Junior with very little direction... help?

thatgirl
Sun, 07 May 2006 08:42:38 +0000

mikemac, I get what you’re saying, and you seem to assume that this is my first try at finding schools. I’ve spent countless hours pouring over college guidebooks, reading statistic after statistic. Sure, I could find the undergrad population, general location, student to prof ratio, and top majors of the school. But there were hundred of schools that matched what I was looking for. I even narrowed down my search to Newsweek’s Top Colleges book, which included only the more competitive schools. Still there were an overwhelming number. And for none of them could I really grasp the personality of the school. I went to a bunch of the schools’ websites, but they all seemed the same. They all featured the most beautiful parts of the campuses and listed similar appealing qualities. How could I find the right school this way? How could I even get very interested in any enough that I would want to visit it?

I never intended to blindly apply to every school that was listed here for me. I merely wanted some idea of where to start. And I do want people to list those 75 schools. I want to go to a good, reputable school. And it’s not like the people who have so kindly responded to my plea have arbitrarily listed the top schools. There seems to be a consensus on a few schools, and that’s exactly what my post was looking for. As I wrote in the original post, “I would really appreciate it if you could suggest some schools that you think I might find interesting.” And that is exactly what I got–suggestions. I already know that a few of the schools suggested are not for me, but I appreciate it all the same. I haven’t let “strangers do all the lifting” for me. I don’t think that my innocent request deserves criticism regarding putting too much faith in strangers, and losing my own voice. I happen to trust strangers, especially those good enough to read my long, boring post. This isn’t my final solution. This is a push in the right direction, and it’s exactly what I need.