<p>hi everyone,
until now i've basically been looking at colleges based on their ranking/selectivity and location, but i'm starting to focus more on the type of students at the schools. my main passion is human rights, particularly in subsaharan africa. i'm sick of people my age not knowing what apartheid is or where conflict minerals come from, and i'd really like to go to school with kids who are knowledgeable and involved.</p>
<p>i've heard brandeis might be a good fit for me, but it's very near where i live and i'm not sure if i want to go to college THAT close by. other than that, i'm not really familiar with any active schools other than oberlin, which i visited but didn't really like (seemed kind of prententious and isolated for my tastes, no offense to any students there!)
any advice would be great, thanks.</p>
<p>if it matters, i'm thinking of majoring in international relations or journalism, with an african studies minor.</p>
<p>If you don’t mind a religious school, many Catholic universities (Jesuits in particular) are very big on social justice (being one of their core tenets). If you’re looking at International Relations, maybe consider Georgetown, though I don’t know whether or not you’re an academic fit.</p>
<p>thanks edd! georgetown is definitely a reach, but i’ll be visiting it this summer with some other DC schools (american, gwu) because i know they have a great IR program. do you know how religious georgetown is? i’m a unitarian universalist/atheist, and i’m not comfortable with a particularly devout school.</p>
<p>From visiting and talking to students, it seems that there’s a definite religious presence, and priests do teach several classes, but the amount of religion there seems to vary quite a bit depending on what you want, and they’re very open and tolerant (Jesuit schools tent to have more non-Catholics), and ~50% of the students aren’t Catholic. If it means anything, Bill Clinton was an international relations student there. I ended up at the much more religious Notre Dame, though, where many people maintain that Georgetown isn’t a “real” religious school (I think that’s mean of them, haha, but each to their own).</p>
<p>Of course, those other schools are also very good for IR, and may be better for you, if you’re not comfortable with a religious presence.</p>
<p>I can tell you that with today’s modern college student demographics, you’re like to find a good amount of social justice minded students wherever you end up. </p>
<p>Good luck in college and in changing the world.</p>
<p>hmm, sounds like georgetown’s worth a look; that clinton went there was (very interesting) news to me. thanks again- your posts were refreshingly honest and comprehensive.</p>
<p>You’re female, right? Smith and Mount Holyoke are known for their politically active student bodies (and total lack of sectarianism). Check out Swarthmore and Vassar as well.</p>
<p>ghostt- i’ve been in love with mt holyoke and smith for a couple years now, so it’s good to hear someone else reaffirm that they’d be good fits swarthmore is beyond a reach, so i’m not bothering to waste time looking at it haha. don’t know much about vassar, though… it’s in NY, right? i can’t remember, is it co-ed? thanks for the suggestions!</p>
<p>Macalester is well known for having very active and passionate student population on social issues and causes. It is strong academically and St. Paul is a very cool little city. If you don’t mind the travel, and you can deal with the winters, it is worth a look. Carleton, which is about a 45 minute drive from St. Paul is also worth a look if you go visit.</p>
<p>It is coed, though people love to joke about its large female student population and feminist political tilt. It used to be a women’s college until sometime in the 60s or 70s. Its acceptance rate is ~20%, though, so if you consider Swarthmore an impossible reach, Vassar might not be much better. That being said, as long as your GPA is above 3.7 (or whatever your school’s equivalent to a respectable GPA is) and your SAT score isn’t too low, I don’t see why you can’t apply. Very often these schools value personal fit above raw numbers.</p>
<p>Mount Holyoke and Smith sound right up your alley; I wish you good luck there!</p>
<p>Macalester is an excellent suggestion. But look too at Bard. George Soros just gave $60 million to the college for its global engagement programs, one of which is in South Africa.</p>
<p>Diana: Re Macalester & Minneapolis/St. Paul: There are quite a few UU & Universalist congregations out that way; dunno how the #s stack up to Boston/Massachusetts, but it struck me as a LOT. If I were you, I would check club listings on school websites, then delve further to see if they are active and actually doing anything. Also, if the school has speakers or a lecture series, who do they have come in?</p>
<p>wow, thanks for all these responses- i wasn’t expecting this much at all! gotta love CC.</p>
<p>bobbyct- i’ll definitely be checking both these out. since they’re pretty close to each other, sounds like it might be worth a visit. i don’t mind the winters either, so they could be great!</p>
<p>ghostt- according to my school’s naviance, swarthmore looks pretty crazy (i know kids who have gotten into harvard, but rejected from swat) but vassar looks like it could be a low reach/high match. that’s a good point about fit though; i’m hoping essay(s), recs, and interview will help me stand out at competitive LACs. from what i’ve read about vassar, it looks amazing, so i owe you one for the suggestion!</p>
<p>momwonders- i certainly will. a well-funded global engagement program, with a site in SA, sounds absolutely incredible. gracias! :)</p>
<p>obsessed- that’s awesome about the UU churches! (and, forgive my slight massachusetts prejudice towards the midwest, a little unexpected too!) investigating clubs and speakers is a fantastic suggestion; i really wish i had thought of that before, haha, and i’m certainly going to employ that strategy to get a feel for schools from now on. thanks!</p>
To be honest, a lot of people want to do that. A lot of my friends (at an elite private university, mind you) found out the hard way that English and international studies majors aren’t quite as in demand as they’d thought. </p>
<p>For example, look at the branches of the Peace Corps.
