HELP! Where should I go?

College Search & Lists
1

Hello! I am a senior this year and have already applied to numerous schools. The schools I am looking at seriously are below, as well as my admittance status.

U of MN – Accepted, honors
U Iowa – Accepted, honors
Carroll College – Accepted
Stanford – Waiting for response, applied RD
Brown – Waiting for response, applied, RD
Cornell – Waiting for response, applied RD
Kenyon – Considering applying, application due 01/15/17

I am a fairly decent student, with a 33 ACT, 4.2 GPA, and extensive extracurricular involvement. I am a strong writer, so I think that will help my applications with the top schools, but I know my stats aren’t spectacular and, with such high selectivity, I am not likely to get in. I mainly applied just to see. I have worked hard and thought I at least deserved to know if I could get in. Now. To my dilemma.

I am looking into going into two separate fields: creative writing or anthrozoology. With creative writing, I would love to a novelist, but I would be more than happy to edit or teach. Anthrozoology is the study of human and animal interactions, and I would likely go on to become a psychologist who works with animal assisted therapy techniques. I love words and animals and am incredibly torn.

For writing, I am looking at the U of MN, U Iowa, Stanford, Brown, and Kenyon. For anthrozoology, I am looking at Carroll and Cornell.

I toured Carroll about a month ago, and I fell in love with it. I loved the program, the area, and the school. However, it is not selective and incredibly small. It does not have a distinguished writing program to fall back on if I were to change my mind, and it also does not have an orchestra or band, which, as a clarinetist, I had been planning on participating in either recreationally or as a minor. The school is 12 hours away from my home in Fargo, ND, and I feel like I would be crazy to go there. Yet, I can’t stop thinking about it, and I feel like a part of me has made the decision already, my mind just hasn’t caught up. Logically, it doesn’t make any sense. I have worked hard, and I feel like I am throwing that all away at an unknown LAC. Would going to an unknown school limit my education or chances of placement for psych grad school? Would it effect my job placement in the future and limit how far I make it in my career field?

I have no idea what to do. Any advice would help. Thanks!

2

I would try to calm down and wait for the rest of your responses. I would definitely apply to Kenyon if I were you, as it’s more of a target/safety than the other options and still has a solid academic reputation. You’ll make your decisions once you’ve heard from everywhere.

3

I’d recommend you follow through on your Kenyon application so that you might have that excellent option in the spring.

The pursuit of anthrozoology as a major, as contrasted to a potential career, could be a distraction for you in your college selection process. Few students with your academic accomplishments would significantly alter their search based upon the availability of a single, rarely available course of study.

For comments on a range of creative writing programs that overlap partially with your current list, you can read through these articles:

http://college.usatoday.com/the-10-best-american-colleges-for-writers/

http://contently.net/2014/11/06/resources/10-best-colleges-creative-writers/

http://flavorwire.com/409437/the-25-most-literary-colleges-in-america

4

Does Cornell offer anthrozoology?

5

@merc81 they offer a distinguished animal science program that I would be able to study anthrozoology in. It is less specific, but it is also safer if I decide to do something else.

Thank you all for all the replies!

6

In making your decision, you may want to consider the extent of your interest in academic areas such as classics, philosophy, religious studies, political theory, literature and history. The greater the range and depth of your interest, the more appropriate the choice of a highly selective college such as Kenyon might be for you.