Now that all the decisions are in, I’m trying to decide which college to attend. To be honest, I don’t really know what I want in a college. I live in the Pacific Northwest, in a pretty small town. I am social, outgoing, and love the outdoors (skiing, hiking, you name it). I also enjoy playing sports with friends, and my favorite sport is Ultimate (would definitely play on the school team). I definitely enjoy parties, but don’t want to be at a huge party school getting drunk every night. Finally, I am most passionate about math and science, but would prefer to be well-rounded rather than a “geek”. My eventual plan is to go to Business School.
I was admitted to:
-Middlebury College (math, computer science, or economics)
-University of Virginia (SEAS: Maybe apply to McIntire)
-Lehigh University (IBE Honors, Dean’s Scholar)
-University of Washington (ChemEngineering Department, in-state)
-Colby College (same interests as Midd)
Any opinions? I think I am just an undecisive person. I visited most of these schools and felt like I would like it, even though some of them are very very different.
Ultimately, this is a choice only you can make. There’s no right answer as I’m sure you would be happy at any of these schools. That said, Middlebury sounds like a good option for you. The academics are strong and will give you an edge when applying to business schools. There’s an incredible amount of outdoorsy things to do in and around the town of Middlebury. If you want well-rounded, Midd’s a great option (though I may be a bit biased)
What are the costs of each college?
@albert69 I did not receive any financial aid, although we will most likely re-apply next year. It would certainly be nice to relieve some stress by saving, but my parents insisted that I not base my decision off of it and that they would find a way to afford whichever school I wanted to attend.
Couple more things to add: I prefer a collaborative environment more than a competitive one, and I am slightly worried that a small LAC will be a repeat experience of high school (gossip, no anonymity, etc.)
“I did not receive any financial aid, although we will most likely re-apply next year. It would certainly be nice to relieve some stress by saving, but my parents insisted that I not base my decision off of it and that they would find a way to afford whichever school I wanted to attend.”
You need to get a few more details out of your parents. If their idea of finding a way is to take out loans to cover your costs, then if they don’t qualify for those loans at some point in the future you could be forced out of college because they can’t cover the costs.
http://www.finaid.org/calculators/awardletteradvanced.phtml
Run the numbers with your parents, and find out whether or not the differences really do matter for your family.
No loans would be taken out. I think all of my grandparents have agreed to contribute, as I am the first grandchild of theirs to go through this process.
Would it be worth it to go to UVA over UW? I definitely know that i would like it more, and I really want to experience a new location, however the difference in tuition is pretty large.