<p>Hey everyone,
I’ve found plenty of reach schools but few safeties and, oddly, even fewer matches. I’m only a sophomore but I have a 3.8 UW GPA (already with a considerable upward trend), take the toughest classes available at my school (will take 8-10 AP tests), am engaged in some extracurriculars that I really love (namely, journalism and photojournalism), have spent/plan to spend summers doing fulfilling, interesting things, and will hopefully write solid essays.</p>
<p>I’m looking for schools with intellectual atmospheres, good philosophy departments, and preferably urban locations (although a stunningly beautiful rural campus that still has a feeling of vitality would suffice). I also like core curriculums and their associated academic rigor. Liberal politics and appreciation for culture would also be appreciated. </p>
<p>Currently, I’m considering (in order of preference):
Columbia
Yale
Princeton
Amherst
Chicago
Johns Hopkins
Haverford
Brown
Penn
Georgetown
NYU
Michigan
Emory
Trinity
Fordham
Texas
Illinois</p>
<p>Where else should I consider? Are there schools on my current list that I shouldn’t waste my time looking at?</p>
<p>Just off the top of my head, Brown has no core curriculum whatsoever - students can basically piece together their own schedule, and can even take courses on a pass/fail basis if they so desire. Almost all colleges will feature liberal politics to some degree, but Georgetown and Fordham are both Jesuit schools, so they tend to be more politically moderate (Georgetown in particular, I haven’t researched Fordham to the same extent, but I’m assuming the two are similar). The college atmosphere at Texas or Emory would be generally liberal, but keep in mind that the South is a more conservative area on the whole, with big cities being the exception. Also, if you’re interested in journalism as a major, you need to put Northwestern on that list - their Medill School of Journalism is world-renowned. (I see, though, that you’re more interested in philosophy, and I think most top schools have strong departments in that field, but I’m not sure how the different schools rank). If you need any more help, I’ll try to answer your questions, but this is just a summary of my first thoughts upon reading your list.</p>