<p>I 2nd BC over BU if you have to choose</p>
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<p>I would get rid of NYU and Penn State right off the bat. BU is a safety for you, but I would prefer it over BC as a Boston school. (Boston is one of the great college towns.) I would keep Wellesley: it is right outside Boston with a free hourly bus in each direction, the academics are great, and there is cross-registration with MIT and other schools. I would eliminate Tufts. I find it ho-hum. The Wellesley experience would be stronger. I would consider eliminating Middleburyand Williams in favor of Amherst, which is the least rural of your coed LACs. UM, UNC, UVA: pick one. (I’d probably go with UVA.)</p>
<p>In sum, I’d pick:</p>
<p>Wellesley
Barnard
Amherst
UVA
BU
U of C
Rice
Johns Hopkins</p>
<p>Tufts is the best of OP’s Boston three: Tufts, BC, BU. OP should apply to Tufts and skip the other two. Indeed, for someone with a 2300 SAT’s, BU is plainly a safety. Tufts is all liberal arts with a small amount of engineering and would be the best Boston-area choice from OP’s list, for an English major with possible politics minor. Nearby Wellesley is all women and accordingly has a reputation as being a depressing environment for some.</p>
<p>Amherst is generally considered to be the nation’s top LAC. Most people would take Amherst over Williams or Middlebury simply because of its less isolated location.</p>
<p>OP should eliminate Penn State because it is not know as a quality US university. It’s reputation stems primarily from football as well as football related scandals, including the dismissal and criminal indictment of its president. Again, for someone with 2300 SAT’s, Penn State is a safety.</p>
<p>If NU has been added, try</p>
<p>Chicago
2 of Duke, NU, Rice
JHU
Tufts
Michigan (or smaller UVA)
Amherst
Barnard</p>
<p>Lastly, OP should consider the pessimistic scenario that in April her “bucket” contains only 3 or 4 of 12 colleges and universities, none of which are Ivy or Chicago or Amherst. Would she be happy with that choice? Or would she prefer a small independent co-ed LAC instead?</p>
<p>Penn State is the best public school in the northeast</p>
<p>Thank you all.
I’ll go with Tufts and BC over BU.
I’ll eliminate Williams and Middlebury, since they do not offer the minors I want.
This is what I’m thinking of, now:</p>
<p>UChicago
Duke
Rice
Johns Hopkins U
Boston College
Tufts
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Barnard
Amherst </p>
<p>@rhg3rd: I have considered that scenario 
However, NOT getting into any of these is not a HUGE concern of mine, since I have safeties in my own country that I’d be happy to attend.</p>
<p>With LACs I have a bit of a dilemma. As I said earlier, I think I’m more of an urban, big-university person. However, this is what I <em>think</em> right now, since I don’t have the opportunity to visit any campuses, I cannot really say. Also, many LACs seem to be perfect fits for me academically. I’m trying to decide whether I should reject them just because I think I want to be in a big, city-type environment?</p>
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<p>What minors would those be? I thought you mentioned political science.</p>
<p>[Political</a> Science](<a href=“http://political-science.williams.edu/]Political”>http://political-science.williams.edu/)</p>
<p>[Political</a> Science | Middlebury](<a href=“Political Science | Middlebury College”>Political Science | Middlebury College)</p>
<p>^Williams has a Pol Sci major, no minor. I wrote to them to ask, and they emailed me back saying they don’t have minors but ‘concentrations’. They also sent me a list of programs offering concentrations, and Pol Sci is not one of them.
And I correct myself, Middlebury DOES offer a Political Science minor, but Amherst doesn’t.</p>
<p>Good idea to whittle list down given your numbers. Nop need to apply to 15-plus schools. </p>
<p>Based on your criteria I would suggest keeping Chicago, Duke, NYU, Tufts, UVA, Barnard, and Amherst (others great choices too, but schools like Middlebury and Williams may be a bit too remote for your liking). I would also consider adding Columbia and U Rochester (as a true safety, although Barnard probably fits that role too and agree wth poster anouilh re Barnard being an especially good match if you do not mind going to an all women’s college).</p>
<p>Will Barnard be a safer match for me? Because its admission rate is 25%. But yes, I would be happy to go to Barnard if I don’t get in anywhere else.
