<p>Hi, im a senior and ill be applying to Yale, Princeton, Duke, Cornell, and some safeties. However, since admissions at top colleges is so random, i'm looking for another one to apply to THAT IS A LITTLE EASIER THAN THESE 4 TO GET INTO.
Here's what i like in a college:::
medium sized school.
-not a lot of fraternities.
-prestigious.
-research opportunities, especially in sciences.
-good at engineering (environmental engineering)
-diverse cultures.
-gives good financial aid.
-gothic architecture (it's a plus)
-i like suburban or rural environments, but i can make exceptions if its not too urban.
2310 sat / 35 act... 3.98 UW gpa, 4.99 W gpa... okay ECs.</p>
<p>bumppppppp</p>
<p>That’s quite a list of requests. It will be interesting to see what the responses are. I’d be surprised if you find something that meets all of your criteria.</p>
<p>If you want something that’s medium-sized and gives good financial aid, you’re probably looking at a private university. And if you want a lot of good research opportunities, you’re probably looking at a private research university.</p>
<p>Prestigious, medium-sized private research universities with strength in engineering and beautiful gothic campuses are generally hard to get into. Cornell is almost certainly the best fit – it’s easier to get into Cornell than Duke, and much easier than Yale or Princeton. But of course, Cornell is already on your list, and with 14,000 undergraduates I’m not sure if it qualifies for “medium-sized”.</p>
<p>You might also want to consider WUSTL. It’s not particularly well known for engineering or environmental engineering, but it fits most of your other criteria. It has a beautiful neo-gothic campus that is mostly separate from the city, and the surrounding area is not too urban. But it’s probably harder to get into WUSTL than Cornell.</p>
<p>Notre Dame is a possibility. It’s also not particularly well known for engineering or environmental engineering, but it has a beautiful campus with gothic elements, and it would probably be easier to get into Notre Dame than Cornell.</p>
<p>Another option would be Lehigh. It’s not as prestigious as the others, but it is well known for engineering and has a gothic campus that is not in a big city. It would be easier to get into than the others.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what state you’re in, but if you’re in Michigan, California, or somewhere with a prestigious state university that might be a good middle-of-the-road option.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon would be a very good fit academically, and it’s probably slightly easier to get into, but I’m not sure what you’d think about the campus. </p>
<p>Likewise, Johns Hopkins would be a good academic fit. Its undergraduate program in environmental engineering is consistently ranked in the top 5, and it’s a strong engineering school overall with a ton of undergraduate research opportunities. It’s sort of like WUSTL in that it has a beautiful, well-defined campus located where the city meets the suburbs, but the architecture is not gothic – they use red bricks for everything, even the sidewalks. And it’s just about as hard to get into as Cornell.</p>
<p>A couple more to add to the list:</p>
<p>Northwestern, which is a good academic fit, but probably harder to get into than Cornell.</p>
<p>And thinking outside the box… McGill? I don’t know how much it would cost though.</p>
<p>haha, i know. they were just suggestions, though. by no means do i have to have all of these. and yeah, i put medium sized as thats the minimum. i want at least 5,000 people, but it can have a lot more. and im in south carolina, lol.</p>
<p>but thank you so much!!! these are all good choices from what i can tell so far, and ill definitely look them up.</p>
<p>and does carnegie mellon give good aid??</p>
<p>my parents make <60k, so id need really good aid.</p>
<p>WUSTL or Boston College?</p>
<p>im not sure im comfortable with going to canada, lol. but johns hopkins, notre dame, wustl, and carnegie mellon look good.</p>
<p>is boston college really religious??</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It might be better than you’d expect. You can check their website:</p>
<p>[Admission</a> > Financial Aid](<a href=“Home - Computing Services - Office of the CIO - Carnegie Mellon University”>Home - Computing Services - Office of the CIO - Carnegie Mellon University)</p>
<p>My niece wentto Boston College for grad school and she described it as ‘Harry Potter Gothic’ when she told me what it looked like after her first visit. It is known as a Catholic school but non-Catholics do go there. You have good stats … hopefully you also have some leadership somewhere.</p>
<p>hmm, i think ill check that one out, too. and yeah, i do. my ECs arent amazing, but i think theyre good. a large amount relate to my majour, and i have leadership and passion.</p>
<p>Environmental engineering is not a very common major as listed in [Accredited</a> Program Search](<a href=“http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx]Accredited”>http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx) .</p>
<p>However, it is often considered a subarea of civil engineering, which many more schools offer. Note that Cornell is the only one of your four listed schools with a specific environmental engineering ABET-accredited degree program, while Cornell, Duke, and Princeton have civil engineering ABET-accredited degree programs. Yale has neither.</p>
<p>Yale does have a non-ABET-accredited environmental engineering degree program which is under its chemical engineering department. Its emphasis appears to be somewhat different from most environmental engineering degree programs or environmental subareas of civil engineering. For the more typical environmental or civil engineering emphasis (infrastructure, water treatment, buildings (including “green” buildings), etc.), ABET accreditation is important because Professional Engineer licensing is often needed or useful.</p>
<p>Are your in-state public universities (Clemson and USC) in your application list? Both have civil engineering.</p>
<p>Might look at Holy Cross(don’t have to be religious) very good in science majors. HC offers good financial aid and has beautiful campus 1 hour from Boston. Holy Cross is rated very highly on Payscale salary study and has great alumni network.</p>
<p>Holy Cross and Boston College do not have any ABET-accredited engineering degree programs.</p>
<p>UCBAlumnus, good point about accreditation. Of the colleges I suggested, I think only Lehigh, Johns Hopkins, and Northwestern are accredited in environmental engineering.</p>
<p>Of course if you get into Yale, accreditation might not be a big concern.</p>
<p>thank you for that link, ucbalumnus. and well, i knew yale didnt really have a defined program, but i liked everything about it. and cornell’s pretty much where i really want to go, anyway. and, judging from johns hopkins being on that link, im leaning toward there.</p>
<p>yes, ive already applied to both clemson’s and usc’s honors colleges. them, along with alabama(national merit finalist), are my safeties.</p>
<p>I don’t quite understand the request of little fraternities, would you mind to elaborate on what’s “little” and whats not?</p>
<p>-------------------------------------------If it is to be, it is up to me…</p>
<p>Probably means a social scene that does not feel like it is dominated by fraternities (and sororities).</p>