Would love some suggestions for my DD (junior) as we’re compiling her college list and preparing to try to visit some colleges. Here’s a quick summary (not sure if this is enough to get started on ideas):
Straight A’s / SAT 1590
Varsity tennis / track & field / journalism / photography
Asian from CA / Introverted may or may not be interested in Greek system
Interested in wide liberal arts possibly English or History major but also loves Math and Physics (hard to narrow down for her at this point)
Prefers larger > 4000 school, near urban center or at least with a college town with lots to explore, trying to avoid Pacific Northwest bc of overcast skies and seasonal affective disorder
She is attracted by schools like Stanford, Brown, Princeton - less preprofessional, more intellectually curious - but of course these are very, very difficult to get into so she’d like some “target” schools.
Duke and UNC Chapel Hill might be worth a look. Duke is probably a little more selective than what you are asking for. UNC out of state is right around 18% I think.
Sounds like you’re not interested in less-ideal climates like Boston (BC or Tufts) or Chicago (Northwestern.) What about Wash U in St. Louis? It may be a little closer to selective now than target, but your daughter should be competitive with those posted stats.
How about Lehigh? Has both liberal arts and STEM. Pretty Greek-focused social scene, but sounds like that isn’t a hard no for your student. Almost 6,000 undergrads with a mix in arts & science, engineering and business. Overall acceptance rate was about 30% last year.
That’s good advice on safeties, we’ve personally seen Top 5 students chasing state school scholarships because a specific T20 didn’t come through. That said, this exercise is about targets. There are still certain students out there (assuming certain financial brackets) like OP’s child who would be highly competitive through the process at Wash U.
In less favorable climates, Boston College, Brandeis, Villanova come to mind. This is a little bit of a challenging niche (the Venn overlap of sub/urban, 4K+, very but not ultra selective, and not super overcast.) There are some LACs with larger student bodies (Colgate, Wesleyan, Bucknell) but not necessarily better in the dimensions you’re seeking.
I’m guessing Santa Clara feels too much like a safety + too close to home.
Emory would be great – definitely a lower admit rate than 20%, but also not as rejective as the HYPSMs of the world. Maybe a low reach/high match for the OP. Same boat as WashU.