Help narrowing down colleges based on interests

Transfer Students
1

I am presently unhappy at my current college T-15 LAC. However, I am having a difficult time narrowing down colleges that would appeal as transfer schools and be target schools w/ my stats. I’m asking for help narrowing down this list; I know the schools are broad in culture, but that’s what I’m asking for help sussing out (where I would fit in based on my interests).

My stats:

College GPA: 3.7
HS GPA: 3.98 (unweighted); 4.7 (weighted)
ACT: 35

College ECs: leadership in two groups, membership in a third

HS ECs/Awards: Basketball, student body VP, salutatorian, etc.

Reasons for transfer:

  • Seeking a stronger philosophy program w/ more depth in classes and ability to explore both analytic and continental philosophies. Most depts in U.S. are strongly analytic, but some schools offer 1-2 courses in continental too (Nietszche, Kierkegaard, etc.).
  • College with a greater spectrum of political diversity. Left leaning is acceptable. Left consumed without discourse would need to be outweighed by a lot of other positives for me to accept it.
  • For smaller colleges I would prefer if there was not an extremely strong divide between the athletes and non-athletes.
  • Closer to a mid-large sized city than current. Most of my list fits this bill.
  • Broader selection of language courses.
  • Either a strong core curriculum of great writers/classics or the opportunity to take these classes.
  • Love schools w/ intellectual vibe, but also the ability to have fun and party.
  • Wouldn't hurt to be closer to family and or home.

Note: I can try and flush these reasons out if there are any questions.

List (and basic reasons for this college’s inclusion on list currently):

Top choices:
Notre Dame, Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore, UChicago

Reasons:
ND - Very strong philosophy program. Due to religious tilt of school there is a continental component. Much larger political spectrum, I expect. Mid-sized city and much larger college. Ability to apply for Program of Liberal Studies which would be the core of reading seminars I’d enjoy.

Brown - Strong philosophy, have read over the papers of some of the profs and very impressed and intrigued. Great study abroad. Great access to language courses. Loved this campus when I toured. Closer to home. Ability to create my own “core” via lack of a core. House system seems neat.

Penn - Interested in the PPE major. Would be able to take a class at Swat if I wanted a smaller setting. I’m interested in creative writing and the writing house on campus would be a great addition. Larger city. Political spectrum increase. LOTS OF LANGUAGE OPTIONS. Would be close to cousins on mom’s side.

Swarthmore - Strong philosophy, produces lots of PHDs. Would be able to take classes at Penn if wanted. Beautiful campus — idyllic. Would be close to cousins on mom’s side. Similar reasons to Penn minus political spectrum. Near large city. A good friend attends Penn so that’s a plus for both schools.

UChicago - Seems similar to Swat in intellectual vibe. Strong core and so on. Strong philosophy program. Negative is the articles I saw discussing treatment of transfer students, but this might be outweighed due to other bonuses. I love Chicago and would have the ability to live in an apartment rented from family friends if I went to UChicago.

Second choices (going to shorten explanations a bit):
Cornell, UMichigan, Columbia, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Amherst
Reasons:
Cornell - Strong Phil w/ continental component, beautiful campus, near grandmother

UMichigan - Bigger, PPE, parties, broad political spectrum, DI atheltics

Vanderbilt - Idyllic campus, strong philosophy and writing programs, broad politically

JHU - decent phil, has a ton of money due to recent donations so I expect it will be getting even stronger. Negative is the area surrounding JHU.

Amherst - somewhat close to a city. campus similar to current school, but closer to family and stronger phil.

Third choices: UVA, Boston College, William and Mary, Middlebury, Williams
Reasons:
UVA - Close to grandparents on other side, major similar to PPE, one of the greatest political spectrums on my list

Boston College - Good phil, good core of reading possibilities

W&M - Strong phil, strong english, decent language offerings

Middlebury and Williams - Both similar to current school, both stronger phil, Midd strong in languages, both within 30 minutes-1 hour of uncles house.

Shot in the dark schools: Harvard, Princeton

Just looking for help narrowing this down based on my interests. Willing to answer any questions. Grateful for any help; I’m trying to find a school that will allow me to flourish in my interests.

2

As an addendum: The reason for this thread is that I need help figuring out where I fit. I had a strong application senior year of high school and opted to EDII to a school that seemed like a great fit. I was maybe wrong in that so I want to improve my decision process second time around.

3

Those are all strong schools with various offerings. As a William & Mary grad, I can vouch for W&M’s philosophy and English programs. I was a history major, but took philosophy and English electives. Really enjoyed my Philosophy of Law course. Two of my friends were philosophy majors and one is completing his PhD at UC Berkeley (he double-majored in Philosophy and English). They were always arguing about the great philosophers’ views outside of class. Good luck with your search!

4

You have done a great job of pulling together a (long) list of places that fit your interests- but the ‘fit’ part is still out there.

