Hamilton vs CMU vs Rochester

WSJunkie
Sat, 07 Apr 2012 16:09:13 +0000

Planning to study Political Science/IR,Math,Econ, or some combination of the three.

Not sure what future plans are, but graduate school of some kind is most likely in my future, whether immediately after or within 5 or so years.

I will take out the maximum stafford loans at Hamilton (27K over 4 years) and 19K at CMU.

I will take out 10K stafford loans at UR (total over 4 years)

The loan amounts vary based on finaid packages and a set level of family contribution.

CMU: probably the most highly regarded of the 4, at least in Econ/math. Accepted as a Econ major (in the college of humanities and social sciences, though I think its in cooperation with Tepper). This might change. I’d like to try to get into the Quantitative Social Science Scholars and I like the fact that they have a decisions science major;it sounds pretty interesting.

Worries: Not sure if I would fit in socially given everything I’ve heard/seen about it…From all that I can tell their polisci department is incredibly lacking. If I decide to take the finance route, I will probably get screwed over by all of the tepper business students.

Hamilton:
It seems fairly strong in all of the departments I am interested in.
I Like the rural atmosphere and small school vibe from the initial visit, but I am a bit worried I might get bored of the environment/small size after a while…

Rochester:
Wasn’t initially on my radar but its starting to grow alot on me. Fairly strong econ and polisci departments, don’t know about math. The city is lacking but it seems like theres a lot going on campus and there’s eastman nearby so I don’t think I’m going to run out of things to do. Will its lack of prestige hold me back? Since its the lowest cost option, should I just take it and run?

How do the academics at all of these schools compare? Employment opportunities? Chances for going to a top graduate school? What about costs, how much should this come into play?

I know that hamilton is really different from the other two, and that my decision will probably come down to LAC vs University preference, but I was looking to get some feedback from anyone that had any specific comments or anyone that was in a similar situation