D has suddenly decided that she might not want to go farther than 4 hours from the NYC area. She only had eight schools on her list, and five of them are much further away than that. Seeking suggestions:
3.9 GPA, 32 ACT
Interested in foreign language and international studies
School with no less than 4,000 students and no more than 15,000 students
Within a 4 hour drive of NYC
Strong academics, “passionate” student population (her words)
Decent Jewish population
Before her change of heart she was looking seriously at Emory and Tulane (although had not actually visited Tulane) - now she is not sure she wants to be so far from home.
Suggestions appreciated. She may change her mind again but she needs to have some reasonable options on her list in case she still feels the same way after acceptances are in.
^^I was going to suggest Tufts and Brandeis too. Also, George Washington, American University, University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins, SUNY Binghamton, CUNY Macaulay Honors College. University of Delaware could be a safety. Of course, you said nothing about price, so there’s that.
– Very strong in the subjects of interest in the [Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs](Departments)
– 15,000 undergrads
– 4-4.5 hours from NYC
– 17% Jewish, one of the [url=<a href=“http://www.hillel.org/about/news-views/news-views—blog/news-and-views/2015/06/24/2015-top-60-schools-by-jewish-student-population%5D60”>http://www.hillel.org/about/news-views/news-views—blog/news-and-views/2015/06/24/2015-top-60-schools-by-jewish-student-population]60 largest Jewish enrollments in the country/url
Barnard is worth a look as well…only 2500 undergrads, but its proximity to and cross-registration with Columbia may make that a nonissue. (Barnard students even earn a Columbia diploma.) It is otherwise a good fit for her criteria.
What language(s) does she want to study? Is she hoping to combine language study with another major? Will she be planning a study abroad?
Imho, it doesn’t hurt to have some schools close by mixed in with schools that are further from home, such as Tulane and Emory. She re-visit when accepted student days roll around next spring.
DS had similar interests. Tufts, Brandeis, Georgetown, George Washington, American, Johns Hopkins are obvious choices. My son also applied to Vassar in case something smaller seemed like a good idea when April rolled around. (It’s pretty big for an LAC at almost 3000.) He had planned to use Syracuse as a safety, but when he got into U of Chicago EA dropped it, as he’d thought it was too big anyway. Otherwise though, it fit the bill for what he was looking for.
What about Middlebury College in Vermont? Closer to 5 hours than 4, and smaller than indicated, but with a fabulous foreign language program and a very passionate student population.
It takes less than three hours to fly from NYC to Atlanta. She wasn’t seriously planning to drive back and forth to Emory, was she?
Emory has a huge Jewish population among both students and professors, and is situated in/near one of the many Jewish enclaves in metro Atlanta. The metro area has more than 100,000 Jewish residents and over 30 synagogues and temples. Atlanta is also one of the top two refugee resettlement cities in the USA, so there are people living there from all over the world – a great resource for someone interested in foreign languages and international studies.
I think she should look at four hours traveling time, not four hours driving time. That would allow her to look at flight times and train times as well when considering options.
Never underestimate the actual time involved in flying somewhere; ride to airport, parking, security, flight delays, layovers, drive home.
When I took DS for move in, we left at 4:30 am to drive to airport. Due to flight delays, car rental, luggage pick up, etc. we didn’t actually get to campus until 4 pm. So 11 1/2 hours for a school that is less than a 4 hour flight away.
Even if I look at the original arrival time, it still would have been about an 8 hour day. I think all the issues involved w/ flying need to taken into consideration when you are looking at “traveling time.”
My S also reigned in his geographic area when the idea of actually going to college got more real. We listened to him and adjusted his application list accordingly (adding some closer schools) and he ended up happy and comfortable at his college home.
When you say, “interested in foreign language and international studies,” the first school that should pop into your head should be Middlebury. As someone has already pointed out, that’s about five hours from NYC. It should definitely be on your list.
Thanks very much for the suggestions - will start to explore with her. She thinks Middlebury is too small. Forgot to say that she doesn’t want urban, but also doesn’t want “middle of nowhere” - would prefer the latter over the former though. (I think that’s why Emory and Tulane were appealing…near the city but not urban campuses.)