Without knowing why your current school doesn’t ‘fit’ you (separate from interests), it’s hard for anybody to give you good advice about what will. Reading your posts, I am inferring that 1) where you are is more ‘hard-core’ liberal than you prefer, 2) is less sporty than you prefer, but mostly 3) you are homesick/lonely.

But: does a very structured place with a strong community ethos feel comfortable to you- or confining? does a very open place, with a ‘go your own way’ ethos feel liberating to you- or lonely? As for “intellectual vibe, but also the ability to have fun and party”- it matters what you consider having fun and partying. Seriously.

Now that you have spent a semester as part of a college community, and seen how you interact with it and the reality behind the college tour, have you visited/revisited any of these places? You should at least visit/revisit the ones that you are most interested in.

And re-check how you are weighing the metrics you are using: you say a “mid-large sized city than current” but still have Midd & Williams- 2 of the most famously isolated examples in that tier of school- on the list, b/c it’s within an hour’s drive of an uncle. To me, that needs more parsing.

tl;dr- most of the places on your list will do what you want academically, but you need to focus on how you will feel / fit. Academics are the raison d’être for going to college, but fitting into the community- as you have learned the hard way- is what gives it life.

5

@collegemom3717 Thank you for your input :slight_smile: . I agree completely with your first statement. I think I’ve managed to compile schools that will provide me with the appropriate course offerings, but not necessarily all of these will be environments that I enjoy. As for my reasons: I am not put off by hard-core liberalism, but am put off by hard-core anything that then silences other opinions. I myself am of a strong liberal tilt, but I’d rather have conversations with conservatives than shout at them. The college I am at now is actually too sporty per-se. There is a strong divide between athletes and non athletes: athlete-only parties and so on that are rather pervasive. Not terribly homesick, but assuming I would transfer it wouldn’t hurt to be closer to home to simplify my travel. Most of the colleges on my list would greatly simplify my travel home, minus Williams and Midd. You addressed those and I’m inclined to agree that a larger city might do me well fit-wise. To some extent I’m not sure about the structured versus “go your own way” ethos. If I would go to Brown (or a college that has a similar open curriculum), then I would end up to some extent recreating the “core” at Columbia or UChicago in a sense just by taking a variety of classes in literature/classics/history and so on. What I mean by intellectual and ability to party is along the lines of a school where kids can, over dinner, have intellectual discussions, but then let loose over the weekends. Perhaps the sweet spot is somewhere in between. A school where strong intellectual circles exist, but one that is also not devoid of parties (not necessarily blowout raves, but small-midsized parties). Another caveat to this is that although I’d like the option to attend drinking parties, I’d also prefer there to exist social events outside of drinking. My present college social scene seems to revolve around drinking (not much else to do on weekends). I am not going to be able to revisit prior to deadlines. I visited most of them the first time around. Any help is appreciated.

6

Very difficult to help you narrow down your list of 19 target schools without knowing your present school.

With so many target schools on your list, it seems as though you really do not know what you want other than to get away from your current school.

Swarthmore College is very liberal so you may not get the chance to hear alternative points of view as you desire.

To how many schools do you plan to apply ?

7

@Publisher I think I might have a decent idea of what I want, but perhaps am struggling as far as certainty in that idea goes. Not 19, but enough that I would have options; any recommendations on that front? how long a list I should end with?

8

Transfer admissions are unpredictable so apply to as many as you can.

Are you seeking financial aid or are you a full pay student ?

P.S. Now that I have more info., I need some time to think (translation = drink coffee) about your situation. Do you prefer that I respond in this thread without revealing private info. or via PM ?

9

In screening your potential choices, take note of those that seem receptive (or not) to transfer students. Williams, for example, recently accepted only 3.9% of its transfer applicants. Also, to avoid repeating your situation, consider evident aspects of schools under consideration in relation to your current college. If you have experienced an undesirable athlete/non-athlete divide at, hypothetically, Colby, then you would be likely to perceive this division at Middlebury as well.

10

Based on the nature of your interests, I think you would benefit from researching the academics of potential college choices from a wide perspective. Since Continental writers don’t appear to fall into a neat categorization, you will find that social thinkers of potential interest are covered across various departments. Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Heidegger may be extensively included in a philosophy course on existentialism, for example, while an even broader social theorist such as Foucault might be emphasized in a sociology course. Even Freud — who would be unlikely to be a major topic in a philosophy class — can be considered to be a Continental philosopher in a sense.

11

Swarthmore & Penn made your list. What about Haverford (&/or Bryn Mawr if you are a woman)? Those would also allow you to pop in to Penn for classes that aren’t available on campus.

What about not-Top-X institutions? A lot of what you describe about your desired environment would be found at any number of mid-sized to big-sized public Us. For your longer-range goals in philosophy, the department (&/or individual faculty members) may matter much more than the over-all name of the college/university.

12

Unclear as to whether OP wants to major in philosophy or economics.

13

These analyses can offer you relative context with respect to economics departments:

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.usecondept.html