match me, please

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Okay. I am a sophomore in HS and my grades are in the low A/high B range. Planning on 5 honors, 7 APs. GPA is 3.8ish UW. I live in CA. Ranked 89/550ish. ECs are cross country, track, ASB and piano. I haven't taken any SATs yet but I generally test pretty well. Pretty good, nothing spectacular. </p>

<p>What I'm looking for in a school:</p>

<p>-Intellectual atmosphere. I'm going to college to learn.
-"Party schools" = definite no, but there needs to be at least a decent social scene.
-Nothing rural, preferably a medium-large urban school.
-Interested in psychology or international relations.
-Planning on going to graduate school at least.
-Liberal student body.
-Don't really care about Greek life/sports.
-Study abroad program.</p>

<p>I'm looking at (yes, I know all except UCSD are reaches):</p>

<p>Columbia, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UCSD</p>

<p>Any other questions, feel free to ask.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Medium to large schools...in cities...that aren't party schools...and more intellectually inclined.</p>

<p>NYU. URochester. Johns Hopkins. </p>

<p>On a less selective note, Case Western comes to mind. And in your neck of the woods, I know that Santa Clara is supposed to be amazing, with a strong international focus. </p>

<p>And...it does have a bit of a party scene, but it's still a really good, academically-oriented school that would fit what you're looking for: Rice.</p>

3

<p>If you're interested in Columbia, you should look at what is probably its most similar peer in the Ivy League: Penn. Its reputation as a preprofessional-and-party-hard school is absurdly overblown. This place is simply full of nerds, in varying degrees of denial ;)</p>

<p>With amazing institutions like the Kelly Writers' House, the Philomathean Society (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philomathean_Society)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philomathean_Society)&lt;/a>, CURF (center for undergraduate research & fellowships), Penn is a great place for undergraduates seeking to do more than look for a job and go to frat parties. (Penn is also great for undergraduate psych and IR)</p>

<p>However, Penn--like Columbia--is a definite reach for you.</p>

<p>Other schools that you might like: Brown, UChicago, Emory (doesn't have a football team!), NYU? Tufts, Boston College</p>

4

<p>^Boston College may be too partyish and sports-oriented.</p>

<p>However, I did think of another: Barnard! It's Columbia's sister school, and easier to get into.</p>

5

<p>brandeis sounds like something you might be interested in</p>

6

<p>Thank you!</p>

<p>I took the time to look into all of these and am particularly interested in Johns Hopkins and NYU, although the former may be a reach.</p>

<p>Another thing, I am not at all religious so schools like Brandeis and Boston College might not be the best choice. Are the religious aspects of the schools very noticeable? </p>

<p>Any other suggestions appreciated :)</p>

7

<p>Intellectual and urban and no one's mentioned UChicago? I mean, it doesn't fit "medium-large", but other than that it seems great.</p>

8

<p>Brandeis is 55% Jewish, and, yes, religion is noticeable, but it's not a religious institution, unlike BC, where there's actually a Jesuit affiliation. Brandeis is a secular institution FOUNDED by the Jewish community, not a Jewish institution.</p>

<p>I was uncomfortable about the religiosity at Brandeis, too, but I visited and found that 55% majority is full of different views, and the 45% of non-Jewish students are diverse too.</p>

<p>Make sure you know that NYU has no real campus...</p>

9

<p>^I knew about NYU, but thanks for letting me know about Brandeis, diversity is definitely high on my priority list.</p>

10

<p>I second Tufts and Brandeis.</p>

11

<p>Can you recommend any public schools? I'm upper middle class and certain I wouldn't qualify for financial aid but am also certain that I'd need to pay for at least part of my education if I went to an expensive private school.</p>

12

<p>What about University of Maryland- College Park? One of the smartest people I know went there and absolutely loved it, the campus is great, and with so many students, you're bound to find the degree of social life/party scene you're looking for. (And you can take the subway into D.C.)</p>

13

<p>George Washington, at least for international relations.</p>

14

<p>GWU is the most expensive school in the nation. Not a good choice if OP is looking for low cost. But, if you want IR in DC consider American and Georgetown. Georgetown, while Jesuit, is not particularly religious. American is Methodist but also not particularly religious. Also consider USC. For psychology consider University of San Diego.</p>

15

<p>American isn't religious at all, really. And I hear they give good aid. Georgetown could be good too. </p>

<p>USD may be too conservative Catholic though. </p>

<p>Also, I think it's fairly important to point out to the OP that publics typically aren't any cheaper than privates if you're out-of-state, and they're typically not as generous with aid. If you want a public option, your best bet would be to look instate. Or at schools that are slightly lower tier and known for giving lots of merit scholarships.</p>

16

<p>Georgetown's tuition is very similar to GWU's. It is an expensive private school and gives no merit aid, whereas historically GWU has been very generous with merit aid. So GWU can actually end up costing less than Georgetown. GWU is strong in international relations and psychology. American is definitely a good option as well since it's tuition is relatively low and it also gives merit aid.</p>

17

<p>I second or third American. Also look at Lewis & Clark in Portland - liberal student body, good size student body, psych and international relations, travel abroad. Have no idea about expenses. Hopkins is chintzy with aid.</p>