In Between Four Colleges and Have No Clue What To Do... Help!

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone! Thank you in advance for your help, I greatly appreciate it. I am in the thick of my college decision process right now, and I have no clue what school to choose. First, a little background on myself to help with picking the right school for me.

  • From a small suburb outside of Chicago
  • Looking to major in computer science and interested in a job at a big tech company after college
  • Have been taking Chinese for eight years and definitely want to continue through college, hoping to be fluent after
  • Very interested in studying abroad during college, would love a program where the professors from the university travel with you to China
  • Love theater (as you can see from the username) and very interested in taking playwriting class and participating in extracurricular productions in college
  • Very social, looking to work incredibly hard at college while also having a very good time

Now for the schools…
The schools right now that I am deciding between are Princeton, Dartmouth, UChicago, and University of Southern California (where I am a Trustee Scholar, which offers a full tuition scholarship). I am reaching out to UChicago tomorrow in hopes that they may be able to offer me merit aid, but I don’t believe it’s likely. These schools are INCREDIBLY different, but I love them all.

Some things that are important in my decision process when comparing these schools…

  • Strength of the Computer Science program
  • Strength of the Chinese program
  • Playwriting classes offered
  • Social scene - never any trouble finding a party, people love having a good time
  • Strong study abroad program that will not only help my Chinese, but end up being a lot of fun
  • Finances, not being in debt leaving college (I am not a person that would qualify for a lot of financial aid, which is one of the main reasons USC is so enticing)
  • Low student to faculty ratio
  • A student body that is incredibly smart but does not need you to know they're incredibly smart/not showing off their knowledge and accomplishments all the time
  • Lots of one on one professor interactions/easy to form student-professor relationships
  • Really cool and interesting professors
  • Not incredibly urban, doesn't feel like you're always on busy streets
  • East coast vibes/east coast kind of people
  • High status at the school - easy to the opportunities/experiences I want to get
  • Strong community within the student body
  • Lots of schools spirit
  • Students are very happy, feel they're learning a lot but also have a nice balance
  • Strong alumni network that connects often with current students in helping them find jobs and internships
  • Prestigious school that will help me get a job after college
  • Lots of things to do at the college, people never get bored
  • Fairly good/warm weather
  • Great school sports
  • School where I do not get lost in the number of students present, not just a number on a page but an actual student
  • Good college gear (haha)

None of my schools have all of these traits; USC of course doesn’t have east coast vibes just as Princeton/UChicago/Dartmouth don’t have great school sports. I’m looking for a school that will embody as many of these characteristics as possible. The full tuition scholarship offer from USC is of course hard to turn down, but my family has told me that I need to go to the place that is best for me, so please let me know the true rankings of these schools outside of that. I have been racking my brain for two weeks now and have been unable to come up with what school to choose.

Based on who I am as a person and the school characteristics above, what school is best for me???

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!!!

P.S. - These are the schools that I am currently considering, but I also have other options that I haven’t been looking into as much. I admittedly don’t know everything about these other schools I got into, and one of them may beat all four of the schools I’ve listed above. If any of these other schools I’ve gotten into beat the other four in the areas listed above, let me know!

Schools: UPenn, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Emory, Johns Hopkins, WashU, UVA, Boston College (Full-tuition Gabelli Scholarship)

2

This doesn’t jibe.

It sounds like the only reason you would go to USC would be because of the financial offer. USC is laid back but has a strong school spirit. It doesn’t sound like you ever visited because you would remember it.

Stick with what you like. Stay in Chicago.

3

Thank you for your response! I know all of the schools of course can’t have everything I’m looking for, but I’m trying to pick the school that matches the most of them and is therefore best for me.

I actually have been to USC and loved the campus. From the people I’ve talked to so far, it seems like they also have very strong computer science and chinese programs. USC is definitely a contender outside of the financial offer, but I’m still trying to weigh it against the other schools. Thank you for your help!

4

All of the colleges are affordable without debt?

You can compare the CS (and Chinese and theater and other subjects of interest) courses and curricula and the general education requirements and offerings at each college from their catalogs to see which college offers academics that best match your interests.

You may also want to note that Chicago and Dartmouth are on the quarter system (three 10-week quarters per academic year instead of two 15-week semesters), but they are somewhat different (it appears that the normal schedule at Chicago is 4 courses per quarter, versus 3 “larger” courses per quarter at Dartmouth). Dartmouth also wants students to take at least one summer quarter, missing at least one of the other quarters (usually a fall quarter) in exchange (look up D-plan on its web site).

Note that Dartmouth is fraternity / sorority heavy. Princeton discourages joining fraternities / sororities, but off-campus ones exist. Chicago and USC have a significant minority of students joining fraternities / sororities, so they are available for those interested, but there are plenty of students not in them if you are not interested in them.

5

USC or Princeton.

6

The nice thing about computers and technology, is that you can go to any university and come out successful. Speaking as a programmer myself, big tech companies are easier to get into than you think, but it’s best to get in after you’ve had a few years of experience. You want your entry level job to be at a small to medium-size company, because you have a chance to be versatile and do other things. Starting out at a big company, you’ll get good at one or two things, but you could be “pigeon-holed” in the long run, and that’s a place you don’t want to be.

That scholarship at USC sounds like a real winner, plus it has a great CS program. I’d go for that.

7

If these factors are determinant, go with Princeton. It’s the most prestigious on the list, gets the best recruiting opportunities, and has the second strongest alum network (after Dartmouth, I think). Also has a strong Chinese program and sends to offer playwriting.

8

Make a spreadsheet to compare.

UVA is my suggestion.