Hey CC’ers
I’m a rising senior from CA who needs some help finding colleges that “fit” me.
Some things I’m looking for (in roughly their order of importance):
Brilliant professors who are involved in teaching and research
Diverse and intelligent student body
Multitude of research opportunities
Hospitals to volunteer
Affordability (~30k per year? after financial aid) (Parents willing to pay more for “better” schools, max ~45k)
Liberal school
Medium sized school
Not too “cutthroat” (grade inflation would be nice I guess)
Multitude of different classes to explore
Not a huge fan of the “core” from UChic/Columbia/etc.
Good premed advising
Religion does not play a dominant role in campus (I’m agnostic)
Prestige
School spirit
Fun things to do around campus
Cooler weather
Aesthetically pleasing architecture
Residential colleges
Preferably OOS/east coast
Most importantly, I want to have a great undergrad experience filled with learning, fun, and not too much stress!
Here’s a list of colleges I looked into/am planning to apply to
Most UCs (great colleges esp. UCB/UCLA, in-state, low tuition)
Duke (basically meets all my criteria I think)
Brown (open curriculum is amazing, meets criteria)
Cornell (meets criteria)
Maybe HYS (it’s worth a shot?)
Also I know this isn’t a chances thread, but, if anyone could provide some input on how realistic my college list is, that would be great! If anyone has any suggestions, even better!
PS I know all the schools I listed are competitive, but I’m pretty sure I’ll get into at least a few UCs.
Strong qualifications can get a CA resident into a very good university that costs ~$30K/year, namely a school in the University of California system. For a more selective private school, you’re likely to face sticker prices of $55K to $65K, not $45K. If you qualify for need based aid, then your net costs might fall below $45K (or possibly even below $30K.)
Run the online net price calculator for any school that interests you.
I don’t see why someone would choose Case Western or University of Rochester over a good UC (at in-state rates).
I’m not saying there’s no good reason – just that it’s not obvious and none has been offered. Neither Cleveland nor Rochester seem like great places to live. And neither U seems clearly better than a good UC.
OP – did you realize that Cornell’s hospital in NYC rather than Ithaca?
exacademic 99% of california is a hot mess. and without silicon valley CA would be 100% hot mess. there is nothing wrong with attending school in cleveland or rochester. you are going to learn and meet awesome smart people like the OP wants, and that can be done in both places and both case and rochester have top notch undergrad and med schools.
"OP – did you realize that Cornell’s hospital in NYC rather than Ithaca? "
So that would diminish the student’s college experience and diminish their chances to be admitted to med school?
No, but given OP’s criteria, it’s a fact that might affect OP’s perception of fit. And, if it doesn’t, then it might affect readers’ perceptions of those criteria.
But I would still say the UCs are your best bet for affordability/safeties. From what you say your parents can contribute it doesn’t sound like you would get a huge amount of financial aid. Have you run NPCs anywhere?
Actually, I’m from Cleveland – and when I lived there we not only had water, we had water that burned!
Moved to CA in my teens and have family currently living in CA and Rochester (in both cases, sibs with HS/college-aged kids). So, yeah, I know there are smart people in all three places and I know about CA’s economic issues. I still can’t imagine shelling out significantly more $ to send a biomed-oriented undergrad to Rochester or Case Western rather than to UCI or UCSD, let alone Cal or UCLA. Why would someone do that? Not a rhetorical question – just a request for info about what recommenders know about those schools that make them seem choice-worthy in OP’s situation.
I’d describe Rochester as a fine, complete, modestly-sized university with classically arranged architecture on the edge of a medium-sized city. Beyond this general appeal, the school importantly has a good track record in furthering the goals of their premed students. Throw in the change of seasons, in combination with the OP’s financial situation, which has yet to be determined, and I’d say the recommendation of UR, in particular, was a solid one.
It seems that you have done your homework. Duke, Brown, Cornell, H/Y/S is good enough for reaches. Out of these, I would say that besides H and S, Duke is your best option for Statistics (arguably the BEST Bayesian Statistics center in the country) and pre-med (Duke’s on-campus and wolrd-class med school, followed by Brown and then Cornell.
I would also add Johns Hopkins, which meets a few of your criteria as well, even though financial aid there might be less generous than Duke and Brown and especially H/Y/S.
