<pre><code> Although I do not possess the intellect or the ability to be admitted to the most selective of schools such as Caltech, I yearn to attend the most challenging of schools. I want to consistently take classes where everyone is struggling or failing–myself included. After all, the purpose of attending college is to learn as much as possible. I care little for prestige or high grades. I want an undergraduate curriculum that will rival a graduate curriculum at most other colleges. Thank You! =)
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<p>Qualities of I am Looking For
Very High Rigor
Low Grade Inflation
Small Student Population or High student Attention
Proper Opportunities for Undergraduate Research
Reasonable Chance of Admission Given my Circumstance
Strong Focus on Science and Math
Strong Focus of Real Life Application(Optional)</p>
<p>Stats
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender:Male
Income Bracket: <$40,000
Unweighted GPA: 3.99
Weighted: 4.13
SAT Score: 2250
ACT Score: 34
AMC Score: Eighty-something
School: Non-competitive Magnet</p>
<p>Awards/ Extracurriculars</p>
<p>Semi-Finalist in Chemistry Olympiad (Honors)
Semi-Finalist in Biology Olympiad
4th on the Hands on at Science Bowl
8th in Science Bowl(Very competitive Region)
Fourth place team at Math day at the Beach for Division B
Track/Field 2 years
Science Bowl 3 years
Research at Lab 1 year</p>
<p>I’ve heard that while Cornell may have the ‘easiest’ admissions statistics of all the ivies. many regard it as the most challenging ivy, especially when it comes to the sciences.</p>
<p>Marlboro College in Vermont. Princeton Review’s highest academic rating of “99.” Probably one of the most challenging colleges in the country, if not the most . . . as long as what you’re interested in is education and not prestige. If you make it through (and that’s far from guaranteed), you can probably write your own ticket to any graduate school in the country.</p>
<p>Other “off the beaten path” possibilities: Reed, Deep Springs, Sarah Lawrence, St. Johns- Santa Fe, or St. John’s-Annapolis. If you’re serious about “real life application,” College of the Atlantic in Maine is another option.</p>
<p>Of course you won’t impress your friends and neighbors with any of these schools. And, as for those “undergraduate research opportunities” you’re looking for . . . well, I guess it depends what you have in mind. These schools focus on teaching you how to think . . . if you want to do fancy lab work, it might have to wait until grad school.</p>
<p>Or heck, just apply to Cornell - that’ll be easier.</p>
<p>By the way, if you’re idea of a good education is a classroom full of people who are failing . . . well, you might want to rethink things.</p>
<p>I suppose I may have created an inaccurate representation of my ideal in my haste to make a point. I like how you put it: Not everyone is guaranteed to graduate. And to further elaborate: classes(especially in math/science are difficult enough that even qualified students are struggling to maintain a “B” due to sheer difficulty of the problems(not due to poorly-skilled instructors). An example would be that the problems of homework sets would take an inordinate amount of time because a great deal of creativity/problem solving skill is involved. </p>
<p>As for research, I did not have any extremely specific field in mind. In my original post, “Proper Opportunity” referred to research orientated to teaching undergraduates the skills of a researcher so that students do not progress to graduate school completely clueless. </p>
<p>I forgot to touch on the issue of financial aid. Colleges that lack a good financial aid package would be very difficult to attend given that a years tuition would very well exceed my years annual income. I hope to graduate with less than $24,000 of student debt. Thank you for your detailed response.</p>
<p>Take a look at the schools I suggested . . . they’re probably not what you expect. (And “problem sets” will be the least of your worries!) These are schools that focus on very small classes and lots of individual attention - and you’ll be expected to work harder than you’ve ever worked before. All have financial aid . . . whether or not it’s enough is something you’ll have to look into. Deep Springs is free, by the way. And I’m pretty sure Marlboro will do what they can to accommodate a student who’d be a good fit for their program.</p>
<p>You can choose a challenging path at almost any college. Likewise, you can slide through at almost any college. But kudos to you for asking the right questions.</p>
