<p>Camellia, the best schools on your for art and art history (plus strong science plus overall excellent academics) the top schools on your list would be Brown, Bryn Mawr (excellent art history but I think you have to go to Haverford for art), Colgate, Kenyon, and Williams. The last thing you need are more choices but I would Hamilton and Skidmore. </p>
<p>Of these Colgate, Kenyon, Williams, Hamilton and Skidmore also have active, outdoorsy atmospheres and they are full of kids who fit with your description a little crunchy, a little preppy, likes to dress up and dress down, politically moderate.</p>
<p>confused_student, the 7-point scale is a grading scale (there are pluses and minuses, too, which factor into the GPA somehow), but it works differently than the 4-point scale, so you just can't do a straight conversion. Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, a 4.0 is an A, whereas a 6.0 at my school is equivalent to an A- and a 7.0 to an A+... so if you're going to be technical about it, a 6.5 would be an A... it just doesn't convert very well. You've got the right idea, though.</p>
<p>momrath, thanks for your suggestions! I'm definitely not planning to major in art, but I would like to take some art classes, so that's good to know. I've heard of Hamilton and Skidmore but don't know many details, so I'll have to check that out (eek! more choices!).</p>
<p>Do you have any feeling about core/distribution requirements? If you do have a preference one way or the other, you may be able to strike some places off your list. </p>
<p>DianeR, since my academic interests are so spread out, I figure it doesn't really make a difference whether there are distribution requirements or not, since I'll be taking a pretty well-rounded variety of classes anyway. Core requirements (e.g. Chicago's) sound good in theory (exploring a range of subjects, everyone has a set of courses in common) but I don't know whether it works out that way in practice or if it's just a huge hassle... or even if it would be right for me. In terms of guidebooks, I have the Fiske guide and the Students' Guide to Colleges, and they've been helpful so far. Thanks!</p>
<p>Agree that Vas. and Conn. are worth exploring. I think you are trying to reduce your list so just want to throw in my perspective that Bryn Mawr, like Haverford right down the road, are not conservative but very liberal. BM is all female students but Haverford is literally within walking distance and there is a lot of interaction between them and a regular shuttle. Both are about a 20 min. train ride to downtown Phila. so you can be on a traditional campus but have access to a city.</p>
<p>1) There's no app. fee at Colgate if you apply online, so if you're willing to take the time, it doesn't hurt you at all to apply there.</p>
<p>2) You strike me as a student who would fit in very well at Sarah Lawrence. It's close to NYC, so if that seems too urban, so be it - but definitely look into it. It's a unique school that definitely seems like your type. Plus, you would almost certainly get in.</p>
<p>Since you've visited most of the schools, I'm not sure what suggestions to give you for narrowing down your list - but MN is neither isolated nor lackluster and Carleton & Macalester are both great schools!</p>
<p>Camel, i am in full agreement with new found girl but would like to add a few things. Firstly Brown, as you know, is in the ghetto that boarders a rather exclusive area. Its a great school and ive spent a lot of time there but its werid in that its removed from the city but still not in a great area. Also Stanford: it's in a really great area, near San Jose and its very techy, thats where the google guys got started. Its removed from the city and in a totally suburban area. It actually sounds a lot of what you want. And Keyon is very rural and very isoilated. My cousin went there, and loved it but there she said it was rather boring, plus is rather small. Definatly take it off of your list.</p>
<p>Brown is NOT in a ghetto. My daughter goes there and I've walked in the surrounding area. It is a bunch of nice, well-kept Victorian homes from what I've seen. She hasn't run across anything resembling a ghetto. Yes, you shouldn't walk off campus alone at night, but that is true at every college. Perhaps you are thinking of Yale. Chicago is also in a traditionally iffy area, although nowadays people disagree about whether it is dangerous of not.</p>
<p>Brown also is not removed from the city. Rather it is in the heart of the city, a few minutes' walk from the State Capitol and downtown. </p>
<p>If you want other opinions, check out the Brown forum.</p>
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Core requirements (e.g. Chicago's) sound good in theory (exploring a range of subjects, everyone has a set of courses in common) but I don't know whether it works out that way in practice or if it's just a huge hassle... or even if it would be right for me.
