Hi there! Again I’m posting for my veryyyy high achieving friend! She is so stressed and depressed and anxious and I really want to help her as much as possible, and CC seems pretty genuine and has good info!
Her list looks like:
Brown
Columbia
UPenn
WUSTL
Emory
Northeastern
BU
University of Richmond
Lehigh
Pitt/Drexel
She hasn’t visited some but these are her considerations and I’m confident she will get into all of them! Maybe you aren’t but I am lol. Of course she will probably weed these down a little but this is the list currently. But as stated my friend is very anxious and stressed and I really don’t think she should be in a “pressure cooker” school. And she agrees! However many college review sites are overwhelmingly positive and I can’t get a good GENERAL idea about the academic environment.
Obviously at any prestigious, academic institute like the ones on her list, there will be very bright kids, many of whom are very competitive. However in general could you please say which schools (any) have reputations for being very competitive in terms of student body and faculty/administration that foster that competitiveness? Also any general insights about the student bodies of the schools on her list, and the academic atmospheres there? Really anything is appreciated! 
thank you!
Is she a pre-med or biology major? If so, that may subject her to a more competitive atmosphere than if she were not a pre-med or biology major (biology majors take many of the same courses as pre-meds).
Not a good sign of success if she feels this way now.
What are her stats?
What is she stressed about? That she won’t do well at a competitive school? Or that she will be judged by her peers if she does less well? Or both? She might want to look into liberal arts colleges that have a reputation for being less competitive and where the professors place a premium on mentoring undergraduates. Vassar comes to mind.
Her academic stats, budget, and basic preferences (size of school, urban/suburban/rural, potential major) would be helpful.
Accounts on CC are free. Why doesn’t your friend just start her own account?
@ucbalumnus She probably won’t be pre-med, but something in the science field, definitely.
@TomSrOfBoston and @mamaedefamilia yeah college applications are just a really stressful time. She has been/will be valedictorian and everyone knows it so they just expect so much of her. She can’t go a day without someone, a parent, teacher, classmate, bothering her about her SAT scores or college visits. I asked for college recommendations in another post I made (that has her stats) and a lot of the colleges listed were suggested. I’m just wondering about the environment at the schools listed, not whether she could get in.
@mjrube94 yes I know accounts are free. She has accounts on a couple of college sites but they haven’t helped her much so even though I recommended CC she wasn’t interested. Idk why that matters.
If the science is biology, she will have pre-meds in her courses. Not so much if it is physics or math.
@ucbalumnus sorry, not bio. More like chemistry or neuroscience.