<p>At the end of the application process. It came down to Bowdoin,Notre Dame, George Washington, Vanderbilt and Syracuse. Bowdoin had been my number 1 choice forever so naturally I accepted the spot. I visited Bowdoin and unfortunately it did not meet my expectations although this is probably due to the fact that Bowdoin was on such a high pedestal in my imagination as this unreal dream world of euphoria. I got into Syracuse's honours program so I decided to visit when I found out that they were number 1 for public policy and good for IR. The experience went very well but that could be because I never really gave Syracuse much thought so I was pleasantly suprised. I plan to go to law school so I know that I would need to keep my GPA up as well as get good LSAT scores. I feel that the GPA part might be easier to achieve at Syracuse and I would not mind going there for four years. If I decided not to go to law school I know that econ and political science are my other interests to do public policy or something. If this is the case public policy=Syracuse right. I also get the impression that Syracuse would be better on the international frontier as International Relations as well as study abroad would interest me. Also Syracuse has a larger variety of areas of study and probably more course offerings than Bowdoin if I did not go down the whole pre-law part. As an international student with no aid(I found CC in April..unlucky) I had to do apps based on rankings and am ending up with two choices my parents have never heard of. My parents will be paying full tution as we dont qualify for financial aid so pay is almost equal or Bowdoin about 3k higher. However I still LOVE Bowdoin but with a grain of salt.I thrive better in a motivated intellectual environment so it seems Bowdoin will do that for me because I tend to slack if I am not motivated.However the seemingly homogenous(hope Im wrong) student body does not appeal to me.I do not know if it would be worth giving up for Syracuse due to the circumstances?</p>
<p>Bump.......</p>
<p>Ok I'll take a crack at this, but I don't know much about Bowdoin (other than it's name reputation)...My D had a slightly similar situation while choosing between Newhouse-Syracuse and Vanderbilt.....She knows that Newhouse is the premier school for communications on the East Coast, but really loved the size and flexibility of curriculum at Vanderbilt. She ended up choosing Newhouse; she realized that in her field of interest, she would be crazy to pass up that opportunity.....Is Syracuse the "perfect fit"? Probably not in some ways, but curriculum and opportunities took precedent.</p>
<p>Yes, Bowdoin is probably a higher ranked school...It's certainly smaller...But given that you were invited to honors @ Syracuse and you have a clear idea what you will study, it sounds like the strength Syracuse has in public policy and the like will serve you well.....It also sounds like you have visited, so if the culture "fits", you kind of have your answer.....I have no idea in terms of GPA where you will perform better, but you have to evaluate your own priorities to make a final decision.......</p>