Recommend Colleges for me?

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Hi everybody–</p>

<p>I’m new to the forum and I thought I might ask the experts for colleges to look at.</p>

<p>Without giving you my autobiography, assume that stats-wise, I can get into any school. My guidance counselor has told me I have a decent shot at the Ivy Leagues. My interests are also pretty standard-- prospective English major, interested in working on the campus newspaper/literary magazine, so I assume I’ll be able to pursue that at almost any school.</p>

<p>Anyway, let me give you a list of priorities, and maybe you can come up with a list:</p>

<p>SUPER IMPORTANT:
– students emphasize learning over grades… I don’t think I could stand another four years of students one-upping each other… I prefer academically-inclined people, but if students are into things that aren’t school, that’s cool too. To me, it’s just important that they are passionate about SOMETHING and that they work to develop those passions.
– girls/guys don’t “dress up” for each other (I mean, having a good-looking student body is fine, as long as it’s not expected for you to dress up and people won’t look at you funny if you show up to class in sweats and no makeup).
– the school has a cohesion/personality (in a way that students of various backgrounds talk to each other and bond together, putting aside their differences for their common interest in the school)
–there has to be enough life on campus that is not specifically alcohol-centered… I like parties and socializing, but I don’t drink and don’t imagine I’ll start</p>

<p>SORT OF IMPORTANT
– a college town that isn’t dead. It doesn’t have to be a city, but it should have enough interesting coffee shops/bookstores/record stores/cool college hangouts (for example, I visited Amherst and found the town really college-friendly and not too isolated for me… I found Cornell’s college town too food and bar-oriented. Maybe there are cool little bookstores that I didn’t see there? Basically, proximity to a cool bookstore is essential).
– students going for a diversity of majors… the school offers programs across the board, and students don’t gravitate to just one thing.
– professors known for quality teaching (I imagine every school has its good and its bad), but specifically I’d like to know that I can start taking small classes right away my first year, even if I’m in superhuge intro to chemistry.
– pretty campus… not too much brick… not too much concrete (Columbia is too much concrete)… somewhere I can see trees and other living things without looking too hard.
– not so big that it’s a degree factory
– I PREFER co-ed, but if you suggest a womens’ college, I’ll consider it without immediately tossing it out. I like my guys right on campus :-)</p>

<p>NOT IMPORTANT
– prestige/name recognition/rank… you guys argue about rank all the time, I can’t imagine that it means anything anyway. I’ll probably end up applying to prestigious schools to see if I get in, but if I don’t, it’s not a big deal.
– availability of financial aid
– grad school placement
– location</p>

<p>I’m basically looking for a place that will help me get the most out of my four years, and nothing more.</p>

2

<p>ermmmm…Stats?</p>

3

<p>Reed College!!</p>

4

<p>My GC said Ivy League range… and I checked, I’m in the range…</p>

<p>One of the best high schools in the nation that sends about 20% of grads to the Ivies:</p>

<p>3.86 UW, hardest courseload possible, school doesn’t rank but conservatively I’d say top 10%, probably top 5%
760 CR 770 M 800 W
Editor-in-Chief of high school newspaper, lots of related journalism awards (not interested in studying journalism)
Community Service
Creative Writing Program at UIowa
… and that’s about it.</p>

5

<p>yeah, reed sounds really, really awesome… I am concerned about the drug culture, though… from what I hear it’s easy to avoid if you don’t want to get into it. thanks for the suggestion!</p>

6

<p>Well, you really cover a lot of schools with the preferences you’ve noted. I’d suggest Wesleyan as it seems to fit most of your criteria.</p>

7

<p>all list several schools. Not all are gonna be IVies though. ill add schools from the top 50 and top 25. </p>

<p>West:

  • USC:
    Academics: 9/10
    Sports scene: 10/10
    Campus Beaty: 9/10 lots of brick which u dont like but still gorgeous
    location: 8/10 its in a nice city but not in the best part of that city.
  • UCLA:
    Academics: 9/10
    Sports Scene: 9/10
    Campus Beauty: 9.5/10
    Location: 10/10
  • UCSB:
    academics: 8.5/10
    Sports scene: 7/10
    Campus Beauty: 10/10 Its campus is right on the beach! Beach front property. its gorgeous!
    Location: 8/10 not much of a college town or big city though.
    East Coast:
    UVA:
    Academics: 10/10
    Sports: 8/10
    Campus Beauty: 9/10
    location: 8/10 its a college town but in the middle of nowhere. </p>

