well. Apparently the dorms are bigger and nicer than a lot of schools. The school is big, but not huge. Some cons: It’s a state school and there can be budget cuts. I know the budget cuts have gotten worse recently and the school may be cutting their sports teams. It’s located again in a suburban area and students would probably need a car to get stores and stuff. Doesn’t have any huge well-known sports teams which may be a turn off to some kids (and like I said above, they may be cutting their sports teams).
Cal Poly Humboldt (formerly Humboldt State): Located up in the redwoods in Arcata which is a small town way up in Northern California (I mean way up, it’s quite a bit North of the Bay Area). Lots of trees and it’s very green and damp. Great for those who love the outdoors. One of my H’s high school friends went here and loved it and she still goes back to visit the campus every so often. We didn’t visit but went to an information session/open house held by the school in our area, the presenters both went to the school and both went into the corporate world after graduation and then gave it up to settle in Arcata and work for the school and raise their kids up there. My kids didn’t end up attending or applying (if I can remember correctly, they felt it was too remote), but I think for the right kids, it can be a great place. It seems like a lot of kids who attend really want to be there and really have a great experience. It seems to attract a lot of outdoorsy, earthy people and a lot of people from SoCal (San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles area, Inland Empire) and the Bay Area, who want something different, but still want instate tuition. Cons- It’s a state school, so again you may have to deal with the results of budget cuts. Housing for students may be limited, i heard students were being housed in nearby hotels. It’s a small town and it’s very remote, Arcata is long way from anywhere. It does have a small airport with flights to LAX and some other places, but if you’re driving there it takes a while, especially if you’re coming from Southern California, and it’s not located on an interstate. That said, I think for the right type of student it would be a wonderful school.
University of Wyoming- Don’t know a ton about it, but it’s another school that is becoming popular with kids in our area (probably because the UC schools are getting harder and harder to get into). It’s got a football team and from what I hear a great study abroad program. Cons- It gets cold in the winter and if you like a big city Laramie probably won’t fit the bill. It is WUE which could help make it more affordable. It also sounds like a great place for those who love the outdoors. Definitely worth checking out.
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