<p>I hope to pursue an economics and philosophy double major, with plans for law school after graduation. I have absolutely no clue where/how to begin my college search, though.</p>
<p>Based on the below, if anyone here could offer me advice or even a list of schools that I should look into, I would greatly appreciate it.</p>
<p>Here's what I would love in a college:
- a renowned economics department
- a strong philosophy department
- a tradition of sending many students to top law schools
- far, far away from Arkansas
- definitely a school without religious affiliations, and preferably a rather liberal one
- very small class sizes -- I don't necessarily want a small school, but I learn best in more intimate settings
- plenty of one-on-one interaction with the professors
- highly selective
- co-ed
- focus on in-class discussion and developing logic/analysis skills
- quality tutoring available -- I'm not sure I'll need it, but I'm irrationally afraid of math classes
- very diverse</p>
<p>Here are my basic stats:
- Valedictorian of a class of roughly 750
- IB student
- SAT Reasoning superscore (two testings): 2370 - Cr 800, M 770, Wr 800
- SAT subject test scores: 800, 800, 770
- National Merit Semi-Finalist, more than likely Finalist
- Fairly acceptable ECs - two or three state-level awards, although I certainly wouldn't consider myself spectacular in this department.
- Somewhat weak leadership - about 5 leadership positions in school.
- Published writer and photographer
- Aspiring model - I've only done a little work with one studio. =P But I have my hopes.
- Legacies at the University of Pennsylvania and Washington University in St. Louis</p>
<ul>
<li>Asian American</li>
<li>Female</li>
<li>I am from Arkansas.</li>
<li>I do not think I will be requesting financial aid.</li>
</ul>
<p>I've tried to be as thorough as possible, but if any other information is needed, I would be more than willing to elaborate.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your time. I realize I should definitely have started my search earlier, and so I would really appreciate any recommendations or advice.</p>
<p>U should try UChicago. But that’s provided u arent afraid of bad weather and heavy course load. But if u like UPenn or WashU, by all means go for it.</p>
<p>Confusedboy - I’m actually almost certain I don’t want to attend either UPenn or WashU…my family members have not had the best of experiences there…</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestion. =) I’ve been thinking about UChicago a lot recently.</p>
<p>Princeton, in addition to standing out from the rest of its peers in both Econ and Phil, also offers arguably the best undergraduate experience of all.</p>
<p>If you’re afraid of math, the econ major may not be for you. Most selective colleges require you take at least multivariable calculus and statistics. Plus, almost all econ courses past the introductory stage are math intensive. </p>
<p>If your irrational fear of math is greatly exaggerated, then UChicago sounds great for you. You may also want to look at Yale (not as math intensive). Any top 30 school will have an amazing economics department. It’s relatively easy to build a top notch econ department over, say a subject like computer science.</p>
<p>Amherst College
Brown University
Harvard University
MIT (yes, they actually have an excellent Philosophy department, but the Econ curriculum is Math-heavy)
Northwestern University
Princeton University
Stanford University
Swarthmore College
University of Chicago (also Math-heavy Econ curriculum)
Yale University</p>
<p>With your stats, you may want to consider looking into a couple of public flagships that also meet many of your criteria, such as Cal and Michigan. Those two schools would probably give you generous merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Seriously look into Claremont McKenna College in CA. They have an excellent economics major and, besides that, it seems like their special major in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) could be PERFECT for you. The PPE program uses an Oxford seminar style of teaching (really small discussion group classes + one-on-one once a week session with professor). Also, even though it’s a really small liberal arts college, they have a lot of diverse class choices (and students too), because they are part of the Claremont Colleges consortium.</p>
<p>Plus, aspiring model? Where better to be than really close to Los Angeles? Haha.</p>
<p>My fear of math should be explained this way…</p>
<ul>
<li>I do amazingly well in school; math is always tied for my highest grade (e.g. 100 in AP Statistics so far this year), but I imagine it’s because I literally dump my life into math for fear of failing. I’m not actually any “math whizz.”</li>
<li>My test scores show that I should be capable of handling math (always 98th or 99th percentile, although–as is evident from my SAT score–never perfect)</li>
<li>Despite the above, my parents have always believed I am not math-oriented, literally since I first learned to add single-digit numbers. I’m inclined to agree. Math is not my subject.</li>
