<p>I need some help cutting down my list of schools.
Here are some stats:
GPA: 4.3 weighted
Rank: 13/305 (top 5%)
SAT I: 740 math; 710 CR; 790 writing
SAT II: 780 math II; 760 chemistry
APs: US history 5; Chem 5
Current courses: AP English, AP Physics, AP Gov, Civics, AP French, AP Calc</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
-VP of French Honor Society
-Publicist for Red Cross Club
-Varsity Tennis for 3 years
-Key club member for 4 years
-NHS
-volunteer @ hospital for 3 years
-volunteer for American cancer society 3 years
-annual chinese folk dance performances
-jobs: lifeguard & cashier in the summer
I am looking for:
-preferably suburban or a small town, but I'm fine with a rural or city setting if the school has enough qualifications
-sense of campus community
-medium student body, although not a vital requirement
-politically moderate/mix/liberal
-Greek life can be present, but not dominant
-friendly, active social environment
-challenging academics, but not cut throat</p>
<p>*preferably in the northeastern area (drive from nj 6 hours at the most)
*i am currently undecided; i am open to all options. basically just want to learn to think critically as an undergraduate and get a good education
*also open to whether it's a university or LAC (preferably a hybrid between the 2)</p>
<p>Here's the list of schools that I've complied thus far:
-Rutgers
-CMU
-Tufts
-UVA
-Rochester
-Duke
-Duke
-Dartmouth
-Brown
-Northwestern
-Wake Forest
-UNC Chapel Hill
-Wash U</p>
<p>In terms of LACs, i'm not sure which ones would fit me best. so far I have:
-swarthmore
-wesleyan
-bucknell
-vassar
-amherst</p>
<p>I would like to add, refine, and cut my list down. Please help!</p>
<p>It looks like you've done a pretty good job with your college search. Swarthmore seems to meet a lot of your criteria, although it is very liberal as a whole. It helps to think about the differences between the colleges. Group your schools into reach schools, 50:50 chance schools, and back-ups. Then, when thinking about how to eliminate some schools, think about which 3 out of your 6 (or whatever) you'd most want to attend, and do that for the other schools.</p>
<p>Wesleyan - small city environment; very convenient during the day, the sidewalks roll up after 9 and 10 in the evening. Wesleyan makes up the difference; it's a university in terms of cultural and scientific reach and an LAC in terms of having its own social "bubble". Somewhere between Amherst and Swarthmore in terms of straight-edgers vs. liberal-arts quirkiness (it's nearly large enough to contain both.) Class of 2012 was 11% intel.</p>
<p>think again about -</p>
<p>Duke and Washington U - frankly, I'm not sure why they are on your list; they're a little far (from NJ?) and not particularly known for their sense of community (unless, you're thinking about rah-rah school spirit?)</p>
<p>Bucknell - the right scale, but, it seems to be the outlier here academically.</p>
<p>id add haverford and trinity or conn college, maybe kenyon or williams to your list- i second wesleyan though- seems to be exactly what you're looking for</p>
<p>
[quote]
not really okay with preppy- is wesleyan preppy?
[/quote]
No. In fact, it's known for being anything but, and while f the "they're all wacky crazy hippies" sterotypes are overblown, most students still are not preppy.</p>
<p>I think Keilexandra was talking about some of Wneckid99's other suggestions (haverford and trinity or conn college, maybe kenyon or williams), although I can't speak to the preppyness of those schools myself.</p>
<p>I'd dump Rutgers (too big), CMU (too urban), and Washington U. (too far away). Dump Wesleyan, Swarthmore, Vassar, Brown (way too liberal). Dump Bucknell (too preppy). The rest on your list are fine.</p>
<p>CMU is not urban at all Tourguide. It is within walking distance of Pitt but if you visit it, it is a totally green-college campus sitting above the city in Oakland. The campus is very close-knit and great for individual learning as well as building a close community. The surrounding neighborhoods are also suburban (Squirrel Hill, Walnut St, etc.) with affluent families.</p>
<p>Many would say it has the best of both worlds by allowing the traditional secluded campus while also allowing a 5 minute walk to downtown Oakland or a further 10 min ride to downtown Pittsburgh. Add to that the fact that Pittsburgh is the nation's 2nd largest college city after Boston, and you have a local-friendly atmosphere with seemingly big-city fun. Finally, the job reputation and networking from Carnegie M. is reason enough for many students to go.</p>
<p>Hey you seem a lot like me. I wanted a normal school where people were happy go-lucky and enthusiastic yet intellectual, and a great LAC-ish feel. Here's what I would do:</p>
<p>-Rutgers (cut: too big, has nothing you want)
-CMU (cut: WAY too intense, not a happy student body, not much community)
-Tufts- Keep
-UVA- keep
-Rochester- keep
-Duke- keep
-Dartmouth- Absolutely keep
-Brown- Absolutely keep. Not nearly as liberal as its made out to be. Its Obama liberal.
-Northwestern- Absolutely keep
-Wake Forest- Maybe dump. Too preppy, cutthroat.
-UNC Chapel Hill- Absolutely keep
-Wash U- keep</p>
<p>In terms of LACs, i'm not sure which ones would fit me best. so far I have:
-swarthmore- No way. Too intense. Judgmental, not very fun students.<br>
-wesleyan- Wayy too liberal. I'm pretty liberal but the judgmental hipster presence turned me off bigtime when I visited
-bucknell- keep with hesitation. I think you'll get in so its a good match, but it might be too preppy for you
-vassar- Keep. Very liberal like Wes, but in my experience much more open minded
-amherst- Absolutely apply.</p>
<p>I would also look into Middlebury, Georgetown, and Colgate.</p>
<p>what do you mean by "way too liberal"? in the political sense? b/c i don't mind
also, i think i need a few more safeties, esp. if i dump rutgers</p>
<p>Wes- I'm not a senior...graduated a few years ago...</p>
<p>I think there are a few different definitions of liberal. Most top 50 schools will have a majority of students being democrats. Some of the LACs, namely Wesleyan, Vassar, Grinnell, and Oberlin also have socially very liberal student bodies, think more like the movie PCU.</p>
<p>Slipper, I don't know if you ever visited CMU but it is not intense at all unless you are comp sci. I have almost no work all this week and also many people are happy here. The community is great since there are all kinds of different people here, from internationals to geeks to frat/sorority partiers and everything in between.</p>
<p>slipper - I think you are simply conflating liberality with music and arts scenes (Oberlin, Vassar, Wesleyan.) You don't think there are judgmental people at Duke, Dartmouth, Middlebury and Amherst? Those places are known for their cliques, which to my mind are far more devastating than political differences which are fought pretty much on anonymous boards, anyway.</p>