Name this school. Again. Please?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello all and sundry. I shamelessly stole this list of criteria from...um...well, I can't recall at the moment. But it described my wants except for a few minor revisions, so I've placed it on here. I would sincerely appreciate anyone's opinion. Here goes!</p>

<p>Here are some of the things I'm interested in:
Preferably beautiful campus, although not necessarily; no outright ugly campuses however.
Beautiful surroundings...I'd prefer colleges on the east coast, or maybe west coast.
I'd prefer a suburban environment, but could make exceptions.
Strong study abroad program.
Good food/dining services.
A smallish to mediumish school, (10,000 or under) although I'd probably consider a large school if they had some method of class reduction. (Honors program, etc.)
Nice dorms. (Roomy, or any other way that college dorms are nice.)
I want the student body to be very intellectual, but still know how to have fun. I'm definitely not oriented towards hard partying or drinking...in fact I've prefer that it was the exception on most days; however, when I'm not studying, I want to be able to do something.
Good professors, of course.
Low student-to-faculty ratio. (I don't want to a number lost in a vast lecture hall; I want to know my profs and my classmates.)
Good med school acceptance rate. I also don't want a college that is notorious for difficult curriculum or grade deflation...Good grades are good. ^.^
And I think that's it for the moment...
I know this is a fair bit of criteria, so I'll be flexible with them...after all, there is no university out there that has EVERY quality I'd like.
P.S.-I'm thinking about majoring in a natural science and philosophy, so a school with strong programs in those would be nice.
Thanks to anyone who replies!</p>

2

<p>I struggle with the pretty part, it's a bit too subjective. What is considered ugly to you? I know people who hate gothic artchitecture and those who adore it.</p>

3

<p>Wow, that was a quick reply!
The architecture is not a crucial factor, although I think I'd like Gothic; I just don't want the campus to be dirty, dark, or claustrophobic-feeling. And having interesting architecture would be nice.</p>

4

<p>I think Tufts might be good. Close enough to boston but def. far away enough where you're in a suburban enivornment most of the time. an intellectual bunch they are. Lots of pre-meds, good program there. East coast, and I think good study abroad too</p>

5

<p>Is the student body more liberal than conservative? I don't want radical Berkeley liberal or uber-conservative...I'd rather be on a campus than leans to the left, but still has some enough conservatives for a political debate.</p>

6

<p>Tufts definetly leans left, but not to the point of being Brown or anything that liberal. I think it sits at a nice point of not being too liberal, but still leaning-left (it is only 8 miles from boston).</p>

7

<p>Nifty. I'll look into Tufts. Thanks a bunch!</p>

8

<p>Tufts University sounds ideal for you, if you can a imagine a research university that feels like no more than an oversized New England liberal arts college.</p>

<p>All of it's facilities are remarkable, dorms, classes, dining halls, library... however the school does cramp a lot of great resources onto one hillside, so asthetically, the school has wonderful facilities,but when squished together...not so beautiful, but they try. </p>

<p>I'd say that Tufts is the largest size school of it caliber where you can still have the feeling of a liberal arts college, however, if you go to the downhill campus, where most of the housing is, then you will be where most of the social life and partying is. So, I would note thatyou want to live on the uphill campus.</p>

<p>Tufts is in a suburb of Boston, but close enough that you can see the entire skyline of the city from the hillside...which is somewhat of a sport, standing on the the library roof and watching the sunset over Boston... but anyway, the T-station (subway) is right by the campus, from their, you're 2 stops from Harvard and 4 stops from downtown Boston. Get anywhere in Boston for $1.25, but you can always stay on campus, which most underclassmen do.</p>

<p>Like I said as a research university it has all your academic offerings, but because of its size, (only 6,000 on the main campus/4,800 undergrad), the average class size hovers around 20 students, and there is no competing or division of special programs. You can double major in anything. No matter how competitive it is to get into their engineering school or international relations, once you're in the school, you can major in either school, you have full access to all courses, and you can even double major in both the liberal arts and engineering. </p>

<p>Med school, if you do pre-med at Tufts, you'll be fine...</p>

<p>Dining wise, Tufts has the best food of all 31 Boston colleges, and was ranked #5, I believe in the country.</p>

<p>Study abroad wise, there is no better study abroad program in the country.</p>

<p>Tufts can offer you everything you want and finds a middle ground between it status as a first-tier university and its size and tone of a liberal arts college. But you'll have to see it for yourself to see if the school is right for, because, for many, they want either or. If you want MIT, that's what you want, if you're set on Amherst College, then that's what you want, Tufts doesn't fit into either of those categories, that is what's unique, and if you feel yourslef caught between any similar two schools, then Tufts may be a good option.</p>

9

<p>I think many LACs would fit your criteria-most are suburban with attractive campuses and tend to be a bit more "intellectual" than the typical pre-professional universities. The low student-faculty ratio and high med school admit rates are a given at many of the top LACs. </p>

<p>Duke fits almost all of your criteria except the social scene, which can be a little rowdy at times. As a non-partier, however, I can assure you that there's plenty of other fun stuff to do. Duke's campus is very attractive (Gothic architecture that's a mix of Princeton and U Chicago), med school admit rates are high, grade inflation is somewhat common, student-faculty interaction is good, study abroad options are awesome (if Duke doesn't offer the program that interests you, you can study abroad through another university), dining options are great, sciences are great (philosophy is not), the weather is mild, and the dorms are surprisingly large. Duke's liberal, but it has its fair share of conservatives. The student body isn't quite as "intellectual" as one might see at U Chicago, Swarthmore, Reed, etc. in the sciences (mostly pre-med), but the humanities at Duke are surprisingly intellectual.</p>