<p>I’m a high school senior looking for a 4 year. I love philosophy. I will definitely be a philosophy major. And I’m a bit of a freak.</p>
<p>I want a school that is as nerdy and freakish as me, but that I can actually get into. I haven’t done extremely well in high school or done very much extracurricular activity–but hey, I’ve been too busy dealing with existential crisis and hedonist’s paradox, gosh darn it!</p>
<p>GPA: 3.7
SAT: 1870
SAT Math and English: high 600’s, I forget</p>
<p>5 Honors classes and 3 AP’s.</p>
<p>-About 20 hours of community service feeding poor people.
-A few county math competitions.
-Harry Potter CLUB!! yeah!</p>
<p>Sad to say that’s all.</p>
<p>Oh, one last thing. A lot of people have been telling me that I should just go to a “well-rounded” school for my undergraduate work. While I agree, that doesn’t seem like an excuse not to put my choices’ undergrad. philo. departments to extra scrutiny above their other departments. Eh?</p>
<p>Sooooo, all considering, what do YOU think is the right college(s) for me? Thanks!</p>
<p>Student Body Size: Don’t care
Location: English speaking country
City Size: Don’t care, but I’d like a campus–like, not NYU or something
Political Orientation: Me? I’m politically nihilistic… but I like liberals and liberal things
Your state residency: California (Santa Cruz (surprise))</p>
<p>What else? Religious affiliation: Depends on your ontology; either atheist or Satanist</p>
<p>Oberlin would be nice, but as Helvetica said, I don’t think I could get in. Test scores are particularly important there, I hear. And I’ll be honest, I get r*ped by the SAT. Since when were philosophers good at taking that kind of thrashing?–most of us have ADD about anything practical. Anyway, this is exactly the kind of problem I’ve been having. Most good schools that I can get into have waaaay too many jocks, fraternities, footballs, etc., and even normal people I’m afraid of.</p>
<p>Here are a few considerations: </p>
<p>Evergreen state looks really good as a safety. They’ve been abundantly mentioned as a great place for philosophy.</p>
<p>Is Bard within my reach? Would I fit in? They’re certainly good for philo., but I’m not sure if I’m into the liberal arts thing; I might want more of a focus on my major. Same goes for several other liberal arts schools.</p>
<p>Actually there are way too many to list, but none that I think match me any better than the last. Help me out!</p>
<p>What about Rutgers? I’m a little put off by all the Greek life and football, but it seems like a big enough school to not have to notice that much. And wow!–look at that philosophy ranking!</p>
<p>Bard and Oberlin are pretty big reaches, maybe take a shot at Oberlin though?</p>
<p>Oh yeah and the Rutgers thing … the whole CA vs. NJ “rivalry” (especially on CC) is kind of hard to miss. haha, it’s all fun and games though. But I guess if you don’t mind being in NJ, Rutgers has a terrific philosophy program. Rutgers … it’s filled with all kind of people. Jocks, geeks, freaks, loners, druggies everyone! It’s HUGE, I kind of think of it as HS 2.0, but then again I am biased since I live here, half of my high school will most likely end up there. Well anyway, it’s mostly in-state kids, but I’m still sure you’ll find a place to fit in.</p>
<p>As for other schools with good philosophy programs in the NE: UMass-Amherst, Syracuse, and Boston University. I think these may be low-reaches/matches for you.</p>
<p>Also, since you’re in-state, why not give UCLA a shot?</p>
<p>because few in-state kids actually want to go to rutgers(though a decent number end up there), so they’d lol at someone flying 3000 miles to go there.</p>
<p>I personally have nothing against it. And as a self-described Satanist, admissions-wise I think you’d do better at places like Rutgers and other big publics that look mainly at stats.</p>
<p>Well I don’t have to tell colleges, obviously. I’d just say atheist for any religious affiliation questions. But might it actually help for schools that do kind of the “diversity hunting” thing?</p>
<p>Yeah, I was thinking about UCLA, but I really don’t like LA city so much, and as far as student body, it’s not really what I’m looking for. I guess I go for east coast-weird rather than west coast- because I’m not into the laid-back thing.</p>
<p>What do you think about Evergreen state as a safety?</p>
<p>A thing you need to take into consideration is financing a college education. You may want a student body that is very similar to you but you may not be able to afford it, or at least your family might not.
College is about growing, and although you may be a “satanist freak” now, you may not be later. You will grow a lot during college. Generally speaking, regardless of where you attend, philosophy majors will tend to be those who might be most in sync with your level of thinking, so most large schools(uc’s) will have students that you could get a long with in your department.</p>
<p>I’m going to suggest Brandeis (in Massachusetts) as a slight reach. Your SAT scores are not great for them, but they might be good enough. They have a philo department. And I can assure you (being part of the Greater Boston freak/geek scene myself) that Brandeis has a pretty strong freak/geek community, and of course they also cross-pollinate with the other metro Boston schools.</p>
But might it actually help for schools that do kind of the “diversity hunting” thing?</p>