help narrowing down my list?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So my parents want me to apply to 10 schools or less, but right now I have 14-16 (depending on how you look at it since I don't really like either of the publics but I'm feeling like I should apply to them...) schools on my list and I'm having trouble eliminating them. Could you guys try to give me some feedback about any schools that i should take off or just a method to use? </p>

<p>My basic stats:
-4.36 GPA
-2350 SAT, 800 US Hist, 800 Math 1
-president of Gay Straight Alliance, urgent actions coordinator for Amnesty International, and involved in a few other clubs</p>

<p>What's important to me in a school:
-strong Middle Eastern Studies program and strong International Relations program
-good study abroad options (preferably open to outside sources since I have fairly specific hopes for where I want to be)
-ideally near a city (DC is #1, NY #2, and any city is a plus)
-I'd like a school to have a slightly quirky vibe, not too preppy or conventional </p>

<p>My Schools:<a href="reaches,%20then%20matches,%20then%20safeties,%20and%20I%20do%20realize%20that%20it's%20unfortunately%20top%20heavy%20but%20I%20don't%20really%20know%20what%20to%20do%20about%20that">I</a>*</p>

<p>Swarthmore <a href="my%20top%20choice,%20I'm%20completely%20in%20love%20with%20it,%20though%20I%20wish%20it%20were%20more%20politically%20diverse">I</a>*
Pomona *<a href="seems%20great,%20amazing%20weather,%20good%20opportunities%20with%20Claremont%20colleges%20consortium,%20better%20chance%20of%20getting%20in%20b/c%20my%20grandmother%20went%20there,%20though%20LA%20isn't%20my%20ideal%20city">I</a>
**Claremont McKenna <a href="much%20the%20same%20as%20Pomona,%20no%20legacy%20but%20a%20little%20more%20specific%20to%20what%20I%20want,%20namely%20Politics">I</a>*
Georgetown <a href="I%20don't%20really%20dig%20the%20Jesuit%20vibe,%20but%20it%20has%20political%20diversity%20and%20has%20a%20strong%20program%20in%20the%20perfect%20location%5B/I%5D%0A%5BB%5DMiddlebury%5B/B%5D%20%5BI%5D(super%20cute%20campus,%20great%20language%20program,%20easier%20chance%20b/c%20legacy,%20yet%20not%20near%20a%20city,%20a%20major%20minus%20since%20I'm%20hoping%20for%20internships)%5B/I%5D%0A%5BB%5DJohns%20Hopkins%5B/B%5D%20%5BI%5D(good%20IR%20program%20and%20great%20proximity%20to%20DC,%20not%20sure%20how%20many%20options%20they%20have%20for%20middle%20eastern%20studies%20though)%5B/I%5D%0A%5BB%5DU%20Chicago%5B/B%5D%20%5BI%5D(the%20vibe%20seems%20cool,%20would%20be%20an%20interesting%20location,%20but%20I'm%20not%20%5BU%5Dwild%20about%20the%20super%20extensive%20core%20curriculum)%5B/U%5D%5B/I%5D%0A%5BB%5DTufts%5B/B%5D%20%5BI%5D(great%20IR%20program,%20has%20all%20the%20things%20I'm%20looking%20for,%20would%20be%20perfect%20but%20I'd%20really%20rather%20not%20stay%20in%20Massachusetts%20so%20that's%20counting%20against%20it%20a%20lot)%5B/I%5D%0A%5BB%5DGeorge%20Washington%5B/B%5D%20%5BI%5D(didn't%20expect%20to%20like%20this%20school%20but%20was%20really%20impressed,%20only%20concern%20is%20the%20price%20and%20rep%20for%20bad%20financial%20aid)%5B/I%5D%0A%5BB%5DNYU%5B/B%5D%20%5BI%5D(would%20love%20to%20be%20in%20NYC,%20has%20good%20programs,%20but%20like%20GW%20with%20bad%20financial%20aid,%20plus%20might%20have%20some%20trouble%20studying%20abroad%20in%20something%20other%20than%20their%20programs-%20I%20want%20to%20go%20to%20the%20Middle%20East%20but%20not%20in%20the%20UAE%20and%20not%20%