<p>Why does everyone love their dream school? What makes it so special? Is it prestige? Friends? Everyone let me know. </p>
<p>Sent from my SGH-T989 using CC mobile app</p>
<p>I honestly don’t know what my dream school is at this point anymore. So I guess I have it in the these categories: if-i-get-in-ill-question-if-theres-any-sorcery-involved, reachable, reachable+affordable-fosho, and safety. The schools are MIT, University of Rochester, UCSD, and UC Santa Cruz. </p>
<p>I guess I’ll just choose to talk about the first category, or MIT. I love the location, the people (don’t have many friends there), research opportunities, as well as that some dorms allow pet cats! I’m not actually into the prestige aspect as much.</p>
<p>UChicago is my dream school because, if their emails, Tumblr, application supplement, and letters are even a semi-accurate representation of the school’s character, my personality and sense of humor will fit in extremely well there. I actually wish UChicago wasn’t prestigious because I want to go there so badly for the campus atmosphere, not the academic reputation.</p>
<p>That’s a great answer. It seems that everyone has a different reason. Have you always loved MIT?</p>
<p>Not really… Haha, at first (like in middle school), I didn’t even know about MIT. I knew about Stanford, Yale, and Harvard, and that was pretty much it. I didn’t know a single thing about any of them. </p>
<p>I guess I only truly found out about all the other schools when I was a freshman. aka when my sister was a senior and visited the schools she applied to. Even then, it was like the Ivys, MIT, Caltech, and some UCs. </p>
<p>However, my sister told me about the architecture and stuff and how Boston’s really cool. I didn’t think much of it then; I only seriously started thinking about college when I found this site (December of sophomore year). </p>
<p>At the beginning of this, I initially didn’t think I’d apply to MIT because the only people I knew who went there were planning on becoming engineers! And I’m not currently planning to become one. </p>
<p>However, through Facebook I found the “MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences” page, and learned about the research that was going on there. (If I got in, I would major in Brain and Cognitive Sciences). So then it became part of my college list. </p>
<p>And then the more I read about MIT (i.e. from the admissions blog, emails, etc.), the more it seemed appealing. And though I don’t really think I’ll get in, it’s my dream school in the sense that a dream school is. Though the other places I really like also.</p>
<p>Stanford. Beautiful campus, great weather, the best of MIT + the best of Harvard, and the best possible school for CS, given the amazing professors and the location (smack dab in the middle of Silicon Valley; Google literally recruits out of that school).</p>
<p>Stanford pretty much dominates all other subjects as well, so I have no doubt that I’ll not only get a good education in my focus area, but other areas as well. The small class sizes are also great!</p>
<p>@SeaSwallowed - UChicago is actually second on my list, their Tumblr is absolutely hilarious! And the essay questions every year…the quirks and atmosphere of that school is amazing.</p>
<p>Stanford… I’ve heard it’s really special… I plan to apply for grad school. The area is pretty magnificent. Chicago is great too. I love the surrounding area. The internships are probably legendary!</p>
<p>My dream school is Duke University.</p>
<p>Why? Growing up, I just loved everything about the school, especially the basketball program. The school being very beautiful and academics being great is wonderful as well.</p>
<p>My dream school is Syracuse. The snowy area draws my attention. The school’s amazing basketball team doesn’t hurt either. The feeling you get at a game is unimaginable.The engineering program is also a hidden gem. The price is almost a deal breaker though.
One of my best friends goes to Duke. They’re cool.</p>
<p>CSU Sacramento:
It’s not the school you guys attend, but what you make of it:
I’ll get out debt free
I get to live at home
I’ve had no trouble making new friends already despite it being a commuter school (that’s the beauty of it)
Best in the state for the subfield of my major that I’m doing that not many choose / know about
Accept AP credits like crazy
I don’t have to run into extremely competitive cutthroat academics everywhere I go.
Most internships in the state of California / some of the best internship programs that lead to guaranteed jobs.
MUCH MORE :D</p>
<p>Reed, because of the small classes and the required thesis and the “intellectual environment” and the fact that it rains a lot.
There are too many practical drawbacks, though. It costs a lot. No one’s ever heard of it. They have drug problems. I’m taking a lot of college-level classes in my major during senior year, and LACs won’t have enough classes for me to take.</p>
<p>NC State. My brothers have gone there. It has a strong mechanical engineering program. I love the campus and the people. I love the athletics. No need to worry myself about Ivys because the perfect school for me is in my backyard :)</p>
<p>University of Michigan-
The campus is fantastic it ranks really high in everything I might ever possibly want to major in, including head school. It had Starkid Potter, it’s just far enough away from home that it’s different but not too far. I could still get home for a weekend.
It’s just the place I’ve heard so many good things about! The downfall is the price, and the reason I will probably not attend there.
Fingers crossed though</p>
<p>Is distance a problem for any of you guys?</p>
<p>In a way. In-state public schools are definitely cheaper, and I can’t go outside the continental United States. Other than that, not really.</p>
<p>New York University. </p>
<p>I grew up my entire life living just a half hour outside the city. It became a magical, fantastical place in my mind. This vision only grew with age as I began to love theater and the arts. It grew even further when I stepped into Greenwich Village for the first time. </p>
<p>The second I did my research into NYU I fell in love-the residency, the student body, the vast amount of extracurricular, and it’s strong Economics program (which is what I hope to major in). Job opportunities in the city are plenty.</p>
<p>Basically any school out of commuting distance puts me in debt.</p>
<p>NYU…
That’s not it. Is any school too far from home?</p>
<p>MIT-
I guess I’ve always been fascinated with computers, and I wanted to learn as much about them as I could. It also helps that I want to be a math minor, and MIT has a lot of classes for that.</p>