Hi! I’m a rising senior and I’m trying to narrow down my college list. I currently have 5 reach schools, but I’d like to narrow this down to no more than 4, and preferably 3. I was wondering if any of you could provide me with insight on any clear differences between these schools that I should consider, what type of student would best fit at each school, and/or potential questions that can help me narrow down my reaches. Thanks!
The reach schools I’m considering are:
Harvard
MIT
Brown
Swarthmore
Tufts
Some info:
I have visited all of them except Swarthmore, which I plan to visit in late September, and I liked all of them. I plan to study biology (not premed though), and I would like to attend a school with research opportunities available as early as freshman year. Extracurricularly, I really like to dance (contemporary mainly). I do not care much for sports or partying, as I’m more of the quiet type. I have made sure that all of these schools are affordable.
As far as dance opportunities in the Boston-Cambridge area, Harvard Dance Center is very strong (lots of contemporary dance opportunities) and the Tufts dance program is decent. I work for a major performing arts organization, and haven’t heard anything about the other 3 for dance. Tufts students are much more into performing arts than sports since it’s a Div. III School. MIT has had a reputation of being a party school with a stressful environment (several suicides last year, and alcohol related deaths in the fraternities.)
Many Bostonians feel that Harvard is better for graduate research; their undergraduate curriculum has been undergoing a lot of changes lately and they have a lot of TA’s. If you want early research opportunities, look for a school that excels in undergraduate education, such as Brown and Tufts (I know nothing about Swarthmore, they may be excellent too.)
I’d keep Swarthmore on the short list unless you have several other LACs on your list already. It’s good to have at least one small school in case you decide that’s the right route for you, and you can’t do better than Swat for a rigorous education in the sciences.
As for the others, they’re all fantastic options, and Harvard’s undergrad education is too often unfairly criticized. It’s excellent for biology at any level, and it has produced noticeably more NSF fellows in the last decade than any college except MIT. Any research university is going to have a fair number of TAs in the sciences – leading discussion sections, running labs, etc. Undergraduates working in labs are also often under the supervision of graduate students, at least as underclassmen.
It would help if you could outline what you’re looking for in a college. For example, would you prefer the tech-focused MIT, or would you prefer a college with a wide range of offerings like Brown or Harvard? Would you prefer an open curriculum like Brown’s or distribution requirements as at Tufts?
You should also note that not all biology programs are strong in every area. MIT focuses on molecular and cellular biology, for example, with negligible offerings in ecology and organismal biology. (Although it’s arguably #1 or #2 for marine biology at the graduate level.)
@PiccoloMom1995 Thank you f the insight regarding Harvard and Tuft’s dance programs. I’ll keep that in mind. As for MIT’s reputation, I’ve heard of that as well but have also read things that counter it. Do you have any sources that indicate the truthfulness of it? And for Harvard’s TAs, do you know how prevalent they are and if they teach instead of the professor or if they lead smaller sections while the professor still teaches the whole class? Because I would be fine with the latter I think.
@warblersrule I don’t have a set list yet because I’m still cutting down on potential target/safety schools by myself, but I’ll keep that in mind if I do end up without many LACs on my list.
I am not sure which I would prefer. I think a wide range of offerings sounds better, but at the same time I am definitely more likely to take science courses over humanities ones if I have to choose. (My high school has a range of offerings but about two thirds of my chosen electives are/were science ones.) As for distribution requirements, I am okay with them as long as they’re not too strict. (I think I’d be fine if I can chose >1/2 of my courses by myself)
I am interested in studying molecular and cellular biology, not ecology and organismal biology, so that sounds fine for me.
^^^Agreed. I’d suggest that when you cut down consider what type of school you think is the best fit. You have a STEM oriented university, a LAC, a mid-size university, schools in cities and suburbs, and schools with some pretty different cultures on your list. Also check to see which schools offer dance programs you like or have something available nearby.
@intparent Tufts is considered a reach for me because of its low admissions rate (and the same with all the other schools). Score-wise, I’m at/above the 75th percentile for all these schools, but I realize that they have unpredictable holistic admissions. According to my school’s Naviance records, I’m above the average accepted student’s stats at Tufts, Swarthmore, and Brown, but below Harvard/MIT’s.
@happy1 Okay, I understand that, but I’m having a bit of trouble with the cutting-down-based-on-fit part. I hope my visit to Swarthmore later this month will help me decide if I’ll like being at a LAC. As for the STEM oriented part, I think I’m a pretty STEM oriented person myself so I think I’ll be okay with that. I would slightly prefer being in a city over being in a suburb, but it is not especially important for me in my college choices. All of these schools have some type of dance program/organization that I like. Some are better than others, but academics are more important to me than dance as I will not be pursuing a dance career and it is just something that I really enjoy doing extracurricularly/in my free time. Would you be able to elaborate on the different cultures part of your comment?
If you have Naviance, you can estimate your chances of admissions. If you pick a reasonable circle around your dot, count the number of green dots divided by the total number dots. If it’s more than 40%, it’s a match not a reach. I suspect Tufts is a match but you would know best. The others probably reaches.
Since you asked about what type of student would best fit at each school, Harvard and MIT students clearly suffer from high stress levels. I know someone whose job at Harvard is to help failing students and consider what alternatives they need to stay at Harvard or transfer options (she said it happens more than you think.) I know of two students from private schools (one was valedictorian) who both withdrew from Harvard for a semester or a year in the last two years due to the stress. Some students thrive on constant competition, others do not. If your stats place you in the bottom half of the class, you may want to consider whether you can distinguish yourself from the pack for graduate school.
I lived next door to an MIT fraternity which was notorious for luring freshmen to drinking parties, and the administration didn’t do anything about it until a student pledge died. Boston Globe reported last year that MIT is putting more resources into helping their students with counseling to stem the tide of recent suicides this past year.
There are many student review forums and college books which provide insight as to whether a school is a party school (every college has partying to some degree.) Swarthmore may have an exchange program with Bryn Mawr, etc. which may increase your dance and biology options. Connecticut College has a strong contemporary dance program (one of the best in the NE) so it may be worth checking if any of their faculty teach near Brown.