5BU%5Dsurrounded%20by%20Americans)%5B/I%5D%5B/U%5D%0A%5BB%5DAmerican%5B/B%5D%20%5BI%5D(love%20this%20school,%20my%20#2,%20perfect%20location,%20great%20program,%20just%20concerned%20about%20their%20rep%20for%20taking%20away%20your%20financial%20aid%20junior%20year,%20also%20don't%20know%20if%20I%20can%20expect%20any%20merit%20aid)%5B/I%5D%0A%5BB%5DBard%5B/B%5D%20%5BI%5D(super%20cute%20school,%20seems%20to%20have%20a%20lot%20of%20options,%20arguably%20the%20best%20school%20for%20study%20abroad%20b/c%20it%20has%20a%20partnership%20in%20Palestine%20which%20is%20exactly%20what%20I'm%20looking%20for,%20plus%20a%20summer%20'Palestinian%20Youth%20Initiative'%20which%20sounds%20amazing-%20drawbacks%20are%20the%20lack%20of%20proximity%20to%20a%20city%20for%20internships%20and%20ambiguity%20over%20what%20aid%20I%20might%20recieve">I</a>*
Dickinson <a href="fine%20school,%20seems%20to%20have%20a%20good%20middle%20eastern%20studies%20program,%20mainly%20considering%20it%20and%20all%20the%20following%20for%20financial%20reasons,%20though%20I%20do%20like%20their%20commitment%20to%20study%20abroad">I</a>*
Gettysburg <a href="once%20again%20for%20financial%20reasons,%20I%20like%20the%20history%20but%20have%20heard%20it's%20very%20preppy%20and%20greek%20which%20I%20don't%20like,%20but%20they%20could%20end%20up%20giving%20me%20the%20most%20money">I</a>*
U Maryland College Park <a href="didn't%20love%20this%20school%20when%20I%20visited%20since%20I%20want%20something%20more%20intellectual,%20but%20it's%20a%20cheaper%20school%20basically%20in%20DC%20so%20I%20think%20it's%20a%20good%20option">I</a>*
UMass Amherst <a href="complete%20financial%20safety,%20it%20has%20basically%20everything%20I'm%20looking%20for%20but%20when%20it%20comes%20down%20to%20it%20I%20just%20don't%20want%20to%20go%20here-%20so%20many%20people%20from%20my%20school%20go%20and%20I%20feel%20like%20it%20would%20just%20be%20a%20disappointment.%20I'm%20visiting%20soon%20to%20give%20it%20a%20fair%20chance%20though">I</a>*</p>

<p>Thanks to anyone who had the patience to read through all that, and I'd really appreciate hearing any thoughts that you have about what I could do.
Thank you so much for your help!! :)</p>

2

<p>Well the one advice I would give you is to go with your gut feeling. If you just don’t feel it for a school, then don’t apply there. You will be right more times than you are wrong. Especially when it counts. That said, you have at least six reaches now (in a final list of 10?), so I would take off one or two and add more matches.
Regarding NYU, I heard that since it’s in NYC (great location, I know), the feeling that you get is not that of a typical college: students are quite independent and there is basically zero school spirit. Also, it is very career oriented. Obviously it depends on what kind of schools you like, but this coldness just gives me the chills. (Haha)
I would suggest not to apply to schools that are too similar, because it’s kinda like to applied to the same school twice? Which takes off one spot on your list for a school that you might like more. </p>

<p>Even though you do have pretty high scores and good ECs, admission in a lot of your chosen schools is everything but guaranteed; therefore, I’d say pick 4 reaches, 4 matches, and 2 safeties. (Or 5 reaches and 3 matches, but never less than two safeties).
Hope it helped! I’m applying to some of the schools you are applying too, so feel free to PM me! (I’m interested in IR too!)</p>

