<p>@loremipsum: Yep you’re right about UChicago’s acceptance rate. My mistake.</p>
<p>^ Retter, it’s a very tough time to be applying to top colleges – the competition is unbelievably brutal everywhere, it seems.</p>
<p>Indeed. The schools that many think of as having fairly reasonable acceptance rates will be just as competitive as the most competitive schools are today.</p>
<p>What are you planning on majoring in? </p>
<p>I am personally only familiar with Amherst and Chicago. I chose UChicago over Amherst because I am planning on perhaps majoring in physics and fermilab is a pretty sweet deal. From what I have heard/read the humanities are Amherst’s strong suit, so if you are planning in majoring in math/science definitely take that into consideration. But other than that definitely consider environment as the posters above said .</p>
<p>Anecdotally, my cousin goes to Carleton and LOVES it. I’m not sure of any specific statistics, but it also seems they have gotten quite selective as they turned down a lot of really qualified candidates from my school (my friend who is now choosing between Duke and Middlebury got waitlisted at Carleton).</p>
<p>Good luck and let us know what you decide these are all great schools so you really can’t go wrong!!</p>
<p>I’d rule Colby out.
I’d go to the U of Chicago if I wanted an urban environment, Amherst if I wanted to mix with the elite of the East with some very smart foreign and minority students, Grinnell if I wanted to stay in a very flat environment with interesting but odd people, and Carleton if I wanted to be an intellectual with a social responsibility theme.
That’s OBD’s 5 minute rundown.</p>
<p>Rachel, did you choose?</p>
<p>What if someone who knew you really well said “I am absolutely 100% positive you should go to Carleton” for example (just choosing one on your list). What would your gut reaction be? Relief? Surprise? Protest? If you can’t decide, maybe pretend you’ve chosen one – just pick one – and see how that feels. Maybe it’ll help you decide. You have so many great schools to pick from – I think since you’re smart enough to get into all of them, you’ll do fine whichever one you choose. Good luck.</p>