<p>Help! Like lots of people here I have NO CLUE where to go. The problem is, I have to pick from a group of very great but very different schools. To be honest, I have no idea what I'm looking for. I suppose I have been looking for a smaller college, but I think going to a big school could be fun. All four are situated relatively close to a major city, so location really isn't a matter for me. </p>
<p>A couple of days ago I thought I was for sure set on Claremont McKenna, but then I discovered that I was in a special honors program for NYU Gallatin. Then I also discovered I was in a special program for CMU. Now I'm stuck choosing between a small school versus being able to take advantage of the special opportunities at the other ones.</p>
<p>I guess the relevant info here is that I want to major in Econ (Although I will be creating my own major if I go to NYU Gallatin). All four schools cost more or less about the same.</p>
<p>USC- University of Spoiled Children. I recommend against it, both seeing how people on campus act and knowing three people going there who are shallow. NYU (plus honors) sounds like a wonderful option, but Claremont has a wonderful location and I have heard great things about it. I don’t know a lot about CMU, but it sounds like the social life there is less than desirable, despite stellar academics. If you have a gut feeling I would follow it, but I myself would lean toward either Claremont McKenna or NYU.</p>
<p>Three people aren’t really representative of the entire school…</p>
<p>However, with that said, I’m kind of apprehensive about USC because it’s a large school where most of the people are from California, and I’m not.</p>
<p>My comments will be biased because my dream school is Claremont McKenna because it sounds like a great fit for me and what I want to do (also Econ). If you have to create your own major at NYU it will be considerably harder to get a job right after college, especially considering the other great Econ or Business schools in the location (Stern, Columbia). Many people say that econ is a major you should only pursue at top colleges and Claremont McKenna is one of them. If you look at the employers that recruit from there, it is extremely impressive (Big 3 Consulting, Big 4 Accounting). That being said Carnegie Mellon has a great Economics program and they also have a rather intriguing quantitative economics program. I personally wouldn’t put USC on the same level as CMU or Claremont McKenna and between CMU and Claremont the biggest difference would be the social life. CMU is more quite, more intellectual. Claremont has more parties and drinking. So where do you think you would fit in better?</p>
<p>I would get rid of NYU – NYC is a great place but its not going anywhere, you will have the time to get this sort of experience. Carnegie Mellon is too nerdy.</p>
<p>USC/CMC both look like cool schools. I would probably go with USC due to better name recognition and the full college experience (football, campus, etc.). Do you want a LAC or university? If you would be happy with LAC go to Claremont.</p>
<p>If you were set on Claremont McKenna a couple days ago, I don’t think anything has changed. The entire college is a “special opportunity” zone. The same high admission standards apply to every student. Economics is one of its strengths. It’s also the best choice if you were looking for a smaller college, because CMK is such a great combination of a small LAC plus all the resources of the 5-college consortium. USC is huge. NYU is even more huge, with no real campus. CMU is mid-sized but its College of Humanities and Social Science is one of many administrative units. Compare them in the run-down of average class sizes one poster put together a few years ago: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/708190-avg-class-size.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/708190-avg-class-size.html</a> (CMK: 86% < 20, 0% > 50)</p>
<p>Congratulations on such great choices. Based on your post and visiting all four colleges, I think Claremont is best option. I do think you need to explore more the advantages of the honor college opportunities and weigh it against the smaller college.</p>
<p>Good luck! You should do well with any of the colleges you mentioned.</p>
<p>NYU-Gallatin is far removed from CMC, socially and educationally. Creating a major is of no value if you want to major in Econ. You can do that from any liberal arts college. (btw: NYU will have plenty of ‘shallow’ people, they’ll just arrive with an East Coast 'tude. )</p>
<p>While Econ is one of Claremont’s strengths, it is not very close to the “city.” Its 30+ miles in a car. No public transport.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon is first and foremost a STEM college. Sure it has a great theater program, but an a small Econ department. Pittsburgh is a nice low-cost city, but it ain’t NYC or LA.</p>
<p>How is USC’s student body any different from NYU’s?
