Help me pick a college!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I've narrowed my college list down to 9 schools and I'm trying to figure out which one I'd pick if I were accepted at all of them: Help!</p>

<p>For a little background... I am a smart student with good grades and I excel when I'm really interested in my class. I love to do stuff outdoors (hiking etc), but I'm not die-hard. My friends and I don't drink in high school so I would love to go to a college where the social scene does not always center around booze, but I would like to go to a few crazy parties. I don't mind rural as long as the college community is close and there's stuff to do on campus. I love the small student body so that my classes will be tiny.</p>

<p>Colorado College (accepted EA, love the block program, haven't visited but I love outdoorsy stuff)</p>

<p>University of Pittsburgh (accepted honors college, $2000/yr, and guaranteed admission into the graduate school of international and public affairs, not sure if I'm okay with the city though)</p>

<p>St. Olaf College (also applied EA, but don't hear back until February, love the non-drinking party scene, also visited and really meshed with the student body)</p>

<p>St. Mary's College of Maryland (This is kind of a safety I guess, but it was listed under happiest and prettiest campuses, so I wanted to apply)</p>

<p>Middlebury College (stretch, I have the academics, but my essay wasn't the best and I'm not a varsity athlete. I love languages though and they do a great job)</p>

<p>Amherst College (stretch, visited and loved the friendly community)</p>

<p>College of William and Mary (good match, just not sure if i will survive with the really hard grading scale)</p>

<p>Whitman College (good match, haven't completed my application yet, but it's one of my favorites due to the outdoorsy, happy campus)</p>

<p>Kenyon College (good match, love the "writer's college" aspect)</p>

2

<p>You can't go wrong. All wonderful schools. However, I'm sure the grading at Amherst and Middlebury is as difficult as William and Mary.</p>

<p>Wait until you see where you're accepted. Visit. Decide. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>what do you want to study?</p>

4

<p>I would say pick after you hear back.. and if you get into your two 'stretch' schools, and if $$ isn't a problem, i would suggest visiting them. i'm planning to do that too.</p>

5

<p>Yup, find out where you got in. Then go visit.</p>

<p>Make sure to spend the night at each school, to get a real taste for the social scene.</p>

6

<p>Hopefully you will get in at Amherst, Midd or W&M. If all three, decide if you like snow or beach better.</p>

7

<p>In order of suitability for yourself based on what you've said, I'd do it this way:</p>

<p>Middlebury
Kenyon
Colorado
Amherst</p>

<p>and I can't really say much about the others (I know little of them).</p>

<p>and at the bottom
Pittsburgh (it's the city. Otherwise, it's just below Amherst.)
W&M (party school full of people from VA)</p>

8

<p>I LOVED Middlebury when I visited it. Absolutely loved it. Of course I'm not you, although what you're looking for obviously fits the schools you are applying to. The only advice I can give is that Amherst students, at least to me, seemed awfully rich-pretentious, although I'm sure that is a gross generalization of my limited experiences there. And you said you liked the community, I'm sure it is great. </p>

<p>Visiting will help, if you haven't. The problem is that you've only applied to schools that you like (not really a problem...) so for now it's hard to say.</p>

<p>Not sure why, but based on what you said it seems Whitman would be perfect for you.</p>

9

<p>Holy Cross and Colgate are 2 LAC's with strong academics but easier to get into versus Amherst and Middlebury.</p>

10

<p>
[quote]
In order of suitability for yourself based on what you've said, I'd do it this way:</p>

<p>Middlebury
Kenyon
Colorado
Amherst

[/quote]

I agree. Those four are probably the best fits. I especially like Colorado College! It's an amazing little school, and Colorado is THE state for outdoor recreation.</p>

11

<p>I'm probably just a bit biased ;), but I'd STRONGLY recommend Colorado College. I'm currently a freshman there and absolutely love it! Based on your description of yourself, you sound very similar to me. I'm outdoorsy but not too hard core, I excel in classes I love, and I'm not a huge partier (though I don't mind attending a crazy party every once in a while ;)). I also wanted a small school with small classes. The class sizes at CC are all small. They are not allowed to be larger than 25. My first two block class (called the first year experience, or FYE) had 16 and my 3rd and 4th block classes had 13. </p>

<p>Just a bit on the location, I personally love it because downtown Colorado Springs is just a ten minute walk away, and the mountains are just a short drive away. You really get the best of both worlds. If you want to shop or eat out in a restaurant you most certainly can (my friends and I occasionally walk downtown and treat ourselves to a night out), and if you want to get away from that, there are plenty of places to hike and bike around campus. Pike's Peak is right in our backyard!</p>

<p>If you have any specific questions about the school, feel free to PM me. I'd be glad to talk about CC :). Good luck!</p>

12

<p>Sosciman- What are you smoking? Pitt is no where near Amherst and W&M is hardly a "party" school. Also, its 40% OOS with high % of In-staters recently transpanted from another state. Pls do some research before providing advice. We're trying to help people here you know.</p>