<p>Emory:
Academics: 9/10
Sports: 5/10
Campus: 9/10
location: 8/10 big city but in the boring suburbs of city</p>

<p>UMiami:
academics: 8/10 its top 50
sports: 10/10 Princeton Review ranks it as one of the schools that "students pack the stadiums
Campus: 9/10 lots of trees, grass, lake in the middle but dosnt really have historic brick buildings. Still a gorgeous country club lookin school
Location: 9/10 its not NY but tis still a fun city. in the upscale neighborhood of Coral Gables. </p>

<p>Boston University:

  • academics: 8/10
  • sports: 8/10
  • Campus:9/10 campus is nice but its really more like NYU’s campus than a grassy college campus.
  • location: 10/10 greaaat location</p>
8

<p>thanks for the information! Wesleyan was on the list already, so that’s cool.</p>

<p>and thanks for the info acarta… I’m just not sure if those schools offer what I’m looking for.</p>

<p>Maybe it will help if I broke down the college list that I already have.</p>

<p>I think I’d really like to go to…</p>

<p>–Oberlin
–UChicago
–Reed
–Bryn Mawr
– Yale (I go back and forth on whether I like Yale or not. I guess I should see if I get in first and then worry about its fit)
– Haverford
– Wesleyan
–Swarthmore
– Ursinus (I know almost NOTHING about this school but it sounds really awesome)</p>

<p>Other reputedly strong schools I don’t know much about…
– CMU
– Northwestern
– Emory
– Tufts
– Vanderbilt
– Johns Hopkins
– Dartmouth
– Brown
– Amherst</p>

9

<p>You know, there’s this strange stereotype of Reedies being highly intellectual and smart potheads…In reality, I’d say maybe only 15-20% of Reedies smoke pot regularly, and even then, its a very easy culture to avoid…Don’t let the drug culture get to you.</p>

10

<p>smyeth you have a wonderful list there :)</p>

<p>Given your current choices, I might also recommend:</p>

<p>Vassar
Columbia
New York University
Colgate
Middlebury</p>

11

<p>St. Johns College is one of the most academically intense institutions in the country. It doesn’t focus on grades, rather there are written evaluations, and the curriculum is centered around reading and discussing the Great Books. It has two campuses, one in Annapolis, Maryland, the other in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is a real academicly focused school.</p>

12

<p>:O i didnt know u were looking that high on the list. Yea my list is waaay to low for wat ur looking for.
hmm then id consider the following:

  • Northwestern
  • U Chicago
  • Yale
  • Brown
  • Reed (though its a unique type of school in the sense of grading and the curriculum).
  • Harvard: if ur applying to Yale, why not :P</p>
13

<p>Hi Smyeth!
Coming out of HS, my criteria in for a college was very similar to yours. (Probably b/c our interests were pretty similar–i.e. English, lit mag, etc.) I ended up graduating from Northwestern with a degree in art history. </p>

<p>Academically, your list is really strong.</p>

<p>As to the “reputedly strong schools [you] don’t know much about…” I’ll write about the ones that seem to fit best… (Anyone attending one of these schools, feel free to correct my errors in describing them.)</p>

<p>– CMU = great drama program; great in the sciences. From what I’ve heard, the student body’s ‘type’ is split between these two sub-types, (dramatic types and science types.) In an urban environment. lot of concrete.</p>

<p>– Northwestern = great in disparate fields of study, including drama, music, communications, engineering, journalism, pre-med, econ. A wooded campus in a cool college town. I went here, so I’m biased in favor of it, but I’d recommend looking into it.</p>

<p>– Tufts – Green campus in the greatest college town on Earth, (in my opinion, anyway:) Boston. Tufts’ academic reputation is beginning to catch up with its academic quality–highly regarded programs in a wide array of subjects, including IR, pre-med, and philosophy.</p>

<p>– Brown – open curriculum! Beautiful campus in a rejuvenated city, which, with all of the colleges located downtown, (including Brown,) feels very college-oriented. Academically, it’s strongest in the humanities, but high quality across the board.</p>

<p>– Amherst – kind of preppy, with top-notch academics across the board. A beautiful campus in one of the greatest college towns in the world.</p>

<p>(P.S. I think that you will like Yale… It’s excellent in many fields of study, the student body is diverse, and New Haven isn’t nearly as bad as it’s reputation is.)</p>

<p>Good luck in your search, Smyeth. :)</p>