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<p>Chicago now allows choices, so you don't have a set of courses in common any more. My daughter's final choice came down to Brown versus Chicago. (Her original choice of schools to apply to was determined by what she wanted to study and what few places had it.) She found that she would end up spending nearly two years taking things she didn't want to take at Chicago. So while in theory it had some classes that interested her that Brown lacked, she wouldn't have the time to take them. </p>
<p>I suppose if you really don't know want you want to study and you want an intellectual, quirky atmosphere where everybody is studying the same thing, you might look in St. John's (the colleges in Annapolis and Sante Fe, not the big university). Of course, there you could never specialize in anything -- all four years are determined for you.</p>
<p>But I guess you don't want to add to your list; you want to shorten it!</p>
<p>No, St. John's would definitely be too restrictive... I don't want my courses to be planned out for me, but I do understand the appeal of having courses in common with other people (although it could very easily turn not-so-good, IMHO). I didn't know that Chicago allows choices now, but I'm starting to think I might still feel limited by having so much of my course list predetermined for me. So maybe that's not the best choice.</p>
<p>I've visited Brown, so I've seen the area it's in... and no, I wouldn't consider that a "ghetto"... it looked like a typical city to me, but I'm from DC so maybe I'm just used to it. ;)</p>
<p>Brown definatly boarders a ghetto. I lived there for about a week in an apartment with my friends sister. And i definatly saw two women rip each other to sreds. And this was after a very loud domestic disturbance with the same family. Yes Brown does boarder a very nice section, which i stated, but on the other side it is very ghetto.</p>
<p>I'm not sure which side you are referring to -- can you give me a street name, a direction, and number of blocks from the campus?</p>
<p>Perhaps you should also give your definition of ghetto. Also, the OP is from DC as I am (well, I'm in the burbs now) and so knows that in any city there are areas to avoid and others that are fine. A few blocks can make quite a bit of difference, but you don't have any need to go to those areas. (Not that I know of such areas in Providence -- my daughter has gone to parties in student apartments and everything's seemed fine to her -- plus you have the Safe Ride program available to get home.) Too, domestic disturbances and crime can happen anywhere. Even in the burbs ... </p>
<p>You have one week's experience and mention one family -- she went to two much longer summer programs there and has an entire school's year experience attending the school. (Also, when were you there? It is my understanding Providence as a whole has improved in recent years. I don't know how well you know the town, since you thought that the school was isolated, whereas it takes only a few minutes to walk to downtown.) We read about the school in a number of books, too, plus scores of comments by current and past students. None of them stated what you have.</p>
<p>I can see how your experiences would color what you think of the area, but I think your generalization is unwarranted. If students go out to find cheap off-campus housing, yes, they need to make sure they are in an area where they feel comfortable. But that is true at every school.</p>
<p>You sound like someone with a lot of interests. I hate to add yet another school, but have you thought about Bennington as a potential safety (small I know, but about 3 times the size of your highschool) where you could pursue all of them. Also, you can take classes at Williams which is about 20 minutes away. Your crunchy side would fit in, there are always vegan options at the dining hall, and, contrary to what many on CC think, your more "preppy" side (especially if it is mostly based on your clothing) would also. There are both skiing and horses close by, and many opportunities for volunteer work in the nearby town.</p>
<p>My son spent the last 2 summers at Brown and he didn't have any concerns about the area, often walking down to the mall or taking cabs to restaurants. He took Bio classes both summers which were a bit of a walk and he walked to the gym most days to play bball. Many trips to Thayer as well as trips to Boston and Cape Cod. No problems and he was just 15yo the first summer. Guess it's all perspective.</p>
<p>First of all i'd like to say that i really like Brown. And i have nothing personally against ghettos. the people seem rather nice, a little rough, but nice. But the neighborhood really is not that great. Across Thayer st is the nice Victorian home section. I am referring to the area on the other side of campus down Power (not the part that is near the Victorian homes but near the dorms and that sketchy little market) and Hope st. </p>
<p>And actually the domestic disturbances were during this years commencement weekend, and i thought it was ghettoesque previous to that anyways. And i totally agree i when i was there i walked around in the early morning and didn't have any issues, but the area (on the other side of the campus) is not that great. If you take a walk down in the area i just decribed then you will understand. Its really not my jaded point of view. I just wanted to give the girl an idea about the area, which is, sorry to say, a little run-down, and rough around the edges at points.</p>
<p>Hope & Power are pretty much off the beaten track. That's where the Perkins dorm is. The people seemed to pal around together because they were so away from everyone else, it seemed. My daughter dates one of the "Perkins People" as she calls them, so she went there quite a lot. It didn't seem to bother her. But she would walk there mostly on Thayer, then get a Safe Ride back to her dorm on the other side of campus.</p>
<p>I stayed at the Inn at Brown once which is two blocks away, and it seemed fine. I never had occasion to go to that particular intersection, however.</p>
<p>The comments I've read from students (like at studentsreview) don't mention safety concerns. This seems to be a frequent topic for places like Chicago, however. From the schools I've looked at, I would have been more concerned at several others (Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Penn, and Yale, e.g.) than at Brown.</p>
<p>We've pretty much talked this one to death. Anyone interested in this should ask on the Brown forum and do other checking, as s/he should for any school.</p>
<p>Back to the OP's problem -- winnowing down her list. Have you visited all these schools? If not, you can order videotaped tours of the campuses, which is like what you would get if you did visit (you hear the prepared pitches and Q & A). <a href="http://www.collegiatechoice.com%5B/url%5D">www.collegiatechoice.com</a> is one place I know that does these. I wouldn't finally select a school without a physical visit, but this can help. My son decided against applying to a couple places because of what he saw and heard and decided to apply to two other places we hadn't had a chance to visit. It ended up his final choice was between the latter two.</p>
<p>Since you are vegan (my family, also), you may want to do what you can to check out the food, too. I imagine each of the individual college forums have people who could tell you about the vegan options and sometimes you can see menus posted on the internet (although maybe not in the summer). Seems like a minor concern in picking a college. BUT four years of limited choice and lousy food can make for a bad college experience. My son was very interested in Carnegie Mellon. But he went to a summer program there and the only thing he could find to eat in the dining hall was (mediocre) penne with marinara sauce. Eat that two times a day for six weeks and see how much you like the school after that! He went to the opposite extreme with WashUStL -- the food is incredible there.</p>