the tickets are more expensive than flying would be
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I don’t think any particular level precludes getting involved in policy. What this post makes me think of, though, is how the place where policy issues around public education, and the college-level teaching environment, really intersect is in the community colleges. There’s a lot happening in that sphere that could be exciting for you - the chance to be creative in the classroom with fewer constraints, and to get young people excited about subject matter that you’re passionate about… but also to really be where the rubber meets the road in terms of policy, educational access, and social mobility.
In terms of opportunities for undergrads that engage more with community/policy challenges than traditional student teaching does, Penn has this, which looks interesting: https://www.nettercenter.upenn.edu/get-involved/student-engagement-opportunities It could be worth comparing this with what you can find at the other schools you’re considering.
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Penn will give you as good of a boost for grad school as WashU or Harvard. Try to fit in a visit to Philly. Penn Relays wrapped up yesterday so hotels and plane fares should be more reasonable now.
There is no one path to policy work and you don’t necessarily need to go to graduate school. I went to law school but my daughter interned with a nonprofit during undergrad and worked her way up to a director level position without a graduate degree. A good work ethic, flexibility, and a little bit of luck will take you far.
thanks to everyone for the advice! i’m taking the day off school tomorrow to really lock in and do a lot of research/narrow stuff down (missing 3 tests/quizzes, but i’m trying to remind myself those are inconsequential compared to the next four years of my life). aiming to have the list down to 3-4 schools tomorrow. may liveblog/update during the process.
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here we go!
side note: apparently my dad’s “cost constraints” were more “why would you pay more for a school of the same caliber” and he will support me wherever i choose, even if it’s expensive. he’s still not a fan of the women’s colleges (feels i need to have exposure to “half the population” + doesn’t want me “too comfortable/safe” so i can’t deal with the real world), but i think it’s something that’s hard for him to get as a man. i wasn’t looking for a women’s college specifically but i do feel that the sense of community and satisfaction from people who attend women’s colleges seems to be off the chart, so that’s definitely something that’s staying in contention.
list we’re starting off with this morning:
- wesleyan (90k)
- wellesley (88k)
- upenn (87k)
- haverford (87k)
- northwestern (86k)
- tufts (85k)
- vassar (85k)
- harvard (82k)
- smith (65k)
- kenyon (47k)
- vanderbilt (25k)
- washu (20k)
- mt holyoke (19k)
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thinking out loud (in text?) on here as i go.
haverford is coming off because it’s only a bit bigger than my high school and the education department is tiny even including bryn mawr (4 full-time profs, some of whom aren’t even full profs) + the website isn’t up to date (although the handbook was), which makes me feel like it’s not a super necessarily robust department. course list is much more limited than somewhere like vanderbilt, and there were still a substantial number of 40+ person classes (4.83%) which surprised me given how small the undergrad population size is.
kenyon will probably come off as well for similar reasons–i thought it was gorgeous when i was there for KYWW and i know the english department is fantastic + i have a friend there who adores it, but i don’t think realistically i’m going to pick it over my other options.
tufts didn’t feel as small because of the more suburban location, but i will say our high school sends several kids there every year and that makes it a bit of a turn-off (my teacher told me her son had a similar reaction to middlebury, where we sent five kids last year out of ~330, and called it “[high school] north” 
). the idea of ending up in the same place as so many of my classmates, including someone in my dance class who is much better than me + who i have always felt a little insecure about being in class with + who would likely be auditioning for the same dance opportunities, etc, feels kind of like all this work was a bit of a waste when i could have applied ED1/2 like everyone else and been done. but i also really liked the programs at tufts and i think if it weren’t 30 minutes from home + popular with my high school it would be one of my top choices.
going to look into how many from my school are going to wesleyan because i think we had several sports recruits. my best friend had a lot of trouble with paying for college and wes was her top choice and as we have been best friends for 10+ years i know it would hurt her if i picked that over the scholarships she knows i have, and that is definitely something i am holding in mind.
i might start with online campus tours of the ones i have left since i did not visit many of them. reached out to a friend’s older sister at NU to get her impressions but tbh we’re not super similar as people so i’m not sure how much help she’ll be
Hey!! I’m a current student at Kenyon but I grew up 40 minutes away from Vassar and have a lot of close friends there if hearing some details about my impression of the school/the vibe of it might be helpful, but I don’t want to give input if it’s not needed. I’ve been following this thread and I’m rooting for you wherever you choose!! Best of luck.
