I can't find any schools I like

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I've been looking at schools for awhile but I can't seem to find any that would be a good fit.
I want to disregard chancing right now in favor of finding a school that I like.
I was hoping you could help me find a few schools to look at.</p>

<p>What I think I want:
-Economics or Business major
-Pretty campus (quasi-classic like with a quad I could read on or play frisbee on)
-In or near a city
-Challenging academics
-A good social scene
-Good financial aid
-< 7,000 students</p>

<p>I love Columbia's campus. Despite being in the city, it is gorgeous and has a quad (sounds simple but much more rare in New York City than you'd think). If you know of any campuses like this, I'd love to hear about it.
I guess I'd like the to be able to balance academics with the social aspect (work hard, play hard, I guess).</p>

2

<p>Emory, Vanderbilt, Tufts, UChicago.</p>

3

<p>Fit is overrated. You don’t want to make a four-year commitment based on gossip, rumors, and first impressions.</p>

4

<p>Boston College and Northeastern in Boston.</p>

<p>Did you check out Fordham in NYC?</p>

<p>UChicago and Northwestern in Chicago.</p>

<p>Georgetown in DC. American also has a campus. GW does not have a proper campus.</p>

5

<p>Many sites, including CollegeBoard.com and this one, will help you find schools within such broad parameters. They won’t help with the quad, but the size, majors, location, and academics (at least the qualifications of the typical incoming class) are items you can select on.</p>

6

<p>Go to “princetonreview.com” & complete the “counselorOmatic” section which will give you 60 schools that closely match your criteria, broken down into 20 “reaches”, 20 “matches”, & 20 “safeties”. The classification area that put schools in has been debated, but it’s a starting point.</p>

7

<p>Carnegie Mellon is in a city, but has a nice, green campus (kind of like Columbia in that it’s got a very campus-y feel, but is in a city, albeit a smaller one than NYC), has great business/econ majors, challenging academics, <7000 undergrads, etc. Only downsides might be that FA can be great, but depends (CMU is v. transparent about its financial aid policies, so you can take a look). Also, the social scene sometimes gets a bad reputation, but one can most definitely work hard, play hard here.</p>

8

<p>Penn (10 char)</p>

9

<p>You do end up eliminating tons of small beautiful campuses with the “in or near a city” criteria. If you can’t live without great live theater and lots of ethnic restaurants then it’s important, but you may not realize how much time college students spend on their campuses. How often do Tufts and Haverford students go into the city----twice a month maybe? I’m not sure-- but do investigate that and think carefully about that criteria. Bowdoin, for example, has a beautiful campus and is 45 minutes from Portland. Amherst has several small towns and colleges nearby. I think Vassar has that gothic looking sort of campus—supposed to be fabulous. Trinity is in Hartford. (for business, though, you could consider Boston College).</p>

10

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<p>I wouldn’t shop for most things that way. Including colleges. But suppose you’re looking at cars. Do you really think you could say, “Wow, I just love this Audi! I wonder whether I can find a Chevy that’s just like it.”</p>

<p>I suppose you could try your approach. You could try saying, “Wow, I really like Tufts. I wonder what’s like it, but easier to get into.” But it seems like the long way around to me. </p>

<p>I seem to recall from another thread that you have some stats you wish you could change. (If I’ve confused you with another poster, I apologize.) If that’s so, I think the most direct way to search (and the one that will involve the least disappointment down the road) is to think about where you can get in, and find the institution you like best among those choices.</p>

<p>JMO.</p>

11

<p>^^^ Better: find several institutions (plural) that you like among those choices.</p>

12

<p>If you’re interested in a LAC, look at Furman, Rhodes and Univ of Richmond</p>

13

<p>WUSTL possibly.</p>

14

<p>Bentley U!</p>

15

<p>You can spend all your time looking for what you “like.”
But, the bottom line is this:<br>
YOU choose the schools you want to apply to.<br>
THEY choose the students they feel will fit and thrive there- academically and out of the classroom. They look to your record to assess this. You already pointed out, elsewhere, that there are issues there.<br>
There is no point looking for a school without a realistic assessment of your position. Go follow csdad’s suggestion to use princeton review or college board or others. When you get your gpa, plug it in.</p>

16

<p>seconding Richmond. sounds like a really good fit.</p>

17

<p>Richmond is pretty far away from any cities though. OP wants to be in or near a city.</p>

18

<p>Thanks you guys! This has been so helpful! Keep 'em coming!</p>

19

<p>I hate to distract from the point, but U of Richmond is in…welll…Richmond! Its the capital of Virginia, home to several fortune 500 companies and has a metro population of over 1,200,000 people…</p>

20

<p>Wouldn’t this be Rice or Vanderbilt?</p>