The best of both worlds

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Hi, I’m a junior looking at colleges and my dad tends to look at all the Ivies, etc. But I want a college where I don’t have to lock myself in a room and study all night so I can <em>pass</em> college. I don’t want to have to compromise my mental and spiritual maturity so I can keep up with grades constantly. At the same time, I don’t want to have too easy classes, I enjoy a real challenge of both mind and intellect.</p>

<p>What colleges do you think I should look into? I want something that will challenge my mind, who I am, but also give me a tough education (but not so it takes over my very existence). I’m looking into presitigious colleges hopefully from the midwest to the East coast (north and south). </p>

<p>Also, am I becoming too paranoid of the rumored Ivy life?</p>

2

<p>A lot of top schools are hard to get into but easy to graduate from (Harvard, Princeton, Most LAC’s, Stanford, etc etc). Other schools are known to put you through the gauntlet before they give you a degree (Publics -like Uva, Cal, Umich - tech schools Mit/CiT etc, Cornell etc).</p>

<p>You should look into what schools are known for what - more prestige doesn’t mean more work.</p>

3

<p>Penn is an Ivy, but I’ve heard its the party ivy. That might be a good choice.</p>

4

<p>I don’t think you need to worry about all work and no play. Of course, college is hard, but that’s going to be true no matter where you go. What’s also true is that Ivy students do have time for leisure–otherwise there wouldn’t be a bazillion extracurriculars at those schools. It is all about time management. Plus there’s grade inflation at many top universities, so don’t worry about flunking =). Lastly, the schools most known for a heavy workload are UChicago and Swarthmore (w00t!), not Ivies.</p>

5

<p>Yeah but unlike UChicago students, Swatties know how to have fun! I seriously think you could get the best of both worlds there if you wanted…</p>

6

<p>Duke - where else do people camp out to see a championship caliber bball team</p>

<p>Also, parties are great, but I don’t think the highly academic people party too much (something to do with an inverse correlation between drinks consumed and grades)</p>

7

<p>"the schools most known for a heavy workload are UChicago and Swarthmore "</p>

8

<p>Stanford is very tough to get it, but nearly impossible to fail out of. It is tough to get all As though.</p>

9

<p>Tiger, few top universities provide the complete experience. I’d say among the Ivies, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn, Princeton and Yale give a great, all around experience. Columbia and Harvard are probably not quite as well rounded. </p>

<p>Among private elites, Boston College, Duke, Emory, Georgetown, Northwestern, Rice, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Washington U. all have a great balance between academics and social life. On the other hand, Caltech, Chicago, Johns Hopkins and MIT are probably not quite as good.</p>

<p>Among state schools, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Texas-Austin, UCLA, UVA, Washington and Wisconsin are great. Georgia Tech, Purdue and William and Mary aren’t quite as well balanced.</p>

10

<p>tiger2010, I think you will find what you are asking for at Syracuse University, esp for engineering or computer science.</p>