<p>Hey guys! I think I've managed to produce the first draft of my college list. I'm trying to reduce the number to around 8-10 colleges. I've got 14 colleges so far. My main criteria in choosing these schools were:</p>
<ul>
<li>good economics department</li>
<li>located close to medium-sized or large city that offers many off-campus activities, especially a lively music scene, e.g. Austin and Nashville (I don't want to go to a college in the middle of nowhere)</li>
<li>preferably good weather (some schools in the list are an exception to the rule, like UW-Madison and Bowdoin but I've decided they had other things going for them)</li>
<li>preferably close student-teacher interaction, at least once you begin to specialize</li>
<li>strong school spirit and pride</li>
<li>preferably close to beach or ocean as I've lived close to the beach all my life, e.g. UMiami, UCSB </li>
</ul>
<p>I've divided the schools in safety-target-reaches according to my SAT scores, GPA and class rank. So here they are: </p>
<p>Safety Schools
University of Miami</p>
<p>Target Schools
Occidental College
Trinity University
University of California – Santa Barbara
Michigan State University
University of Texas – Austin
University of Virginia
University of Wisconsin – Madison </p>
<p>Reach Schools
Bowdoin College
Brown University
Claremont McKenna College
Rice University
Stanford University
Vanderbilt University</p>
<p>Can anyone recommend any other colleges that fit the aforementioned criteria, or offer any advice on the colleges that I've already selected that perhaps don't satisfy the criteria I've listed to the extent I thought? I'm an international student so I don't have that much of an idea about each school and its location. All this information is from research I've conducted on the internet.</p>
<p>Some colleges to think about:
Boston College
Johns Hopkins University
Boston University
Georgetown
Uva
USC
College of William & Mary
UCLA
Tufts
Penn State
UMD</p>
<p>I actually did look at those colleges, but I ruled out BU, Georgetown, Penn State, UMD and Boston College for a number of reasons. The remaining colleges will need further study but from what I’ve read College of W&M is kind of isolated and USC has a good business school, but I don’t know about its econ department. Also Johns Hopkins is located in a rather dangerous area if I’m not mistaken.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any feedback to add to the colleges listed from personal visits to the colleges? I don’t have the option of visiting any of these schools and I’d like to know if you guys have any comments on the colleges in regards to the criteria mentioned. Also has anyone been to NYU? How is the university? Is there a total lack of a genuine college experience and a college campus?</p>
<p>NYU’s Econ department is ranked 5-10 in the world, which puts it above almost everything you’ve listed (except maybe Stanford). There isn’t a campus-y feel to NYU, but that’s so boring anyways :P. No other school offers a better urban experience. There’s so much to explore that it’s almost overwhelming at times, but to me, this is preferable to sitting on a campus in the middle of nowhere. However, school spirit is lacking (except maybe in terms of rivalries with Columbia, New School, and other nearby schools). So if this is a priority for you, I would go somewhere else. Good luck.</p>
<p>I’m surprised no one has mentioned the University of Chicago.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>good economics department >>>> No need to mention. One of the best–if not the best–econ departments.</p></li>
<li><p>located close to medium-sized or large city that offers many off-campus activities, especially a lively music scene >>>> It’s 15 min. away from downtown Chicago. Awesome music, both classical and popular. Yet, unlike Columbia or NYU it manages to separate itself from the city and give you a campus feel. I simply loved the location. (And no, you need not worry about getting shot.)</p></li>
<li><p>preferably good weather >>>> Unfortunately, this is the only criteria it doesn’t meet, but you had UW Madison, so I figured why not try.</p></li>
<li><p>preferably close student-teacher interaction, at least once you begin to specialize</p>
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<br></li>
<li><p>strong school spirit and pride</p>
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<li><p>preferably close to beach or ocean as I’ve lived close to the beach all my life, e.g. UMiami, UCSB </p>
<p>I have another question - is it better to apply to large state schools and qualify for the honor colleges, or are smaller private colleges a better choice? Also which public university honor colleges do you think provide the most benefits and opportunities?</p>
<p>However, when you are comparing economics between Pomona and CMC, it’s pretty clear that CMC is better, I don’t know why the general requirements list is keeping you away, every college has a core curriculum that makes sure that you get a well rounded education</p>
<p>pierre, I don’t think the OP could go wrong at Pomona. While CMC is indeed known for its social sciences, Pomona is a great school with strong programs across the board. The consortium would make it easy to take advantage of resources at Claremont McKenna.</p>
<p>I am a current student in the Michigan State University Department of Economics and it is a great program. Besides the core courses, the program is flexible and allows the student to really explore the different areas of economics. Also, research for undergraduate students is available for those students who are interested in more academic activities. And there are several courses that involve research. The faculty at MSU is great. They are prominent scholars but, at the same time, they are involved with the students and want to help them. Finally, I saw that you have MSU as your safety and I just want to advice you that MSU is reducing the undergraduate population due to higher enrollment in graduate students and this possibly increases admissions requirements. I know that MSU is not an Ivy League institution, but it is a Big Ten University that is not shy to turn away people.</p>