<p>In my browsings of these forums, I've come across many threads that exalt certain universities as being their "dream schools" or "their lifelong wish" (more often than not in the top 10 on USNews). So, just out of curiosity, how many of you actually have any clue as to what the colleges are like? Are they your dream schools because you have concrete knowledge about the campus and love it? Or is it your dream school because everyone talks about it and carries with it a fair amount of prestige? </p>
<p>College students don't respond to this......for the obvious reason.</p>
<p>ofcourse i only heard about them b/c other people talked well about them. but i woudlnt really consider it to be a dream school until i had visited and talked to students i know who go there in order to get the full picture. I mean, MIT was up on that list, but i realized that it wasnt for me.</p>
<p>To be honest, it was just another school on my list for a while. I wasn't too interested, because I heard that it was out in the middle of no where. Still, they have a ballet minor, so I applied. </p>
<p>I went and visited recently, and I LOVED it. Seriously. I don't want to go anywhere else. I totally fell in love. Not to mention the focus on undergrads/the significant lack of pretentiousness (compared to some of the ivies)/the academics/the focus program. </p>
<p>I visited Yale in middle school and immediately fell in love with it. I didn't know about it before then. I didn't find out what the Ivy League was until a year later. Now I know more about it than most people. And I visited again, and plan to go 2-3 more times, and maybe stay overnight. It's not just another superficial obsession. I sincerely like the school.</p>
<p>Also, both my sister have gone through this process, and I was very heavily involved their experiences (to the point where they asked me for advice). I know more about many schools in general, picking a college, applications, etc, than most people.</p>
<p>With my understanding, I actually switched dream schools to Brandeis, then Swarthmore, then Princeton, then Yale, then MIT, then Columbia, and now Yale again. I had my reasons for switching schools, but now I have more reasons for going back to Yale. Again, it isn't a superficial decision.</p>
<p>Stanford was my dream school. At first it was just a random reach based on it being in California and presitigious, and then I visited and just loved the campus.</p>
<p>Got in, but the cost may just put this dream out of reach.</p>
<p>Rice is my dream school. I had actually never even heard of it and did not know that it was even a top twenty school until after I applied. I just liked how small it was and how everyone described it as being really friendly.</p>
<p>My dream school would clearly be considered average by the majority of posters on this board. Screw prestige, I just want to be happy and at a school I love. Whether everyone knows it by name or not, who cares?</p>
<p>Penn is my dream school - it wasn't even on my radar (aka -I didnt know it existed) until after I found out Georgetown, my primary reach, required 3 SAT 2s and I only had 2. A friend told me "UPenn is just so YOU. Check it out." I did. And I swooned.</p>
<p>To me, a UPenn by any other name (and a name of less pretige) would still smell as sweet :)</p>
<p>1) it's Southern
2) it's warm
3) it's totally friendly
4) the campus is beautiful
5) Can anyone say K-town/Cameron Crazies?
6) One of the top schools in the world</p>
<p>In middle school MIT was my "dream school". By high school I had taken it off my list, realizing that it was not the place for me. When I made a trip to Boston in 11th grade to visit other colleges, I visited MIT as well and absolutely hated it.</p>
<p>As for my real "dream school", I had two: Cornell and Carnegie Mellon. Both for numerous regions, prestige only being one small factor. Cornell didn't work out, but CMU did :) Deciding which college to apply to ED I was a tough decision but being deferred made the decision for me.</p>
<p>Same response as Pongo's and austinj's. Duke is my dream school since my sophomore year. I fell in love with it when I visited it- it just felt so right to be there. Gorgeous campus, amazing undergraduate program, the focus program, basketball, prestige, the list goes on and on. Duke's amazing. I just love it.</p>
<p>My family has been doing a campus tour of colleges (without necessarily doing the info session, etc.) when in the vicinity on family vacations or otherwise for years. Starting in, say, 8th grade, actually visiting UVa, Princeton, Amherst, whatever, gives you a sense of what they might be like. Add in any legacy connections or older HS friends' experiences and you can start to get a sense of which schools, or at least what type of school, you like. Of course, there can be disadvantages in falling too deeply in love with one particular school.</p>
<p>I'm one of the people whose dream school isn't Harvard or anything of the such. </p>
<p>My dream school is The University of Tennessee - Knoxville and as of August, I will be going there.</p>
<p>Many people would think that a state school being your dream school is absurd. Not to me. I never liked the idea of going to an Ivy league school. For one, I don't like the northeast. I also never wanted to go to a private school. I knew I wanted a state school that was mid-sized and in the south.</p>
<p>Why is it my dream school? I feel in love with the place the moment I first visted. The campus, people, everything felt right. It's a school that is so enriched in tradition and has this spirit of making the community a better place. I instantly knew it's where I wanted to go and had to go. It's a STATE school that is MID-SIZED and in the south. What I wanted. I know I can be happy there for four years, so I'm very happy to say I'm going to my "DREAM SCHOOL!"</p>
<p>My dream school is UPenn. Why? Mainly because it hosts not just the only undergraduate business school in the Ivy League, but the best business school in the country. I know prestige has a lot to do with it, but after seeing just how many different concentrations (majors) you can take, and the caliber of the teaching and technology, UPenn is my definite choice!</p>
<ol>
<li>It's mission statement, background, history and traditions amaze me.</li>
<li>Great academics and social life!</li>
<li>Respected name</li>
<li>Programs that have in one way or another influenced me during high school. Or just programs that I find interesting.</li>
</ol>
<p>And lastly, I think a 'dream' school is a place that has everything (or most things) that a person looks for. It doesn't hae to be an Ivy or top-tier school. It just has to fit the person.</p>
<p>It's kind of like an 'it' girl or really hot supermodel. Boy, if you have one--and it fits--it's all good.</p>