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thank you so much and i will definitely take you up on that–it’s hard to get a vibe for the school as a whole as the online campus tour on the website is broken down by building and doesn’t necessarily show the experience of walking around. gonna see what i can find on youtube as well
i’ve heard criticism (and seen a little bit of it based on the photos of the buildings) that there’s not really a cohesive architectural style on campus–would you say that’s accurate?
i can think of at least two athletes going to wesleyan, but it’s twice the size of tufts so that’s not as big of a deal to me. the big football field in the middle, based on the online tour, is definitely a turn-off. i also kind of felt like the campus was a little sprawling/like a neighborhood rather than a cohesive campus. it reminded me a bit of the umass amherst campus in that way. i could totally be wrong based on the virtual tour (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAdPSL4hxA0) though. i think tufts has a little of that energy as well but it felt more centralized to me as a whole.
i am really liking the courses in the ed major though. it stays for now, but it’s on thin ice.
The campus is so beautiful, one of my favorite I’ve seen. I would say the architecture is pretty cohesive, except for a few of the mid-century modern buildings, but those are spread out and few and far between so they don’treally interrupt the vibe of the rest of campus. In Spring sunset lake is one of the best spots on campus, especially because that’s around the time when the cherry blossoms bloom. The dorms are nice and spacious, I’ve seen my friends’ and it has a lot of natural light and is pretty big. From what I’ve heard, the food is average.
The library is insanely gorgeous. Old and gothic, very large, with a lot of nooks and crannies for studying, reading, or hanging out. One thing I will say is the campus is pretty small population wise, my friend who goes there says she often goes out with her friends to bars on the weekend but there aren’t too many parties happening, or at least the parties aren’t super big. There’s no greek life and the sports scene is pretty small so a lot of the ‘school spirit’ per se revolves around the arts. The drama scene is amazing (Meryl Streep went there), and one of my favorite quirky Vassar things was that they have something like 130 Steinway pianos in buildings all over campus, so if you’re into music/the arts on the side that could be really great.
In terms of the surrounding area, Poughkeepsie is a city in its’ own right. I’ve seen it get a lot of flack on here, but it’s got it’s own character and I think one of the major benefits in terms being an education major is that there’s a lot of opportunities to get involved in the local school systems through volunteering and community outreach. Education Outreach – Civic Engagement is one of the programs I’m seeing on the Vassar website. I think you could make more of a difference as an Ed major volunteering somewhere like Poughkeepsie than a lot of these suburban areas, and get more of an idea of what teaching truly looks like after college (that’s just my personal opinion though). There’s a ton of great restaurants there as well, although in walking distance of the campus there’s just the strip which is great but not super big. The Culinary Institute of America is right down the road so many chefs move to Poughkeepsie after they graduate to open up restaurants.
Here’s a few more links about community Ed outreach: Vassar Education Collaboration | Vassar College
The Ed department there seems pretty large (11 professors if I’m counting correctly) and their Medmich Urban Education Fellows program seems pretty cool: Education - Courses and Requirements - Special Programs in Education | Vassar College
You’ve probably already looked at most of this yourself, but I hope this was at least a little helpful! I’m championing Vassar pretty hard, but it’s such a beautiful place which offers a world class education and I think the surrounding area would provide you with a lot of great experience as an Ed major. It’s also only a 1 hour train right from NYC and tickets are like $20, so that’s pretty huge.If I can help with anything else Vassar related please let me know. Best of luck again!!
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Wesleyan is twice the size of Tufts? Don’t you mean half?
I’d consider taking a tournament-bracket approach. Larger schools on one side, smaller schools on the other. Pair up the most similar schools and force a decision between them. (Harvard v. UPenn, Vandy v. WashU, Smith v. Holyoke, etc.) And work your way to the finalists.
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whoops! i had it by year for tufts by accident
yes that’s next on my list!
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i’m kind of adoring the northwestern SESP but not vibing with the campus at all based on online stuff. kicking myself for not scheduling that visit
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starting to look like it’s down to:
- northwestern (86k)
- harvard (82k)
- vassar (85k)
- vanderbilt (25k)
- washu (20k)
honestly, i think i kind of knew this would be my top 5 this morning, so now i feel a little like i’ve wasted most of the day.
rationale super quickly for when i get all self-doubt-y later tonight:
- tufts was too close + feels a little like following the path laid out for many of our HS students. couldn’t really see myself picking it over my other choices
- wesleyan, smith, mt holyoke, wellesley: while i’m sure i’d have a great time there, i can’t really see myself picking it over my other choices
- upenn: wasn’t really vibing with the online tour, didn’t like that ed programs were limited to 4 undergrad courses. it has the prestige but so do NU and vandy and those have significantly stronger ed programs
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I think you meant the last one to be WashU.
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i think i’m cutting vassar for similar reasoning (i’m sure i would have a great time but i’m not sure i’m willing to turn down the others for it)
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Sad, but understand. The campus is gorgeous too, BTW.
NU beats out Vassar?
All great choices. Maybe do a playoff, the full pay (NU v H) and the less pay (Vandy v WashU) and then you’ll be down to two for a final showdown! (Or any other matchup you want - these just seemed logical to me). But only you can decide which is right for you.
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It just seems that way. 