I want more schools like...

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I've visited only 2 colleges so far and will visit 2 more before the summer is over, but I'd really like to apply to more schools than those 4.</p>

<p>I've seen Rice and University of Florida (in-state, safety) other than weather, I'd say they are radically different but there are aspects about both that I like. Can you help me find more schools like them?</p>

<p>What I liked about UF:
I really liked that it was a "gator-nation," though it was a little extreme. I want the spirit of a school where everyone outwardly proud of attending that university but not a school where the sports dominate the social life.</p>

<pre><code> I LOVED Gainesville. It was a true college town in addition to there being so many things to do on campus.
</code></pre>

<p>What I liked about Rice:
I love the idea of the residential system because it gives a little bit of that spirit (that is found at UF).</p>

<pre><code> I loved the size of it: both the number of students and the size of the campus. (about 3000 students)

    I like that it's research-oriented and undergrad-focused.

    I love that there are no frats whatsoever. 

    And lastly, I like that it's so pretty. I think I would enjoy college life 20 times more if I attended a really beautiful place.

</code></pre>

<p>Also:
I'm not sold on the south. I'd actually love some freezing snow.</p>

<p>I need to be near (not in) a big city where there would be a big music scene (whether its country, punk, rap, whatever: I like music)</p>

<p>And a strange criteria: it needs to be near a major airport so that coming home would not be an ordeal.</p>

<p>(Quick stats: 4.0 unweighted, toughest classes, 1440/1600, decent ECs and leadership)</p>

2

<p>Do you know what you want to study? How important is school size to you?</p>

<p>How about Georgetown? No frats, tons of school spirit, relatively small size, close to a big city, cold weather, 15 minutes away from a major airport.</p>

3

<p>I recently visited Trinity in San Antonio. It fits your love of small class sizes, pretty scenery, and nearby airports (the airport is about five min from campus). But there won't be any snow. </p>

<p>Also, I know that Yale has the same residential college system as Rice, and snow definitely won't be in short supply. And also there's lots of school spirit.</p>

<p>I also second the Georgetown suggestion above. Sounds perfect for you.</p>

4

<p>If you need to be near a big city, dislike frats, want a small to medium sized campus....I'm going to recommend...</p>

<p>-Boston College (has lots of school spirit, which is a plus)
-Fordham (great music scene)
-Santa Clara
-Providence College
-Georgetown
-Brandeis
-College of Charleston</p>

<p>Then, if you end up leaning towards a more UF feel, maybe Gonzaga?</p>

5

<p>Ohhh...and University of Chicago. There's a pretty strong community feel there.</p>

6

<p>I'm not sure exactly what qualifies as "near" a big city, but disregarding that factor, you may be interested in Notre Dame.</p>

7

<p>Check out the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Great college town near one of America's leading Music towns, amazing school spirit, excellent academics and close to one of the major airports in North America.</p>

8

<p>I have to second the Chicago/Rice comparison. The major difference, though, is that Chicago is a liberal arts school only, and a very academic one at that, while Rice has a lot of stuff going on. Some remarkable similarities:</p>

<p>-- Chicago also has a residential house system, house lounges, house tables in the dining hall.
-- Frats are there, but only 10% of the students end up joining and not joining is NOT a big deal. If you don't want to see them, they're not there. If you want to go to a party there, then fine, you'll be happy they are there.
-- 4400 undergrad with a lot of research going on, but there's definitely a focus on ugrad through core curriculum and small classes, plus you get to piggyback off of grad student resources.
-- Baby, it's cold here.</p>

<p>But very, very, very pretty. Here are what some searches on flickr.com show of the University and of the neighborhood, which feels like its own little town more than it does a huge city:</p>

<p><a href="http://flickr.com/search/?q=University+of+Chicago%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://flickr.com/search/?q=University+of+Chicago&lt;/a>
<a href="http://flickr.com/search/?q=Midway+Plaisance&m=text%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://flickr.com/search/?q=Midway+Plaisance&m=text&lt;/a>
<a href="http://flickr.com/search/?q=Hyde+Park+Chicago%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://flickr.com/search/?q=Hyde+Park+Chicago&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

9

<p>maybe look at UNC...lots of school spirit and a great college town.</p>

10

<p>Second the above suggestion. I'd also add UT Austin.</p>

<p>-Austin is like Gainesville, only better.
-Great sports and school spirit like UF.
-Strong academics as well.</p>

11

<p>I don't think chicago is a good fit at all. None of the warmth that the OP is looking for, nor is there a music scene or a campus fell. I think Brown is the perfect school for you, but its a reach with your scores. Worth applying though . Also you hardly need to visit every school you apply to.</p>