<li>Oddly enough, I’m actually president of Mu Alpha Theta at my school. It’s as if I love math a great deal because it challenges me, but at the same time, I’m very afraid I won’t be able to meet the challenge one day.</li>
</ul>
<p>I’m interested in an economics major mostly for practical reasons; my true passion is philosophy. Essentially, if I find I’m sick of school (or my college GPA is so horrible I can’t get into law school), I want to have a fallback option.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. =) It’s been very helpful.</p>
<p>About these top schools, though…
…I have a slight problem. There are two amazing athletes at my school. Both of them are nationally ranked (one of them in two sports…I don’t even understand how this guy can exist…), and both of them are in the top 1% of our class…
…and of course, however inconveniently for me, both of them hope to enter Harvard/Stanford/Yale/Princeton/etc.</p>
<p>My school doesn’t have a strong history (nonexistent may be more accurate) of sending students to the Ivy League. I’m concerned that schools like HYPMS are reaches too far above me, especially considering the two peers I’ve just mentioned.</p>
<p>What about Williams? I’ve always been intrigued by their winter semester…by the school itself, really, but I’m not sure about its econ and philosophy departments.</p>
<p>CMC is more conservative than most colleges because it actually has a republican presence. However, recent student surveys show that the school is almost equally split between “liberal”, “conservative”, and “moderate” with slightly more liberals. Plus, the other Claremonts around CMC are all more liberal, so it’s not like tons of Republicans or anything. I would say if political views are not a huge factor for the OP, it’s a non-issue. Plus, the economics program at Pomona is not as good as CMCs and even with the consortium the PPE program is for CMC students only.</p>
<p>saying CMC’s economics department is better than Pomona’s its absurd. The only reason why CMC is correlated with economics is because its CMC’s strongest department, but that doesn’t make it better than Pomona’s.</p>
<p>With regard to comparing the programs at Pomona and CMC the PPE programs are different. You can judge which you prefer but the program at CMC has limited enrollment and students need to be accepted into it. They apply in the fall semester of their sophomore year. As for the comparison of econ programs I don’t know how they compare but that seems to be a moot point since students from either school can apply to any of the other school’s econ classes, with the exception for those exclusively part of the PPE program at CMC. (At least this is what I have been told). If going to school in California appeals to you looking at the Claremont Consortium could be worthwhile.Each of the schools have a different feel so you could decide which is right for you. I am more familiar with CMC than Pomona. CMC also has a PPA program: philosophy and public affairs. This is a major out of the Philosophy department and also includes courses in Econ and Government. This also seems to fit your interests.</p>
<p>OP I’m a little puzzled by your post. Since you said you are valedictorian it sounds like you are a senior, except it seems odd for you to be asking this question so late in the year.</p>
<p>“saying CMC’s economics department is better than Pomona’s its absurd. The only reason why CMC is correlated with economics is because its CMC’s strongest department, but that doesn’t make it better than Pomona’s.”</p>
<p>Careful. I nearly got my head bitten off once for arguing on behalf of Pomona, with CMC fanboys telling me I had no idea what I was talking about.</p>
<p>“With regard to the philosophical gourmet link, that link is for post graduate programs.”</p>
<p>Highly-ranked graduate programs are indicative of the presence of strong faculty and departments, and there are no reliable rankings of undergraduate philosophy programs.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You’re the first of your kind and your scores are astronomical. Don’t be so modest and recognize your own ability and potential.</p>
<p>kwu: It does seem to make sense that schools with highly ranked post grad programs would have strong faculty. However, the link that I included accounts for that point, indicating among other things that in some of those top schools TA’s rather than faculty may be teaching undergrads and that class sizes may be very large. It also makes some reccommendations about LAC’s and other schools that are not part of the post graduate review because they don’t provide higher level philosophy programs. It also gives students ideas about how to evaluate an undergrad philosophy department. That link, though brief is on the same site and is directed toward undergrads. It is worthwhile for someone considering a Philosophy major to take a look at it. Generally it says that a strong post grad program does not necessarily translate into a strong undergrad experience, although in some schools the programs are strong at all levels.</p>