Yale University
Brown University
Washington University in St. Louis
Johns Hopkins University
Northwestern University
Claremont McKenna
Tufts University (applying ED1, top choice)
University of Rochester
University of Richmond
Colorado College (EA)
George Washington University
UMASS Amherst (instate, EA)
Hopefully I get into Tufts ED and avoid RD altogether, but this is what I am looking at in the bigger picture. Obviously UMASS Amherst is the only thing that resembles a safety, but I would be happy there in a worst case scenario and it’s hard to beat the in-state tuition. Otherwise, my primary concern is that my list is too reach heavy. I hesitated to apply reach/match/safety labels as calling any school with an acceptance rate <20% a match is dangerous at best, but even so I can’t help but feel like I may want to toss in some more match-like schools. Thoughts?
As such, I’ve been considering substituting in Emory and/or Tulane (I would like to keep my list at 12). It feels rather narrow-minded to eliminate an entire geographic region of the United States, but I’m still not sure if I’d be entirely happy spending four years in the South. I suppose my largest concern is the heat and humidity, but perhaps someone could weigh in on that.
If anybody wants to make any further suggestions, here is what I am primarily looking for:
-Close to an urban center/city but still has a campus
-Roughly 3,000 to 10,000 students, can certain be a bit flexible on either side
-Strong IR, polisci, and economics programs
-Tufts like student body (sorry if that’s difficult to quantify; quirky? passionate? intellectual? happy?)
-Robust study abroad options (this seems fairly ubiquitous at top institutions however…)
-Greek life not dominant
I agree that your list is a bit reach heavy and it would probably be a good idea to add more matches. I think Brandeis might be a good match for you, especially since you like Tufts.
Atlanta is no more hot and humid than Washington, DC., and you have multiple universities in that area – seems hot and humid isn’t really that big a deal to you after all if everything else fits, so you may as well substitute Emory if you like.
“ED1, top choice” implies that you would choose to attend Tufts above all. So what’s the point of applying to Brown, Northwestern, WUSTL, and especially Yale, which are all more selective than Tufts? Georgetown might make more sense (for its strong IR, DC location, and slightly higher admission rate … although its SFS may be more selective than Tufts.)
Colorado College has only ~2000 undergrads. It’s a fine school in a wonderful location, but for what you say you want (3000-10000 students, strong IR), the University of Denver might be a better fit.
Heat and humidity won’t be a big problem for most of September through May in DC or Richmond.
Emory is very cosmopolitan and moderate to liberal in its politics due to its proximity to Atlanta. It’s nerdy (like Tufts, not much of a party school and students are into performing arts), and Greek life is not overwhelming. Due to the PR with Emory Hospital’s handling of the Ebola patients, Emory’s popularity has shot up (23 percent acceptance rate for class of 2019.)
Good suggestion ClarinetDad16. My D has a friend on full scholarship at Fordham in the business school. She travelled to both London and China as part of her studies the first two years and is now doing an junior year fall internship at Disney World.
The heat and humidity in the South are not that bad since school is usually in session from September through May - not the hottest months of the year. If you are considering Emory, make sure you talk to some students about the ability to get classes. Freshman and Sophomores usually end up taking at least 2 classes per semester that they have no interest in because the school refuses to provide enough classes that students actually want to take. Kids have been complaining about this for a long time, but the school refuses to do anything about it.
Beachsurfer, perhaps my D was lucky, but what you mentioned about Emory’s classes has only happened twice to her for a freshman science seminar and last semester for a creative writing course. It probably depends on your major.
i’m going to toss out a crazy choice…but my D and I were where you are last year…she applied to many of these schools and got in (tufts, uchicago, umass amherst)…we flew to Atlanta to visit Emory…emory is well-loved, i know, but neither of us felt that oomph…it’s hard to describe. So we were there and i said, “why don’t we visit Georgia Tech…its evidently 10 mins away” and voila…it turned out to be the perfect mix of urban, green, and a good price. She’s in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs http://www.inta.gatech.edu/
I am new to this posting, but when I read the original profile and the follow up, the school that immediately came to mind is Georgetown. I cannot imagine a better school to study politics and IR, and it fits the academic skills and potential of this applicant. Proximity to Washington DC is an obvious bonus for these fields of study.
@tk21769 I understand all of your other statements but I don’t see why applying to Tufts ED and those other schools RD is an issue. Tufts was my favorite school I saw, I love the Boston area and student body, and think they have a really strong IR program. I think applying to Tufts ED makes sense as it is my favorite of the schools, but I also don’t see how that bars me from trying my hand at more selective schools if I don’t get in early either.
Your comment in regards to Colorado College is fair and excellent advice; I will look into University of Denver. Admittedly the most appealing aspects of CC were Colorado itself and an EA option and it appears UD fulfills both.
@zobroward I’ve heard that Vanderbilt has a very different feel than say Tufts or Brown. Although I have no doubts that it is an excellent school, I’m not sure if I necessarily am in need of adding more reach schools especially if I don’t think they would be a great fit for myself.
@PiccoloMom1995 Your insight on Emory is much appreciated, thanks!
@ClarinetDad16 Great suggestion, Temple looks very promising, thanks a bunch.
@SouthernHope Haha admittedly it is a bit crazy, but I’ll certainly give it a shot.
@ColdinMinny I actually toured Georgetown a few weeks ago and for whatever reason I just couldn’t get myself to like it. I wanted to like the school really badly and given it’s location and strength perhaps I am being narrow sighted and give it another shot, but I figured I had so many schools on my list that I did not really need a great reason to cross any off. Maybe substituting it in for Yale would be a prudent choice however.
I disagree with those saying that DC is similar to Atlanta in terms of climate. Having lived in both places (and Philly), I say if you don’t like heat and humidity, take Atlanta off your list. It has weeks of triple H’s (hazy, hot, humid) where temps break 95. DC has heat spells but it’s news when an above-90 spell lasts longer than one week.