@WWWard Congratulations! I am sure that will be the case with me, too (not that I will go to USC, as I’m only considering east-coast schools; but that once I’m somewhere, I won’t be able to imagine myself anywhere else). I’ll be sure to keep you updated on where I end up. 
Thanks.
And why only east-coast schools? We went through that too. At one point, the thought of staying on the east coast (we are in FL) seemed preferable to my kids as well. Their primary list early on was Brown, Yale, Princeton, Duke & Vanderbilt. But then they visited USC and also did the math… Tampa to Vanderbilt is 8-9 hours one-way by car. Tampa to Duke is 8-9 hours one-way by car. Tampa to L.A. is 4.5 to 5 hours one-way by air.
My daughter wanted a car on campus too, but with Zip Cars, Uber, free Campus Cruisers and public transportation, etc. she has not needed it. They even have free Uber within a certain range of campus. She can use a Zip Car & Uber somewhere every single week and that total cost alone is still cheaper than just paying to park a car… let alone making a car payment, paying for car insurance, etc. I went to Hopkins, which was 14 hours or so one-way from Tampa. That’s kind of a silly waste of time. You can fly from Tampa to L.A., back to Tampa and back to L.A. again faster that that one-way drive. And believe me… it got old quick. But I was east-coast centric in thought myself back then when I went to college.
Clearly, the east-coast has some great colleges… but so does Texas (Rice, UTexas), California (Stanford, USC, Cal, UCLA), etc. To me, the two best overall (USC and Stanford) are both out west. But it took a visit out there in-person to finally convince my daughter. Prior to that… Brown and Princeton looked the best to her.
Last thought… Newsweek created a list of the 25 colleges with the best overall weather, factoring in many things - especially humidity. All 25 out of 25 schools on that list are in two states: California and Arizona. Once my younger daughter visited USC herself, the ability to breathe & to not instantly sweat from the high humidity here in FL was enough to open her eyes to the thought of the west-coast too.
“Newsweek created a list of the 25 colleges with the best overall weather, factoring in many things”
“best” weather is in the eye of the beholder, though, right? For my kid that loves skiing, the list would totally different from Newsweek’s.
@doschicos Granted. That’s very true. It is all personal perspective and preferences and thus highly subjective. To my kids, weather is likely more about avoiding the negative. Here in FL, where you can literally break a sweat simply by walking to and from the mailbox, the goal to locate a college campus with the lowest possible relative humidity can be a factor. But it was not enough of a goal that they were looking outside of top-25 programs.
To them, the entire southeastern U.S. is a bad weather zone. As a parent, weather alone should never be the prevailing factor anyhow… but I understand that it is something to consider. And I’ll personally also take the snow over hot and sticky… so the northeast is preferable to the southeast.
I agree about the humidity as well as your more important point about not being locked in to certain geographic regions, @WWWard.
I second USC as an option for you. With your stats, if you apply by dec 1, you may well get a substantial merit award.
Also, I’d consider tufts because it has decent IR and comp sci majors available, is the size you’re interested in, has a close-knit college community, offers terrific ECs that line up with the ones you loved in high school, has a distinct campus with a local, cool “downtown” in Davis square and it’s an easy/quick trip to Cambridge/Boston, and finally, with your stats I think you have a decent shot of acceptance.
@WWWard Good point about having a car on campus. I almost forgot about that. Regarding the weather… call me crazy, but I prefer having snow in the winter & cooler weather in general. The humidity here in PA isn’t too bad (well, except right now; it’s awful in August), so that’s something I also never really thought about.
Another thing to note is that I have 3 younger siblings and my parents are struggling in their relationship right now, and as of now I’m sort of the “mediator” between my mom, dad, and younger siblings… I don’t know what will happen when I leave (hopefully these problems will dissolve entirely) but I do feel like I should be available to hop on a train real quick and head home if my help is needed… I know I shouldn’t be blocking out amazing schools because of this, but my family has given so much to me and I don’t want to just “abandon” them in their time of need, if that makes sense. Sorry for TMI but I don’t really know how else I can articulate this.
I’ll look into USC but unless my family situation improves I don’t know if I’d be able to make the commitment to leave to the other side of the country.
