<p>I know that there are a lot of these types of threads floating around, but if you could spare a few words of constructive advice, I would appreciate it.</p>
<p>I was admitted to UVA, UNC, Washington U in St. L, and Emory, and I wanted some comparison on student quality of life, academic opportunities (research, student/faculty interaction, classroom experiences, etc.), campus life, or whatever other areas you might know about. I'm interested in biology, politics, languages, study abroad opportunities, inclusive campus atmospheres, community service, and music/singing, to name a few. Which college would you recommend, with this all in mind?</p>
<p>You have no bad choices here - they’re all great schools.</p>
<p>Unless you find someone who has attended more than one of these schools, it’s unlikely that anyone can give you that meaningful a comparison of what it would be like to attend one school versus another. And if one person tells you that quality of life is great at one school, and another tells you it’s not so great at another school, keep in mind that what they’re telling you is more revealing of themselves than anything else. These universities are diverse communities of people, and your experiences at any of them depend on who you individually interact with, and how you interact with them. </p>
<p>And by the way, this would be a good time to stop thinking of yourself as an “Ivy League reject”. It’s good for the soul to realize that nobody always gets what they thought they wanted. People who haven’t experienced a rejection letter at this point in their lives have missed out on a useful experience. It’s good to test your limits. We all have them, after all.</p>
<p>Stop with the Ivy Reject stuff! Not that we want to lend credence to the USNWR rankings, but just saying, Wash U. is tied for 12th, ahead of Cornell and Brown, which come in at 15th and 16th, immediately followed by Emory. You have great choices for wonderful universities where you will receive a world class education. Apart from prestige/reputation/ranking, which of your choices do you prefer? Do you have a chance to visit before you make your decision?</p>
<p>WashU is a totally awesome school. It’s not as well known internationally as an ivy, but you’d get a better education at WashU. UNC and UVa are also absolutely terrific, and probably much less expensive, but they’re bigger and won’t give you the personal touch the way you’d get at WashU. Don’t know Emory. I heard it’s a pretty heavy into drinking, but it’s very well ranked.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the positive remarks. I don’t know if you’ll believe me at this point, since I’m posting after having read your posts, but in all actuality I’m fine with the fact that I won’t be going to an Ivy League school next year. More than anything, I used that in my title to draw attention from people so that they might stop and read my thread. But you’re all right in the sense that I should move beyond dwelling on that fact, too.</p>
<p>Also, I would like to say that I realize that an unbiased “comparison” of these schools is impossible, but I’d be fine hearing from students who have only had experiences at one of them.</p>
<p>No direct experience, but I know many kids who have gone to these colleges, especially WashU, UVa, and Rice. I only know who went to Emory from our HS, but I don’t know how he likes it.</p>
<p>Google c ollegep rowler and s tudentsreview (no spaces of course). They have kids who have gone to the schools that post reviews on them. Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m interested in biology, politics, languages, study abroad opportunities, inclusive campus atmospheres, community service, and music/singing, to name a few. Which college would you recommend, with this all in mind?</p>
<p>Wow…what’s your likely career?</p>
<p>Do you like watching/cheering for your school team? If so, then UVA and UNC would be better.</p>
<p>How about money? Can your parents afford to pay full freight at any of these schools? If not, which FA packages are better (having the least loans, gaps, out of pocket, etc)</p>
<p>As far as money is concerned, my parents and I are still working this out. I have a full tuition scholarship at Baylor University, my financial safety, but I’m trying to figure out which of these other four schools I should way that against. I may indeed go to Baylor, but I guess you could say that I’m trying to figure out which of these schools would most be worth the higher cost of attendance.</p>