Hi everyone! I have a few schools that I am unsure about applying to, even though I’ve done ample research on them. It’s hard to tell what being a student there will actually feel like just from looking at their website, so I wanted to get some current students/alum/parents of current students to comment on what makes these schools SPECIFICALLY the right (or wrong) fit for them. I am giving them a second look because of their amazing academics, so please comment everything you have perceived in your experience with these schools, perhaps not easily gleaned from the websites. Thank you all in advance!!
SCHOOLS:
Brown
Duke
Rice
Amherst
Pomona
Have you attended any college seminars in your area that feature these colleges? I know that Brown, Duke, and Rice all made the trek out to Detroit so it seems plausible that they might reach you, too. They’re always a good opportunity for you to ask the rep questions about the school and such, a person with a lot of experience with the school. To be fair, they might be a bit biased toward the institution, so just keep that in mind.
Well, what is your major and career goal?
Does each of these schools have your major?
are you going to be able to visit them?
What do you like in a school: Big, small, city, rural, rah rah, quiet, cold weather, warm weather, Greek Life, etc
What made you pick THOSE “maybe” schools besides academics?
What is your home state? How much will your parents pay each year? What are your stats?
Those are all great questions to ask, all of which I have already asked myself while researching them. What I am trying to get here is what “unique” traits each college has that only students living there would experience. So please comment only if you have some personal insight into any of these particular colleges.
All I can tell you is what two of my friends who graduated from Duke said – they thought the area around Duke was boring with nothing to do, and they strongly advised my daughter not to bother applying there, and to look at places in locations with lots to do. I think the location of each college you listed, and what that location offers or doesn’t offer, can make a place a right or wrong fit for someone.
Thank you, @mommyrocks ! That was the type of insight that I was looking for because I can’t really gauge how much activity there is around a college town from terms like “suburban”. I am now less inclined to apply to duke because I am from Chicago, a vibrant city with lots to do.
If you know you want to attend a school in a big city like Chicago, that knocks out all of the schools listed above except maybe Rice (depending on whether Providence RI is big enough for you). I’m surprised you even included a school like Amherst in your list if being in an urban area is a deal-breaker for you.
What is actually important to you? You have to decide that first, and not be swayed by this or that person’s individual opinion of schools, because everyone has different criteria.
You can go to googlemaps and look up a college, then after you are viewing the college enter something like restaurants and it will pull up all the restaurants around the college. That will give you an idea of what the surrounding area is like and what is easily walkable from campus. Then you can zoom out to see what is in driving distance. You can also find out the distance to the nearest major city or attractions you are interested in.
College websites should have info on transportation options available to students to go to different destinations, including the nearest airport if you think you will be flying home for visits. For example, some colleges in suburbs provide shuttles to nearby cities at different days/times, as well as to/from the airport, while others don’t. Some are in locations with substantial public transportation that can get you everywhere, and others you will need a car to go anywhere of interest. These facts can also help you gauge a location.
Since you’re from Chicago, I strongly suggest you limit your college list to places that are also in/near major cities. There will be many things you take for granted living in a metro area that you will find lacking in a much smaller place far away from a large city – unless of course you love the great outdoors or have some hobby that would place you in a more remote location, such as choosing a college in a ski town, e.g., or you are choosing a major that benefits from study outdoors in nature, such as geology.
I believe @dustypig meant to say Brown in Providence and may not fit the big city criterion. And Amherst in no way meets that.
Yes, thanks, @Erin’s Dad. Rice is in Houston which is obviously a big city, and then I added the caveat about not being sure whether Brown/Providence would qualify or not.
@dustypig What is Providence like as a city? Is there a close-knit community at Brown while having many options to explore outside of campus as well? I included Amherst on my list because although it’s rural, I wonder if that fosters a closer student community on campus. Place is certainly a factor, but not necessarily a deal breaker because academics always comes first.
What @dustypig says is right. The information that you get here might not really be relevant to your needs or helpful in making a decision, because it’s - as you say - very unique and specific to the students who voice the opinions. For example, the two friends @mommyrocks referred to might have been less inclined to get involved in the college community and more interested in making off-campus friends and connections in a large, vibrant city, in which case Durham is probably a poor fit. But other students who are more interested in finding their fun on campus and fostering a strong sense of campus community might really love Duke. On the flip side, I went to a college in an urban area and became less happy in my last two years because most of my friends moved off campus into the surrounding city, but you really needed a car to get around said city and I didn’t have one. So there wasn’t a vibrant on-campus culture for upperclassmen and I was somewhat excluded from the off-campus fun going on because I didn’t have a car. However, someone who has the family capital to purchase a car and move off-campus might stay really integrated into the student body and enjoy a lot of what Atlanta has to offer at my college.
The other thing is - how complete is your college list? Do you feel like anything is missing, or do you already have a ton of schools? If you already have 8-10+ schools on your list that you really love and these are just schools you feel meh about, then maybe it’s worth not applying and just dropping them completely.
@juillet thanks for commenting on your experience! that’s a good thing to bring up…schools with an urban environment often don’t have a close-knit community either, which is why I’m not sure about completely turning away from schools like Amherst. I just got accepted to its fly-in program today. Is it worth the visit?
Also, my college list currently consists of 10 colleges, all of which are reach schools (Ivies, Stanford, etc.) I am looking into these schools to maybe add some match schools that would fit me, in case I don’t get into any of my reaches. I just don’t know a lot about these schools, since I spent most of time attending info sessions and researching my reaches.
I’m a little confused - Brown, Duke, Rice, Amherst and Pomona are pretty much reach schools for everyone. If these are schools you’re looking to add to your list, then you’ve just added 5 additional reaches. What match schools are you considering? Do you have any safety schools on your list?
Yes, @midatlmom is right – those are not match schools. And you also need safeties. Remember, also, that you need “financial safeties,” unless your family is able to afford full pay at all the schools you’re applying to.
Yes I have safeties. I meant match as in an acceptance rate higher than 10%, not as selective as ivies. What are some good match schools for me?
I’d say most people categorize universal reach schools as being schools with acceptance rates lower than 25%, if not 30%. Many qualified candidates get rejected by schools with acceptance rates so low.
Brown has an acceptance rate of 9.5% (and by the way, it is an Ivy), Duke has an acceptance rate of 11%, Pomona’s acceptance rate is 12%, Amherst’s acceptance rate is 14% and Rice has an acceptance rate of 15%. As Detroit Leper has stated, many qualified candidates will be rejected and if you add these schools, you are really just adding more reach schools to your list.
Although I don’t know your stats, students looking at those schools will often consider schools such as University of Rochester, Case Western, University of Miami, Lehigh and Brandeis as match schools.
It’s hard to recommend match schools for you without knowing anything about your preferences. If all you want is schools where you’d fall between the 25% and 75% range for grades and test scores, you can do that search here with the CC matching tool.
@dustypig Do you mean that schools where I fall between 25% and 75% range for stats are good matches? In that case, my reaches would be my matches, which I don’t think is safe to say by the <10% admit rate.
@midatlmom thanks for the suggestions! I’ll definitely look into those schools.