<p>Hey everyone, I've been primarily using the Fiske Guide as the basis for my college search - a lot of great colleges are mentioned, but I was wondering if there were any academically prestigious colleges or colleges worth considering for the academically motivated in general that the Guide didn't mention. Any recommendations would be appreciated - I'd hate to miss out on a great school simply because it wasn't in the book. </p>
<p>I was also considering buying The Best 361 Colleges 2007 book, but I'm not sure how much it and Fiske overlaps. Anyone have feedback on this?</p>
<p>Well I have both books and I felt that The Best 361 Colleges was the better book because it includes the GPA you need not just the SAT and also I felt it did a better job explaining the colleges. There were also some colleges in the 361 Colleges book that weren't included in the Fiske Guide although I can't think of which at the moment. A lot of the info does overlap but I would still suggest buying the 361 Colleges book anyway since I feel its better.</p>
<p>Here's what I'm looking for, if it helps narrow it down, they're just idealizations, not necessarily strict things I need -
*size: 4,000 - 10,000
*selectivity: > 40%, or very strong academically
*> 30 average class size, accessible professors who teach most classes
*class registration allows students to sign up for the classes they want, lax course requirements doesn't force them to waste time taking classes they're not interested in
*dorms not plush is okay - housing shouldn't be an issue getting (don't want to waste half a week finding a place to live because the university didn't make it available to students)
*available and good advising
*study abroad opportunities, especially in East Asia
*financial aid - guarantees to meet full demonstrated need
*student diversity - < 20% minorities
*global thinking students
*self-contained campus, social life around dorms
*school spirit not overwhelming/social life not revolving around sports
*many majors available, strong departments
*learning not only in classroom but also from peers; noncompetitive and supportive academic climate
*available dance classes
*balanced sex ratio</p>
<p>I tend to look at colleges whose students' high school records fit my own academic profile - all A's in the hardest classes at a private college prep school, SATs and SAT II's in the mid-700s or high-700s. Here are schools I'm interested in so far, in order of preference - Brown, WashU, Yale, Stanford, UPenn, U Mich Ann Arbor, Tufts, Wesleyan, NYU, and Boston U.</p>
<p>cross off nyu and bu if you want small schools with accessible professors, little red tape with administration, and easy housing. not to mention a self-contained campus with school spirit.</p>
<p>LAC's in my opinion seem to offer more of what you want than many of the schools you are considering</p>
<p>i would suggest the claremont colleges</p>
<p>around 5000 students with all the colleges combined, small classes, accessible professors who teach every class, almost guaranteed housing w/ 96% living on campus and by that account social life revolving around dorms, etc.</p>
<p>and i know that pomona has a dance center</p>
<p>but it seems like you are not considering the west coast...</p>
<p>check it out and good luck with your search</p>
<p>I agree that GWU and BU would be all wrong for you. Both are huge, impersonal, and extremely expensive. In addition to that, BU is almost entirely female. </p>
<p>Middlebury seems like it would be a good fit for you. It's a little bit smaller than what you're asking for, but it seems perfect. Like DanE said, you should really consider LACs. Pitzer would also be good (it's one of the most diverse and global of the Claremont Colleges). </p>
<p>huskem55 -Thanks for letting me know - at the same time it's hard for me to find schools that I would very likely get into, considering all my expectations. Most of the schools I've listed have admission rates of less than 30%, which statistically isn't very happy-looking. I visited both NYU and BU and figured I could handle it. NYU also has guaranteed housing, I believe. Dominating school spirit is precisely the thing I'll like to --avoid--. </p>
<p>DanE0523 - So would you say that the Claremont Colleges are all pretty connected? I was considering Pomona and Pitzer but was already they might be too small as isolated communities. What other schools would you recommend on the west coast?</p>
<p>DSC - I might have my <> backwards... I meant less than 40% and minorities more than 20%. I'm avoiding Dartmouth because of the rural area combined with not large student population, outdoorsy feel, and generally conservative nature. I'm avoiding USC because of the school spirit domination and personal experience with people about to go to USC - not exactly global thinkers or excited about learning. </p>
<p>world changer - GWU? Um, did you mean NYU? Thanks for the comment about BU - I didn't know that. Someone else recommended Middlebury to me, but even when I visited Wesleyan, ~2,700 seemed too small, let alone Middlebury's ~2300... in VT. When I visited Columbia/Barnard, it didn't seem to have a cohesiveness among its students at all, and it seemed like graduate students were being paid more attention than undergraduate. Columbia also has extensive requirements that cause your first year to be about fulfilling those, rather than freely earning about what you're actually interested in before you figure out a major. Some people might argue that experiencing many different fields is the way to figure out what you truly want to do - but that's not my style. </p>
<p>I do admit that small liberal arts colleges have a lot of what I'm looking for - but the problem is that they're small! I go to a small high school, and have an extreme aversion to anything small resulting in a lack of resources, diversity, or opportunity. </p>
<p>Anyone know of medium or large liberal arts colleges? Esque? ^_^' Or can recommend any schools that have less selectivity?</p>
<p>Haha..yes, I meant NYU. I was just talking about GWU on another post, which probably threw me off (I spend too much time on here). </p>
<p>As for LACs seeming small, try a consortium, such as in Claremont or Amherst. That way you get the benefit of small class sizes, but the opportunity to see lots of different faces in the area. (To answer the question you asked Dan, yes, they're very connected. It's like one college community...just with a few different names.)</p>
<p>well i dont live on the west coast so i dont know...sorry</p>
<p>as world changer said for me, the colleges are very connected to each other. they are all right next to each other (like across the street), there are parties where everyone from every college goes, and you can take classes in any of the other colleges</p>
<p>all one big community. and i only know this because i am seriously considering pomona</p>
<p>You might want to look at Emory in Atlanta--academically excellent, small classes, great advising and tight relationships with professors, a lot going on around campus and in the community, very little in the way of sports although the teams they do have are of high caliber</p>
<p>boysx3 - thanks, I did look into Emory a while back. The location doesn't seem that great though, and the class registration process (a bidding system) and general education requirements seem to infringe on the students' learning experience... that's the impression I got from other Emory CCers. I'll keep researching though.</p>
<p>Actually Dartmouth is far from conservative. Its as liberal as penn, cornell, stanford, Tufts, northwestern, etc. Last election 85% of the student body voted for Kerry. Also, the outdoorsy part is only one aspect of the campus. Most students spend their entire time on the socially active campus.</p>