<p>The only people who think Brown is any less rigorous than the other colleges mentioned are the people who believe students need to be pushed constantly for them to learn. With Brown there is a choice and what you find is mature young adults choosing rigorous pathways - and knowing that it was an independent choice just adds to their happiness and gives them greater breadth and variety. Obviously this approach is not for everyone - some people simply don’t have the amount of self-direction needed to take a challenging class that expands their comfort zones and some just prefer academic structure (and I don’t mean this in a negative/demeaning way, I’m just acknowledging different styles of learning) but for those with the maturity needed to make full use of what Brown has to offer, it’s an academic paradise unlike any other. With no restrictions, you can craft your own interdisciplinary intellectual pathway and while this doesn’t work for lots of people, for those that it does work for the other schools might become suffocating (I know they would be for me). It boils down to your academic philosophy, self-motivation and how you handle freedom. If you lack the second, Brown might be a breeze, but then if you lacked it you wouldn’t be admitted in the first place. The AdCom knows what it’s doing.</p>
<p>^^Since when having the freedom to choose translates to rigor? Having the highest grade inflation certainly doesn’t help your case. Have virtually no department among the top also doesn’t help either!</p>
<p>
Sure, the AdCom at Brown has a cyrstal ball. You ever heard of circular reasoning?</p>
<p>“The only people who think Brown is any less rigorous than the other colleges mentioned are the people who believe students need to be pushed constantly for them to learn.” I have said this before and looks like I’m going to have to reiterate it again.</p>
<p>How is rigor as a choice any different to rigor that is forced upon you? I believe I elaborated upon this in my post pretty well so I don’t quite see what you fail to comprehend. If you need a steep curve and stringent requirements to motivate you to study, that’s fine, but please don’t apply that as a general rule upon the rest of the college-bound population and insult their self-direction and intellect. Not everyone needs the system to compel them to work hard, some people do it out of sheer interest and self-motivation and those are the ones Brown is targeting. Like I’ve said, it’s a different learning style. It might not work for you or even for the OP but don’t insult or underestimate the kids that it does work for based upon your own need for external pushing around.</p>
<p>Also by the “crystal ball” dismissal you’re crucially underestimating what is conveyed through supplements and essays and thus pretty much mocking the entire college process in general. Do all the AdComs of all universities have crystal balls? No? How do they choose kids then? How do they make the right decision?</p>
<p>It would behoove you to refrain from making logical fallacies yourself (subtle ad hominem with a hint of reductio ad absurdum in this case) while you’re trying to point an (albeit non-existent) one out yourself.</p>
<p>Lastly, I don’t want this to turn into a “Brown - Amazing or Freakishly Hippy” thread as we have the Brown board for that. Let’s try and keep this thread relevant for the OP.</p>
<p>Check out Grinnell - Excellent sciences with amazing resources due to a fantastic endowment, a strong work ethic and understated, unpretentious culture, very generous financial aid, including merit aid for which you will qualify with your grades and test scores (up to $15k p.a.). They also have beautiful facilities - sports, arts, etc…that endowment, again. And as an asian, you are a URM. Being male also helps at most LACs, where there are fewer male applicants because they don’t usually offer engineering, business or other pre-professional majors. And yes, you will work hard for your grades…</p>
<p>Grinnell is about an hour from Des Moines and from Iowa City. It’s a college town of 9,000 and the campus is part of the town, so you can walk from campus to downtown in two minutes. It’s definitely in a rural area, so you have to be okay with that.</p>
<p>You were barking up the wrong tree. I said having the freedom doesn’t translate to rigor. That does <em>not</em> mean I think having a core or distribution requirements means rigor. </p>
<p>You got defensive and went on and on about how Brown students are driven and self-motivated. That’s all great but it still doesn’t necessarily mean Brown’s science/math are particularly more (or less) challenging.</p>
<p>
Based on imperfect information. I am sure admitted applicatns in other peer schools got similarly high maturity ratings in their recommendation letters. I am also pretty sure other peer schools value maturity seriously (who doesn’t?). I highly doubt Brown students are any more (or less) mature than those in other peer schools.</p>
<p>What you said about Brown and education in general is extremely important. Please don’t let critics of what you said get to you. Thank you for your comments.</p>