looking for college suggestions (urban studies/geography)

College Search & Selection
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<p>Howdy, y'all.</p>

<p>Long time lurker, first time poster here. I'm a rising junior, and I've been looking at colleges for a little while. I'm mostly just looking for recommendations for schools.</p>

<p>31 ACT (will retake), 3.7 UW GPA, top 4%. I've taken the most challenging courseload except for one class (lots of APs and Honors, got a 5 on Psychology this year). My extracurriculars are pretty good: started a unique club, president of another one, vice president of a third, a few other leadership roles. In short, I'm fairly competitive. Maybe not Ivy League, but you know, relatively strong, I'd say.</p>

<p>Anyways, I'm really looking for schools that have strong geography/urban studies programs. I'm thinking about a career in urban planning or psychology, maybe screenwriting? Like most kids, I don't really know. </p>

<p>I'm not sure what size school I'd like (not too small though), but I want a college where greek life/drugs/drinking doesn't dominate the social scene, where professors are available if you need them, good weather (I live in Illinois, so a different region would be nice, but not a requirement), liberal and LGBT-friendly, strong study abroad, and a really interesting (in any way) environment/campus and surrounding area. It can be urban or rural. I like both.</p>

<p>This might sound a little naive, but what I really want is a school where I'll have lots of opportunities to try completely new and different things. It's sort of hard to explain what I mean by that, but I want a place where you can have many experiences that are unlike anything you've ever done. Not sure what that entails. Doesn't really make sense.</p>

<p>Anyways, let's pretend money isn't an issue (for now). I'm just looking for ideas/suggestions. Thanks a bunch.</p>

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<p>This website might get you started with a list of schools offering geography.</p>

<p><a href=“https://communicate.aag.org/eseries/scriptcontent/custom/giwis/cguide/opportunity/cguide_education.cfm[/url]”>https://communicate.aag.org/eseries/scriptcontent/custom/giwis/cguide/opportunity/cguide_education.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Thanks. Does anyone have any suggestions that fit my criteria specifically?</p>

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<p>University of Colorado, Boulder.</p>

<p>Boulder is very liberal. Lots of different majors. Go to their website and read about the u and the city. I’m sure they have a geography major. Weather is quite nice. Consider their honors program and residence hall if you want a calmer social scene as the school has a party school reputation.</p>

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<p>How does the honors program work? Boulder seems like a great school, and they do have geography.</p>

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<p>Go to their website and read about the honors program and their living and learning communities. </p>

<p>Also, go to a Barnes and Noble or some similar bookstore and look at the Fiske Guide to colleges. Read about the schools that interest you, write down the ones you like, and then use the web to investigate them further. You are really only going to get a random list of schools on CC. you need to do a lot of preliminary work on your own. When you have questions about specific schools, ask at CC.</p>

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<p>I would like a random list of schools.</p>

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<p>Macalester is a LAC in the St Paul/Minneapolis area
[Urban</a> Studies](<a href=“http://www.macalester.edu/urbanstudies/]Urban”>Urban Studies - Macalester College)</p>

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<p>Clark University in Massachusetts is pretty well known for geography.</p>

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<p>Oh, I should have said no liberal arts college, please. I used to be looking only at LACs, but I thought if I made this thread, I would get some university recommendations.</p>

<p>I was looking at Barrett Honors College at ASU for geography. Does anyone have any opinion on that school? I don’t think I would go to regular ASU, but the honors college sounds appealing, like Haystack mentioned for Boulder.</p>

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<p>I was going to suggest Barrett but you said you wanted a liberal environment. Arizona is pretty conservative but Tempe, ASU’s location, is fairly liberal and accepting. Students at ASU are on the conservative side.</p>

<p>ASU has many geography related fields of study. Check the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning and the School of Sustainability.</p>

<p>I’m an ASU grad.</p>

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<p>Except for the weather UW-Madison is a great fit. Top geography and psychology depts. Plus a good number active in Hollywood as writers/producers, directors and so on. The producer of the hottest show on TV–American Family–is an alum. </p>

<p>[UW-Madison</a> Department of Geography – Department Overview](<a href=“http://www.geography.wisc.edu/department/program-overview.php]UW-Madison”>http://www.geography.wisc.edu/department/program-overview.php)</p>

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<p>Thank you. A bit close, but I like Madison.</p>

<p>I’ve been looking at ASU Barrett a lot these past few days, and since you’re an alum, I was wondering if you can tell me a bit about it: how does Barrett compare to the rest of the school, how much higher is the caliber of student as Barrett, etc.</p>

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<p>

UNC Chapel Hill and USC meet all of your criteria.</p>

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<p>They don’t have huge Greek scenes?</p>

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<p>Your questions can probably all be answered by going to the Barrett website itself. Compare the general admissions data with the Barrett data.</p>

<p>You should also go to the ASU college forum within CC. Ask specific questions about Barrett there.</p>

<p>[Arizona</a> State University - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/arizona-state-university/]Arizona”>Arizona State University - College Confidential Forums)</p>

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<p>I’ve of course looked at website, I just figured since you just said you went there that you might be willing to answer my questions here since I’ve already made this thread.</p>

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<p>For screenwriting, urban planning and a campus that is gay friendly you might want to look at USC. The School of Policy, Planning and Development is well respected and the location in the heart of the entertainment industry lends itself to a highly diverse student body. The faculty student ratio is 1/9. </p>

<p>There are Greeks, but only 17% of the students now are in the “social” fraternities and sororities. Other Greek letter organizations offer multicultural and service opportunities. </p>

<p>There are large numbers of international students from over 100 countries. Study abroad programs are in 27 countries including locations in the expected such as Paris, Madrid and Rome. Choices also include Caicos Islands, Nanjiing, Yungaburra, Australia and Aberystwyth, Wales.</p>

<p>Due to the sunny climate the campus has many fountains, courtyards and tropical flowering trees.</p>

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<p>That sounds pretty awesome. Thank you!</p>

<p>Just wondering, how does a respected public honors college compare to a highly-ranked private university (say ASU or Penn State to USC or Brown)?</p>

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<p>American Family?? I must have been thinking of insurance companies based in Madison. Of course I meant “Modern Family”.</p>

<p>You might want to take another look at ASU–it’s having HUGE financial issues. Has for several years and is a sinking ship right now. Several deans have jumped ship this year.</p>

<p><a href=“http://president.asu.edu/sites/default/files/Faculty%20&%20Staff%20050511%20Budget%20Video%20Transcript.pdf[/url]”>http://president.asu.edu/sites/default/files/Faculty%20&%20Staff%20050511%20Budget%20Video%20Transcript.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This was written 2 years ago and things have gone from bad to worse since.</p>

<p><a href=“State Colleges Also Face Cuts in Ambitions - The New York Times”>State Colleges Also Face Cuts in Ambitions - The New York Times;