Carleton, Oberlin, Macalester--help with choices please!

<p>Hi everyone. I overapplied, and I have narrowed down the schools that accepted me to Carleton, Oberlin, Hamilton, and
Macalester. There's also Brandeis, but I'm leaning much more towards the midwest LACs.
I want to major in bio/biochem/neuroscience, and be involved in choral music. I want to be surrounded by friendly, unique, welcoming individuals. While I'm interested in the topic of political science, I don't want a ton of people protesting and debating around with me--I'm not a very argumentative person. I'm not concerned with weather. I received significantly more money from Hamilton, but I don't think I would fit in with the East coast culture. Oberlin and Carleton gave me nearly the same amount. </p>

<p>Since I got my Carleton decision early, I've grown very attached to it. It's extremely academically rigorous, has a really quirky, friendly student body, and just seems a good fit to my personality. Oberlin is a close second, as I know it's similar to Carleton in many aspects. I had really nice interviews with these two schools in particular. But I'm concerned that the conservatory will make spots in high level choirs more competitive. Basically, I'm torn between the two, but I feel that I would really love Carleton in particular. :(<br>
P.S. I'm going to visit both, and do overnight stays. </p>

<p>Hi Lulubird and congrats on great choices. My daughter is in the college and very involved with choral groups. She is a soprano so there are a lot of them, but she was able to audition and make it into one of the conservatory choral ensembles as well as sing with Musical Union which is open to everyone and gives you a chance to sing the great large choral works with the oberlin orchestra or chamber orchestra. An amazing experience. Plus there’s tons of student choral groups, bands, a cappella groups , etc to get involved in. I really don’t think any campus in the US rivals the musical experience and opportunities at Oberlin. And of course your science interests are all very strong departments there as well. Good luck with your decision.</p>

<p>The biology, biochemistry and neuroscience departments at Oberlin are quite strong with excellent professors and lots of opportunities for research. Even as a freshman, my daughter was able to work with a professor on a project that resulted in her being listed as a co-author on a conference presentation. They are also very supportive of opportunties outside of Oberlin such as internships, fellowships and awards.</p>

<p>The neuroscience department is very highly regarded and is larger and has more course offerings than most similarly sized LACs, and even many larger schools. You will also find at many schools (including Carleton), neuroscinece is just a concentration or an interdepartmental major where students take classes in the biology and psychology departments. At Oberlin, neuroscience is its own department, and students can choose either a cellular/molecular or a cognitive path.</p>

<p>Good luck with your decision!</p>