<p>Hey guys, anyone have any suggestions for colleges based on my interests? I already have a few in mind, but just looking for opinions:</p>
<ol>
<li>Thinking of majoring in Economics or English (particularly in creative writing / literary criticism), or both -- and don't mind a core curriculum, and am more interested in academia rather than a pre-professional track</li>
<li>Important extracurricular interests include visual art, hiking / mountaineering / camping, language learning, really big on community service, and research</li>
<li>Would like a school that has intellectual, creative, engaged student population with rigorous academics and accessible faculty. </li>
<li>No preference on city / rural schools -- would prefer the city but am open to rural campuses</li>
<li>Interested in schools with great study abroad programs </li>
<li>Stats: 2250 SAT I (ball-parking 780 for Math II and Literature for SAT II). Within the top quarter of my school.</li>
<li>Would prefer a relatively safe campus / environment, not really into greek life either, and definitely not into single-sex colleges</li>
<li>Need on campus housing </li>
<li>No preference on location / weather etc</li>
<li>No preference on varsity athletics</li>
<li>Not too sure what I feel about school size. </li>
<li>Not asking for FA</li>
<li>My general personality: Generally introverted (but not shy), driven, loud when I want to be, some people would say I'm eccentric, into activism, and am all about working and playing equally hard. </li>
</ol>
<p>A handful of colleges in the greater Boston area would meet your stated criteria. Boston is quite close (2ish hours) to the outdoor offerings (hiking, camping, skiing, etc.) of New Hampshire and not far off from those in Vermont. Colleges there that appear to meet your academic goals include Tufts, Boston University, Northeastern, and Boston College.</p>
<p>Your stats are in range for some of the Ivies, although realize that regardless of stats all the Ivies have very low acceptance rates. Dartmouth may have a special appeal. It has a very strong outdoors club, and indeed the club is responsible for maintenance of a significant section of the Appalachian Trail. It meets most of your other requirements.</p>
<p>If you’re open to smaller colleges then you may want to consider Colorado College. The area surrounding Colorado Springs is an outdoors paradise.</p>
<p>Then there’s also Stanford – certainly a high reach for everyone but worth a try. Stanford is within easy reach of great hiking, biking, skiing, etc.</p>
<p>Take a look at NESCAC schools. You’ll either like them or you won’t, but there’s bound to be one that fits, you’ll likely have a decent shot at all but Williams and Amherst, all are intellectually rigorous, most are outdoorsy with decent access to cities, all are safe, some have Greek life, others have banned it, you could double major at almost all of them, and most people stay on campus all four years.</p>
<p>My bad - don’t know what I was thinking (I against retaking for high scorers because it’s so pointless when there are so many other things they can be doing) so I must have misread the number or been very tired.
I do reiterate though that for U Chicago essays are the most important.
In addition to NESCAC and the Claremonts, look at schools in the Pacific Northwest for the outdoorsy activities you mentioned, such as Whitman, Willamette, or Lewis and Clark (the last two would likely be safeties) but, most obviously, Reed.
If you like skiing, etc, Carleton would be a great match for you.</p>
<p>You sound like a good candidate for a selective liberal arts college. Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin in Maine would all be good choices. They have outstanding academics and lots of outdoor pursuits. Middlebury in Vermont specializes in languages as well as being close to mountains. If you prefer the mid-western vibe then Oberlin, Carlton, or Macalester would be good choices, but you’d have to travel a bit to go hiking. These colleges all have top-notch academics, small class sizes, and an emphasis on writing.</p>
<p>Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Hamilton (or basically as noted NESCAC).</p>
<p>I’d give Williams the highest marks for visual art – pervasive art/art history departement and three world class museums on or near campus. Excellent economics and English, good creative writing.</p>
<p>By “academia” do you mean going toward a PhD program in economics or English?</p>
<p>If you are considering PhD study in economics, be aware of the considerable math and statistics needed (e.g. upper division courses in real analysis, linear algebra, probability, and statistics) to prepare for such. You may want to check the course offerings at each school for:</p>
<ol>
<li> Good math and statistics offerings.</li>
<li> Intermediate microeconomics and econometrics courses that are math intensive (with math prerequisites higher than frosh calculus).</li>
<li> Advanced mathematical economics courses.</li>
</ol>
