<p>Hi there, I'm a first time poster who has been lurking for a few weeks. I'm a junior that has recently realized how limited and frankly ignorant I've been with the whole college process. My mother, father and older brothers all attended the same university (Harvard) and have pretty much presumed from birth that I would love it and attend it. I visited and really didn't like it (just didn't feel like the culture was right for me) and from looking on CC, so many absolutely outstanding students are rejected that I could never rely on being accepted anyway. Because I always just assumed that I would go to Harvard, I never really learned much about other colleges and am having trouble finding ones that I'd like because their websites all seem to say the same things. </p>
<p>If it helps, I have a 3.9 UW GPA and 2400 SAT. I want to double major in Fine Arts and Psychology and then do a masters in Art Therapy.</p>
<p>Here's what I'd ideally like in a college:
Politically engaged/involved students (very important).
Rigorous coursework.
No religious affiliation.
Fairly liberal and GBLT friendly school (schools in the South are probably out).
Strong fine arts program.
Not too small of an undergrad population (3000+).
Urban/rural/suburban doesn't really matter too much, but ideally it would be in a major city or within a few hours of one by car/public transit. Schools like Dartmouth seem too isolated to me.
Little to no frat and sorority involvement.
Fairly strong party scene.
I'd also absolutely love a school with an equestrian team, but I realize that is probably unrealistic. </p>
<p>Yale actually seems ideal and perfect for me and I'm going to visit very soon but I don't want to put all of my hopes into a school with such a tiny acceptance rate. Anyway, if anyone knows any colleges that seem to fit that criteria I'd be really grateful and will consider anything. Thank you so much!</p>
<p>Brown/RISD have a dual program that seems perfect for you. Brownis liberal/GBLT friendly, has a politically active student population, a strong equestrian program and a good Psychology department while RISD is second-to-none in the Fine Arts. </p>
<p>I agree Brown is a good choice, even without the RISD joint program as Brown’s own art department is quite good. My son was interested in Yale and Brown but ended up at Williams, which fulfills some but not all of the items on your wish list. Williams has a wonderful studio art and art history department and very good social sciences. </p>
<p>Some other schools with excellent studio art and excellent to very good overall academics are (in no special order) Wesleyan, Hamilton, Haverford, Smith, Vassar. It sounds as if Wesleyan would be a good fit for you.</p>
<p>Momrath, if the OP finds Dartmouth too isolated, chances are, he/she will find Williams equally as isolated. Also, the OP has indicated a preference for schools with more than 3,000 students, which pretty much eliminates most LACs.</p>
<p>(I couldn’t work out how to quote, sorry) @Alexandre - Thank you so much! Oh wow, the Brown/RISD program actually seems to be an ideal fit in terms of academics, arts and culture and I didn’t even know of its existence! I’m definitely going to visit both ASAP and hopefully apply.</p>
<p>I’ve also only heard of Michigan-Ann Arbor and Carnegie Mellon in engineering contexts and will look into both.</p>
<p>@momrath - Thank you for the suggestions! I am glad to hear you think Brown is a good fit regardless because you have to apply to both at once and may only get in to one or the other.</p>
<p>Will look into all of your other suggestions as well, I have been hesitant about LACs because they seem so small, but in looking at some of them they seem fairly good fits so I’ll have to broaden my prospects. Hamilton in particular looks great and seems to tick all the boxes but population (and oh my gosh the architecture is SO pretty from the pictures) and even has an equestrian team!</p>
<p>Haverford seems right up your alley (though I don’t know much about its specific programs). It does have a Quaker affiliation, but even as someone who is non-religious I’ve found that aspect of my college to enhance the educational environment. If you can visit, I recommend it!</p>
<p>Haverford does seem like a definite good option to consider. While it seems pretty small I think that is negated by the fact that you can take a variety of classes at other universities too. Time to add it to the list of Places To Drag My Parents To. Thank you!</p>
<p>hendrix college is probably the perfect fit for you!(it is in AR) haverford and swath. choice 2 and 3!
your comment about the south shows you need to be a little more tolerant and not stereotype so much! the south is not how elites from LA and NYC make it out to be in the movies and tv!(we are in the 21st century)
but those three schools are probably what you are looking for.</p>
<p>You could look at Emory if you wanted to go to a school in the south. They’re one of the schools in the south that is liberal and LGBT friendly.
-Rigorous academics
-7,500 undergrads
-They say that they’re “united methodists”, but trust me, many students who go there don’t even realize it has a religious affiliation.
-Pretty politically active students
-Strong party scene with minor frat life</p>
<p>I think the hardest criteria on your list is the “Strong Party Scene” but “No Fraternity involvement”. In my experience frats are usually what cause the strong party scene. Also, most of the schools that don’t have frats are the ones that are smaller ie. bellow 3,000. Many of these just happen to contradict each other.</p>
<p>Just to be clear, you are investigating Ivy League schools for undergrad and an eventual masters in art therapy. Basically, before potential financial aid, you are looking at a $400,000 tab to become an art therapist. Have you considered the financial aspect?</p>
<p>WashU in St. Louis seems to meet most of your criteria. You can double major in art and psych. It has an equestrian team. WashU has a med school with highly ranked therapy programs (OT, PT), although they don’t offer art therapy.</p>
Wow, I am really insulted by that. There are plenty of liberal people and cities in the south, ESPECIALLY when it comes to colleges. </p>
<p>In fact, if you didn’t apparently hate southern schools, I’d say UNC meets all your criteria, including the equestrian team and being LGBT friendly.</p>
<p>Maro, Visit some LACs and see how you react to the setting and culture. They are much narrower in personality than larger schools so you know immediately if the fit is good.</p>
<p>In four years you may be preparing for a career in art therapy or you may be looking at something else altogether. Pick the school for overall academics and atmosphere, not individual departments.</p>
<p>I like Hamilton a lot, but it is *really *isolated, moreso than Williams even. [Funny you should mention architecture. The “artsy” side of campus (which is referred to fondly as the Dark Side) is very controversial brutalist style.]</p>
<p>Wherever you end up applying be sure to submit an arts portfolio and art resume, even if you do not intend to major in art. It counts for a lot, especially at medium sized privates and small LACs with studio art focus.</p>
<p>Hey everyone, so I talked to my parents and they have been pretty positive and want to start visits right away. So this weekend we’re going to drive up to Middletown in CT (about 3 hours away from where I live in NJ) to visit Wesleyan and we’ll spend the night there. Then on the Sunday we’ll go up to Providence to visit Brown and RISD before driving home. If anyone knows any other colleges suited to me in that area I will definitely visit. I think the weekend after that we’re going to fly to see some of the Massachusetts area LACs like Williams. Vassar really isn’t too far away from me so sometime next week I’ll drag a friend to go visit and Hamilton is probably a doable day trip I can make next week too.</p>
<p>Thanks for for the help and I’ll look into all of the colleges everyone has suggested, even the southern ones!</p>