Recommendations for Matches and Safeties

College Search & Lists
1

Hi there,

I’m looking for some recommendations on mostly safeties and some matches.

Here are my stats:
GPA: 3.95 (Valedictorian)
SAT: 2200
SAT II: Math 2 - 730, World History - 730
APs: Calc AB/BC (5), Comp Govt (5), Human Geo (5), US Govt (4), USH (4), Physics (3)

State: Mississippi

Criteria:
-Strong program in Economics mainly and Politics/International Relations if possible (Very necessary)
-Good job placement in finance, investment banking, management consulting, etc. (Somewhat necessary)
-Suburban/urban campus (Very necessary)
-Preferably warmer weather (Not absolutely necessary, I guess I could survive in the cold North)
-Moderate student body - not overly left-leaning, but ok with moderately left (Somewhat necessary)
-I would like smaller class sizes, but I also enjoy having many students around campus (Necessary more to have smaller class sizes if there are no colleges that can simultaneously fit both requirements)

-Student body likes to have fun on weekends, parties and has a generally relaxed atmosphere, while students are still motivated. Basically, not an overly nerdy college where students always spend time studying (Necessary)
-College that has a connected, traditionally enclosed campus and is not disconnected like say NYU (Very necessary)
-Co-ed (Very necessary)
-Presence of frats is welcome, or any other institution that serves its purpose (Somewhat necessary, but willing to overlook this point if it comes at the cost of the other factors in my list).

I can afford 5-10K per year. Would really like some safeties/matches that are generous with merit or financial aid. I really like the warm coasts (Florida and California especially), but I know finding affordable safeties in Cali would be kinda hard since most of those types of schools are CSUs/UCs.

Colleges I’ve generally considered: University of Florida (though may be too expensive), University of Alabama (generous scholarships to OOSs and generally manageable class sizes), Rhodes College, University of Arkansas (for business), and Miami University. I know Rhodes doesn’t really fit into this list, but I do really, really like the idea of an suburban/urban LAC, yet I can’t find many of those that are matches and safeties (Trinity and Pomona, the only other ones I could really find, would both be reaches or low reaches I guess). Also, I am a male.

Please let me know if you need anything else! Thanks!

2

Miami U is in OH (and has a great business program). Is that the one you meant?

For IB you need to look at higher ranked schools where you won’t get merit aid. IB has been very namebrand oriented.

3

Have you looked at Tulane? High match where you could get significant merit aid.

But the IB thing is a good point, if you’re really interested in the career. Depending on income, those schools may be the cheapest options because of their great need based aid. Stanford, Duke, UNC, UVA, and maybe are probably the best warm weather schools that give OOS financial aid for IB. Maybe Wash and Lee or Claremont McKenna, but I’m not certain about those.

4

For strong econ and smaller class sizes, schools ranked highly in this analysis may be options to consider: “Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges,” IDEAS. You can screen further by your personal criteria.

5

With respect to your location preferences, these Newsweek articles could be helpful: “The 25 Most Desirable Suburban Schools” and “The 25 Most Desirable Urban Schools.”

6

Thank you for the suggestions!
I already have my list of reaches that would fit the IB-connections bill, so maybe for safeties we could exclude that category but have schools that are average/semi-decent in Econ programs in general.

@usualhopeful I’ll check out Tulane! I head that they really check for demonstrated interest and sometimes have the “Tufts Syndrome.” Is that correct?

@“Erin’s Dad” I actually meant University of Miami, I don’t know why I put Miami U. I have looked into Miami U in Ohio, but I don’t think I could survive in Oxford, Ohio.

@merc81 Thank you for the list!

7

Yes, they don’t want to be used as a safety. Also, their “optional” essay is only optional if you want to be rejected.

8

Thanks! Anyone else have any recommendations for matches/safeties?