<p>Hi! So as I stated in the title, I’m a junior who is looking for some college suggestions. Spring break is coming up in a couple of months and I’d like to use that time to visit places. The only place I’ve visited so far is Penn, which I really, really liked, but I need more options. I’m a white female from NJ who is interested in the sciences and history and hoping to be pre-med. Money isn’t a major issue, and my family won’t receive financial aid, but safeties where I could get scholarships would be nice. I’ve tried all sorts of college search engines, but I’m still not sure that I’m finding all the places I would be interested in.</p>
<p>Stats:
Ranked 2/~300, maybe valedictorian
~3.95 GPA, all honors and AP
2200 SAT (740 M, 730 CR, 730 W), taking ACT in April plus subject tests
APs: Music Theory (4), taking Chemistry, US History, and English Language this year
ECs include piano, lifeguarding, swimming, volunteering at a local hospital, and clubs (Academic Team, Science Olympiad, will be captain of both next year)</p>
<p>Criteria:
urban or suburban with reasonable access to a city
between about 2,000 and 15,000 undergraduates
Eastern Seaboard would be preferable
must have some sort of Persian/Farsi language course offerings</p>
<p>Any ideas or suggestions? I’ve been thinking Penn, Pitt, TCNJ, Yale, Duke, and Rochester, but I’m not entirely sure.</p>
<p>Middlebury is great for languages and I’m quite sure they have Farsi. Also wonderful science facilities. It’s a shame to miss out on excellent LACs like Middlebury and Amherst, for example, because they aren’t close to cities. (Amherst has language programs with the other schools in the consortium—probably Farsi). You have to think how often you will really get to the city anyway if you are in some suburb. Check Tufts for Farsi since they have a big international relations department. Also maybe Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>What about Smith College? It’s in Northampton MA, they have a Middle East Studies minor, they’re a suburban campus, ~2800 students, a strong study abroad program, SUPER friendly people…even if you don’t like the idea of an all-girls school, you should consider it. A lot of the people I talked to when I visited said that they only applied at first because their parents/guidance counselors made them, but then they fell in love with it. It’s also part of the 5-college consortium, so you can take classes at nearby universities.</p>
<p>Oh, and it’s only an hour or so bus ride to get into Boston, but Northampton itself is quite a nice town.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! Can I stress that an urban location or a really convenient suburban one is a big priority on my list? Tiny rural LACs, while great in some respects, really aren’t for me. I’ve spent my entire teenage life in a remote town and I’m anxious to get out of here, not experience the same environment in college. I’m not outdoorsy or anything, so the benefits of a rural location are lost on me.</p>
<p>I’m not so much interested in Middle Eastern Studies per se, it’s just that I’m from Iran but I can’t really speak Farsi, so I’d like to learn the language and be able to speak more fluently with my relatives. My main interest is science with a minor interest in history. I just want to learn my native tongue. All-girls schools are fine with me, though. Do you know if Smith gives any scholarships? My parents are pretty much only up for paying in full for a very prestigious school (the downfall of being a first-generation immigrant, haha).</p>
<p>Smith is really good with need-based aid, as far as I know. As far as I know, they have Arabic and Hebrew, but I’m not sure about Farsi. I was looking for Middle East/Farsi programs for a while, but I couldn’t really find any US programs. 
Arabic seems to be a lot more popular (I’ve seen Arabic minors/majors, but never a Farsi major/minor.)</p>
<p>Smith is so, so not remote. Northampton is a lot like Santa Cruz, CA. There are bars, restaurants, shops, etc. When I was visiting the campus, students assured me that they got into Boston a lot. Buses run every hour, and there are cities near by. Smith is right at the heart of Northampton, rather than off on its own remote hillside or whatever. It’s an urban campus in a small-ish city (~30k), but it’s right in the middle of town. It’s a college town, but it’s got a strong artistic presence. </p>
<p>Sorry if it seems like I’m pushing it too much, and I don’t even go there! I initially rejected it because I wanted an urban campus, but when I visited, I totally changed my mind. You should definitely check it out/make a visit, especially if you’re interested in science/history. Smith has amazing programs in both areas (especially the hard sciences.)</p>
<p>I just looked it up - Smith doesn’t have Farsi classes. Although Middle East studies aren’t really my thing, even my safeties have Farsi, so I’d like all of my colleges to have that too. But thank you so much for the suggestion!</p>
<p>If you’re open to women’s colleges, you should look at Barnard and Wellesley too—both of which are in or close to large cities. For great universities in cities, you should probably check out Emory. Brown could be one of your reaches. You might want to look at George Washington as a safety.</p>
<p>A school just a little farther afield, Ohio State which has a new language institute.
[The</a> Foreign Language Center - Language](<a href=“http://flc.osu.edu/language/default.cfm]The”>http://flc.osu.edu/language/default.cfm)</p>
<p>Sorry, but I’m looking for a small-to-medium sized university, and Ohio State is huge. Although I don’t want a tiny school, I don’t want to be just a number in a crowd. Emory seems good though, as does Brown.</p>