3

<p>I can speak to two schools on your list. Bard probably is a great fit for the reasons you state (George Soros just gave the school $60 million for international outreach programs.) I am not sure what leads you to feel the aid situation is ambiguous but my understanding is that aid is good for top students. There is a semester in NYC option and in general a strong tie with the city, which is a direct train connection away. So definately in the country, but not without an urban link. Definately very intellectual and thoughtful/provacative vibe.</p>

<p>NYU also is a great option. I do not see it as career oriented as another poster said. It is a full-on university with all the diversity of interests and appraoches that implies. Also, NYU students don’t feel there is no spirit or campus. It doesn’t have the same feel as other schools, true, but there’s no question you are at NYU.</p>

4

<p>UMass Amherst (complete financial safety, it has basically everything I’m looking for but when it comes down to it I just don’t want to go here- so many people from my school go and I feel like it would just be a disappointment. I’m visiting soon to give it a fair chance though)</p>

<p>Then this can’t be your financial safety. You need to LIKE your financial safety and be happy to go there. Find another financial safety that you LIKE.</p>

5

<p>I wouldn’t drop any of your reaches, except maybe Chicago. You don’t have too many reaches. I don’t think a student with your stats needs to apply to both GW and American.</p>

<p>But let me add, if you are really concerned about financial aid, why would you want to eliminate any of these schools, unless you really don’t want to go there under any circumstances? Tell your parents that 14 schools is not that many for somebody who is both looking at top reaches and comparing aid offers.</p>

6

<p>Ordinarily I’d say drop NYU since you seem to need FA but with your stats… What is your EFC? Will you actually get much aid from the schools that don’t offer merit?</p>

7

<p>I think that you have too many safety schools, given your great stats. I would eliminate either one or two of GWU, AU, and UMCP. These are all very different schools and you should figure out which one of these works best for you if you don’t get into Georgetown. (Have you visited them and met with their IR faculty?) Frankly, I think that AU is a mediocre school compared to GU and GW, but that’s just my personal observation from my 18 years living in DC. Londondad</p>

8

<p>@Erin’s dad: I’m not sure about that, apparently we have basically enough saved for the first year and nothing more so we might not be able to tell what kind of aid we could expect after that (I think we’re hoping for an EFC of 25K). That’s why I’m trying to find a lot of schools I like that offer merit aid.</p>

<p>@londondad: Thanks, but they all appeal to me in different ways; I agree that GW is better, but I love American too and they’re more likely to give me merit aid. And UMD-CP was off my list for a while but then I found out that they offer Levantine Arabic (most colleges only teach Modern Standard which is a good starting place but I want to be fluent in Levantine) which is just incredibly cool, so now they’re back on (also because DC is by far my preferred location so I want to apply to as many schools in the area as I can). I guess the thing that makes this so hard is that I basically have unique reasons for liking all of them :(</p>

<p>Thanks for your opinions so far everybody! Right now I’m leaning towards dropping Johns Hopkins since it doesn’t seem to offer a lot of classes in Middle Eastern Studies and because it would be nice to take a reach off the list, and I’m thinking of dropping Dickinson and Gettysburg because I’m pretty confident that I’m applying to UMD which is already a financial safety, so now I only have 13 that I have to make 10! So thanks for everything so far, but please keep commenting, this is really helpful! :)</p>

9

<p>What about Columbia?</p>

10

<p>Thanks for the suggestion, but I’m not looking to add any more schools to my list, especially because my chances of getting into Columbia are next to nothing.</p>

11

<p>Sorry about adding another option but how about NYU-Abu Dhabi (rather than NYU-NYC)?</p>