@RenaissanceMom I visited Tufts, but to be honest, I didn’t really see anything special in the information session or the tour. It’s nice, but feels like too much of a city school to me (even though it’s not really in a city). Just seemed a little busy to me. Also, I’ve heard that some of the students are a bit “out-there”… Thank you for the suggestion but I don’t think I’m going to apply
@gmanhax It’s totally understandable - and admirable - to include your family situation into your college criteria. There are so many good schools across the country that you need to do what is best for your situation. You sound like a great son and brother.
@doschicos Thank you for understanding. Thanks to you and others, I now realize just how many excellent options there are for me, and that many of those don’t have huge names. I’ll probably come up with a list of colleges by Wednesday evening and I’ll post it here with some notes on each college, and maybe then you helpful people can see how many of them are reaches/matches/safeties and whether I need to alter the list at all. Thanks for all the help thus far!
I just re-read this thread. Based on all that you have said, I would now recommend that you consider Brown. It offers the diversity & open curriculum that you seem to be seeking. You can even design your own major. I would skip Harvard personally. I would replace Columbia and its core curriculum requirements with Brown and its open curriculum.
Not counting 3-4 safeties… I would urge you to consider these 8 colleges. Duke, UVa, Georgetown, JHU, Penn, Princeton, Brown and Yale. You can add in Harvard and maybe one other Reach school, like Northwestern, and then at least 3 safeties. I would apply to at least 13 unless you secure an Early admission that you are content with as an option.
I would not consider UChicago or Columbia, as they are both Core curriculum programs. I also do not see you as being content at a place like Cornell or Dartmouth. In fact, you may also find it had to find contentment at most LACs. Anyhow… that is my personal summation based on all of your posts on this thread thus far. Again… good luck…
@WWWard Thank you. I will certainly consider Brown, considering what you said. Impressive how you deduced that I would prefer a more open curriculum to a structured, core curriculum; you’re right. I would guess that this is also why I find Princeton’s emphasis on independent research/senior thesis so intriguing (this is one of the main reasons I want to apply early there, rather than other reach schools).
Why wouldn’t I be content @ Cornell or Dartmouth? I’m not saying I would, just wondering. Why wouldn’t I like LACs in general? You seem to have a lot more experience on the topic than I do. Personally, I feel like I’m one of those people that could adapt anywhere and end up having a good time, as long as they give me enough wiggle room to do so.
You’re welcome.
Well, your descriptions, background, interests and posts all seem very similar to my own path and thought process back when I was a high school senior considering all the same things. I was also torn between many disparate interests and conflicted about where I wanted to go for college. So I may be drawing parallels where they do not truly exist, based on such similarities.
I would consider Brown. No other elite college offers the same level of flexibility and overall openness in terms of being the architect of your own educational destiny. Its open curriculum seems well-suited to the form of exploration or soul-searching that you have described thus far. I and my daughters also got the same general vibe and feel visiting Brown that we did at Princeton. Before they visited and decided on USC instead, Brown and Princeton were their leading contenders among all east-coast schools. They preferred both of them much more than any of the other Ivies that they toured.
My thoughts about Cornell & Dartmouth are mainly derived from two things… 1) the type of people that I have known who chose to and attended each school and 2) their campuses and surrounding areas. I just think that someone like you may find such a setting a little confining over time. The colleges themselves also seem to attract students of a certain mindset, who strike me as a little different from those who prefer Princeton and Brown. I can of course be wrong, and there are always exceptions… but the patterns I have seen over time do seem to reflect such in all of the alumni I have known from all 4 schools.
Most NE LACs in general seem to have similar overall limitations due to their size, diversity and locations. I could clearly be mislead on that front too, as I have only been to a few. But I am just projecting that you may want more from the overall college experience than what may be attainable from a smaller school like such. There could clearly be an exception to this… especially a possibly larger LAC with a curriculum that closely resembles Brown. But Brown already exists, and with your stats, I do not necessarily think that you need to be content with a Brown-like school. You could aim for Brown itself.
Yes - you are adaptable, flexible and interested in many things. It is exactly that “wiggle room” factor and diversity of opportunities, experiences and pathways that I am focused on in making such recommendations to you. It is what I was seeking myself many years ago. Had I got into Brown myself, that is where I would have gone. I instead ended up at Hopkins, which ultimately was fine - since I took advantage of a B.A./M.A. program that included grad school opportunities in D.C. and Italy. So my own Hopkins path included 3 campuses in 3 very different environments. The existence of that program was really attractive to me. That program also has a school in China now. So that pathway thru JHU is also something to consider, especially if you are interested in global cultures, international relations, etc… I ultimately narrowed down my choices to Brown and Hopkins and then let Brown decide for me… lol.
