<p>I'm hoping someone will be able to help me out here. I am a rising senior and have a pretty good chance of getting in to HC but am kinda hesitant for two reasons. </p>
<p>1.) Of course its an amazing school academically and looks nice, but for some reason I feel like the school cannot offer the 'traditional college experience' that you would see at larger institutions. Going to big events (be it football games, parties, or invited speakers) and meeting new people (girls especially since I've been at an all boy's prep school). I feel as though HC offers a more intimate but monotonous social scene where you hang out with the same people every weekend.</p>
<p>2.) I live in MA and have been told by friends their best decision ever was to go far away for college. It gets you out of your bubble (specifically the northeast bubble) and forces you to interact with people from difference states and of different mind sets. I live about an hour from HC... not really a drastic change in scenery. I have also heard that HC isn't well known outside of the northeast (except for catholic high schools) which I assume would lead to less geographical and ethnic diversity among my peers. Is this true?</p>
<p>Thanks for reading this and if you have any suggestions for other colleges I should look at I would love to hear them. </p>
<p>Dude, you’re an hour away. Go spend some time on the campus. Do you see people who look like you? who dress like you? who look different than you? Ask students everywhere you walk the questions you have. Let me add one or two: does the campus empty out on weekends because students have gone home (38% of 2010 freshmen were from MA)? who are the toughest professors in your intended major? how many of the students you interview are currently involved in research? when do students begin their research? is the school throwing resources at the researchers? Talk to the professors in your field. Do people say hello to you when you’re walking around? You can probably come up with your own list, but do so before you go. Go in September.</p>
<p>Personally, I am a big fan of Holy Cross. For one thing, it has an amazingly dedicated alumni network which will help you with career moves for the rest of your life. However, yes, it is true, the bulk of those alumni live in the Northeast. Not a lot of diversity, very true.</p>
<p>Still, it is not for everybody. Besides, you need to apply to several colleges not just one.</p>
<p>If small liberal arts colleges like HC are not for you, then look at bigger schools. I can recommend:</p>
<p>Tulane University - in New Orleans, but full of Northeastern students.
University of Rochester - one of the best schools in the country, yet hardly anybody has heard of it.
University of San Diego - is Catholic, if you still want that. San Diego is a fantastic city.
Villanova University - is another Catholic college, if you want to stay in the NE.</p>
<p>For “traditional college experience” consider:
Northwestern University
University of Michigan
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Indiana University
Vanderbilt University</p>
<p>For geographic diversity, you pretty much need to go to a private college since state universities are obviously dominated by people from that state. Tulane is very diverse geographically. Highly recommended.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I second those suggestions and offer another:</p>
<p>Notre Dame</p>
<p>-- High quality, medium size, huge school spirit, and Catholic (if that’s important to you). It’s in Indiana, so it is not in New England… but is not <em>so far away</em> that you couldn’t head home for a weekend now and then.</p>
<p>But… Holy Cross is a heck of a school. If that’s the only one you get into, you’re still going to be fortunate</p>
<p>thanks for the quick responses. Yes I have already visited HC and these were my main concerns coming out of the tour. I couldn’t get much of a feel for the student body or social scene because I visited in late June. Since I am so close I plan on going back in September to see how the vibe has changed. </p>
<p>Is Indiana University really in the same vain as U Mich Northwestern and Wisconsin? I always thought Indiana was a tier below those schools. Also another catholic school that I have heard thrown around is Santa Clara University, thoughts?</p>
<p>The undergrad business program at Indiana is highly regarded by just about everyone. It’s not Wharton, but for mere mortals, it’s close to the top of the heap.</p>
<p>Santa Clara is a well regarded regional university with great access to a Silicon Valley career. If you don’t qualify for Stanford, it’s not a bad option, though San Jose State may offer close to the same opportunities at a lower price, even if you’re OOS.</p>
<p>Santa Clara: you have a knack for picking schools with a lot of the same features. You want to branch out. Move away from Catholic schools. Move from the northeast. Pick a mid-size uni like University of Denver, Evergreen State, Marquette, Emory, etc.</p>
