The Sunbelt Alternative

College Search & Lists
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<p>For people that know the Sunbelt schools mentioned in the original post (and others suggested afterwards), check over my groupings below and comment on what are comparable schools (broadly speaking). My intention is to help a high school reader by giving a sense of what northern climate schools are in the same vein academically and potentially socially? </p>

<p>First Tier of Private National Universities in the Sunbelt-Duke, Emory, Vanderbilt, Rice, Caltech, USC, Wake Forest</p>

<p>COMPS: All of the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, U Chicago, Wash U, Northwestern, J Hopkins, Notre Dame, Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown, Tufts</p>

<p>First Tier of Private LACs in the Sunbelt- Davidson College, Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd</p>

<p>COMPS: Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Middlebury, Carleton, Bowdoin, Haverford, Wesleyan, Vassar, Grinnell, Colgate, W&L, Hamilton, Smith, Bryn Mawr, Colby, Oberlin, Bates, Mt Holyoke, Macalester, Barnard, Bucknell, Lafayette, Trinity College, Kenyon, </p>

<p>First Tier of Public Universities in the Sunbelt-U North Carolina (18% OOS students), UC San Diego (2% OOS), Georgia Tech (31% OOS), U Texas (5% OOS), U Florida (7% OOS), UC Santa Barbara (5% OOS)</p>

<p>COMPS: UC Berkeley, U Virginia, U Michigan, W&M, U Wisconsin, U Illinois, U Washington, Penn State</p>

<p>Next Tier of Private National Universities in the Sunbelt- U Miami, Tulane, Southern Methodist, Baylor</p>

<p>COMPS: Help?</p>

<p>Next Tier of Private LACs in the Sunbelt- Scripps, Sewanee (Univ of the South), Occidental, Furman, Rhodes College, Elon</p>

<p>COMPS: Help?</p>

<p>Next Tier of Public Universities in the Sunbelt- U Georgia (12% OOS), Texas A&M (6% OOS), Clemson (35% OOS)</p>

<p>COMPS: Help?</p>

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<p>Hawkette:</p>

<p>I’d move Scripps up one tier, as US News (which is all that I’m basing this on, since to do more would require more effort and be less widely trusted, anyway) ties it with Barnard and ranks it ahead of Bucknell, Trinity, Lafayette, and Kenyon (it also ranks above all those included in the next tier of private LACs). In fairness, the first tier of LACs encompasses a decently wide range (1-32 according to US News), and there’s certainly middle-ground (i.e. Scripps is low-ish relative to some first tier, but high-ish relative to next tier). The same appplies to a number of schools on the list, but it’s easiest just to use my own as an example.</p>

<p>I was going to use US News to fill in the rest of the list, but it seems easier just to check US News, which lists the location of each school:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php[/url]”>http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Meanwhile, very nice idea…helpful list! I think that a lot of so-called “Sunbelt” schools (and LACs, in particular) get overlooked because people concentrate their efforts on the Northeast. Sunny southern California does not scream “academia,” but we have it :)</p>

<p>(And again…all points generalizable…just speaking from my own standpoint. Don’t let this come across as a shameless/picky self-plug…I know the list is rough, but I just happen to know the rankings around my own school, and don’t have the immediate willingness to check others. Since I find “Sunbelt” in general to be underrated, I may as well speak up where I can!)</p>

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<p>Student615,
You’re right about Scripps-I probably should have placed it in the first group. </p>

<p>The groups are probably broader than most folks would arrange, but they contain schools that some would consider for 2 and possibly 3 of the Reach/Match/Safety categories. I think that many students overlook schools in the Sunbelt, not because they are inferior but because they are not traditionally part of the conversation. A little investigation reveals their quality and an open-minded student/family will definitely benefit by giving them a full and fair look. </p>

<p>Re comps, can you or anyone give us any help on Comps? For example, for kids in your school, what NE and MW schools are they considering and which Sunbelt schools do they consider at the same time?</p>

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<p>I think people should remember that the allure of warm weather is stronger since the cold of winter is only just getting behind us (people in the Northeast still remember the frozen hell that was the first half of April); in September, the idea of winter cold will seem wonderful after the humidity of summer. </p>

<p>Plus, you get over the humidity. People from the Northeast sometimes don’t realize that EVERYWHERE south of the Mason Dixon Line has Air Conditioning.</p>

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<p>add ‘new college’ to florida.</p>

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<p>is it easier to get into schools in the school if you live in the north, would it be considered geographic diversity?</p>

