Metropolis, please.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>After visiting Chicago via a MUN conference, I realized that there is no way that I will cheerfully spend four years of my life in some middle-of-nowheresville college. But, my preliminary list of "possibilities" consists of little suburban LACs. What was I thinking? I'm looking for new reachy schools as well as some some safety type schools that I wouldn't mind attending.</p>

<p>I'm not looking for crackpot "chances", but just to give you a general idea of what caliber I can afford to look at: IB Diploma, 3.9 UW GPA. For the first semester of 11th grade, that is- my overall average is bound to be lower. Top 5 or 10%. Average ECs by the standards here. Sports, a few clubs I care about. Some leadership. Nothing awesome. I'm physically incapable of writing a college essay that isn't strange-in-some-way, but that's about the only way I really stand out in a crowd.</p>

<p>What are some urban (by this, I mean inside a big city or very close by- none of that nasty "only three hours away from DC!" junk) colleges/unis? I'd prefer "medium" sizes, strength in most departments (I'm being pulled in a few different, totally unrelated directions), and, this is important: a cohesive campus (which is why NYU doesn't really appeal to me).</p>

<p>What have I considered? I visited UChicago when I was at MUNUC last year, and despite the rain and snow and my lack of a protective fuzzy hat, I LIKED it! The architecture, the feel of the campus (much more energetic than the stuff rep lets on), the vaguely amusing flyers pasted up on corkboards, and the testimony of our tour guide and a friend's friend convinced me. And to think that I had basically ignored their mailings all these years. The things a visit can do to change your mind. Meanwhile, JHU may seem to be in a "big city", but I beg to differ. The idea of going to this school makes me queasy, and it is way too close for comfort. 15 minutes in a car? No thanks. Another school I wasn't interested in but ended up seeing anyway is Princeton (via Model UN). My initial reaction was that the location was mediocre, and the campus itself seemed oppressively preppy, unimpressive, and generally yuck.</p>

<p>I felt compelled to post this despite the fact that it should be pretty easy to find schools for myself that fit the big city/mediumish size criteria, but lately I've been finding that the schools I wouldn't have researched myself turn out to be the most intriguing in the end. TIA.</p>

2

<p>Rice University is in the nicest part of Houston. It's surrounded by hedges, so you don't feel like you are downtown at all... it's a regular college campus with lots of open, green spaces. It would probably be a slight reach for you.</p>

3

<p>A strange essay might work at Columbia, but that school would definitely fall into the reach category. Fordham has campuses in Manhattan and the Bronx. The Manhattan portion isn't really a traditional campus, but it's in the center of things. The Rose Hill campus is more traditional.</p>

4

<p>Yale would probably be your dream campus in terms of urban vitality, and being at the center of one of the best college towns in the country (but also in the center of a major city, surrounded by thousands of businesses, bars, clubs, shops, bookstores, tea rooms, etc. within a couple of blocks). However, it is very difficult to get into! You might not have the credentials to reasonably have a shot.</p>