<p>Hey everyone
well im an international student who applied to a number of colleges and now after getting a number of rejections am deciding between ----
Amherst
Berkeley
Columbia
I’m really quite confused…
From what I gather is that Amherst is the probably the most sensible choice but berkeley and columbia have the reputation.
As of now I have pretty much decided on amherst because of the hefty financial aid package (36,000$$)
But could you guys please rank these three or tell me anything that would help me make a decision ----
a) not considering the financial part
b) considering the aid at amherst</p>
<p>Do you realize that in letting "reputation" influence your decision, you're letting other people's opinions in as a substitute for your own? If you were to become, say, an investment banker, would you make decisions based upon what you think or what other people think?</p>
<p><em>I</em> would take Amherst over Columbia or Berkeley but that's because of how I would weight various characteristics for me.</p>
<p>I just don't always get this "reputation" thing. Let's say three students graduate from each of those schools and then all want to apply to a top-notch grad school. To the grad school, amherst grads are on the same tier with the other two easily. To the doctors and lawyers and hot-shot business people in this world an Amherst degree is just as impressive as the other two. To the common person on the street, they will say, "where's that?" </p>
<p>My point is that, the people that matter know how amazing Amherst is and the people that don't..... who cares?</p>
<p>Amherst is less known by the general PUBLIC because it is small, but it is VERY well known by the top graduate schools in the nation. In a study by the Wall Street Journal that ranked the top 50 colleges and universities in the nation based on acceptances to the best business, medicine, and law schools, AMHERST was 9th, COLUMBIA was 11th, and BERKELEY was 41. So, Amherst is obviously a reputable college.</p>
<p>India will know of Amherst more and more. Prince Albert of Monaco attended, and there are many international students from Rumania, Bulgaria, Poland, etc., there. If the Europeans are aware of its reputation, then India will be soon, too. When I notified my German relatives that my D was going to go to Amherst, they were very impressed that she had been accepted at one of the top colleges in the US! ANd we told them nothing about it. You can't do better than Amherst whether the people in India know about it or not. You can hlep spread its reputation.</p>
<p>Actually, people in Bulgaria dont know about Amherst either. When i tell someone that i'm going to Amherst College, he/she frowns, thinking a college is some sort of a very bad university. They don't even know what the US higher education system is.
But, confused409, I don't think you should care about this. The people whose opinion matters will know Amherst: people in graduate school ad coms, employers, etc.</p>
<p>I think he already said he was going to grad school (you're a he? sorry if you're a she...I really don't know).</p>
<p>Anyway, my advice added on to the "people who need to know will know about Amherst": you will probably go on to grad school (and if you don't plan on it, forgive my assumptions), and since Amherst grads usually get into very famous grad schools, your education reputation will still be very well known in India, in the long run, no?</p>
<p>Besides, you should choose a school based on the actual merits, not reputation.</p>
<p>amherst has an excellent reputation to the people who have actually heard of it. at a political function last year, the governor of ny asked me what school i would be attending the following year. when i said amherst, he nodded and said, "excellent school! we sent our son and want to send our grandchildren there." then, when i told some of my family members -i'm not from a very affluent background- they said, "where's that and why didn't you decide to go to cornell?"</p>
<p>as other posters have iterated before, the people who count know of amherst. the fact that bigshots send their kids here -when they could get them into anywhere they wanted with their connections- shows that amherst is of superior quality.</p>