Ivy League Fit Help!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi! I'm a rising senior and struggling to narrow down my "reach" colleges. I'm considering Ivies, but I can't distinguish which Ivies best fit my academic and personal interests. Which Ivies offer what I'm looking for?</p>

<p>College Wants:
-Intended Major: English Literature (with Creative Writing Focus)
-Classes: Undergrad focus, open curriculum
-Location: Intellectually, Creatively, and Culturally Stimulating
-Setting: Suburban/Urban
-Size: Doesn't matter as long as I can have small classes (<20) and a direct relationship with my professors
-Beliefs: No religious affiliation, Liberal, LGBT Friendly
-Diversity: Racial diversity is not as important to me as having a student population with different ideals and origins.
-Networking: Good publishing/author alumni network, Internships in Writing Field</p>

<p>My Stats:
-Female/ Southern CA
-African American
-Daughter of Lesbian Parents
-GPA: 4.0 UW/ 4.40 W
-Cross Country Captain (4 years in sport)
-Track Captain (4 years in sport, 3 years Varsity)
-Vocal Jazz and Classical Soprano Section Leader (4 Years in Choir)
-Founder of vocal trio (The iTones) that volunteers at local rest homes to perform for the elderly</p>

<p>~Any advice is appreciated</p>

2

<p>Yale.</p>

3

<p>Is that the only school you would recommend or just the best one?</p>

4

<p>Columbia, Yale, UChicago all fit the description, though Chicago technically isn’t an Ivy. Maybe Brown too? </p>

5

<p>@quirkmeetsgirl‌ The best one</p>

6

<p>I’d say Brown overall, let me break it down for you.</p>

<p>

I can’t say much here, but I know Yale’s English majors do very well, but Brown also has majors for literary arts (basically creative writing) and other comparative literature.</p>

<p>

Undergraduate focus: Brown and Dartmouth, both have graduate students, but the focus is on the undergraduate students. Cornell and Penn probably aren’t for you with their many schools. Harvard has a huge graduate focus.
Open Curriculum: Brown. Seriously. No requirements, really. Take whichever classes you want. On the other hand, Columbia has a Core Curriculum, which may seem too restrictive for you.</p>

<p>

You could probably get this at most of the Ivies, but Brown isn’t as cutthroat because of the open curriculum, so I guess that would correlate with the student body. Also the student body at Brown is scarily friendly.</p>

<p>

New Haven is kind of… Columbia’s in the Morningside neighborhood which is next to Harlem which people claim is unsafe. You might get too absorbed in the city, but NYC is a great place. Philly is mostly nice. Cambridge is probably the best for college towns here, Providence is all right.</p>

<p>

You can probably get this at any of the Ivies, really. </p>

<p>

All are pretty liberal and LGBT friendly, but some people say Dartmouth and Princeton are less liberal than the other Ivies, and Brown and Columbia happen to be the most liberal and LGBT friendly.</p>

<p>

Hmm, well you’re going to get your very rich preps, recruited athletes, and all those other stereotypes at any of the schools, but Dartmouth/Princeton/Penn seem to have this stereotype that they aren’t as diverse in their thinking </p>

<p>

Can’t help you here for which is the best.</p>

<p>It sounds like you’d also enjoy Columbia, but the Core Curriculum is restrictive. Yale also sounds very good for you, too.</p>

<p>So basically I’d say Brown > Yale >>>> Columbia with regards to your preferences, but maybe I’m a little biased.</p>

7

<p>@bradybest‌ Columbia and UChicago don’t really have an open curriculum, which OP mentioned. I would definitely suggest Yale and Brown. Maybe also look into Dartmouth’s D-Plan and see if you like their unique curriculum.</p>

8

<p>Just pick Yale.</p>

9

<p>Don’t count out Penn. It has an amazing English Department (generally ranked among the top 5 or so in the country), and unique and phenomenal resources for those interested in creative writing, including:</p>

<ol>
<li>Kelly Writers House:</li>
</ol>

<p><a href=“Writers Find Haven on an Ivy Campus - The New York Times”>Writers Find Haven on an Ivy Campus - The New York Times;

<p><a href=“Kelly Writers House”>http://www.writing.upenn.edu/wh/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“Kelly Writers House - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Writers_House&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>and </p>

<ol>
<li>The Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing, which includes a separate creative writing program:</li>
</ol>

<p><a href=“http://www.writing.upenn.edu/”>http://www.writing.upenn.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And in terms of some of your other criteria, Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences has flexible distributional requirements, so not as open as Brown’s curriculum, but much less restrictive than the cores at, e.g., Columbia and Chicago.</p>

<p>Also, Penn is consistently ranked as one of the most LGBT-friendly colleges in the nation:</p>

<p><a href=“Penn tops gay-friendly ranking | The Daily Pennsylvanian”>Penn tops gay-friendly ranking | The Daily Pennsylvanian;

<p><a href=“http://www.thenation.com/blog/155050/university-pennsylvania-ranked-top-gay-friendly-college”>http://www.thenation.com/blog/155050/university-pennsylvania-ranked-top-gay-friendly-college&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“Campus Pride’s list of top 25 LGBT-friendly colleges and universities revealed ”>Lifestyle News - New York Daily News;

<p>So, based on your criteria, I would strongly recommend that you check out Penn, and that you contact the Kelly Writers House (which is always interested in hearing from prospective students interested in creative writing):</p>

<p><a href=“Highlights for prospective students”>http://writing.upenn.edu/wh/highlights/prospective.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

10

<p>You should look into Kelly Writers House at Penn. I think Penn fits most of your criteria except for undergraduate focus (which I’m not completely familiar with). However, I think Penn, Yale, Princeton, Brown and to an extent Columbia fit your description. Not so much Harvard, Dartmouth and Cornell. </p>

<p>Brown is the only one with an open curriculum, I believe. </p>

11

<p>Do you have the test scores that are up to par with an ivy league school. If so, I recommend Yale.</p>

12

<p>Columbia College might not be an ideal fit, but look into Barnard. It’s right across the street, and you can register for most classes at Columbia, but its requirements are a little more flexible. The colleges were both LGBT-friendly in the 1970s, when I attended, and I doubt they’ve become any less so.</p>

13

<p>Brown and Yale IMHO. Also Vassar although technically not an “Ivy”.</p>

14

<p>Agree with Yale and Brown of the Ivys. But the Ivys are reaches for everyone so be sure to expand your search to to include other excellent but less selective schools.</p>

15

<p>@ooohcollege‌ I currently have a 29 ACT (first time, no studying). I’m confident I can get it up to a 32 though</p>

16

<p>@happy1‌ I know I need to have a broad range of schools. It just I need to eliminate some reach schools. I have 1 safety and 3 target schools picked out so far</p>

17

<p>Your 29 will be a tough admit for Yale. How about Brown and Vassar both liberal minded institutions that are strong in the humanities and liberal arts. </p>