Hey, I’m trying to make my list of colleges to apply to this fall but I don’t know how to shorten my list. Can anybody please tell me pros and cons of the following?:
northeastern
bu
umass amherst
u of miami
fordham
pepperdine
u of san francisco
u of san diego
uc irvine
uf
temple
drexel
I’m asian so would that affect anything? How’s the diversity in each college? the social life? is it easy to make friends? how’s the academics? how’s financial aid? is there anything to do in and a round? please help!
Diverse and student population skewed toward Asian students.
Considered not very social but much of that is up to you.
Financial aid- None for International students so expect to pay full fees at around $60K/year
Plenty to do which includes beaches, amusement parks, shopping etc… since it is considered a nice safe city but having no car may limit these opportunities.
Pepperdine:
Very isolated. Easy to make friends since you are all trapped there together. It’s like being stuck at a beautiful summer camp. Traffic makes trips to LA miserable. Hiking & the beach are about it for nearby activities. Great premed advising, but very far from any hospitals for shadowing or volunteer work. Spectacular study abroad programs. Probably not worth cost unless you are super low income with high stats. They paid my entire tuition. I worked & took loans for living expenses. Some kids object to forced weekly convocation programs, but it’s to be expected from a Christian college.
In order to really answer this question you’ll need to say what you value. For example, do you care more about class sizes or access to research? What about location preferences? Are you looking for a more liberal arts style education or a practical focus? What’s your major or possible majors?
Net Cost
Number of Undergraduates
Faculty Student Ratio
%of students that live on campus
How big is the department for your major? If you are majoring in something that only has a couple of professors, that does not bode well.
Housing- do they offer all 4 years? freshman only?
Urban/rural/suburban
Is this a commuter school? (do students go home on weekends)
Surrounding area - what is the nearby town/amenities like?
Transportation - how would you get home
AP Credits - can you get credit for AP tests you have taken
Male/Female ration
Greek life - what % of students are in greek life
Parking
Diversity
Safety
Sports
Jobs - what happens to seniors after they graduate
Internships - depending on your major, is it easy to get internships?
…and whatever makes sense for you
You might not care about, say, greek life. but if 50% of the kids are in greek life and you don’t want to be, that is something to know. Or you may want a big time sports scene or you might not want one. Grade them from 1-5 as they make sense to you.
Then look at each of them and see which makes sense for you
I am curious where this list came from. As @PengsPhils says, it is hard to evaluate these particular schools without knowing more about what you are looking for. What is your likely major and what is your budget? What do you want in a university?
Following up on bopper’s suggested spreadsheet, Intlgirl28 is presumably not from the US…and it’s probably relevant to keep in mind that she might not fully grasp the diversity of options available here. In most countries, almost all students go to a large urban public universities with large classes, no bigtime sports, little personal attention, & weather similar to the rest of the country. Compare those tendencies to the enormous spectrums in each of those variables here, where your college can be tiny or huge, tropical or Arctic, rah-rah or apathetic, etc.
University of San Francisco (Note, I don’t attend, just from the SF Bay Area/Have friends who do)
PROs
-Very social justice oriented
-Unique majors and courses of study, can sort of “do your own thing” in regards to flexibility of majors, etc.
-Great area, in the heart of San Francisco (Main campus)
-Locations in Santa Rosa (North of San Francisco), Sacramento, San Jose, Downtown SF, Orange County (Southern California), and online.
-Urban environment, lots of diversity
-14:1 ratio, 11,000 undergrads
-Very welcoming of international students, lots of support etc
CONS
-Difficult to get on campus housing
-San Francisco is EXTREMELY expensive, housing is competitive (not sure about off-campus options for USF).
-Costly, about $45,000 each year (expected to go up)
-Commuter, if this is a con to you. Lots of students go home on the weekends.
A lot of your schools seem very different from one another, which is not a bad thing, but it looks like you have more research to do.
So far my criterias are that I would like the school to be in or near a big city and still have a campus, preferably have greek life, that it should be diverse, and that the weather isn’t freezing cold though I’m okay with cold just not freezing. As of costs, I don’t really mind if it isn’t inexpensive but obviously I would rather pay less. I’m planning on majoring in business (administration or marketing) and minoring in psychology or communications. I don’t really mind the campus size as long as it isn’t extremely small. And prestige, I don’t care that much as long as when I’m interviewing for a job, they’ll know what school I’m talking about. I basically really want the kinda ‘typical college experience’ but not as much as southern schools, you know what I mean?
Note that sororities and fraternities at many campuses tend to be segregative, so joining them would go against wanting an ethnically diverse experience. You may want to investigate whether that is true for each college’s sororities and fraternities (chapter photos may help).
@ucbalumnus I understand what you’re saying. However, joining a sorority doesn’t mean my whole experience will revolve around it. I have no problem at all being surrounded by people who may not be of the same “race” as me, as I grew up as an asian in latin america. What I meant by diverse is that I’d be able to experience different cultures in campus, not necessarily only in the sorority. I just don’t wanna feel like an extreme minority (Ik it’ll be a minority just not a reaallllyyy small percent)
What is your legal status in the US? Are you a citizen or legal permanent resident alien (green card)? Are you in the US now in another visa status or in no status? Are you an international applicant outside the US who would be attending on an F-1 visa? Where did you finish/will you finish your secondary school education?
Those factors will affect admission and financial aid.
How much money is your family truly ready, willing, and able to pay each year for your education?
That will determine where you can attend after you are admitted.
