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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What schools are good for kids who are above average- mostly As, 1450-1500 SAT, but not Ivy material?

Just looking for good fundamentals, good college experience and trying to avoid competitive, cut throat environments and schools that grind you.[/quote]

Here is the center of the problem for schools being called "grindy" :it is all relative to the student! 
A 1450-1500 student is certainly going to be below average at an ivy (or Stanford, Hopkins, Duke), and depending on the major or specific school they may feel as though they have to grind all the time to keep up. Or they may not feel that way, if they are in a major that has easier grading and they do not overload their semesters.
 A 1570+/5s on all hard APs kid at an ivy, even schools that get mentioned on DCUM for being grindy, may be well above the medians, making As when the median is B, even in difficult majors, and have time for fun/EC. These kids do not describe their schools as grindy or cutthroat because they are not particularly overwhelmed by the academics. 
My ivy was know for being cutthroat for premed. Neither I nor any of my friends who made it to med school thought it was cutthroat, and quite a few were BME and premed. The ones who complained about grind /cutthroat culture dropped premed or got a C or two and had to crank up the grind to get the grades to eventually get in. IME, "cutthroat" is complained about when you are average or below average hence you view the majority of other students as intense competition. The rock stars find difficult course/curricula quite doable, they are above the medians and often are surprised some classmates actually study harder yet remain below average. You are correct yours will not be a rock star or even average at an ivy, it is best to aim lower.

For ivy-feel but where 1450-1500 places you solidly top half maybe top 1/4, therefore less grindy feel for your kid:
William&Mary, BC, Notre Dame, Emory, Wake. Maybe Vanderbilt now that they take so many TO.

UVA for bigger with more sports atmosphere, different than ivy because the classes are larger, but not huge school, your kid would still be top half easily.
UCLA or Michigan for big rah rah schools where 1450-1500 puts you top 1/3 easily.

[/quote]
A 1450 is a bottom half score for Emory and Notre Dame.I don't see how you would suggest their scores are lower than UCLA or Berkeley. [/quote]

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