Hi everybody,
I have recently applied to the QuestBridge scholarship program that matches students to partner colleges and provides them with the chance for a full-ride. It is obviously not certain that I will get selected; but I must rank 12 of their partner colleges in order of preference.
The colleges include:
Amherst
Bowdoin
Brown
CalTech
Carleton
Colby
Colorado College
Columbia
Dartmouth
Davidson
Emory
Grinnell
Haverford
MIT
North Western
Oberlin
Pomona
Princeton
Rice
Scripps
Swarthmore
Stanford
Trinity
Tufts
U Chicago
Notre Dame
U Penn
USC
U Virginia
Vanderbilt
Vassar
Washington and Lee
Wellesley
Wesleyan
Williams
Yale
I am a socially and politically conscious and active student and plan on majoring in Sociology. Since there are so many schools to choose from I’m curious if any of you have any input on which ones may be the best fit.
Thank you in advance for any input!
Best,
Sydney.
Other than the fact you want to major in sociology–what are your preferences? Do you want a small LAC or a research university? Urban or rural setting? There’s a huge difference between spending four years in Brunswick, ME (home of Bowdoin College) vs. Columbia (NYC). Even among LACs there’s a big difference between Swarthmore and, say, Colorado College. Do you want a single-sex school (Wellesley?) All of the colleges/universities on the list will provide you with a great education. Do some research on CC–you can read about many of the colleges/universities on your list in the Colleges and Universities section here. Ask about sociology departments, activism on campus, etc. Often, there are current students posting who can answer your questions. Good luck!
I also applied through Questbridge with an interest in sociology! I’m not familiar with all of the Questbridge schools and their specific programs, but briefly speaking on a personal note, I applied to UChicago because of its historical ties to fields like sociology and economics as well as its urban setting that gives it a rich resource for sociological inquiries. To give an example, I know that UChicago has done research on topics like institutionalized racism, poverty, and inner city drug cartels.
Since sociology is in a way kind of broad, I would just research some of the schools and look at some of their journals to see what kind of research they’re interested in. My interest in sociology largely stems from increasing environmental concerns and the economic forces that drive them, so UChicago was my favorite option for sociology because they have a Big Problems program you can take, though I’m not sure if it’s available during the later years of undergrad or during a Master’s program.
Since you mentioned that you’re a politically conscious student, I would definitely also look not at the big name universities on the list, but also some of the liberal arts colleges because a good number of them will have the politically active atmosphere you’re looking for.
I wish you the best of luck on your school search endeavors,
By the way, I also realized that I’ve answered pretty much two months late. Eek! Sorry about that. But I hope that you’ve reached a comfortable decision on your school search at this point anyway.
Thank you so much for the awesome reply– it’s great to talk to a fellow Questbridge finalist
I also applied to UChicago and had an interview with an alum a few weeks back; it’s a MAJOR reach school for me, but I would love to go there.
It’s reassuring to hear from somebody else who is interested in sociology, most people either have no clue with sociology is, or they snicker saying “what will you do with a degree in that?”
I hope you get some great news back from your schools on December 1st!