<p>Eh, some people prefer Catholic universities. SCU will be different from HC simply because it is in CA and not New England and will have a much different student body.</p>
<p>As for tiers and all that, if you have more of an idea of what you want to do, that would help because different schools have different strengths. Kelley@IU is actually a Wall Street target (for those kids who get in to their IB workshop), making it comparable to UMich & Northwestern & better than Wisconsin in that area. IU trails Northwestern/UMich/Wisconsin in other areas, however (if you are going to major in CS, it’s not close, just as an example).</p>
<p>
Well, yes and no. Yes, because they all will provide that “traditional college experience” and IU is perfect for that. No, because there is a relatively clear hierarchy, academically, which makes none of them equal. That hierarchy is as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li>Northwestern is almost Ivy League quality.</li>
<li>Michigan is one of four or five state universities which can claim to be best in the country.</li>
<li>Wisconsin is an outstanding state school but not as good as Michigan.</li>
<li>Indiana is almost as good as Wisconsin, but suffers a bit for not having engineering majors (which are at Purdue).</li>
</ol>
<p>In other words, Indiana is a well above average state school. As “MrMom62” says, its business school is top notch (among the best 15 or 20 in the country). It also has a lovely campus (nicer than U.Michigan’s which itself is not bad). In fact, if I had to pick a prime example of the “traditional college experience” then I would point to Indiana University in Bloomington.</p>
<p>Santa Clara University is a very good choice if you still want a Catholic school. Not too big and not too small. Like HC, it is run by Jesuits. Also has the advantage of being close to Silicon Valley, if you happen to be interested in high tech jobs.</p>
<p>I agree with the above post. IU has an excellent business school. Beautiful campus, kirkwood area has basically all you need.
But you have to ask yourself do you want 40k or 3k or 7k( student body) from HC and Santa Clara. And do you want the greek life, which is very important at IU.
If you like HC, you’ll like Boston College. Its not too big and not too small, although its probably in your own backyard.</p>
<p>Usually in cases like this, when you are looking for student perspectives but you can’t find one immediately is to go on a student review site like uniggo and read some of their reviews. Remember that people may have different perspectives and I’d take each one with a grain of salt. If you have any direct concerns, it may be worth it to mention it to someone directly when you visit or contact a current student via the class of [insert number lower than 2018] facebook group.</p>
<p>From what I see from looking at the uniggo review page myself, community is one of HC’s best attributes. Most people say they love the school and most people say something along the lines " I feel that it is large enough that I don’t know everyone on campus but that is small enough that I am not lost in the crowd."</p>
<p>Anyways, it’s likely to have more like minded students that seek out the type of environment it provides, but if you have any questions it’s probably good to ask a student. And I second the idea that IU has a great business schools, Kelogg, especially for a public school. Good luck in your search!</p>
<p>Um, Kellogg is Northwestern’s (graduate) b-school. Kelley is IU’s (both undergrad and grad).</p>
<p>I never really considered Indiana. Is it hard to get in OOS? I will probably apply to it after receiving so many good reviews here. Speaking of reviews I dont really trust college prowler and ungio because only the students who loved their schools or hated their schools will be willing to put in the time to write a long review of it. As for a major I would probably end up majoring in business or political science. </p>
<p>
My understanding is that, no, it is not hard to get in as an out of state student. About one third are OOS. Also, I have encountered more than a few students here on CC who have gotten good OOS scholarships from Indiana.</p>
<p>IU, Northwestern and Michigan are all known for being stronger in the undergrad business major.</p>
<p>UW is top-20 in a great many programs, though, and while the B school is not one of them, there is quality instruction.</p>
<p>UW is 15th in Poli Sci and 13th in Econ. Michigan and Northwestern are also very strong in those fields. </p>
<p>Shouldn’t @par72 have some information, since almost all of @par72 's posts mention it?</p>
<p>Hear hear. @par72, when you write to pump CHC could you please elaborate for us some of the many qualities that make CHC a fit for the OP? how is it different from “everything else”? Please.</p>
<p>knowing @par72 is such an HC enthusiast I would love to hear his opinion!</p>
<p>@NROTCgrad any of the PAC-12 schools worth checking out? I probably couldn’t get into a Stanford or U Cal Berkley, but are schools like Arizona, Colorado or UCLA worth looking into?</p>