Reaches, matches, safeties?

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Seeking some out of the box thoughts here!</p>

<p>White male, GPA 3.6 UW / 4.0 W at a suburban public HS. 680 M, 700 V. Interested in history and international relations, but also film-making (potentially as a minor). Interested in potential ROTC program. EC’s are good and focused in areas relating to politics / history / film. </p>

<p>Wants a campus with a solid social atmosphere, preferably a Greek system … Not too competitive / cutthroat in nature. Wants a campus in an area with lots of natural beauty, access to hiking / walking. Wants a region with four-season weather though not critical. Middle of the road politically – socially liberal but fiscally conservative. Money no object.</p>

<p>Any out of the box thoughts?</p>

2

<p>Reaches:

  • Georgetown University
  • Duke University
  • Dartmouth College</p>

<p>Matches:

  • George Washington University
  • Boston College
  • University of Southern Cali (USC)
  • University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA)
  • University of California - Santa Barbara (UCSB)</p>

<p>Safeties:

  • University of Massachusetts - Amherst</p>
3

<p>dartmouth, is kinda conservative…</p>

<p>UMD maybe… not too much natural beauty</p>

<p>st.mary’s college of maryland perhaps… take a look</p>

<p>Clemson as a back up</p>

<p>UVA as a push…</p>

<p>VA tech as a back up</p>

<p>James madison as a way back up…</p>

<p>Northeastern?</p>

4

<p>maybe UNC chapel hill</p>

5

<p>Cornell
Colgate
University of Vermont
University of Colorado-Boulder
University of Denver
Syracuse</p>

6

<p>"University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA)

  • University of California - Santa Barbara (UCSB)</p>

<p>these are not matches for OOS students, and these days, UCLA is not even a “match” for most top 10% Cal students!</p>

7

<p>Thank you. I don’t want Ivies or things like UCLA on the list. I specifically want some out of the box thinking.</p>

8

<p>Chapman in SCal would be a match. They have a well respected Film School.</p>

9

<p>USC meets some of the requirements[ not the 4 seasons of weather!] It is relatively easy to do minors at USC [ how hard it is to do a minor in FS I don’t know, but direct admission to the Film School, as a freshman, is highly competitive.</p>

10

<p>Miami Ohio seems like a really good match.</p>

11

<p>USC is in the process of simplifying the Cinema-Television minor application. Up until this year it was a miniature of the major application, with a personal statement, transcripts, etc. My D was planning to apply to the minor this spring, but she was advised to wait until Fall 09 when the process will be the same as most other minors - she would simply “declare” the minor. Hopefully the new information/process will appear on the website this summer to confirm what she was told informally.</p>

12

<p>Colgate would be my top pick. Also, Hamilton, Kenyon, Bowdoin, Skidmore, Colby, maybe Middlebury. Doubtful about ROTC at any small school, but these are all politically moderate schools.</p>

13

<p>Ohio University?</p>

14

<p>WUSTL!</p>

<ul>
<li>Can very easily double major or minor in Film/Media Studies </li>
<li>Good (from what I’ve heard) ROTC</li>
<li>Very active Greek system (about 25% of students)</li>
<li>Not competitive, especially in the humanities</li>
<li>Forest Park across the street offers a lot of walking/biking/jogging; outside of the city there are several state parks and a lot a hiking. </li>
<li>Four-seasons, albeit very unpredictable seasons</li>
<li>Not a conservative campus, but not overwhelmingly liberal </li>
</ul>

<p>It would probably be a reach for him.</p>

15

<p>I don’t know your school profile, but USC and BC are not match for 3.6/4.0 and 1380/1600 students. You have good numbers for good colleges but not elite schools. Therefore you really should focus on the matches and safeties that you want to go to. I would suggest Trinity College, Rochester as your matches and UConn as your safety if you want to come to east coast.</p>

<p>Hope this will help. :)</p>

16

<p>WUSTL is definitely a reach.</p>

17

<p>If you have a 3.6/4.0 UW, I presume you are taking AP courses and that means a tough curriculum.</p>

<p>What region are you in now? Do you want to go across country? Change regions? </p>

<p>There are 28 Jesuit colleges in the US. Aside from BC and Georgetown, the remainder would probably offer you scholarship money. I know people at BC and Georgetown with LOWER stats than you and they are NOT athletes. Most Jesuit colleges run about 60% Catholic and 40% non Catholic. They are in Seattle, Spokane, San Francisco, LA, Santa Clara, Omaha, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Chicago, New Orleans, Mobile, DC, New York, Jersey City, Cleveland, Detroit, Boston, Buffalo, Worcester, Scranton, Fairfield Conn. , Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Wheeling. You pick the geography. <a href=“http://www.ajcunet.edu/Member-Institutions[/url]”>http://www.ajcunet.edu/Member-Institutions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>1400 SAT is a cutoff for elite colleges…but they often peer a bit lower if something else on your application attracts them: particularly a social service volunteer item, instead of the usual: “look at me and all my trophies or awards” kind of application. Sincerity wins more acceptances than obsequious narcissism. </p>

<p>For more secular privates look at Vanderbilt, Furman, Kenyon, Sewanee, Washington and Lee, William and Mary (a public school, but functions like a private), Rhodes College, Colby, Bates, Tufts, Colgate, Hamilton, Lafayette, Lehigh, Bucknell, Claremont-McKenna, Colorado College, Connecticut College, Trinity, Miami Ohio, Miami-Florida, Wake Forest, Willamette, Reed College, Whitman College. </p>

<p>Good publics abound, but they can get big and unwieldy. UNC, UVa, Maryland, South Carolina, Clemson, Virginia Tech, NCState, (basically the ACC, ex SC). The ACC has very high academic standards across the board. Outstanding and diverse programs and student body. Excellent faculty. Superb sports. Excellent weather. Outward bound projects, or social service projects. Overseas studies etc etc. </p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

18

<p>Whitman, Occidental, maybe Williams and Bowdoin as reaches?</p>

<p>These schools are pretty liberal, but nothing too intense like Vassar or Oberlin.</p>

19

<p>Chapman in Orange County, CA has a very good film program. Most folks have probably never heard of it, but it’s not a secret for those in the industry. I would describe it as a statistical Match for your candidate. The school is probably also a match on the political spectrum. It may be a little small with about 4200 students and about a third are non-Californians. There is a Greek scene for about a quarter of the students. They offer Air Force ROTC, but it’s thru Loyola Marymount.</p>

20

<p>I think Sewanee fits your description. And depending on where you live it may be “outside the box”. Beautiful campus, 13,000 acres with hiking trails on campus and in surrounding areas. Active international programs in political science and business with funds for international internships. I don’t know about film studies but the theatre program is also active, funded in part by royalties from a gift from the Tennessee Williams estate. Very strong Greek presence but because most social events are open to the campus and members don’t live in the fraternity/sorority houses the Greeks are less cliquish than many other schools. Certainly Sewanee is not as liberal as LACs in the notheast and northwest but by its academic tradition and ties with the Episcopal Church it is generally moderate politically and tolerant socially.</p>