wildcherry45

I'm toying with the idea of majoring in either English (with an emphasis on creative writing), art history, history or a foreign language (most likely french or italian)... out of the following schools, which would be the best to attend?

Wellesley
Williams
Amherst
Dartmouth
UPenn
NYU
Brown

momrath

wildcherry, Williams is VERY strong in Art History (one of the best in the country), History and English literature. It has a solid creative writing program. French is good. Italian is offered but it is not a major focus.

I think you will find the same true of all the schools on your list -- each will have different strengths and weaknesses. They are all wonderful schools academically and so you really can’t make a bad choice. What I would recommend you do is to think more about the ambience and culture of the school versus the strength of the individual department as kids tend to change their majors over the course of time.

NYU for example is in a completely different environment from Williams. Dartmouth and Penn are very different culturally from Brown. The style of education is also quite different between a large university and an LAC. The important point is to select the school that best fits YOU.

wildcherry45

Thanks for the advice

Does anyone else have any suggestions?

calmac

Middlebury is very strong in languages. If you want to roam from the east, then check out Pomona, which is in Southern Cal and always ranks among the best LACs in the country.

wildcherry45

Well, I'm a second semester senior so I can't exactly apply to any more colleges. The above list are the schools I've applied to and I know they all have a relatively strong liberal arts foundation.. I'm just trying to figure out which school has the best programs in each of the areas I'm interested in.

collegehelp

At U Penn you would have access to some great cultural resources in Philadelphia...art museums, historical sites, a community of writers. Not sure about art museums in Providence but Brown is a great school and RI is rich in history. NYU doesn't really have a campus...would you be ok with that? NYC has great cultural resources too.

Amherst and Williams are in smaller towns but are wonderful LACs. I imagine the intellectual life on these small campuses is thriving.

Boston is a great city for history and art but are you ok with the single-sex Wellesley environment?

You can't go too far wrong at any of the colleges on your list.

bobbobbob

personal rank taking into consideration your possible major:

Williams
UPenn
NYU
Dartmouth
Brown
Amherst
Wellesley

wildcherry45

I'm actually quite flexible when it comes to what I want campus wise... I've visited all the campuses and I loved all of them. The lack of a campus on NYU's part is probably the only thing that bugs me a bit but other than that, I could definitely see myself at any of these schools for the next four years of my life.

Thanks for all the help & advice so far.

bobbobbob- just curious but why is Wellesley last on the list?

bobbobbob

i just would not go to an all girls school...if youre fine with that...then obviously it different