My opinions (may be biased and I hope CCers can point out my misconception)

College Search & Selection
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<p>I've been thinking about picking colleges but in the process I do get some negative impressions on some top schools that make me hesitate to even apply. I hope that CCers can correct my ideas if they are incorrect. </p>

<p>Princeton: I can't help linking 'hierarchy' with eating clubs in Princeton and I don't really feel comfortable. I've read posts saying how awesome princeton is but I am still a little skeptical. And I read that Princeton is cutting budgets and it is not a good thing for someone in desperate need of FA.
Columbia: Perilous Power makes feel that NYC is indeed a dangerous place where I need to be afraid of bombs all the time. I am probably paranoiac. But indeed, how safe is the city?
UChicago: I like UChicago because of Hayek; but I doubt I will go if I do not receive sufficient aid (Does UChicago rarely give out sufficient aid for internationals?). FA is such a big problem.
UPenn & Cornell: I've heard that there are a lot of 'mandatory' parties & drinking and I don't really like this kind of environment. There are lots of smokers, too.
Brown & Dartmouth: basically FA problem; they have very small budgets.
Stanford: I've heard that people there are quite cold... Drastic contrast considering the brightness of the sun in California.
MIT: I am not a committed math- or science-oriented person so I don't know if it suits me. </p>

<p>Please correct me if I have any misconceptions (probably have a lot since I haven't had and will not have the opportunities to visit the campuses). Any additional comments/suggestions would be greatly greatly appreciated.</p>

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<p>In regards to Dartmouth, I actually found they offered me the best financial aid out of my available choices (which included several other ivies). In general people here seem to be very happy with their FA awards, and our new president, Jim Kim, has added extra emphasis for financial aid saying he would not be part of an institution where students could not attend because of money. We also offer full-need and are need blind for domestic and international students. I’d go ahead and apply. You may be surprised how generous many schools are. (and I’d hardly call an endowment of around 3 billion (in Dartmouth’s case) “small”. It’s much larger than most other universities out there, and we have fewer students to spread it over.</p>

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<p>Points:

  1. All colleges are cutting their budgets right now. I have no idea where Princeton’s finaid will be in a few years but at the moment it is one of the most generous programs in the country.
  2. Bombs? lol no. Parts of NYC are very shady, yes, but the actual Columbia campus area is fairly safe. Any crime or violence you experience is more likely to come from within the school–and this is true almost everywhere you go–than from without.
  3. I don’t know any more about Stanford than you do, but I hear just the opposite: students are supposed to be very down-to-earth and friendly.
  4. MIT does, in fact, have humanities/social sciences programs. They’re quite good.
  5. Stereotypes are there for a reason; you would be stupid to completely ignore the dominant culture of a school when making your decision. However, no school is monolithic. There are many different people attending all of these colleges, all for different reasons. I guarantee that no matter where you go, you’ll find people like you.</p>
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<p>No offense, but the only two of these stereotypes which matches what I have seen is that Princeton’s eating clubs reflect a snobbier approach than its academic peers and that MIT is best for the science-oriented, although it has some excellent other departments.</p>