12

<p>The OP said that he/she didn’t want to study in the UAE and be “surrounded by Americans”. Though, if you go to any of the other colleges like Swarthmore etc you’d be surrounded by Americans too!! May I say, though, that only 1/3 of the students at NYUAD are from the USA; at HYPSM etc in the USA, the comparable figure is 9/10. So if you do want to study Middle Eastern Studies, Abu Dhabi (which I beg you not to get mixed up with Dubai) is an extremely logical place to apply to! Not to mention need-blind application and heaps of aid to give out. However in saying that, you seem to dislike intensive Core programmes (UChicago) and the NYUAD one is pretty intensive, so you may not like studying at NYUAD anyway.</p>

13

<p>I would be considering NYU-AD, the main problem is just that my parents won’t allow it- they want me to spend at least a year in the US before going abroad, which I understand. And I realize that many programs are primarily American, the thing is I’ve contacted a lot of the colleges on the list and most seem more flexible than NYU and at most of these schools I feel like they would help me find a program where I could get more immersion, so one of my doubts about NYU is there seems to be a lot of pressure to study abroad in either Tel Aviv of Abu Dhabi (their only 2 M.E. options), both of which have you rooming with other NYU students, which I don’t really like the idea of (for example, Swarthmore offers study abroad at Haifa, where they purposefully house you with Israeli students. that’s more what I’m looking for).</p>

14

<p>UChicago definitely has the “quirky vibe” you want, but it’s not as geared toward Intnl Studies as some of these other schools - it’s also hella expensive and has that core. The core might not be as bad as you think - it’s mostly Civilization, Humanities, and Math/Science.<br>
Don’t pick a school for its “cute campus.” You’ll like the campus if you like the program, people, etc.<br>
I think it’d be a good idea for you to decide whether or not you want a liberal arts school. You have plenty of both liberal arts schools and non-liberal arts schools. And I’d definitely apply to UMass Amherst as backup.</p>

15

<p>@srcphoenix: Regarding UChicago, it actually is a great school for international relations. The political science department’s two strengths are IR and theory. Additionally, UChicago’s Committee on International Relations (CIR) is considered to be the first department studying IR in the country. I can’t comment on the core curriculum, since I’m a graduate student at UChicago and have no experience with it, but with regards to financial aid, I know that Chicago gives a ton of merit based aid, and many expensive private schools do the same. It’s often a flawed strategy to not apply to schools because of high tuition, since often those are the schools that give the most in aid. That being said, any of the schools listed would be great choices, but I wouldn’t write off Chicago because of misperceptions about it not being strong for IR or being too expensive. Just my two cents.</p>

16

<p>@pheonix: don’t worry, i’m not picking anything for its campus- my favorite thing about bard is its connection with palestine, the adorable campus is just a plus. and at the beginning of my search i thought i was just interested in lacs, but i’ve realized that there are a lot of schools that i could see working for me. i love the vibe of lacs but i like the resources of slightly larger schools, so i’d like to apply to both kinds since they have different things to offer. </p>

<p>and yeah one of the main decisions i’m struggling to make right now is whether or not to apply to umass amherst, since i’ve really done my research and there’s no better option for a complete financial safety, but the idea of going there just makes me sad…</p>

17

<p>anyone else have suggestions?</p>

18

<p>Ok I’ve decided tentatively on my top 9:
-GW
-American
-Swarthmore
-Georgetown
-UMD-CP
-CMC
-Pomona
-Bard
-NYU</p>

<p>which leaves me with 1 slot open, and I have to decide between:
-tufts
-u chicago
-middlebury
-umass</p>

<p>Thoughts?</p>

19

<p>Can you actually do away with UMass since you need FA? That seems to be your one financial safety. I have no doubt you’ll get into American but you may not get the merit aid you need.</p>

20

<p>Go with either Tufts or Chicago. Do some more research on their IR programs and pick the one that is the best fit for your specific IR interests. Drop Umass as you seem like you will be unhappy there.</p>