<p>Any other suggestions??</p>
<p>lexieam, it sounds like you have few good options that meet all of your criteria, but a lot of options if you eliminate one or two of the criteria. It might be time to prioritize your criteria, and determine what is mandatory and what would be merely nice to have.</p>
<p>Brandeis University</p>
<p>So I have thought long and hard about this and I have prioritized my list:
- Open/flexible curriculum VERY few requirements
- Northeast
- Liberal Student Body
- Mid-sized student body
- Urban</p>
<p>With these priorities what would you suggest? I’m currently looking at Brown, Wesleyan, Hopkins, CMU - Mellon College of Science, BU, Amherst, Yale, and Swarthmore. Yes or no on any of these? Any other suggestions to look at?</p>
<p>The student body at these schools seem pretty different, but it that’s alright for you, then that should not be a problem. It would seem that BU may be the only safety in the group. All of the others are very competitive/risky in terms of admission. Amherst and Wesleyan are not exactly urban, and Swarthmore is in a suburb.</p>
<p>I’m a transfer student, so I am less concerned about safety schools than a firsst year applicant.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>LOL. Not sure whether proximity to Utica is a plus or a minus. Spent a night there once, and never saw a reason to go back.</p>
<p>oooooooooooooook</p>
<p>lexieam, out of curiosity, why do you want to leave college of will & mary? from what i’ve read, it has the same intellectual vibe as brown/wes, is around the same size as brown, is in a decent college town, and has a fairly liberal student body. one of the few things it’s missing from your list of criteria is it’s not in the NE.</p>
<p>There are many things that I think do not fit me about William and Mary. For starters I am a neuroscience major, while the program here is excellent for pre-med students, it lacks a lot of the course variety I desire. There are only three actual neuroscience classes, the rest are biology and psych. Additionally, I dislike GenEd requirements. I personally believe that the GERs here are too restrictive because only certain classes fill the requirements (e.i. not all philosophy classes fill the philosophy requirement). The students at the college are very smart, but I will say that I have found a lot of intolerance at the college and some sexism throughout the administration. The college, despite appearances, is really a right-leaning school. It also lacks a lot of diversity, in part due to the fact that the majority of students come from Virginia, which is a key selling point for me at a private institution that likely values its diversity levels. And unfortunately, Williamsburg really is not the “ideal” college town. Transportation is a nightmare and the options are very limited. Also, I have found the drinking culture to be fairly stifling and because there are limited night options in Williamsburg there is very little chance to escape it.</p>
<p>Thanks for that very thoughtful reply. My younger son is considering W&M and I think that some of the attributes you’ve discussed above would give him pause as well. BTW, my oldest S is a neuroscience concentrator at Brown and loves it because it does have a fabulous neuro dept and research opportunities. In his freshman yr he applied to 10 labs because he thought it would be hard to find a position and was offered 7 spots. Providence is a cool city w/ lots to do, and most of it is in walking distance. Great bus service for further afield. Very tolerant, intellectual ethos on campus. And he has a ton of things he does on campus for social life that have nothing to do w/ drinking. Finally, his friends come from all sorts of backgrounds, nationalities, ethnicities. It’s everything he wanted and more.</p>
<p>Good luck with your applications. I hope you’re admitted to brown because you sound like you’d be the perfect fit and vice versa.</p>
<p>I would agree with you, RenaissanceMom. My oldest son goes to Brown, and I can’t find anything negative to say about it. I tend to be fairly cynical about colleges in general, based on my personal experience in college, but have been stunned by how amazing the school has been on every level. It may not be the right place for everyone, but for those fortunate students who find a place there, it is certainly a great school.</p>
<p>Son attends Brown as a freshman, and he loves it. Active in Acappella, soccer, and will be starting research at the medical campus soon.</p>
<p>Thank you very much! I think Brown is absolutely perfect for me and I hope the admissions office agrees!</p>
<p>I have decided to apply to Brown, Wesleyan, Johns Hopkins, Swarthmore, and NYU-Gallatin. Thank you for everyone’s help!</p>