Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 17:05     Subject: Reviews of colleges in or near big cities for great (but not outstanding student)?
Anonymous wrote:My DS is a good student (A- unweighted at a decent but not "top tier" private school outside DMV), strong standard ECs (varsity sport/club leadership, community service), strong SAT (1510).
Major: Undecided social sciences

Has anyone had a DC attend or have experiences at these colleges that you'd be willing to share?
University of Denver
UW Seattle
McGill
UC Davis or UC Santa Cruz
Santa Clara
U Wisconsin Madison

Finally, would these reaches (USC, BU, tufts, NYU, UCSB, Michigan) be too high of a reach for this profile student? He's interested in applying but I'm afraid they're too reachy.


Good list. I don't think BU/NYU/Tufts are too reachy but you MUST demonstrate interest (tour or sign up for a whole bunch of virtual stuff)!
Anonymous
Post 01/08/2026 02:43     Subject: Reviews of colleges in or near big cities for great (but not outstanding student)?
there is some really good info on this thread!
Anonymous
Post 01/07/2026 23:12     Subject: Reviews of colleges in or near big cities for great (but not outstanding student)?
Anonymous wrote:NP: My older son is at Santa Clara. He informed me he is going to Puerto Rico with friends for spring break. My younger son is at Davis. He’s coming home for spring break because his friends are too poor to vacation anywhere. The rich/poor dichotomy of previous poster rings true to me. I get to save money with my younger son!


The offensive part of the earlier post about Santa Clara is the implication that the school is superior to a UC because there are higher percentages of whites and wealthier upper middle class kids than at a UC.

There are many good reasons to send a kid to Santa Clara, small class sizes, more personal support, perhaps a particular program, but these aren’t particularly persuasive.
Anonymous
Post 01/07/2026 20:48     Subject: Reviews of colleges in or near big cities for great (but not outstanding student)?
Pitt, Carnegie Mellon, Drexel

Anonymous
Post 01/07/2026 20:22     Subject: Reviews of colleges in or near big cities for great (but not outstanding student)?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My DS is a good student (A- unweighted at a decent but not "top tier" private school outside DMV), strong standard ECs (varsity sport/club leadership, community service), strong SAT (1510).
Major: Undecided social sciences

Has anyone had a DC attend or have experiences at these colleges that you'd be willing to share?
University of Denver
UW Seattle
McGill
UC Davis or UC Santa Cruz
Santa Clara
U Wisconsin Madison

Finally, would these reaches [/b](USC, [b]BU, tufts, NYU, UCSB, Michigan) be too high of a reach for this profile student? He's interested in applying but I'm afraid they're too reachy.


If you like USC, with those stats and an undecided major, I would try going EA.


I thought there wasn't any real benefit to applying EA at [b]USC versus RD - is that wrong?


FWIW, USC is now over $99k a year but that allows for only $441 in transportation, so over $100k for most readers of this forum
Anonymous
Post 01/07/2026 20:17     Subject: Reviews of colleges in or near big cities for great (but not outstanding student)?
NP: My older son is at Santa Clara. He informed me he is going to Puerto Rico with friends for spring break. My younger son is at Davis. He’s coming home for spring break because his friends are too poor to vacation anywhere. The rich/poor dichotomy of previous poster rings true to me. I get to save money with my younger son!