<p>I have been accepted to couple of colleges which one should i pick? I have been accepted to Barnard, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC Davis, Swarthmore, Carleton, Uni of Rochester, Smith. I am from Bay Area, California and have been in the US for only four years. So which school do u recommend and why?
I think that I would major on Biology and maybe minor in Political Science.
Fin aid is not a problem , i get a lot of fin aid from the private colleges but for the UCs mostly I get some grant then loans.
I am from Iran, and during my HS years I did not have a great time even though I live in CA, so I was looking forward to a great experience where i could meet open-minded people, get involved in many activities, and get a good education. So any advise?
Thanks</p>
<p>Gosh, some of them are so different from each other! Have you visited any? You could get a good education at any of them in your subjects. And you will find open-minded people at all of them!</p>
<p>Do you like big? little? urban? rural? suburban? is the all-female thing a plus, minus, or indifferent? do you plan to study abroad at all during your four years? are you interested in languages? music? does weather make a difference? are you introverted? extroverted? what kind of people do you like to be around?</p>
<p>By the way, where in Iran are you from? I taught in Isfahan in 1972, one of the best experiences of my entire life, and I have since loved all things Iranian.</p>
<p>I have visited UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and UC Santa Cruz. I am ok with any kind of schools but I would prefer smaller classes. I have lived in all kinds of cities, weathers. I would like to be around liberal, more racially mixed people. I am from the northwest part of Iran, called Azerbaijan.
But also repuation is kind of important for my paretns.</p>
<p>OK, let's see if we can whittle down the list.</p>
<p>We have the huge state universities. I can't really see chosing any of them over Berkeley. So let's leave Berkeley on the list.</p>
<p>Honestly, I can't see the University or Rochester. It's a decent school, but viewed as a second tier school here in the northeast, more of a safety for some of the schools on your list. It's also located in a city with not much to offer and has absolutely brutal winter weather. So let's drop that.</p>
<p>Now we are down to four very different small liberal arts colleges and a giant state university. I'm not Iranian and I've not been in the country for just four years, but my guess is that you would probably benefit from a small, supportive, friendly community that will help you continue to integrate into this US culture and make some friends. Not to take anything away from two superb schools, but I can envision both the giant Berkeley and the New York City Barnard experiences as being potentially very isolating and lonely -- neither will be easy places to make friends. Just my opinion for what it's worth.</p>
<p>Now, we have three excellent small liberal arts colleges. All three would have excellent biology and political science departments. The quality of the education will not be an issue. I know those are two of the most popular majors at Swarthmore and without looking it up, I'm pretty sure they are at Smith and Carleton as well.</p>
<p>Swarthmore is the most selective of the tree (i.e. highest SAT scores, etc.) It is also the smallest of the three with just under 1500 students. Campus is spectacularly pretty in a very nice suburb of Philadelphia. There is a train station on campus -- 28 minutes to downtown, so you have easy access to a city. It will be the easiest to get to from California, with direct flights on Southwest into the Phila airport, just 15 minutes from campus. Weather is pretty mild with a fairly short winter. Very tight, friendly community. Very diverse in terms of race and ethnicity, one of the most diverse on the East Coast. You would be accepted instantly into a group of friends unless you go out of your way to avoid it. The school has a reputation for being academically focused with students who enjoy studying hard. It has less drinking than many schools -- you can find stuff to do and people to do it with, whether you drink or not. Students are often described as "geeks", meaning they like intellectual stuff more than fancy clothes or football games. Lots of sons and daugthers of college professors.</p>
<p>Carelton is a fairly similar type of school, slightly larger at about 2000 students, located in Minnesota, just outside of Minneapolis (although you would need a car to get into the city, most likely) I can't give you a lot of details, but I've heard nothing but good things about it. It has the least diversity of these colleges, but I believe the students would be friendly and welcoming. Very severe winters -- cold and a lot of snow. I'm sure that people who know it better might disagree, but if you don't mind studying pretty hard, I can't think of any really good reason to pick Carelton over Swarthmore, short of some preference for the location or specific program at the college.</p>
<p>Smith is the largest of the three (at just under 3000 students) and is an all-woman's college. Not as diverse racially or ethnically as Swarthmore, but more diverse in terms of income and more diverse in term of age, with a signficant number of older students. Three areas where it has more offerings than Swarthmore would be music, arts, and languages. It is located in central Massachusetts, an hour and half away from Boston. It is part of a group of colleges in surrounding towns that includes three excellent small liberal arts colleges, a somewhat flaky "experimental" school, and a very mediocre state university. The collection makes for a pretty energetic college community, which offsets the difficult access to a city. Air travel to Smith will be a pain in the butt compared to the other two -- either flying into Boston and taking a couple hour bus ride or flying into Hartford (connecting flights) and a shorter bus ride. Mini knows Smith better than I do, but, I think overall the students will be a little more vocally political with a more visible segment of the student body making "statements" in dress or politics than you will find at either Swarthmore or Carleton. But, I would expect it to be just as welcoming and friendly. Weather will be halfway in between Swarthmore and Carleton -- pretty consisent winter cold and snow from about the middle of December through the middle of March.</p>
<p>In short:</p>
<p>If you want a huge state university, go to Berkeley.
