Help Narrowing Down Choices

<p>As far as the Jesuit schools go, Fordham and Santa Clara are the to I am most interested in. Although, I took a quick look at both John Carrol and Scranton, and, between the two, I think John Carrol appeals to me more. </p>

<p>Aside from the Jesuit schools, do you have any particular persuasions about the public universities I am looking at? I have removed the UC’s from consideration as they don’t accept Sophomore transfers, but I have added Purdue, UDelaware, and UConnecticut to my list. </p>

<p>For state schools, for cost purposes, it is usually best to go to the one in your state unless it is not very good. Out-of-state tuition at the best schools, like Michigan, is often nearly equal to the cost of tuition at private colleges. Plus, state schools are often not generous with financial aid to out of state students.</p>

<p>Among the state universities which you have mentioned, I recommend (in no particular order):</p>

<p>U.Washington
U.Wisconsin-Madison
U.Illinois-Urbana
U.Texas-Austin
U.Florida
U.Georgia
Purdue</p>

<p>Personally, I know quite a bit about the University of Washington, because I lived in Seattle for more than ten years. Seems to me that it is a little underrated and overlooked. Also, Seattle is a marvelous city to go to college in. The U.Washington campus is very nice (and compact), and is a short bus ride to downtown Seattle.</p>

<p>Other Jesuit schools you might explore are Marquette University in Milwaukee, and Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. </p>

<p>Also, Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska might have a really great biology department because they have a medical school, as well as nursing, dentistry, and pharmacy programs. Yes, it is Jesuit.</p>

<p>If you get serious about U.Washington and happen to like Seattle, then look at Seattle University (yep, Jesuit). If you visit Seattle, perhaps consider driving over to Spokane too and look at another Jesuit school, Gonzaga University.</p>

<p>In re-reading your previous posts, I see that studying religion is the main reason that you are not so interested in U.Georgia. Actually, this is normal for most state universities. Theology is somewhat thorny at most state universities (perhaps because of the issue of church/state separation). Generally, at state schools, religion is more likely to be studied from a sociological and historical standpoint, rather than theologically. So, it depends on what you are looking for in that regard.</p>

<p>I’m glad you have some personal experience with U. Washington as it is of particular interest to me, I am going to try and schedule a visit out there at some point. I was actually considering Seattle University for a while. I’m not sure why I decided against looking into it further, but I know I preferred it to Gonzaga. </p>

<p>You are correct in that state schools largely do not have “theology” as a separate sort of thing. From what I’ve seen, they will have courses on various aspects of different religious traditions’ theologies, but not a separate plan of study. At the moment, I am more interested in the historical, literary, linguistic, and anthropological aspects of religion, which is why not having theology separately isn’t too big of a deal. But, theology is always tied into it. State schools like U. Washington, UIUC, and UT Austin, for example, all have quite robust, potent departments for religion. </p>

<p>Is there any particular reason why you like those state universities over the others? </p>

<p>I really do appreciate all of your help. I am very grateful for it. </p>

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<p>Actually, it is not a matter of liking. What I did was eliminate the state schools that I knew almost nothing about (U.Delaware, U.Vermont, etc…) or that have reputations for being less than strong (ummm… not going to insult anybody here). By the way, I am not sure whether Purdue has a strong religion program or not. It is known for its engineering and technology offerings.</p>

<p>I think you are on a good track with UW, UIUC, and UT-Austin. All are strong in many areas. Texas is an enormous university, though; tons of students and most are Texans – less than 10% are out of state. See this article:
<a href=“http://www.dailytexanonline.com/opinion/2013/02/20/top-ten-shuts-out-out-of-state-students”>http://www.dailytexanonline.com/opinion/2013/02/20/top-ten-shuts-out-out-of-state-students&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>So, getting into UT could be problematic. I recommend also determining what percentage of out of state students are at UW and UIUC. Some states are less inviting to out of staters than others.</p>

<p>By the way, I hear the University of Minnesota has among the lowest tuition rates for out of state students, and also that it is underrated. Might be almost as good as UIUC.</p>

<p>It sounds to me like the religion departments are key to your decision. That is really out of my league. Almost all flagship state universities are going to have strong undergradate biology departments; unless you are looking for some special sub-discipline.</p>

