Friendly, social vs. Academic, competitive

<p>My prospective majors are either philosophy, mathematics, or psychology, (or MMSS at NU). Assuming I’m accepted everywhere, I’m having trouble deciding whether the collaborative and down-to-earth atmosphere (Northwestern, for example) means more to me than strong academics and job prospects (Columbia, Dartmouth, Princeton, Stanford, for example).</p>

<p>Honestly, I want both, but everything I read indicates none of these colleges have “the best of both worlds.” Honestly, I just don’t know which means more to me. How do I decide?</p>

<p>Seeing that list of schools, I think you should wait first to see who accepts you</p>

<p>I’m applying through Questbridge College Match ([QuestBridge</a> Home Page](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org%5DQuestBridge”>http://www.questbridge.org)), so I have to rank before I get decisions.</p>

<p>First of all, those are all top 20 schools and each will give you competitive academics and great job prospects. </p>

<p>Beyond that, though, there are some huge differences between them. The important thing that you need to decide is which would be better for you.</p>

<p>Where do you want to live? Dartmouth is in a town of 10,000, Northwestern is in a suburb of Chicago, and Columbia is smack in the middle of NYC. These all offer very different atmospheres.</p>

<p>What about weather? Stanford is in Northern California, and all the others are in colder locales.</p>

<p>As far as being down to earth and collaborative, you are going to find kids that fit both categories at all of those schools. Some might have a greater concentration of one type or the other, though. Just understand that each of these schools is completely filled with top students. What that means is that, collaborative or competitive, you will be competing with incredibly intelligent students and will have to work hard for your grades.</p>

<p>I hear that Stanford is very laid back though.</p>

<p>Check out the Structured Liberal Education (SLE) program at Stanford. It’s like a LAC within the university for freshman-a residential program where you take two classes (in lieu of the Humanities core) each semester of your freshman year with your fellow SLE-ers, and two classes in whatever else you want to study. These tend to be very intellectually oriented kids (you have to apply for the program, after you are admitted to Stanford), who appreciate a tight-knit community in their first year. Tight-knit means collaborative and supportive like a LAC, but with all the resources of a world class university.</p>

<p>Apply to the school that seems to fit you best and where you think you will be happy with the location. All these schools will have good job prospects.</p>

<p>Dartmouth is always touted as having a liberal arts school atmosphere as compared with other Ivies— with smaller classes and more professor contact. And I don’t think it’s considered to be cutthroat or anything. I don’t really remember reading that Northwestern is especially laid-back. I think of it as being slightly more pre-professional than the others you mentioned and you have to think whether that focus is something you want. Your possible majors are somewhat different and you may want to explore which might weigh toward a less pre-professional atmosphere. Columbia is probably the most intellectual of the bunch and has the core curriculum which you should examine. Is there one liberal arts college (maybe Amherst?) on your list?</p>

<p>Agree with hitch, I wouldn’t say that Northwestern is more laid back that Dartmouth or Stanford. I think you should pick the one that is the best fit.</p>

<p>Did you put a LAC on your list? The elite LACs will give most students the best of both worlds.</p>

<p>MMSS probably provides the most challenging academics out of your list. It’s well-regarded by many companies, academia, and think tanks. Here’s the list of recruiters so far in the fall:</p>

<p>Kellogg professor Research assistant all 10/5/10
NU professor - Sociology/IPR Research assistant all 10/5/10
OpenBI, LLC Consultant seniors 10/5/10
Allstate Intern, Analyst juniors, seniors 9/28/10
ZS Associates Associate, Analyst, Specialist seniors 9/28/10
Booz & Company Consultant seniors 9/27/10
Diamond Management & Technology Consultants Consultant seniors 9/27/10
The Cambridge Group Business Analyst seniors 9/27/10
L.E.K. Consulting Associate seniors 9/25/10
Cornerstone Research Analyst seniors 9/24/10
Visa Business Associate seniors 9/22/10
Market Edge Associates Consultant seniors 9/22/10
Oliver Wyman Analyst seniors 9/22/10
The Blackstone Group Analyst, Real Estate Debt Strategies Group seniors 9/21/10
Citigroup Sales & Trading Full-time & Summer Analysts juniors,seniors 9/17/10
Boston Consulting Group Analyst seniors 9/20/10
McKinsey & Co. Analyst seniors 9/20/10</p>

<p>It’s true that Princeton/Stanford in general carry more prestige. But I’d bet many even at Stanford/Princeton can’t handle MMSS. To those in the knows, you are in an honors program. If they are specificly seeking candidates with superior quant/analytical skills (e.g think tanks, academic research, trading…), I think you will actually stand out more as a MMSS than going to places like Columbia/Stanford.</p>

<p>Coyote- I think to rephrase I don’t think there is a choice in schools as you point out. Stanford is known for being very laid back, while Dartmouth is known for being collaborative and tight-knit. I think that you should think more along the lines of what type of school would be more ideal in terms of size, setting, offerings (study abroad, etc.) To be honest it sounds like Stanford could be your school.</p>