If you want to live in NYC, pick Barnard.</p>
<p>If you want an all-woman's college, pick Smith.</p>
<p>If you want a coed college, pick Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Beyond that pretty simplistic analysis, we'd have to start gettting into your specific interests or things you are looking for in a college.</p>
<p>wow interesteddad, I am impressed</p>
<p>I would pick swarthmore if you want a small campus and berkeley if you want a big one :)</p>
<p>I have such fond memories of Tabriz (best grapes I ever ate) and Rasht (such a dreamy place!) Interesteddad has it pretty much on target. </p>
<p>Berkeley is great if you want the largest breadth and depth of offerings, and want to put up with the bureaucracy and sheer bulk of a flagship state u.</p>
<p>Academics at Carleton, Smith, and Swarthmore are pretty much peas in a pod. Folks will tell you they are most intense at Swarthmore, and that's probably true, though not a lot of difference. Smith is well larger than the other two, and has more departments and offerings (again, I-D is correct, especially in languages and the arts, and multiplied by the Five-College offerings -- government majors at Smith who want to do international relations usually also do the Five College Certificate Program:
<a href="http://www.fivecolleges.edu/sites/international/%5B/url%5D">http://www.fivecolleges.edu/sites/international/</a>
Biology will be very fine at all three, and all three will gear you for med school if that is a goal.</p>
<p>Swarthmore is within easy reach of Philadelphia. Smith is in a very happening, very live town - within walking distance.</p>
<p>Do you require hallal food? Smith is opening a combined hallal-kosher kitchen for all meals next year. Don't know about the others.</p>
<p>Carleton is a very, very fine school - it's just too cold for me! Enjoy choosing - you have such great choices (and it would be great in the case of Swarthmore and Smith if you could visit - in the case of Swarthmore, the concern would be that you find it too small; in the case of Smith, that you really don't feel comfortable at a women's college.) Good luck!</p>
<p>It boiled down to between Carleton and Swarthmore for me, too. I eventually chose Swat after having visited - this did me a great deal of good for both schools. I'd recommend it if you have a chance!</p>
<p>Topper - what kind of things did you do at Swat when you visited?</p>
<p>Everyone keeps telling me that visits help (I have seen Swat campus, but without talking to students/profs), but my visits so far have revealed nothing spectactular about my schools. Lookin for anything that give that moment of instant clarity that solidifies a decision.</p>
<p>Sit on some classes; eat in the dining hall and talk to people...</p>
<p>do an overnight if you can. get a better sense of the community.</p>
<p>I stayed overnight - it was so informative, seriously. My host had about five or six things to do that night (ranging from a Model UN meeting to a two-hr discussion about diversity), and I followed her to every one of them. Just having a chance to sit down and connect with current students over dinner was what ultimately made my decision.</p>
<p>do an overnight at ROchester, see if you like it..it seems like the last line that you said, " I had a rough time in the last 4 years of hs, want to have fun in college..." struck a chord. I had the same thing, I mean, I enjoyed HS and all that , but I really wanted a school where I could work hard, yet play hard too, have fun, meet cooler people and work in a non-competitive and very happy atmosphere. Are you going premed? If you are UR is one of the better premed schools on that list, maybe sw. beats ur..nonetheless UR is good for bio/premed/research. Anyways, the people at UR are notoriously openminded and it's just a family atmosphere, it's big in a university setting, yet you have that same small atmosphere where you can truly get to know the people around you if you take the time. Definitely visit and see if it is for you. You will def. have to do work, and if you just stay on track you can def. succeed just as much, if not more than a lot of the rest of the schools (because of research and stuff), and yet you will have a lot of time for socializing and having just plain old fun with your family of friends.
Swarthmore when I looked at it, and talk to my friend there - he says that allll you doooooo is work work work work, there is a very academic mindset at the school, where the kids love to study, and enjoy working, i mean its a great vibe if you are into that, but very serious. And you know the rest of the school, Berkely is good academically(rigorous and hard) but bad premed school (reallly bad placement to med school).
I think UCSD + Barnard are two good schools that you may fit in pretty well also..I dunno to be honest it seems like i'm running around in circles, but one dad here knocked UR just based on saying it was just not prestigious (and i think it is considered as botttom of tier1 if i'm not mistaken), and i'm trying to get across that it is a great school where you will fit in with beautiful people and get your bio/premed success.</p>
<p>Khodafez (i'm a turkmen, from the northern part of Iran by the way ;) )
P.S. if med school is your goal, then say so because that truly changes a lot of these schools for your ranking of where to go.</p>
<p>Congrats topper, I followed your search some back in the fall, as your list and DD's overlapped, glad to hear you are headed to Philly!</p>
<p>Thanks, cangel! I'm still so thrilled, even though I heard in December - the prospect of attending Swat this upcoming August is much more tangible now! Out of curiosity, where is your daughter planning on going?</p>
<p>Topper, she's headed to Dartmouth, it was close, though Swat was her EDII choice, I know they are pretty different in many ways, but she had 3-4 schools that were very close, each with its own particular strength. Congrats again, to me Swat won the "Most Beautiful Award" for the Northern schools.</p>
<p>Cangel,
Isn't EDII binding? Did D make a commitment to attend by applying EDII?</p>
<p>Cangel's D was going to apply EDII. She got into Dartmouth ED and, hence, did not apply EDII.</p>
<p>Oh, and "Best Academics Award" - my husband wanted to camp out in the seminar room they showed us on the tour, and wait for the Latin and Greek classes to start (frustrated classics major wannabe)</p>
<p>Star, </p>
<p>Salom, haleh shoma chitori? My wife is from Tehran, and my two children are half Iranian, Golnar and Sohrab (I'm American). My daughter, Golnar, is also headed to college this year. We live in New Jersey. She's going to Dartmouth. However, I know she really liked Swarthmore from the schools on you list. Swarthmore is right outside of Philadelphia and is very liberal...you may be surprised when you get what you wish for.
Smith is also a very! liberal school and a very good one, however, it is an all girls school (as is Barnard) and coming from Iran you may want to have more opportunity to rub-shoulders with a few men in public placesclassrooms, hallways etc.</p>
<p>good luck, khohda-hafez</p>