good college for me?

Question

i grew up in california, so i want to go to college somewhere warm, because i like the sun. there arent that many schools in california that i like though, so i have also been looking at some places in north/south carolina, like wakeforest and elon. i'm a 3.8 student and heres what i want for college:
a warm location, all year round
big time sports
size: 2,000-10,000 students
possibly a christian school
lots of clubs/ activities
social life: over 60% of people staying on campus for weekends
i live in WI, so it has to accept a lot of out of staters
good academics
if anyone can give me some suggestionbs that would be great :]

Answer 1

Well, you want a medium-smaller size school, but big time sports which will be difficult.

I think you may find that in Cali, though.

My top suggestion would be Santa Clara University.

It is in Silicon Valley, about an hour south of San Fran. Fortunately, it is much warmer (about 85) with more than 300 days of sunshine a year.

Unfortunately, it does not have football.
However (!) it is a Division I school with a huge following in basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, and water polo. They have a very well developed and organized student booster club called the Ruff Rides to which more than 3/4 of the students belong. They are nationally ranked in sports (ex: SI ranked them among top 25, above stanford, right above USC, and right underneath Arizona State).

It is a Jesuit school (Roman Catholic). About half of the students are Catholic, not all practicing. SCU does not require students attend church, but they have 3 required religion courses. Those can range from theology to tradition and comparative religions. You can take classes on Islam, Buddhism, Origins of Religion, Skeptism, Christ Mystery Meaning, Theology of Marriage (most popular)... just among a few. Usually they are students' favorite classes.

They have tons of activities, ranging from involvement with literature and communications, to ethnic and multicultural activites, many club and intramural sports, to common interest such as music, anime, scuba, climbing, squirrels, etc.

It is definitely not a commuting school. 90%+ stay on campus (excepting holidays and 3 day weekends, where they all go to Tahoe instead). Many students talk of the SCU "bubble" where since they have so much activity and diversion on campus, they find it difficult to move out of it :)

It is private, so out-of-state will not make a difference. Actually, many kids are from HI, OR, WA, IL, and Boston, actually. Being private, while not limiting where one is from, also means it is more expensive.
However, because it is private, they have more resources and can be more liberal with financial aid, so don't let that limit decisions. Kids have chosen it over public because it is ultimately cheaper with aid. Being from a non-dominant region will be a bonus for you.

Terrific academics there. Engineering is 14th in Nation. Business is top ranked. There are tons of professors who enter from teh professional world of Fortune 500 to teach here. The school is actually undervalued nationally, it is more of a regional school. But within Silicon Valley and CA, it is very highly valued and recognized. Many recruiters prefer SCU students over many of the other well-known neighbors, to where it actually has become a problem that those close-by big name schools will crash the career events because of the preference to SCU students.

Most important for academics is personal attention and class size. Average is 25, sometimes 40, sometimes 8. Rarely (like Chem I) it pushes larger (maybe 80?). Compare that level of attention to public 400+. The real advantage comes not only in getting classroom attention, but for getting real sincere letters of rec. and for time to actually work on professional projects with professors. I have several friends who are already published.

Kids are very chill. They do work hard, but know how to play hard too. Check it out.

Other school that may offer what you are looking for:
Stanford
University of California and California State Universities
Loyola Marymount, CA
Pepperdine
Reed
Redlands
The Claremont Colleges (Claremont McKenna, Pomona, Harvey Mudd...)
Arizona State
Rice (TX)
Holy Trinity (TX)
Tulane (LA)

Answer 2

I would suggest Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, CA. It is a private christian university, fairly small, and all students under 21 are required to stay in dorms, unless they live with families nearby, so plenty of people are always on campus... it's not really big into sports, but it does fit all your other requirements... so.. check it out.

Answer 3

In Texas: Southern Methodist or Rice

Answer 4

I see the quality of life is important to you, but I don't see where you listed what you want to learn and why. If you don't have a firm reason to spend $40,000-$100,000 to go to school, I'd suggest you just move to a sunny location, get a job and grow in your interest-level without going to school.

Answer 5

College of Charleston, SC or Clemson!!! Best colleges ever!!! College ofCharleston is right on the beach and downtown!! And Clemson is HUGE on sports.

Answer 6

Maybe Georgetown