If you could design the PERFECT college...

College Search & Selection
1

<p>What would it be like? </p>

<p>How large would the enrollment be? What would the campus look like? Would you have sports teams, study abroad programs, a Greek system, tons of clubs? What kind of town would it be in? Would it be preppy or hippy, liberal or conservative?</p>

<p>Of course, your imaginary perfect university would have as much academic prestige as Harvard, so that's a given.</p>

<p>Personally, I would want an enrollment around 10,000 - 15,000 students--large enough to meet new people all the time, but never so huge I'd feel lost. I'd want nationally ranked sports teams in as many sports as possible, with so much school spirit that just about everyone would paint themselves the school colors for every game. It would be in a cute college town like Ann Arbor, MI, not an overwhelming city or a tiny rural area with nothing to do. It would be politically moderate, have a Greek system, and lean to the preppy side. Basically--I'd want to go to UVA, which is where I go now. So that works out nicely for me, haha. :)</p>

<p>Your turn.</p>

2

<p>about 6,000 kids, beautiful campus with a ton of green space with neo-gothic architecture, small greek system, good sports teams but not anything that dominates campus, suburban area, liberal leaning, absolutely not preppy, somewhat intellectual.</p>

3

<p>^^^^almost sounds exactly like washu</p>

4

<p>12,000-20,000</p>

<p>Public
Campus with a lot green. Pretty old- lots of history, but modern
Brick buildings
Ideal College town, but close to a big city
Sports would need to be a large part of the campus
Moderate politics with a liberal slant
Good Greek System
Actually, I wouldn't want it sooo much like Harvard
but more on a UNC/UVA level, because I don't want people studying all the time</p>

5

<p>yea except washu is a PR whore that sucks at life.</p>

6

<p>20k+ student
Public
location: Detroit, MI
nice campus, overlooking the river.
top-notch lacrosse and basketball teams, but those are the only sports teams.
No engineering or medical school.
cutting edge Art Museum ran by the art history grad students
Borders located on campus
liberal and 'hippy'</p>

7

<p>Dartmouth, but on the west side of the Connecticut River.</p>

8

<p>3,000 to 4,000 students
No greek system, but residential colleges
Near a large city, but self-contained campus
Somewhat liberal, I guess
Decent scientific research opportunities
Good study abroad program
Sports a plus, but not a necessity</p>

9

<p>2000 students
Government Owned and paid for
Near Large City
Military Curriculium
Required Military Service Afterwards
Years of Tradition
Good Sports Teams
Leadership, Service and Character more important than academics in acceptance process</p>

10

<p>Near New York on the West Coast,
Cambridge and Yale's campuses combined,
1000 years old,
Harvard' endowment x 10,
200+ nobel winning professors,
Student population: 6000,
Tuition: free
....hmmm...</p>

11

<p>Gellino, lol!! That's what I want. </p>

<ol>
<li>Dartmouth, except on the Vermont side (and all the inherent benefits of that shift)</li>
<li>Dartmouth in San Diego (and all the inherent benefits of that shift)</li>
<li>Brown with 4000 undergrads</li>
</ol>

12

<p>Annenberg College - (Named after philanthropist Walter Annenberg)</p>

<p>A peaceful suburban Philadelphia campus located just west of the city (perhaps in Radnor township).</p>

<p>Completely moderate politics; for every liberal student there is a conservative one; college Democrats and young Republicans coexist peacefully; few left-wing or right-wing extremists.</p>

<p>Approx. 3,500 students.</p>

<p>Secluded campus...big leafy trees, quiet walking paths, but still only 1/2 hour from the city.</p>

<p>Divison III sports...not a huge part of campus, but still NCAA competitive (for Divison III, that is).</p>

<p>Frats and sororities aren't a big presence. They exist, but only ~6-8% go Greek.</p>

<p>Some drinking, but very little illicit drug abuse.</p>

<p>Strong in both the pre-professional (pre-law, pre-med, business) and liberal arts fields.</p>