[ul][<em>]Agriculture – Degree in biology, zoology, agriculture preferred
[</em>]Business/Communication – Degree in urban planning, public policy, computer science, business preferred
[<em>]Community development – Degree in social work or experience preferred
[</em>]Environment – Degree in wildlife management, natural resources, environmental science preferred
[li]Health – Degrees in health, nutrition, civil/environmental engineering preferred[/ul][/li]By far the most open branch is education, which does take people from virtually any field.</p>
<p>If you actually want to help people, consider a practical field. Public health, for instance, or social work or agriculture. These fields are heavily in demand overseas…journalism, not so much.</p>
<p>As a suggestion, Kalamazoo might be a good fit. It’s not as selective as Swat or Georgetown, but students are very bright, and it has long had a focus on service and internationalism. Its service learning programs may be of particular interest to you:</p>
<p>that’s a good point warblers- i have always planned to join the peace corps after college, and adult education is what i’d like to do while serving. i should be fluent in kiswahili and french by the time i’m out of college, so that should help, but you’re right- one of those more practical majors might be more useful. public health and social services both seem cool, so i think i’m going to look into them more. i’m taking ap enviro next year, so hopefully that will show me if i might be interested in an enviro. studies major.</p>
<p>as for journalism, i’d really like to be a conflict journalist/photographer or a regional correspondent in africa. i know it’s basically a pipe dream, since they’re hardly in demand/high-paying fields, but it’s my dream all the same :/</p>
<p>wow, i hadn’t heard of kalamazoo before, but it looks really neat too. i think i’m going to add it to my interested list- the service learning page was very convincing. i’m going to check out denver as well.</p>
<p>I too intend on joining the Peace Corps after college. My dream is to go to a spanish-speaking country because I love spanish and hope to become fluent before I graduate. I would also LOVE to major in Sociology or Anthropology, but i fear that i will graduate with minimal job oppurtunities. I’m curious as to know what related majors there are that will enable me to get a good job in 2016</p>
<p>so cool to find another PC person on cc, kudos! that’s cool about a spanish speaking country too- i’ve heard a lot of spanish speaking placement locations are absolutely beautiful, and with wonderful people. i’m fluent in spanish, but i’ve never been crazy about the language and i don’t think i’ll pursue it in college.
i love soc and anthro as well, but i’m also worried about finding a job… i can’t seem to find anything even vaguely well paying that also seems rewarding/enjoyable! ugh.
where are you thinking about for colleges/universities?</p>
<p>Hopefully we can stay in contact? who knows, maybe we’ll even meet each other through PC. I have decided to go in as undeclared because i really have no clue what i will major in. </p>
<p>I have high hopes for college and I really really want to attend a noteworthy university. Here’s my list:
UC Berkeley
Stanford
UC Irvine
CSU Long Beach?
Santa Clara
USC
Spelman
Cal Poly?</p>
<p>I’m a California girl as you can see, lol, but I’m open to suggestions.
what about you(:</p>
<p>If Swarthmore is too much of a reach, you might want to consider Haverford or Bryn Mawr. They’re in a consortium with Swarthmore and have similar Quaker origins, so they have similar commitments to social justice.</p>
<p>Vassar would probably be a good fit but they are working hard to equalize the gender ratio, so females have a tougher time getting in.</p>
<p>@jojou definitely! i’ll send you a message so as to not take over this thread- i’m really happy to have found another kid interested in service abroad! your college list looks awesome btw.</p>
<p>engineer- i visited bryn mawr this last april, and i loved it. gorgeous campus, and i really liked everyone i met. that’s good to know about vassar, but somewhat depressing hopefully the gender thing won’t hurt me too much. thanks!</p>
swarthmore is beyond a reach, so i’m not bothering to waste time looking at it haha. don’t know much about vassar, though… it’s in NY, right? i can’t remember, is it co-ed? thanks for the suggestions!</p>
gotta love CC.</p>
hopefully the gender thing won’t hurt me too much. thanks!</p>![http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Clinton_at_Georgetown_1967.jpg[/url]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Clinton_at_Georgetown_1967.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
