<p>Which is better? 25K a year at Brandeis or Carleton/Vassar/Haverford with no scholarship. I’m interested in neuroscience, languages, and possibly pre-med.</p>
<p>Do you want to graduate in debt? I've emailed sernior premeds/med students in the near future at Brandeis and they've been pretty happy with their experience</p>
<p>You can get a great education at any of the four schools you are considering. As far as neuroscience goes, Brandeis has a considerable edge over the other three.</p>
<p>I don't think financial aid should be the deciding factor. If you think you'll be happy in Brandeis then go to Brandeis. Other than that other LACs you've listed are also top notch in sciences.</p>
<p>There is a considerable difference in the sciences between a research university and a LAC, though the LACs would have you believe otherwise. At Vassar, the sciences are almost an afterthought.</p>
<p>I'd reserve comment on how important financial aid should be in someone's decision until you've walked in their shoes.</p>
<p>i don't know your specific financial situation, alex, but i disagree with dash that you should not make money a factor. you're talking 100,000. enough to buy 4 cars in the future. enough to take 20 vacations in the future. enough to <em>gasp</em> start saving for your children's college future.</p>
<p>besides, Brandeis is extremely strong in neuroscience. prof. sekuler, whom i had for intro psyc is really well-known for his work in neuroscience, paticularly visual perception. see <a href="http://people.brandeis.edu/%7Esekuler/%5B/url%5D">http://people.brandeis.edu/~sekuler/</a> i would contact the departments that you interested in. </p>
<p>do you have time to visit the campus before you have to make your final choice?</p>
<p>Sorry if I made a wrong assumption. I just thought that alex7 did not apply for financial aid since those schools give generous need-based scholarships. Thus, my assumption was that alex7 could afford the tuition.</p>
<p>rebelliousduck, I insist you not make a judegment on me that way. I'm an international and I've had to let go of the top schools just in order to apply for financial aid. I will have to say that your phrase "until you've walked in their shoes." is quite ironical for me.</p>
<p>dash,</p>
<p>Sorry that you feel I was judgemental. I was merely making a suggestion, which you are perfectly free to ignore. Given your situation, I find it ironic that you would be so dismissive of financial circumstances.</p>
<p>BTW, I wasn't aware that Harvard and Yale changed their financial aid policies regarding international students, which, IIRC, were/are the same as those for American citizens and residents.</p>
<p>Brandeis has one of the strongest neuro programs in the world.</p>
<p>at brandeis, you get research university + a l.a.c. education. + they have an amazing neuroscience program.</p>
<p>ive heard that neuroscience is incredibly intense and competitive at brandeis
i definitely liked the lac campuses better (they didn't give me aid b/c i can tehcnically afford them although i can afford brandeis much easier obviously.)</p>
<p>First of all, IMHO Haverford is in a totally different league than Vassar and Carleton.</p>
<p>Typically, Haverford is put in the same category with Amherst, Williams and Swarthmore. </p>
<p>Secondly, you will get a fine education at any of the four schools you are considering.</p>
<p>Thirdly, if you are interested in a "hard science" you will most likely want to participate in some research or at least study with a professor who is doing some genuine (i.e. funded, published) research. If that's the case, then you probably want to steer away from LACs (Swarthmore being a notable exception).</p>
<p>That, plus the aid package would make me think you are better off at Brandeis.</p>
<p>But... (and this is a very, very, very BIG BUT).</p>
<p>Do NOT go to Brandeis just because of the aid package.
Go there because you want to, and because you legitimately believe it's the best place for you. Otherwise you will have four bitter and unhappy years.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you. It's a tough decision.</p>
<p>Neuroscience is demanding. That is pretty much true of all of the sciences at Brandeis. Other places may be less demanding. Brandeis will do an excellent job of preparing you to take your interest in neuroscience to whatever the next level is for you, if you are up to the challenge. </p>
<p>Not sure what you mean by competitive. Common for people to form study groups. Grades are seldom, if ever, discussed.</p>
<p>soze,</p>
<p>I would replace Swarthmore with Wesleyan in your fourth paragraph. Wesleyan leads LACs by a considerable margin (about three times more than the next highest institution) in funded reasearch in the sciences. Swat is pretty well back in the pack.</p>
<p>Soze...</p>
<p>Carleton is actually ranked higher than Haverford on US News. Nonetheless I think they are both equally great schools.</p>
<p>While I wouldn't go by US News rankings, I would consider Carleton to be in the same league as Haverford. It also has more funded research in the sciences.</p>
<p>I dont agree with the idea of rankings either. I was just correcting an assertion.</p>
<p>Alex: Brandeis is excellent for neuroscience and also for pre-med programs. But in any school you'll have to work hard if you want to go to medical school. Brandeis is also about twice the size of the others, so you will have many more opportunities for activities.</p>