<p>So don’t just list princeton b/c its too hard or w/e.</p>
<p>Tell us your favorite school you’re not applying to and why you arent</p>
<p>Ill start:
Claremont McKenna- atleast I don’t think Im applying there- still not sure- the reason (i know its a kinda bad one) but no division 1 sports</p>
<p>I like it a lot though- I like their areas of studies, class size, ability to take classes from all 5 schools, area/weather are very nice, supposedly food/dorms/professors are very good too</p>
<p>I was thinking of making a similar thread. I still might apply to these schools, but I probably won’t because I think most of them just aren’t right for me all things considered, even though I really like them. </p>
<p>NYU - as much as I’d love to be in NYC, I think I’d be overwhelmed being at such a big school and not even having a campus to feel I can call home. also, they have weird essays and a core curriculum that set it back in my mind.</p>
<p>Chicago - I’m not basing it on the “where fun goes to die” thing, but I do get the impression that the academics are extremely demanding, maybe more than I’d like. again not a big fan of core curriculums, and it’s pretty far from home.</p>
<p>Reed - almost the perfect match for me, except it doesn’t sound like there’s as much academic freedom as I would like… AND it’s on the other side of the country, which I know my parents really don’t want.</p>
<p>Bowdoin - really outdoorsy student body (which is not me), and cold. I liked almost everything about it but I probably won’t apply because I don’t really need another really selective school on my list if I’m not totally sure I would fit in there.</p>
<p>if I had to pick on from this list it would probably be Reed.</p>
<p>Carleton–I love the quirky+intellectual+laid-back vibe and am willing to live with the location, but the curricular requirements would make it too difficult to double-major and minor.</p>
<p>Rhodes, Wofford, Loyola Marymount - not big-time sports</p>
<p>Pomona - it’s too far away.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the modern college applicant’s aversion to core curricula. The core curriculum is very useful beyond undergraduate school – if I had not taken the required undergrad course we were all required to take, or that biology class I took to fulfill the core, or that philosophy class – I wouldn’t have had experiences that ended up being very important for me in graduate school. Furthermore, I wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation about a wide variety of topics. The higher you go up in school, the more you realize how everything is interconnected. The purpose of undergrad is to make you a generalist, not a specialist.</p>
<p>Beyond that, when I was in undergrad there were several schools I loved to which I didn’t apply. Claremont McKenna, Swarthmore, Amherst, Williams, New College of Florida, and Wellesley are the big ones that come to mind. Columbia was my dream school, but I didn’t apply there, either. I knew that I couldn’t afford it. (But I’m at Columbia now for graduate school, so it’s okay. And perhaps one day I’ll teach at one of those schools – I would absolutely love to teach at a small, rigorous liberal arts college.)</p>
<p>NYU- bad financial aid… which is why im applying to columbia ed</p>
<p>^^ A core curriculum absolutely provides breadth; but one sometimes has more important education goals over an institutional definition of breadth. Those biology and philosophy classes were beneficial–but so might have been the women’s studies or neuroscience class that you DIDN’T take for lack of space/time.</p>
<p>Furthermore, I disagree on the purpose of undergrad being breadth (generalist); there’s a reason why almost all schools require you to choose a major. It’s also rather a U.S.-centric view. Oxbridge stands as a beautiful counterexample.</p>
<p>BU because its price doesn’t match up with its prestige.</p>
<p>Berkeley 'cause it’s all the way across the country.</p>
<p>USC - mom doesnt like it</p>
<p>columbia. i couldn’t go to school in the city. i love the school, though, especially the core curriculum.</p>
<p>… and by “the city” i mean NYC.</p>
<p>I’m not applying to UPenn because I really dislike city schools. Even though I recognize Penn’s terrific academic reputation, I don’t think I could be comfortable in a city, much less Philadephia. I’ve been living in and around Philly for 14 years of my life and honestly, I’m pretty sick of it. ><</p>
<p>USC-
Although it’s the NYU of the west (and NYU is my first choice), I’m more of an East-coast urban guy. That’s why I’m only applying to schools in Boston, NY, Philly.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd and UVA</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd is too far away and I’m afraid it’s too nerdy.
UVA because of the in-state/out-of-state difference.</p>
<p>MIT because I don’t have the credentials
and even though i’m applying early to Uchicago, i don’t think i could survive with MITs math intensive academics</p>
<p>Pepperdine - too small and too Christian.</p>
<p>Penn- I promised myself I wouldn’t apply to too many reaches</p>
<p>I’m not applying to Princeton, Yale, or Columbia because they don’t have an undergraduate school of music or a performance degree program, and so I wouldn’t have a balance of conservatory-level preparation (on campus) and first tier academics.
That’s why I’m applying to Northwestern :)</p>