Top Colleges: Specific Aspects

collegepanics
Tue, 19 Nov 2013 23:10:29 +0000

Hi! I’m a senior stressing in this overwhelming college process, and as of now, I am looking at 12 potential colleges (note: none of these are “safety caliber;” I’ve already decided on my safeties). I’d like to know your input on the following aspects:

-enough personal attention?
-attainable research/extracurricular opportunities?
-biological/pre-med department reputation?
-how competitive/cut throat?
-general personality of students…preppy? nerdy?
-grade deflation at school?
-city opportunities?
-general weather?

Here is my college list (in order of preference):
-Brown
-Yale
-Northwestern
-Wash U in St. Louis
-Columbia
-Vanderbilt
-U Chicago
-UC Berkeley
-Duke
-UCLA
-U Rochester
-U Michigan

I’d like a school with:
-a warm climate
-excellent reputation, especially in biological sciences/pre-med
-very low cutthroat/competition (collaboration instead)
-a plethora of research and extracurricular opportunities
-an intellectual, stimulating, friendly, nerdy social scene
-either urban/suburban/city with a diversity of city events, attractions, and restaurants
-manageable stress load (minimum grade deflation)
-a medium sized school with many out of state and international students
…am I overlooking any schools/should I remove any if they obviously don’t meet at least 2 criteria? I realize UC schools are large in student population, but don’t they fulfill the other criteria?

Muchas gracias. :)