About Rice… is it good for the liberal arts as well?</p>
<p>When considered just as an LAC Barnard is not as good or rigorous as many others. What Barnard offers is a backdoor into Columbia for activities, facilities, courses and even for a few entire majors like math. However, Barnard students cannot take courses from the Columbia College core. [The</a> Core Curriculum](<a href=“http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/]The”>The Core Curriculum). It has some of the depressing aspects of a women’s college, but there are workarounds like taking a meal plan at Columbia instead of Barnard. OP will most likely get into Barnard.</p>
<p>Rice, Duke, and JHU all have a fare number of engineering students. Rice is somewhat unique as it offers at true college system like Yale’s where students live and dine. It has a larger percentage of undergrads than the other two and is smaller.</p>
<p>OP’s rational for eliminating Williams is petty. Williams is 1.5-2 hours closer to civilization than Middlebury. Williams and Middlebury are not quite the same thing. Williams is in a much better position to bring in visiting lecturers, artists, and performers from NYC and Boston. Middlebury attracts people who want to ski, bike, or just live as far away from civilization as possible. Williams is one of the finest LAC’s available despite its forest-surrounded Williamstown location. Barring any preferable LAC substitute for Williams, OP should keep it alive as a possibility. However, there are more urban LAC alternatives to Williams with easier admission like Reed in Portland, OR or some of the five Claremont Colleges in California.</p>
<p>Why keep BC if Tufts is on? OP most likely will get into Tufts as well.</p>
<p>Try eight of:</p>
<p>Chicago
Amherst
Duke
Rice
Hopkins
Tufts
Michigan
Williams (or other LAC)
Barnard</p>
<p>Thank you rhg3rd! I will consider picking 8 out of these.
My reason for eliminating Williams is that it does not offer my minors, not the location.
Barnard I like because it has all the courses I want, plus its location AND the opportunity to participate in activities offered by Columbia.</p>
<p>Since you want a university type feel with a liberal art college experience, I’d recommend Pomona College as your LAC. It’s academically distinguished (considered on equal standings with the top LACs and the mid Ivy Leagues), is EXCEPTIONAL in the majors you state, and it’s in arguably the best location of any college in the country save the other 4 colleges in the consortium (45 minutes from Los Angeles made much more accessible with a train station a block away from campus, and in the beautiful, safe city of Claremont)</p>
<p>Pomona’s consortium has 4 other incredible liberal art colleges that are walking distance (10 minutes) with one another. You can cross enroll at any of their classes(2500+), eat at their dining halls, and attend whatever events they throw, but at the same time, you get an intense liberal arts education that is nurturing and tight-knit. Best of both worlds, far more so than Amherst, in which it’s resoundingly the crown jewel of its system and the schools aren’t as accessible. (each of the Claremont Colleges have distinctive strengths). Pomona itself is an extremely balanced and diverse school. It has the greatest endowment per student of any of the liberal art colleges, one of the best financial aid policies in the country, incredible facilities, and a laidback yet academically serious vibe that is unique among other top LACs. It is a tad bit selective though…</p>
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<p>Indeed. Williams is much closer to the metropolis of Albany, NY. </p>
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<p>Yes, on Middlebury’s application, there is a question: “Do you want to live as far away from civilization as possible?” If you check yes, you are given a tip in admissions. </p>
<p>And it’s a shame that Middlebury is located so close to some of the best skiing and mountain biking trails in the east.</p>
<p>Someone suggested dropping BC because he thought the OP would get into Tufts, but I think that is a bad idea. Tufts acceptance rate last year was 21% and the OP’s stats are typical of the majority of applicants. If OP likes proximity to Boston, keep both on the list to increase the odds.</p>
<p>I would add Northeastern over Boston University. Otherwise, your list looks pretty good.</p>
<p>rhg3rd, you really need to stop harping on this idea of yours that women’s colleges are “depressing.” I can assure you that they are not. </p>
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<p>So what prevents you from simply taking poli sci courses, which accomplishes exactly the same end? Nothing. I think you need to get over the idea that saying you are “minoring” in something has any particular utility or meaning.</p>