I wouldn’t rule out LACs. My family’s experience and my own impressions and observations don’t support the views expressed above. The focus on undergrad teaching and relationships/research with faculty provide a top notch education. My own kids and their friends have no shortage of opportunities and a range in courses available to them. One can only take so many classes, after all. Plus, several can be found within a consortium setting further expanding the offerings.
If Princeton’s thesis/independent research appeal to you, you can find other schools with similar options. For example, William’s tutorial program modeled after Oxford and Cambridge. Many LACs have the flexibility for independent research and some, like Haverford, require a senior thesis as a graduation requirement.
Just chiming in with another opinion…
I can certainly agree with that. My initial post had recommended the consideration of Amherst & Williams. And if he were open to west-coast schools, I would second the consideration of the Claremont Colleges.
Brown is a good suggestion. Older son graduated from there and loved the flexibility and the campus culture. Also, many opt to do an honors thesis, my son included. But it’s a very different culture/ethos than Princeton’s. And their campuses are different: brown is located in the nicest, most affluent Providence neighborhood, but it has a more urban feel than Princeton, which really feels suburban. Brown is located up on College Hill (though its campus is relatively flat) but a short walk downtown and to the train station, making it easy for you to get home, or to take the 1 hour commuter train to Boston, if you’d like to explore that city while in college. The way in which brown is most like Princeton is that they both emphasize/ focus on undergrad education.
@WWWard Thank you for your valuable insight. I am looking much more closely at Brown than I did originally. It’s comforting to know that there are others out there like me, with such scattered interests that it’s hard to find a place that really ‘fits.’ I really am interested in the whole global cultures idea, and would love to be exposed to other cultures even if I am not directly studying them (for example, studying computer science in Poland or finance in India). Hopkins was also on my original list but I never really looked into programs like the one you mentioned. Time to do some more research…
@doschicos Noted about the LACs; thank you for providing a contrasting viewpoint. Wherever I go would have to have some varied study abroad options, though. How many colleges let you take 2 separate semester abroad, in different places? At Princeton, I know that it costs nothing extra tuition-wise to study abroad, but is that the norm?
Williams is already something I am looking at, and I’ll continue to explore other similar options, as you suggested. Any other elite/in-my-target-range institutions with flexibility regarding independent study? What about safeties?
@RenaissanceMom Thank you for your input; I would say that I prefer the suburban feel to the urban feel, but that is something I’m definitely willing to give up if I am given the opportunity to go somewhere like Brown. I believe Princeton also has a train station a short walk away that you can take straight to Philly or NYC. However, I have been to Philly too many times to count and NYC 8-10 times due to a long distance relationship, and I’m always interested in exploring new places (only been to Boston once for a few visits) so Boston may be a better city to be close to! Emphasis on undergraduate education is always a plus, obviously. It will be tough to choose!
Yes, you can easily get to both Philly and NYC from Princeton. DC isn’t that hard to reach either.
Re: study abroad, I’ve never heard of a private college charging more than the usual semester cost for study abroad. With some schools policies, its even cheaper than staying on campus as study abroad programs often cost less than on campus private school costs. Even the smaller LACs have a wide range of options. 2 semesters shouldn’t be an issue at most schools, assuming you plan out your 4 years wisely to meet all grad requirements.
If I think of any other programs off the top of my head for independent study I’ll let you know. It’s been a few years now since my kids went through the process. However, I don’t think its that uncommon just that schools call it different things and some promote it more than others.
You’re welcome. Here is a link to the program at JHU / SAIS that I mentioned:
In my case, as part of the 5 yr BA/MA program in International Studies, I studied at JHU’s Homewood campus in Baltimore and at the (School of Advanced International Studies) SAIS’ campuses in Bologna, Italy and D.C… My year abroad in Europe was likely the best year of my life. Some do the mix of Beijing and D.C… Some do just Baltimore and D.C. Beijing and Bologna may even be possible…
@gmanhax We meet again… ;). Basically I feel as though you are a competitive applicant; however, all of the schools you listed are reach schools for everyone, vanderbilt and others being slightly less, but still reaches…
Again, you are competitive, but it is a crap shoot for 98% of applicants.