Frustrated with College Search, Please Help

[popnpoper]

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@kleibo

Best way to do that is visit the school when the school is in session. You don’t get the same feel for a school if you visit in the summer or on open house days. Go on a regular school day and go to one of the cafeteria’s and talk to some of the students.

I completely agree. I have toured colleges on the weekend and it is sort of a pointless affair for me, because I don’t care about buildings as much as I care about the students and the atmosphere. Moreover, I can do virtual tours, and research my own information sessions. The only problem is getting there while school is in session, because ditching school isn’t really an option.

@gadad

You may be surprised by how little the apparent snobbery is at top schools. Anyone who goes to one of them thinking they’re really special is likely to have quite a humbling experience in the first few weeks of the fall when they see how special everyone else is. I think you’ll find more snobbery at schools a notch or two below on the pecking order where it may be more feasible for an Ivy-quality student to maintain an attitude of superiority.

Thanks, that’s very interesting. I never really thought of it that way.

@noimagination

If you don’t mind a big school (which therefore has big classes first year), you’d have to be crazy to miss the opportunity for in-state tuition at UCLA and Cal.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. However, you must not know of the intense competitiveness to get into Cal and UCLA. I believe the average GPA is 4.2 ish, and with so many applicants I feel they are still reaches unfortunately.

@SlitheyTove

You don’t mention if you’ve toured any schools when school’s been in session. If you have, giving people here examples of what you’ve liked and what you haven’t liked will help

I have toured the Claremont Consortium (specifically Pitzer) and was unimpressed. School was in session and I felt the area was too uneventful for me. D-1 Sports, or school spirit for sports, is a definite plus for me when looking for a college. I don’t think that is for me, perhaps a bit too small as well.<br>
I toured Occidental and feel like it was better than the Claremont schools, but still, why not go to a private school OOS and pay the same thing and experience new things. When the tour guide lauds that the beach and Dodger Stadium are close. I am unimpressed because these are common facets of my life already. I want a new experience, I want to press my comfort zone.
I toured USC and while thoroughly impressed by the school of cinema. A) Its too pre-professional for me, I’d rather get a more varied Liberal Arts education because I am unsure for sure if I want to enter that competitive industry, B) The area is terrible, perhaps a bit too urban, and also to close to home again. C) While the sports are great, my family members are big UCLA homers (including myself) and it might create a small problem.
Also, in the summer going into sophmore year, I had the opportunity for a Summer Discovery Program at the University of Michigan, where I stayed in the dorms and learned from actual college professors for 2 weeks along with exploring the campus and area (Ann Arbor). I liked it, but couldn’t really see myself there, but I think touring it now might be different after maturation</p>

<p>So if those visits give you any idea, maybe you could suggest more schools.
I don’t think preppy may be the worst thing anymore after researching it on urban dictionary.</p>

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@SlitheyTove

presence of a Jewish community

This is absolutely a factor, and the schools on my list all have a sizable population, and at the same time have many students not under this category so I can have a solid, varied, real life experience.</p>

<p>OneMom and Batllo, thanks for the great advice as well.</p>

<p>So any more college suggestions? I’m gonna check out PSU, but I think I may be a bit more comfortable in smaller schools than that.</p>