<p>Bowdoin vs Macalester vs Northwestern vs Washington U in St. Louis</p>
<p>Okay relax, I know you can't really compare large universities to small LACs, that is why it is only B vs M, and North. vs WuSTL.</p>
<p>I can only pick 2 (financial reasons). Maybe one LAC and one university. Maybe even both LACs or both universities.</p>
<p>What I am looking for is a balanced social atmosphere, lots of financial aid, near an urban city, good study abroad, and great foreign languages- Chinese and Japanese mainly. </p>
<p>Not to mention good grad school placement as well as helpful career center. I like all these schools, but which seems like the better fit to what I want? (I haven't visited any, not by choice though). I have been told that they all have small class sizes and excellent professors..</p>
<p>Please keep in mind that I live in NJ, am a Hispanic female, with a so-so SAT (1200), but good grades, essays, and lots of ambition. Reaches or not, I am still going to try. Better then saying "What if" forever, no? :)</p>
<p>I have little knowledge about Bowdoin (besides that it's a Maine LAC) but I would choose Macalester and Northwestern. NU is harder to get into than WashU, but Chicago is soooooo much nicer than St. Louis. Evanston is also a pretty cool town, too. Based on my impressions, NU is more professional/grad focused, so if you're going to university fully expecting to pave your path to a career, I'd pick it over WashU.</p>
<p>And I just plainly like Macalester. :) It's really cool, and it does have both Chinese and Japanese. It has a very international feel for a small LAC in Minnesota. And I'd pick St. Paul over Maine.</p>
<p>I'd pick Macalester, simply because small-town Maine would bore the heck out of me. At least you know the Twin Cities will have a lot going on. The languages there are excellent. </p>
<p>Northwestern an WU would both be significant reaches, based on your SAT scores (although, it would depend on how impressive your other stats are). </p>
<p>I personally like Nortwestern better. But the atmospheres are very different, so it comes down to personal preference. Northwestern is excellent for networking, but it has a very Greek-oriented campus life. It's very much centered around the the midwestern, all-American, frat "type". Some people like it, others don't. </p>
<p>WU has well-known academics. And from what I've heard, campus life at WU is very chill, although there are still frat parties.</p>
<p>Macalester is not generous with financial aid. I dunno, here's the thing, WashU and Macalester are not good with aid. Bowdoin is in middle of nowhere. That only leaves NW, a high reach.</p>