Junior looking for help with list

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm not solid on what I want save a few things. I know I want a strong intellectual community, more focused on learning than preparing for a career. I know I want a diverse community that can challenge me. I know I want to be someplace where I can keep myself busy with more than just schoolwork -- fun is very important.
That said, I think I want to be in a big city, ideally New York. I live in the northeast, and I don't think I could be really far from home, at least without family nearby (>10 hr drive). I think I want to study philosophy or something related to social sciences. I am really interested in film, but have now portfolio, so would probably just take electives or minor. I think I want medium sized, but I'm checking out all sizes.</p>

<p>Places I've visited: (in order of visits)
UPenn - Overall high interest, legacy, concerned about preprofessional focus, Philadelphia
Johns Hopkins - High interest, concerned about safety, opportunities in Baltimore
UVA - Low interest, don't think I could handle large state school (big, isolated)
Georgetown - High interest, probably apply SFS or poli sci, which is different from others
Amherst College - Medium interest, like open curriculum, 5-college consortium, concerned about social life, rural location
NYU - medium interest, everyone from my school w/ 3.5, 1300 gets in, in NYC
Columbia - high interest, NYC, intellectual, think I could get behind Core, concerned about social life</p>

<p>Places I will check out in the next few months:
Tufts
Brown
Connecticut College
Wesleyan</p>

<p>Places I'd consider but can't visit:
U Chicago
U Michigan</p>

<p>My basic stats:
3.83 GPA UW, all honors and AP
2250 SAT - no prep, 235 PSAT, retaking</p>

<p>Any suggestions?
Ignore financial considerations; most schools in this caliber have great aid anyway, but whatever I want I will make work.</p>

2

<p>Most colleges have a lot of activities on campus—theater, newspaper, music groups, environmental/political groups—so unless you can’t live without the best in theater and live music (for which you would need a place like New York) I wouldn’t narrow your search too much focusing on being right in a city. It eliminates so many places. Brown seems like a good combination of the things you are looking for. You don’t list Swarthmore which is generally mentioned as very intellectual and not pre-professional. Wesleyan is a good idea. What about Bowdoin? You have a good start, so maybe you can apply early decision. Definitely do early action somewhere----Chicago would be a great choice. Choose more places other than Connecticut College that are slightly easier to get into and check those out when you are nearby (Brandeis when you see Tufts, Skidmore if you see Conn. College). Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the suggestions. I’m not looking much in the Boston area because that is where I live. My sister goes to BU and I have never in my life gone more than 4 weeks without seeing her. Her freshman year occasionally she’d come home for a night or two to do laundry, etc. I don’t want to be that close to home, I want the cord to be properly severed. As for safety schools, I decided if I can’t get into the schools I have a strong interest in, I’ll figure out something else to do for a year and reevaluate.</p>

4

<p>Any more or I should consider or different opinions?</p>

5

<p>Columbia and Georgetown seem to fit the bill, as you’ve noted. You might also look at Yale, where fun is taken very seriously. While New Haven isn’t New York, it is fairly close by, and students take the train in regularly. If you’re interested in the humanities and social sciences, Yale is hard to beat.</p>

6

<p>It’s very easy and fun to focus on the most selective and well known schools and toy around with what is better than the other for you. What can happen is that you may not have much choice in those pickings. </p>

<p>The true challenge in putting together a good college list is not in picking out which top schools should go on it, but in finding schools that are likely to accept you and are financially feasible that also will give you the environment and academics you seek.</p>

<p>It’s easy to pick out the prime stuff and stick it on your list. It’s going through the thousands of schools in the US that are not as well known and finding the good deals in education from there.</p>

7

<p>If you are willing to consider something out of the country as an alternate match school, you could add McGill and/or St. Andrews. Otherwise–yes—you should have another safety other than Conn College but I think another challenge is to accurately identify and PURSUE a few high matches. Hopkins, Wesleyan very possibly.</p>

8

<p>Swarthmore looks like it might be worth a visit but I don’t like how isolated it sounds. Bowdoin is in Maine. Rural Maine is definitely not the place for me. I like the idea of being in a city, or at least near one, because I love eating ethnic food and experiencing different cultures. I’m not outdoorsy, so I definitely don’t want rural. I want to be able to expand beyond the campus and get to know lots of people in different contexts, and learn from them. I want internship and job opportunities where things are happening. I want to be able to go out at any time and do anything, which is why I love New York.</p>

9

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<p>Swarthmore is 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia. I believe there is a train nearby that can take you into the city. It does not appear to be an isolated location…especially if you compare it to Maine!</p>

10

<p>I mean culturally, not physically. Fiske Guide: “Swarthmore College’s leafy green campus may be just 11 miles from Philadelphia, but students often don’t have the time or the inclination to make the jaunt.”</p>

11

<p>Swarthmore is in a small town and feels very rural. It sounds like your want an urban school. I think that Penn would be a great fit. You should consider applying ED to get the legacy benefit. The College of Arts and Science is less pre-professional than the other schools.</p>

<p>You might want to consider visiting American and GW when you look at Georgetown. GW has a very urban, but attractive, campus. American has a more suburban feeling campus, but still has good acess to the city. Both are easier admits than Georgetown.</p>

12

<p>Hey I had a similar criteria to yours, I chose McGill University. As far as cities go, Montreal is amazing. The downside is there are no art classes, there is a minor in Film Studies but McGill can help facilitate art classes to be taken at a nearby school.</p>

13

<p>I might also look at Trinity College in Hartford, which would be one of the less selective schools on my list. I also like USC and Rice in theory but they may be too far from home. I will look into McGill; I’ve never extended my search to Canada, I make fun of it too much ;)</p>

14

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<p>Gap year as your safety? Well, I suppose that’s one approach, but it sounds like you are eager to get the heck out of Dodge. Are you really OK with living at home for another year? </p>

<p>I’ll suggest you look at Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh. Urban, near each other (you can cross-enroll) in a neat part of Pittsburgh. Also Macalester, one of the few urban LACs, in St. Paul. </p>

<p>Your older sister is in college so your parents should know the drill about finances, but you should have the frank and open talk with them about how much they can afford. You will be a NMF, so do look at USC.</p>

15

<p>Penn has particularly strong legacy admission stats approaching 50% in the ED round.</p>

16

<p>I like social sciences and humanities, so schools that focus on sciences are not good fits.</p>