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<p>Not all of the ‘Sunbelt’ is humid in the first place, remember. SoCal has rarely a hint of humidity, which makes the high temperatures much more tolerable (good since not everything is air-conditioned)!</p>

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<p>If climate is the criterion, it’s tough to pick the sunbelt by state, especially when mountain and coastal areas are involved. The climate of Wm&Mary’s in coastal VA is quite similar to that of Clemson, near SC’s mountains.</p>

<p>monthly & annual snowfall for a whole bunch of places is in the link below
<a href=“http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/online/ccd/avgsnf.txt[/url]”>http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/online/ccd/avgsnf.txt&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Spring may finally be here in the NE and MW, but most of the students will soon be gone. For those who want a little more specificity on average temperatures throughout the school year for various college locations, the following numbers were taken directly from weather.com. Some schools in close proximity were assumed to have equal temps. </p>

<p>AVERAGE HIGH TEMPS FOR Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr</p>

<p>SOME HIGH PROFILE NORTHERN SCHOOLS
Princeton: 76, 65, 54, 43, 39, 41, 50, 61
Harvard/MIT/Brown/Tufts: 73, 62, 52, 42, 36, 39, 46, 56
Williams/Middlebury/Amherst: 69, 58, 45, 34, 29, 32, 41, 53
Cornell: 71, 59, 47, 36, 33, 31, 42, 55</p>

<p>SOME HIGH PROFILE MIDWESTERN SCHOOLS
NW/ U Chicago: 75, 63, 49, 36, 30, 35, 45, 56
U Michigan: 74, 61, 47, 35, 30, 34, 45, 58</p>

<p>SOME HIGH PROFILE SUNBELT SCHOOLS
Duke/UNC/Wake Forest: 81, 71, 62, 53, 49, 54, 62, 71
Emory: 82, 73, 63, 55, 52, 57, 65, 73
Vanderbilt: 82, 71, 59, 49, 46, 52, 61, 70
Tulane: 87, 80, 71, 65, 62, 65, 72, 78
Rice: 89, 82, 73, 65, 63, 67, 74, 79
Caltech/USC: 83, 79, 73, 69, 68, 70, 70, 73</p>

<p>AVERAGE LOW TEMPS FOR Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr</p>

<p>SOME HIGH PROFILE NORTHERN SCHOOLS
Princeton: 54, 42, 35, 27, 21, 24, 31, 39
Harvard/MIT/Brown/Tufts: 54, 46, 38, 28, 22, 24, 31, 41
Williams/Middlebury/Amherst: 45, 35, 28, 16, 9, 10, 20, 31
Cornell: 48, 37, 31, 20, 14, 14, 22, 33</p>

<p>SOME HIGH PROFILE MIDWESTERN SCHOOLS
NW/ U Chicago: 54, 42, 32, 20, 14, 18, 28, 37
U Michigan: 52, 42, 32, 22, 17, 19, 27, 37</p>

<p>SOME HIGH PROFILE SUNBELT SCHOOLS
Duke/UNC/Wake Forest: 60, 47, 37, 30, 28, 30, 37, 46
Emory: 64, 53, 44, 36, 33, 37, 44, 50
Vanderbilt: 61, 49, 40, 32, 28, 31, 39, 47
Tulane: 71, 60, 52, 46, 43, 46, 53, 58
Rice: 72, 62, 53, 47, 45, 48, 55, 61
Caltech/USC: 65, 60, 53, 48, 48, 50, 52, 54</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Add TCU to that list.</p>

<p>COMPS: Boston College, Villanova, etc.</p>

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<p>Places that smart kids wear shorts into Dec</p>

<p>Georgetown
William & Mary
Duke
Davidson
Wake Forest
Vanderbilt
Emory
New College
Rice
Pomona/cmc/HMC
CalTech</p>

<p>A little cooler but still better than Hanover NH</p>

<p>US Naval Academy (windy on the water)
Johns Hopkins
U Virginia (Cooler in Mtns)
Washington & Lee (cooler in mtns)
Stanford (cold like San Fran)</p>

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<p>unfortunately I visited schools in the early fall… so the weather beautiful almost everywhere. so I ended up going north…
I think I’m going to regret it by next winter!</p>

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<p>I’d replace “Pomona/cmc/HMC” above with the Claremont Colleges in general. Minor note.</p>

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<p>You missed the entire states of Arkansas and Oklahoma and ought to include Hawaii as well.</p>