They are both urban private universities in two of the biggest cities. Historically, USC might have catered more towards rich kids but how about NYU? NYU is full of rich kids. They also have plenty of poor kids from unprivileged backgrounds. Classifying USC as some school for rich prep kids but not NYU in the same way is baffling.</p>
<p>I think Gallatin’s program is very unique beyond just creating your own major. I don’t know how other schools do it, but I like the idea of a structured create your own major program. I think Econ is the core thing I want to study, but I’m thinking of trying to create my own major at other schools too. Also, at NYU I’d get to take some courses at Stern for Econ. Not sure how much it counts, but I’m still taking courses at Stern. </p>
<p>btw, these are the special requirements for Gallatin:</p>
<p>I think being it Pitt is ok. I’m not planning on being in the city 24/7, so I think it has more than enough things for me to do during the weekends.</p>
<p>I guess CMU’s econ department is pretty small, but it’s with Tepper after all. Also I think I could get more individual attention there compared to another department of CMU or maybe a larger econ department somewhere else. Who knows?</p>
<p>Also another thing that attracts me to CMU is the creative writing program, which I want to take a few classes in. Not many people know this, but CMU apparently has one of the nation’s first creative writing courses.</p>
<p>CMC is really good for Econ. While going to “a big school could be fun,” the Claremont Consortium makes it more like a medium-sized university with around 5k students. And what better place to dabble in whatever you like (as you say you would do at Gallatin) than a consortium of 5 excellent LACs?</p>
<p>Agree with dropping Gallatin - NYU will offer a highly decentralized and much less personal college experience than your other choices. Gallatin is best for “creative” academic experiences. If your primary interest is econ, even with writing interests, I’d stay more mainstream.</p>
<p>You’re right. Carnegie will offer a great economics program, very math based, very well respected in conjuction with Tepper, and strong writing opportunities. You’ll have much more city-wise available to you in Pittsburgh than at CMC. LA is “nearby,” but this is LA, nothing is really nearby. And Claremont is a very sleepy suburb.</p>
<p>Last consideration - you’ll be one of the many at CMC, you’ll be a bit of an anomaly - non-science/math/CS/tech - at Carnegie, in the minority, but in a department with a great rep. Don’t know where you’ll better blend in. CMC will be a very mainstream place, unabashedly out to conquer the world types. Carnegie will be a good deal more Bill Gates tech-nerdy, though still a pretty wide swath of personalities, including a real representation of artistic types in the arts and music programs there.</p>
<p>Why are you guys (and bluebayou in particular) so sure what I want? In general, I would like to study Econ if I had to choose from a list of default majors. However, given the opportunity, I would like to style a PPE (Politics, Philosophy, and Economics) degree, like the kind they have in the UK and some few schools in the US, although more math-based. (CMC is one of them though, but it’s not available to everyone) I think Gallatin would give me the flexibility to study that and the other variety of things I want to study in college. (Ecology, Linguistics, Religion, Writing, whatever) Unless you have some real info about how Gallatin or comparable CAS Econ majors do in the job market, I’m going to take your assumptions with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>And I think NYU is less personalized on average than any of the other schools. But I looked into the residential college housing system, and I think I could really make that work. Also, Gallatin is a smaller subschool within NYU and a lot smaller than CAS, so I feel like I could get more attention there. Finally, I’m in an honors program at Gallatin, so I feel like that would also provide me with a good deal of support.</p>
<p>Take into consideration location.
If after graduation, you don’t plan to return home(wherever home is), what geographical area would you prefer to work? East Coast or West Coast? Each school career and internship resources will work best for you in the geographical area your school is located.</p>
<p>I feel like school location might be important for your first couple of jobs (or even just your first), but probably not later. I’m not too worried about that. I mean, I don’t think CMC is very well known outside of LA (especially compared to the other schools), so I think I really wouldn’t be able to just find a job in SF or Portland based off the name of my degree alone.</p>
<p>Like the above post said, NYU is pretty recognizable. And it seems like you didn’t look at the context of my answer - I said that Claremont McKenna really wouldn’t help me get established on the west cost JUST on the name alone. I’m not worried about job prospects in general. It seems like a lot of desirable employers know about the school, just not lay people. And I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that NYU is recognizable on the east cost and more so than CMC is recognized on the west cost. And while not Gallatin isn’t recognizable, I’m planning on getting a “real” degree (not something about poetry and video games or whatever), and I’m sure that a top communications major in Steindhart has about the same chance of getting a job as a communications major in a similar school, even if people aren’t sure what Steindhart is.</p>
<p>bluebayou, not sure what you hate so much about NYU and it seems like Gallatin in particular. Do you have a particular reason?</p>
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