<p>I'm having an incredibly difficult time deciding between these two schools. I'm from Cleveland, so the prospect of being so close to home is somewhat discouraging to me, and I definitely prefer the town of Bloomington to the town of Wooster.</p>
<p>However, I applied to all small LAC's like Wooster. Indiana was the only large university I applied to (even though I know 40,000 isn't as big as some other Big 10 schools). I wonder what I would be sacrificing if I gave up the awesome I.S. options at Wooster for the opporutnities I suppose I associate with Indiana because it's more well-known.</p>
<p>To be more concise:
Indiana:
Positive: Amazing journalism program (which I'm thinking about double majoring in, along with English or Sociology. I'm the Editor-in-Chief of my high school paper, and I know I want to continue writing on the I.D.S. newspaper in college), large student body, so I know it won't have the same "everyone knows everyone's business" atmosphere as high school, farther from home, beautiful town of Bloomington, opportunities to intern at more well-known publications, smaller class sizes within the honors program.</p>
<p>Negative: I was never really in love with Indiana. I applied because I needed a safety school, and now, I'm starting to like it more. I'm also down to these two options because Sarah Lawrence is way too expensive, as is Smith, and I got wait-listed at the other 4 colleges I applied to. So basically, neither one I pick will be my first choice. Indiana's enrollment is SO huge to me, and I know it will probably be impossible for me to avoid at least some large lecture classes, or ones taught by TAs. I also wonder about whether I will feel intellectually challenged enough at IU...as pompous as that sounds. </p>
<p>Wooster:
Positive: During my overnight there, I had a WONDERFUL time. Every person was kind and helpful, and I had good experiences in each of the classes I visited, esp. Epistemology. The people I hung out with there have exactly the same mentality as me, which was encouraging. The I.S. program is so amazing to me in that it gives undergrads the opportunity to complete graduate level work, and thus gives the college the #2 senior capstone experience in the country-second only to Princeton. The actual campus of Wooster was beautiful, the class sizes were small, the teachers were engaging. I just feel bad comparing the two, because I didn't get to have an overnight at IU.
Negative: I feel slightly claustrophobic about Wooster the town. I also didn't get to have the opportunity to sit in on any English classes because they were all full, so I don't know how those are. The biggest problem I have with this school, however juvenile it may seem, is the number of people from my high school who are going there. Three of my closest friends in the whole world have already enrolled, as has a girl who could only be described as my biggest "frenemy" (I feel ridiculous using that word)in high school. THe problem I have with this development is that in a school as small as Wooster (1,800), I'm sure I would see these people. My friends and I are not really thrilled about the prospect of going to school with one another, because of the horror stories we've heard about best friends hating each other by the time they graduate from the same college. Each of us wants to be able to make new friends, which we are afraid we woud feel jealous/guilty about if we were all at Wooster, and were also afraid we will fall back on our existing friendships and never form new ones. As far as the other girl, many people have told me to ignore that aspect. I would, except I know she's going out for the paper, which was a huge bone of contention between us in high school, and is also majoring in English, something I know I will not switch out of. She consistently has spread rumors about me in high school, and been generally as coniving as can be in her competitiveness with me, and if I'm being honest, I'm probably not the best person around her either. I really don't want college to be a repeat of high school, which is why I like the relative sense of anonymity offered at Indiana. Simultaneously, I want small class sizes to get to know my professors better. Also, Wooster isn't as well-known as Indiana, and would likely just be viewed as another small liberal arts school when I applied for jobs.</p>
<p>So yeah, that was a lot to type. I generally describe my conundrum as "Indiana looks better on paper, but Wooster feels better."</p>