<p>Great internship opportunities. Exchange program with Drexel (students at the school can do co-op, Drexel students can take classes here).</p>

<p>Relatively diverse. Not too much affirmative action (minority status may be considered,) but still decent diversity; 8% African American, 6% Hispanic, 16% Asian, 7% international.</p>

<p>48/52 Male-Female ratio (natural balance).</p>

<p>Religious Diversity - Jewish founded, but secular; religion is not considered in admissions. The campus will be:</p>

<p>25% Jewish, 25% Protestant, 20% Roman Catholic, 2% Buddhist, 2% Muslim, 2% Hindu, 4% other, 20% non-religious.</p>

<p>Tuition: Let's be reasonable here. 29,000 tuition; 8,000 room & board...not off the charts, but definitely not cheap. Merit scholarships given to top 5%; financial aid generously handed out.</p>

13

<p>Columbia but with sports. About 4,000 students right in Manhattan, but with a green campus. Classical-esque architecture. Strong in the humanities. Uber-liberal. A long and impressive history. Of course I would shrink the price tag a wee bit, and I would add competitive sports teams and a little more school pride (good teams might bring that on its own though.</p>

14

<p>1000-3000 students</p>

<p>The campus is obviously going to be beautiful. :P It will have lots of trees, green open spaces, a pond with ducks, and old European architecture. It will be in or right outside the city, but not integrated with the city.</p>

<p>The sports team should be good, but not hyped up. Good enough that people will be there to cheer them on, but not hyped up where sports is the only thing people talk about. I don't want a big sports school where sports overshadows the rest of campus life.</p>

<p>There's definitely going to be study abroad programs in every single place imaginable.</p>

<p>No Greek system.</p>

<p>Tons of clubs.</p>

<p>It will either be in a city or in the suburb of a city. Or, it can be in a fun college town. I want it to be in a place where something exciting is always happening.</p>

<p>It will be moderate/liberal and not preppy, but not hippie either. A mix of both, maybe.</p>

15

<p>Penn State W/ less people (15k-20k) and a better Basketball Team :P.
Also might as well give them #1 rank in ALL engineering majors :P.</p>

16

<p>slipper, if you move Dartmouth to San Diego you lose too much of the spirit of Dartmouth. Snow and rural were two of the biggest things I wanted after academic and environment specifications ( a bigger, more academically known version of Williams, Colgate and Middlebury, although actually academics at Williams and Dartmouth are probably roughly comparable). While I have come to appreciate Brown more over the years, and its campus has more of a suburban than urban feel, it's still too city-like for me.</p>

17

<p>Genuinly diverse student body (not "top college diverse", like actually representing socioeconomic and ethnocultural demographics of US well). Top notch challenging academics, and focused energetic students. tiny classes, maybe 2000 students. big beautiful outdoorsy campus in a tropical location. emphasis on independent learning, problem-solving and collaborative learning in classes. good extracurricular and community involvement. wide range of political views, with emphasis on liberal. special interest in world and relevant events. strong sciences, strong social sciences, strong art, strong environmental studies. coed, with dance parties. </p>

<p>yeah, i'm not sure if my school exists yet. I thought Pomona was closer than most...</p>

18

<p>
[quote]

Genuinly diverse student body (not "top college diverse", like actually representing socioeconomic and ethnocultural demographics of US well). Top notch challenging academics, and focused energetic students. tiny classes, maybe 2000 students. big beautiful outdoorsy campus in a tropical location. emphasis on independent learning, problem-solving and collaborative learning in classes. good extracurricular and community involvement. wide range of political views, with emphasis on liberal. special interest in world and relevant events. strong sciences, strong social sciences, strong art, strong environmental studies. coed, with dance parties.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>that would be a radical school.</p>

19

<p>radical? in what sense of the word? most "radical" schools I know, like Hampshire, are not particularly academically intense... My alternative public hs was sort of like some things in my description of my perfect college, in terms of learning style and demographics at least.</p>

20

<p>If Princeton and Brown merged together....... I'd apply/attend in a heartbeat.</p>

<p>Brownton?</p>