Colleges

NJPOLKER

My son is applying at some nice colleges in lets say Polk Country. He will move from NJ south because he has it in his head, rightfully so I think.
Here are a few he is in the process of applying to. What other schools do you guys suggest?

Clemson Maybe to too far from home
Villanova Good choice
University of Richmond First choice so far anyway
James Madison Good choice

Any suggestions are appreciated. He likes the Business end of things so I think most colleges may work for him. Obviously he's a pretty good student. Final SAT's aren't completed yet so I don't know how well he we'll score however I am confident he'll do well. He took many classes to help him perform as well as possible so well see..............................

Thanks always

schwarcw

US Naval Academy (right there in Polk country - Annapolis), or the US Military Academy at West Point. I work with a lot of men who went to these colleges. Special people for sure. He'll get out of the service with the skills most employers dream to find.

cnh

Congratulations and Good Luck! Your list is mostly universities so is that what he is targeting? The usual advice is to divide your schools into three groups, Top Tier (might get in, might not), Schools that look like he'll have a good shot, and safety schools (those he would definitely get into).

From your list and not knowing your son, I'd say you have two and three covered. So let's throw in a few Top schools.

Duke University
UNC (Chapel Hill)
Johns Hopkins University
University of Pennsylvania
and possibly University of Virginia

These are just targeting the geographic area that seems to be in play here.

The general Philadelphia area has a plethora of good schools from U. Penn, to Temple, to Villanova, to Drexel (for Engineering/Tech). If your son likes the idea of what a big city offers, Philadelphia is a nice college town that has a lot to offer.

The question here is also "what" he might major in, because that has an effect on what school one might choose. But having taught a couple of thousand undergrads in my time, I can tell you, that not many know what they want when they arrive on campus. They usually come in fairly clueless and inflate Departments like Economics, etc. Only to find out later that they don't belong there.

Hope you've had the chance to "visit" all the schools he's considering because that's also an important piece of the puzzle!

cnh

rooftop59

There are also a number of great schools in Boston, I would think about adding Northeastern to the mix of top schools. My wife is the AVP of admissions at the school I teach at, and she has traveled to China with folks from there, plus my very bright niece attends and loves it.

mhardy6647

I dunno... as was pointed out in the Spinal Tap movie, Boston's not much of a college town.
Not much of a baseball town, either, thankfully.

;-)

I'll add my daughter's UG alma mater, Georgetown, to cnh's list. As a parent, I was exceedingly impressed by their philosophy of education (and their devotion to make parents feel like their mammoth tuition was money well spent!). I guess it's a Jesuit thing (although, FWIW, we're not RCC members).

DForeman

I can vouch for James Madison (my wife works in the college of business). Lots of NJ/NY students attend.

Dawgfish

I know I'm biased in recommending this and it would be an additional hour south of Clemson, but I whole-heartedly recommend my alma mater The University of Georgia. It has solid academics and if there is finer college town in the U.S. than Athens, I have yet to see it! I've seen quite a few btw including many mentioned here.

jflail2

Lots of JMU grads here in my office. They seem to have done well at JMU's undergrad business program. UVA is also an excellent recommendation. Very strong school in the same area.

Fireman32

Come check out the schools in the Raleigh area. Duke, UNC, NC State. All great schools and a great area to live as well.

NJPOLKER

Man oh man, I really appreciate all the feedback. For some reason I knew I could count on the Polk family to assist me with this.

I will speak with him in more detail this evening. I know his councilors at school have been real supportive as has a couple family members who have strong ties to two of the colleges on his list.

I was extremely impressed when we visited Clemson and that's my favorite but he is leaning towards University of Richmond. What he wants is one thing and being accepted is another.

Thanks again for the valuable advice. I have never been through this process before and need all the help I can get.