<p>Purdue’s religion department appears to be pretty solid, so that’s always nice. </p>

<p>Yes, I am aware of the admissions thing with UT Austin, especially for transfers, but I figured I would still apply. </p>

<p>When you say U. Minnesota is almost as good as UIUC, what do you mean?</p>

<p>I said that U.Minnesota “might” be almost as good as UIUC. Partly because the state of Minnesota is heavily Lutheran; which I daresay is among the most intellectual of denominations. Also, UIUC is heavily dependent on its engineering reputation. So, I was speculating (guessing, really) that maybe Minnesota might have an excellent religion department. In general, I think U.Minnesota is somewhat analogous to U.Washington. In other words, excellent but underrated and overlooked. Minnesota seems to be overshadowed by other BIG-10 schools like Michigan, Ohio State, and U.Wisconsin. Also, like U.Washington, U.Minnesota rarely makes a splash on the sports pages.</p>

<p>If you take a look at various rankings (like the dubious, but influential, US News) you will see that UIUC seems to have a consistent edge over Minnesota, but it is not a yawning gap. Still, the religion department is what matters, not overall quality. I think U.Minnesota is worth a look.</p>

<p>I will definitely look into U. Minnesota a bit more. From what I saw the first time, their department appeared to be pretty good. Have you heard anything about Marlboro College? </p>

<p>I do appreciate all you help, and I thank you for it. </p>

<p>Yes, I have heard of Marlboro College. Some good things, and some not so much. I hear that it is very demanding and is extremely small (something like 250 students). You design your own major, for the most part. Marlboro has something they call a “clear writing” requirement, which sounds excellent.</p>

<p>The notable negative thing that I have heard is that the social life is rather chaotic, with very few rules, and things can occasionally get unruly. The students actually help set policies at Marlboro. Sort of like what other colleges call “Living and Learning Communities” – but on steroids!</p>

<p>In sum, Marlboro is unlike any other college in America. Totally unique. Not easy. If you want to learn more, I can recommend reading about it in a book called “Colleges That Change Lives” by Loren Pope. That’s where I first heard about Marlboro College.</p>

<p>Why add Purdue? We live in Indiana, and Purdue is the STEM public, not known for its liberal arts and humanities departments at all. If you are thinking Indiana, then IU Bloomington is the school to consider. </p>

<p>Indeed. I have heard the same things about Marlboro you have heard. The ability to design your own major around a particular discipline and the access to professors is really quite appealing as I do my best learning through small discussions. The chaotic social life is something I can roll with. It doesn’t seem to be a terribly huge deal, not from some of the things I’ve read. And, I kind of like students being involved in the policies for the school. I suppose that is a school for which a visit is almost compulsory in order to determine whether it would be a suitable place to transfer to. It seems to be at least somewhat similar to Reed and St. John’s in Annapolis. </p>

<p>I looked at IU Bloomington, but I’m more seriously considering Purdue as their religion department is a bit more diverse than IU’s. But, I will likely not end up applying to Purdue. It was just something to consider. </p>

<p>I agree that there are many similarities between Reed College, Marlboro, and SJ-Annapolis. I am a big fan of all three of those colleges.</p>

<p>For what you want, I would think that Reed or Marlboro would be a better choice than SJ.</p>

<p>I’m happy those schools appeal to you. Well, I suppose it would be more correct to say I am happy you’ve heard of them, particularly Marlboro. Between the 3, Marlboro is most attractive to me, and, because of this, I will likely forgo applying to Reed and SJ. I do thank you for your input. I greatly appreciate it. </p>

<p>I can see forgoing SJ, given your interests. Yet, are you certain that you want to forgo even applying to Reed? It gives you one more excellent option.</p>

<p>How about those other schools that you originally listed. Are you applying to any of those?</p>

<p>Well, I haven’t decided what I’d like to do about Reed. I may apply just to have, as you said, another excellent option. </p>

<p>I will still apply to a handful of the other schools I had listed, but I’m still looking at which ones I would like to remove from the deliberation. The only one I am certain about removing, aside from the schools I have already removed from the list, is UT Austin. It is certainly an excellent school, and Austin is a wonderful city; however, due to their admissions preference for those who went to high school in Texas, it is quite unlikely I would be accepted as a transfer. And, UWashington and UIUC seem to be largely equivalent. </p>