Another "which college should I go to" thread, but help is appreciated.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Ok, after being depressed for almost 24 hours, I am starting to decide where I have to go... and the only reason why this process is somewhat negative is because what I want out of a college drastically changed. I was accepted to many schools, but here are the schools I am considering attending:</p>

<p>UCLA
Lafayette College
Lehigh
Holy Cross
Trinity (TX)</p>

<p>If I miraculously get off the waitlist:
Columbia
Tufts</p>

<p>I like the academics of each college, but the only thing keeping me back is the student body. I genuinely want a friendly atmosphere, I don't care if they are preppy, white, or upperclass, but as long as they are not snobs, brats, or arrogant, I'll be fine. </p>

<p>My plan of study will differ with each school, since I am not sure what I want to do yet, but becoming a doctor is one route. </p>

<p>I really want to study German and Philosophy at each school possible as minors or a double major/minor combination.</p>

2

<p>Holy Cross has a great philosophy department, German not so sure about.</p>

3

<p>"...not snobs, brats, or arrogant..." I think you can scratch UCLA off the list.</p>

<p>I'd go with Holy Cross or Lafayette.</p>

4

<p>ru kidding, UCLA is BY FAR the best school on that list</p>

5

<p>UCLA or Lehigh are the only two that should be considered.</p>

<p>UCLA has the most prestige, Lehigh has great balance and a great party scene.</p>

6

<p>Well, the only thing that is pulling me toward UCLA is prestige, guaranteed housing for 4 years at a state institution, and cheaper tuition. I am still waiting for aid packages. I will be going to their college welcome day this wednesday.</p>

<p>Sorry, but let me clarify/modify my academic plans. I originally wanted to pursue engineering, but I am questioning at this point. I was thinking about double majoring in a "practical" major such as econ, which I still have a lot of interest in anyway, along with what I want to study (german or philosophy). </p>

<p>As for career plans, I really don't know. It might be medicine or business. While I would love to pursue medicine, I just don't know if 11 Years of school/residency is worth it.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the replies so far.</p>

7

<p>i hate when ppl say "state institution," idk for some reason, that like is demeaning to me, i think it is better to say "public" rather than state school, the word "state" is like derogatory i feel</p>

<p>UCLA is better than 99 percent of all private schools</p>

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<p>I must have missed the news reports about all the snobs, brats, and arrogant people being evacuated from LA. And I think you aren't familiar with the learning process if you think that the more personal attention he'd get at Lafayette and Holy Cross wouldn't compensate for the fact that the all-knowing all-seeing all-powerful US News has them ranked slightly lower among the LACs than UCLA is among the national Universities.</p>

9

<p>wow, where to start ...</p>

<p>Take the idea of econ as a "practical major". Its not; employers don't say "lets go to X and interview some econ majors". Econ is no more "practical" than history or poli-sci. Its the theoretical study of how resources are allocated in society. A lot of people share your idea, it somehow is going to prepare them for a career in business. Actually the most selective employers (consulting, i-banking, etc) care WHERE you went to school, not what you majored in. If you're talking biz-econ, though, you are prepared for business. At a school like ucla its primarily an accounting major.</p>

<p>Second, you have to decide what you want your college experience to be like. You're right to pay attention to the students each school attracts, but why did you wait until April to look into this? You had months and months when you could have visited, asked admissions to put you in contact with students home on break in your area, etc. I'm not sure what you're hoping to get now; if someone writes on an anonymous board "everyone at X is friendly" or "people at Y are snobby and stuck-up" are you going to believe it? </p>

<p>Another factor ought to be what you want in academics. Some schools you listed have large lectures, others much smaller classes. Some have faculty advisors and counseling, others don't even let you see a full-time counselor until you're a junior (eg. ucla). So some are best suited for those who are very self-directed and ready to take full control of their lives, others better for those who would like a little guidance along the way.</p>

<p>If you want other people to make a decision for you, you will find opinionated posters here. Is it the best or even a reasonable way to make this kind of decision? Dunno...</p>

10

<p>

UCLA certainly does not have a 'friendly atmosphere' overall. It has some friendly people, but generally you have to get to know them before they are friendly. It's certainly not a "hey, how you doing?" kind of atmosphere, if that makes sense. </p>