12

<p>I would un-suggest Chicago.</p>

<p>One school I would very much recommend: Michigan. It seems perfect for you, and has great assets of both UF and Rice.</p>

13

<p>Oops! I forgot to mention I'm interested in chemical engineering or biomedical engineering (tentative, but def a math/science core).</p>

<p>As for the Chicago debate, one of my best friends has her heart set on Chicago and I wouldn't apply there so that she has a better chance. Even if she wasn't in love, from what I've heard/read it's too OMGacademicZ (exaggeration) and not enough of a full college experience.</p>

<p>Also, of the schools you listed (all repliers), which ones are the most generous with financial aid (in general)? Are any known to be stingy or highly selective with merit based? (Obviously Yale fits the latter)</p>

<p>Thank you for all the suggestions. I am going to look into these schools and see what they are all about.</p>

14

<p>Following are the Division I colleges ranked in the USNWR Top 50 that might offer some similarities (to varying degrees) to what you saw in Gainesville. </p>

<p>USN Rank, School, Undergraduate Enrollment, SAT 25/75 range, cost OOS, % of men and women in fraternities/sororities</p>

<p>1 Princeton, 4760, 1370-1590, $ 33,000, Clubs, Clubs
2 Harvard, 6715, 1390-1590, $ 34,998, No, No
3 Yale, 5333, 1390-1580, $ 34,530, na, na
4 Stanford, 6422, 1340-1540, $ 34,800, na, na
7 U Penn, 9730, 1330-1510, $ 35,916, 30%, 26%
8 Duke, 6330, 1380-1550, $ 33,963, 29% ,42%
9 Dartmouth, 4085, 1350-1550, $ 35,288 , 38%, 38%
9 Columbia, 5260, 1320-1520, $ 35,166, 15%, 10%
12 Cornell, 13562, 1280-1490, $ 34,781, 28%, 22%
14 Northwestern, 8153, 1320-1500, $ 35,429, 32%, 38%
15 Brown, 6010, 1350-1530, $ 36,342, 11%, 9%
17 Rice, 3049, 1330-1540, $ 26,974, No, No
18 Vanderbilt, 6378, 1270-1470, $ 33,440, 34%, 50%
20 Notre Dame, 8352, 1230-1460, $ 35,187, No, No
21 UC Berkeley, 23863, 1200-1450, $ 25,338, 10%, 10%
23 Georgetown, 6853, 1290-1490, $ 35,964, No, No
24 U Michigan, 25555, 1210-1420, $ 29,131, 16%, 15%
24 U Virginia, 14676, 1220-1430, $ 27,515, 30%, 30%
26 UCLA, 25432, 1180-1410, $ 25,206, 13%, 13%
27 USC, 16729, 1280-1460, $ 35,810, 16%, 19%
27 U North Carolina, 17124, 1200-1390, $ 19,682, 11%, 12%
30 Wake Forest, 4332, 1280-1400, $ 34,330, 34%, 50%
31 W & M, 5734, 1260-1440, $ 26,725, 22%, 27%
33 Lehigh, 4743, 1220-1390, $ 35,610, 35%, 38%
34 Boston College, 9020, 1250-1420, $ 35,674, No, No
34 U Wisconsin, 30055, 1170-1380, $ 20,726 9%, 8%
38 Georgia Tech, 12361, 1230-1400, $ 20,272, 22%, 27%
41 U Illinois UC, 31472, 1160-1410, $ 23,968, 22%, 23%
42 U Washington, 27836, 1070-1310, $ 21,283, 12%, 11%
44 UC Irvine, 20719, 1080-1290, $ 25,478, 9%, 8%
44 Tulane, 6533, 1220-1425, $ 36,610, 26%, 32%
47 UC S Barbara, 18212, 1070-1310, $ 25,694 , 4%, 7%
47 U Florida, 35110, 1140-1360 $ 3206 (IS), 14%, 12%
47 Penn State, 36613, 1080-1280, $ 22,712 , 12%, 11%
47 U Texas, 37037, 1100-1350, $ 20,364, 9%, 13%</p>

15

<p>Stanford for school spirit and engineering, plus the Bay Area has plenty of music around. Austin has an incredible music scene and UT has great engineering and school spirit.</p>

16

<p>Yeah. Chicago may not be the best for getting a "full" college experience. I just threw the idea out there, because I've heard several people say that it's the school most similar to Rice.</p>

<p>That said, knowing that you're interested in engineering, the smaller universities mentioned earlier probably aren't any good. </p>

<p>For your social criteria, your best bet would probably be to aim for medium sized research universities and the smaller state schools.</p>