I’m finalizing my college list and I’m adding about two more “reach” schools to my list and I’m trying to decide which ones. I plan on majoring in Biology, so I want a school with a strong science program… but I’m not 100% sure on Bio so I want to be able to have options. I prefer cities/urban locations rather than rural, other than that I don’t really mind much about the weather or things like that.
The colleges I’m deciding between are: Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Pomona, Brown, and Columbia; I think I will pick two of these but I need help deciding which ones! My GPA is 3.72 and ACT is 33, so I don’t think one school will be necessarily easier for me to get into over another.
The other schools I’m applying to are: UNC Chapel Hill, Northeastern, Tulane (accepted!), UChicago, Tufts, UCs, Boston U, U of Rochester.
Well, if you like cities, Northwestern and Pomona are not actually in cities - they are near cities. Evanston is actually about 30 minutes driving from Chicago, and Pomona about 40 minutes from L.A. That’s a nitpicky distinction especially if the public transit or bus options get you there easily, but since you are trying to choose that’s something to consider. Most of the other schools you have on your list are pretty urban - right in the heart of the city - so I think Hopkins and Columbia are probably the most akin to that.
Another think to consider is that Pomona is the only small liberal arts college on your list. Everything else is a medium to large research university. Do you want the option of a SLAC?
JHU is probably the strongest in biomedicine, but Columbia, Brown, and Northwestern all have strong medical/health centers as well so that’s kind of moot. IF you want strong undergrad research, you’d get it at all 5 of these places.
If you are really stumped, try an exercise in which you randomly eliminate three of the schools. Then sit with the 2 you’ve picked for ~48 hours. How do you feel with the ones you “picked”? How do you feel about the ones not on the list?
I know many students who were very happy at JHU. It is a rigorous school. It is not a party school at all. The students I know there were those who were very involved in academic pursuits in high school and continued at Hopkins. I’d say the same of those I know at Columbia. They tend to be the more mature and more serious students-Yes I’m sure that they are stressed at times but that’s what tends to happen at top schools that attract the strongest students. I wouldn’t say the same about the students I know at Brown though although it is a very good school. It is not quite as strong academically as the others.
I think you’re underestimating the differences in difficulty of getting in among these schools. They’re all reach schools as you recognize, but Columbia at 7% admissions rate and Brown at 9% are definitely harder to get into than JHU at 15%, Northwestern at 13% or even Pomona at 12%. Given that you’re already admitted to Tulane, which is a terrific school, in some sense you’re playing with house money, but if you don’t have a clear preference among these five, I’d go with the two that have the highest admissions rates.
Thanks everyone! Could someone give me insight as to what kind of “vibes” Northwestern has? I’ve heard that it’s very different from UChicago which I really like, so I’m wondering if Northwestern will fit me? @Badgers21@juillet
Also open to any other comments on the original question!
also one tip. where you live plays a part in the college acceptance decision. many folks from the NY tri-state area would like to go to Columbia. Columbia and most schools frown on too many from one location.
So if you truly don’t care which one, and are not in the norm area that a school takes admissions from - you stand a better chance.
If you are from North Dakota - even better. I think I heard at least three admissions officers at colleges on the tours say jokingly, if you know anyone good from North Dakota-send them our way.
For whatever it’s worth:
From my kid’s public high school naviance: it’s easier to get into JHU than it is to Columbia or brown. In our naviance, SAT/Act scores and GPAs for brown and Columbia are higher than the average for JHU. All three are fabulous schools but have different vibes. You stated above that you like uchicago. My oldest son, who graduated from brown in May, also loved Chicago. When he was initially deferred from brown, it was a great relief that he was accepted to Chicago EA a few days later. He felt that the schools attract similar kids…intellectually engaged, curious kids. He also applied to JHU but preferred the other schools bc they emphasized interdisciplinary exploration. The school of engineering and the premeds at Hopkins cast a long shadow on the campus. Although a science concentrator himself, he wanted a more balanced student body.
Northwestern is a very serious place, but all the other places u are considering are possibly even more serious. At least Northwestern has bigtime sports as a way to blow off some steam (and students are admitted to all sporting events free), though a majority of students don’t attend. The campus is a few minutes away from the Chicago city limits, but the aforementioned half hour from “downtown.”. Evanston is a very nice town, but its geared more fore upscale adults than college students. The quarter syste is great for double majoring.