My D23 had around a 3.6-3.7UW GPA and was test optional. She did have an upward trend and good ECs. Like you, we mostly targeted schools where we felt like she would do well and she was accepted everywhere she applied with merit.
Off the top of my head she applied to Sewanee, Butler, Baylor, Trinity U, Furman, Creighton, Hope, and Miami. I’m missing some 
Not sure if those are the kind of schools you’re looking at but the Colleges That Change Lives web site is great for smaller options.
Thanks everyone. Great suggestions. We’ve toured some LACs, but my daughter is drawn to larger schools. I loved Whitman College, which we toured in February, and I was disappointed that my daughter wasn’t as enthusiastic as I was. I will continue to encourage her to apply to some small schools in case she changes her mind.
As far as WUE schools, we’ve toured Oregon State and Western Washington. I’m also curious about Northern Arizona and Utah.
My daughter definitely would have applied to NAU if they had her major. We did not apply to Western Washington as they advertised the WUE cutoff at 3.9 unweighted.
What did your daughter think of Oregon State. We haven’t toured yet and are going there this coming Sunday/Monday for tours.
Four great schools - just don’t forget, these schools are not all auto WUE. At some, you have to be awarded it.
Great list - you might consider UNR and Colorado State as well amongst bigger. I know for some majors, Montana State is becoming popular too - and some of the Cal States like Chico are on there.
I’m sure you’ll have lots of big school options.
It’s great you took her to an LAC and it’s great she’s figuring out what she does and doesn’t like. While we all have some favorites (my kid wouldn’t apply to Va Tech and I thought it was paradise) - in the end, they are going to school - but sounds like she’ll have lots to choose from.
Colorado State is a WUE school and S23 is loving every minute of it. It’s hard not to like CSU and FoCO.
We’re here, too. D25 is getting all Bs in every AP she takes. I post on both the 2025 parents threads in the Class of 20XX Community sections at the top of the Parents Forum. We also just did a PNW tour and saw UW, OU, and Portland State. D25 has a particular major interest, but otherwise I would have loved to have added OSU into the mix.
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She liked Oregon State, and the town of Corvallis. It’s a very cute and fun college town.
Oregon State definitely seemed like there were accessible programs for stem majors. Their engineering programs seem like they’re not out of reach for above average (very good but not off the charts stats) students. Which was very refreshing. The school seems well regarded here in the west and definitely in Oregon. We thought the dorms were nice also. I hope you enjoyed your trip. Let us know how it went!
A lot of our local kids go to OSU and are very happy there
D24 Loved the OSU campus, the town and the surrounding areas. She loved the equine center 10 minutes from campus that hires kids of all backgrounds. We enjoyed every meal on campus. She spent two evenings climbing on the two climbing walls, one was empty, the other was packed with kids all challenging themselves and having a good time. The IM fields were packed at all times of the day, campus seemed very alive. We were there on a Monday, and many of our other tours have been on Friday, which might have effected the number of students around.
Unfortunately, the major at OSU doesn’t align very well. If she was going into engineering I think she would have signed up that day. But the Design, Innovation and Management degree was much more management and not enough design. They have Interior and apparel design which were studio based like she wants, but neither of those specialties interest her.
So it’s coming down to the wire with four horses running neck and neck… I am worried none are going to pull ahead at the quickly approaching finish line…
Good luck with the big decision!
This sounds a lot like my son. He is thinking engineering although I think he might do better with pure science for UG and engineering later on, but we’ll see. He thinks he wants to work in the space industry but not major in aerospace, maybe chemE or materials science. We are focusing on NMSF and NMF schools.
if NMF:
UCF (has MS and space connections)
UAH (space)
UTD (campus looks beautiful, student body seems like a fit)
UTulsa (kind of a wild card but can’t ignore the aid)
UMinnesota (our instate which gives some aid for NMF but nothing like a full ride, could be a reach depending on major)
If NMSF:
Missouri S&T
Michigan Tech (remote but enjoyed summer program there, he would need to get competitive scholarship as we are OOS)
Iowa State
U North Dakota (looks like could get a lot of
aid for NMSF as a MN resident, don’t know much about the school but they have some programs he likes)
UTulsa (again, aid)
Wild cards:
UNT if NMF, because of MS program
UM Morris, full tuition if NMF, but no engineering, small and kinda remote
Gustavus Adolphus NM$ but they don’t spell it out, don’t think he wants an LAC but he really has no idea so…? Coe is another one in this category, FT for NMF.
He thinks he wants UCF but I think we need to see it. It’s just so… huge… and there are others places I think might be a better fit for his personality. Lots of road tripping coming at the end of summer.
Am I missing anything obvious? Trying to have some options in case there is a last minute change of heart- like don’t want to go several states away- or go to the South- or maintain the GPA needed to keep the scholarship. 
He is pretty hard to engage in the process and honestly right now I want him to focus on GPA to have more options. He’s sitting at a 3.5 now, a couple of Cs but his school grades on quarters so idk how college board will view them. Never 2 consecutive.
@FoshayMN, what’s the budget? Does there need to be a really big NMF/NMSF scholarship, or is that just a nice to have?
Some schools he may want to consider include:
Oklahoma State (has some big NMF packages)
U. at Buffalo (NY): I don’t think it officially does a flagship match with Minnesota, but it might do so unoffocially.
U. of Cincinnati (OH): This school places a big emphasis on co-ops, if that’s something that would be attractive to him, and the Ohio publics generally freeze tuition for 4-5 years for each incoming batch of freshmen
U. of Kansas
Clarkson (NY): A smaller school option that gives very generous merit aid
Some interesting options!. It is more of a nice to have- we could afford maybe up to about 35k per year but since DS is flexible, and we’re not looking at T20 schools or anything like that, I would love to optimize the opportunity- we have two more to fund through college, and we could convert some funds to Roths, use for grad school, etc. I will look into Cincinnati and Buffalo in particular! another thing I think about is access to direct flights and we would have that for those cities.
Thanks for the ideas!
UCF was a consideration for my D23. (She’s at UF ) While the campus is Big it is laid out very nicely.
Most Dorms are located on Gemini Rd which is a circular road with the academic buildings, Student Union, Library etc in the middle area.
Being OOS Orlando will be easy to fly into.
UCF is in the Big12 for Athletics which brings that aspect to his college experience
Academically UCF has the nickname Space U
29% of Kennedy Space Center current employees are UCF Graduates
One nice thing about UB (Buffalo) is that it is maybe a 10-15 minute drive to the airport from campus and the airport is small and easy. My father was a civil engineering professor there for 30+ years. The engineering faculty is just wonderful. (although I might be biased)
I’ll add in that Kansas State is an excellent school in this range. Gives great scholarships and has a low COL. For us it ended up cheaper than our in state. Their engineering program is very good and getting even better every year. My son’s friends got good jobs all over the country. Excellent in pre health majors, architecture, education, agriculture of course and those are just the ones I’m familiar with. My son was at the high end of this GPA range or just a little above it and has loved it there (big city kid). He has been there 7 years (3 undergrad and 4 veterinary school) and has felt challenged and encouraged. He counts faculty as friends now. We truly believe this school is a hidden gem. (He got into a top internship program, and his wife got into an excellent PA program)
My grandfather was an alumnus! Class of 1938. Engineering!
Went to Niagara Falls a couple of years ago. The airport was a breeze! Lots to do in the area too.