Onward we ride, with determination.

Last week, I thought it would be useful to explore college choices for the B student. This week, I'm turning my attention to the A- student.

By A- student, I mean a student who is getting mostly As and is taking some honors and AP classes -- but not necessarily every honors or AP class available. This student probably has an SAT score in the 1900s or an ACT score of 28-29. It's a student who might be top 25% of her class, but not top 10%. This is a student who probably understands that Berkeley, UCLA, and USC are reach schools.

The list below covers some schools that an A- student -- at least an A- student from California -- might consider. This list might also be useful to an A student looking to round out her list with some higher probability schools.

28 Colleges for the A- Student

  1. American University. Washington, DC. Medium-sized, 4-year, private university.
  2. Baylor University. Waco, TX. Medium-sized, 4-year, private Christian university.
  3. Boston University. Boston, MA. Large, 4-year, private university.
  4. Case Western Reserve. Cleveland, OH. Medium-sized, 4-year, private university.
  5. Clemson University. Clemson, SC. Large, 4-year, public university.
  6. College of Charleston. Charleston, SC. Medium-sized, 4-year, public college.
  7. Fordham University. Bronx, NY. Medium-sized, 4-year, private Jesuit university.
  8. George Washington University. Washington, DC. Medium-sized, 4-year, private university.
  9. Indiana University. Bloomington, IN. Large, 4-year, public university.
  10. Loyola Marymount University. Los Angeles, CA. Medium-sized, 4-year, private Jesuit university.
  11. Northeastern University. Boston, MA. Large, 4-year, private university.
  12. Santa Clara University. Santa Clara, CA. Medium-sized, 4-year, private Jesuit university.
  13. Southern Methodist University. Dallas, TX. Medium-sized, 4-year, private university.
  14. Syracuse University. Syracuse, NY. Medium-sized, 4-year, private university.
  15. Texas Christian University. Fort Worth, TX. Medium-sized, 4-year, private university.
  16. Tulane University. New Orleans, LA. Medium-sized, 4-year, private university.
  17. University of California - Davis. Davis, CA. Large, 4-year, public university.
  18. University of California - Irvine. Irvine, CA. Large, 4-year, public university.
  19. University of California - San Diego. San Diego, CA. Large, 4-year, public university.
  20. University of California - Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara, CA. Large, 4-year, public university.
  21. University of Maryland - College Park. College Park, MD. Large, 4-year, public university.
  22. University of Miami. Coral Gables, FL. Medium-sized, 4-year, private university.
  23. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. Minneapolis, MN. Large, 4-year, public university.
  24. University of Richmond. Richmond, VA. Medium-sized, 4-year, private university.
  25. University of South Carolina: Columbia. Columbia, SC. Large, 4-year, public university.
  26. University of Washington. Seattle, WA. Large, 4-year, public university.
  27. Villanova University. Villanova, PA. Medium-sized, 4-year, private Jesuit university.
  28. Wake Forest University. Winston-Salem, NC. Medium-sized, 4-year, private university.

Good luck!

Jon

Jon Perkins holds a B.A. in English from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He helps students with their college, law school, and medical school applications.