<p>That being said, UCLA pretty much rocks academically, and so you have to figure out what exaclty you want out of a college experience to make this decision.</p>

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<p>thanks for the good posts. Mikemac, I couldnt research this because I was naive and stupid during the college admissions process. I thought I wanted a preppy, preprofessional atmosphere, but it turns out I want the complete opposite and while it is too late to really change anything, I am working with what I have. </p>

<p>I am also not basing my decisions on CC, I am just looking for opinions. I will be visiting UCLA, USC, and possibly Lafayette and Holy Cross. </p>

<p>So, if I end up wanting to pursue business, I should go to UCLA or USC since they are the most prestigous? (btw: just found out I got into USC, but not Marshall)</p>

12

<p>Many decisions on this site come down to choices between large universities and smaller colleges...in this case UCLA vs. Lafayette/Holy Cross, etc.</p>

<p>You might want to ask yourself why it is that when large universities want to give their top undergrad students the royal treatment, they put them in an honors college--more intimate contact with professors, smaller classes, etc. In other words, they try to simulate the small college experience, because they know the 300-person lecture halls are not the best way to learn. That indicates to me that despite all the lip service the large universities pay to the advantages of having 30,000 people on campus, even THEY don't really believe that big universities can do as good a job at educating undergrads as smaller colleges can. If you've ever seen the amount of time some of the profs in many fields at big universities have to devote to administrative nightmares like applying for grants to pay for themselves and a bunch of grad students and post-docs to do research, you'd see one of the reasons why it is that they get a reputation for not having enough time to mentor the undergrads they deal with. </p>

<p>It sounds like your undergrad school will not be the end of the line for you (med school or some grad school would be). Therefore the actual fame of your undergrad college isn't of paramount importance...you won't be knocking on doors trying to get a job based on on just your B.A. So one of the main advantages of UCLA over the others (i.e., its fame) doesn't really come into play.</p>

13

<p>If interested in a friendly atmosphere, Holy Cross and Lafayette would offer that. Smaller LAC's offer great learning experiences with most classes taught by professors vs grad assistants at larger universities. Not sure about Lafayette but Holy Cross has very strong pre-med.</p>

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<p>Is it really so terribly difficult to decide? Your schools are very different. At the very least, UCLA is very different in terms of weather, urban location, and weather. Its philosophy department is superb, which is a point in its favor. The German program is good, but not exceptional. </p>

<p>Things to look for:
-Dorms
-Food
-Study abroad
-Grad/professional school placement
-Debt after graduation
-Faculty profiles/ratio
-Safety/security issues
-Extracurricular offerings
-Quality of technology and resources</p>

<p>There's plenty of other things to help you make a decision. I would personally choose Holy Cross or Lafayette, but UCLA may be perfect for you. If you need more advice, here's some from jmmom.</p>

<p>


</p>

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<p>I visited Lafayette and considered applying there. For a small LAC, they surprisingly have an engineering college. I'd imagine you could double major in engineering and something else, like German or Philosophy. The people there are very friendly. The student body is not very racially diverse, but the college has a very large international (foreign) student body, so you will get to meet lots of people from different cultures.</p>

16

<p>Thanks for all the excellent responses. This is really helping. As of now I am leaning towards USC, UCLA, or Lafayette if I end up liking the visit/student body.</p>

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<p>Jimmy, are you from Cali? Just asking because my spawn got into Tufts but not UCLA, but he is OOS. BTW, I hope you will be able to do an overnight and attend classes at Lafeyette or Holy Cross, because the experience will be vastly different (I think in a lot of good ways) from UCLA or even USC. Good Luck!</p>

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<p>go to lafayette. French ppl rule.</p>

19

<p>thunderthighs,</p>

<p>Yes, I am from california and I actually really wanted Tufts, but I was waitlisted. So I am trying to work that out right now. Anywho, if I wanted to do an overnight at Lafayette or Holy Cross, would I be able to do so at those big college welcome days or would I have to come on a completely random day? Also, when doing an overnight, what does my mom do? Does she just stay there too or at a nearby hotel?</p>