Need Help sizing down my college list

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Alright, so here’s the deal. I want to major in English, and therefore am aiming for top schools in English. But, I am also interested in other things that I might use as a second major – American Studies, Film Studies, Psychology, Journalism, and Business. Since practically every college in the nation has an English program that can attest to being “good”, I need to try and cut down my list based on 3 things:</p>

<li>Would majoring in English ACTUALLY be considered good there, per say?</li>
<li>Would there be a flexible range of other majors or minors that I could pick up along the way?</li>
<li>Would it really be possible to double major at this school, or would it mean an extra year of studying?</li>
</ol>

<p>I’m trying to cut my list down to 12 MAXIMUM: 3 UC’s (I’m in California) and 9 Out of States. So, here is my list with reasons for why they are on there. Tell me what you think.</p>

<p>REACHES!!</p>

<p>Columbia - Good in all areas mentioned, except I don’t believe they offer Business or Journalism. Tell me if I’m wrong about that…</p>

<p>Washington University in St. Louis - Though they aren’t known for the English major, they claim to have a good writing program. Also good in Business, and the big one is American Studies, since St. Louis is the heart of America. Psychology is also good? I know for a fact Film Studies isn’t, so besides that, I am a bit unsure. Collegeboard says they offer a Journalism major, but their website seems to indicate otherwise.</p>

<p>Princeton University - GREAT in English, but they don’t have anything else I’m interested in, except Psychology. Plus, I am hoping for something a little bit less out of the way…and even though I sorta have a legacy there, I doubt I could get in.</p>

<p>Cornell - Great in English, writing, Psychology, and Business? I don’t know what American Studies is like there, but I assume its good. Film Studies would be random, and while they have communications they don’t have Journalism. Again, rural factor plays a role here…but they have all the stuff that I am interested in!</p>

<p>Northwestern - Obviously great in Journalism and Communication, not sure about English, has no Business, nor American Studies. Plus, when I visited it, I didn’t really like the feelings I got from it.</p>

<p>MATCHES (but still challenges)</p>

<p>Emory University - Not sure how it is in English, but they offer a Creative Writing/English joint major, which I would be very interested in. Also, offers all the things I mentioned above except Film, but I don’t know how good they are at any of those.</p>

<p>UCLA - Has American Studies, English, and a GREAT Film Program (obviously). Not sure if it has much else.</p>

<p>UC Berk - Has Everything except Journalism undergraduate, and they are “top notch” in it. But, I want to go to a place farther away from home, at least to Southern California.</p>

<p>UC San Diego - Nice school, but is it good in anything besides biotech and engineering? I don’t really know much about it.</p>

<p>NYU - Has Journalism and Communications of good level, very good in Film but I doubt I would get into Tisch, nor their business school. I mainly liked the campus a lot. Is it a good place for American Studies, English, and Psychology?</p>

<p>George Washington University - Great because it’s in D.C., and I loved it when visiting there, but besides that I’m unsure. Is it really good in English? How about Journalism, and all the rest?</p>

<p>University of Michigan - I am pretty sure I’d want to apply here…good in English, American Studies, Psychology, and such. Am I right to have it on here, though?</p>

<p>USC - Top notch for Journalism, good for business. But is it good for Film, American Studies, Psychology, and most importantly English? Also, is it really JUST a party school, because I know I’ve heard that a lot.</p>

<p>UNC-Chapel Hill - I pretty much know I want to apply here too…great in English and Journalism, but what about other departments? Also, I’ve heard the campus is like overly North Carolinan, and that on weekends if you are OOS you’re pretty much left alone. Is this true?</p>

<p>SAFETIES</p>

<p>UC Irvine - I liked the campus, and it supposedly is good in English and memory research. Is it good at much else though?</p>

<p>UC Davis - Has pretty much all of the majors I’m interested in…but, I don’t know if their departments are any good. Also, it’s REALLY close to home.</p>

<p>Syracuse University - I know it’s again top notch in journalism, but what about other departments? Is English any good?</p>

<p>Cal Poly SLO - Pretty much a total safety if all else fails.</p>

<p>So yeah, I really need to size down my list a lot. Any suggestions for what I should do, what schools I should cut out of there? If you were in my situation with my interests, what would you not apply to? Any thoughts are welcome and definitely appreciated!</p>

<p>Thanks. :)</p>

2

<p>I have no idea what your grades or SATs are, but there aren't that many people who would consider UC Davis a safety, and even fewer who consider UCB and UCLA matches.</p>

3

<p>Well, this is for in state, and from what I can tell I'm above competitive. Its acceptance rate is 61%. 52% of those who go there had a high school GPA of 3.75 or higher, and my current GPA is higher than this. SAT scores are in the competitive range for verbal, high end for writing and above that for math -- and that was on my first try at the SATs, done without studying. I have good ECs, and believe that it's a place I could get in without trouble. Am I really wrong for calling it a safety? :-&lt;/p>

<p>UCB probably should be in the reach category though, and UCLA slight reach...but I figured since they were in state, they could be called "match but still a challenge".</p>

<p>At any rate, I'm not too concerned about how I categorize all the colleges I'm thinking about, but rather am trying to size down my list, and I'm not sure how to go about it. :(</p>

4

<p>If you don't like Northwestern's feel than I don't think you would be happy there. I think you should take it off your list.</p>

<p>UNC - Chapel Hill - It's 82% North Carolinian so I would think it would be kind of like you mentioned. But if it has the courses you like then you should be fine, and also you could bond with the other 12% of out-of-staters if all else fails.
Also, it's VERY liberal, not like the rest of the state (and south), so if you're a Democrat or have liberal ideas than it would be good for you.</p>

<p>PRINCETON - you don't seem very excited about it. If it doesn't have the courses you're looking for, you shouldn't apply "just because it's Princeton".</p>

<p>UCLA has no core curriculum and they have a broad array of classes, so although I don't know specifically which courses they offer, I'm sure they offer most if not all of the ones you're interested in.</p>

<p>I think Berkley would be a Match-Reach. You're in-state and from what I hear you have very good SAT scores/GPA.</p>

5

<p>WASH U!!!! My mom taught English there for years and honestly I know a bunch of professors and it's an incredible department. I have lived in SAint Lpuis almost all of my life and I still am considering Wash U. Im sure they have a Psych program...It would be a surprise to me if they didn't.</p>

6

<p>confused - you sound like you've put a lot of thought into your list, but I would suggest you do some independent research through the various school and school-related websites. Check out the write-ups in general reference books such as Fiske and Princeton.</p>

<p>Saying about USC "Top notch for Journalism, good for business. But is it good for Film" indicates you might need to do some basic work on the facts before depending on the helpful, but subjective, opinions we through out at you. Once you have more hard data, then you might want to come back and pose some questions.</p>

7

<p>haha so u know USC has like the best film school in the country. no joke. i agree that you need to research a little more thoroughly at least for USC. do u have any preferences like if it should be in a city? how many students? anything?</p>

8

<p>I'd need to go to a school that has at least 5,000 other students...I think all the ones I listed there do. I'd prefer the city or suburbs, but wouldn't mind rural either. I'd like a place with good living conditions, obviously. I'm not low maintenance.</p>

<p>The other big factor for me is, I don't really want to stay in state, but since the UC system is so good, I feel like I should at least apply there. I'd be willing to apply to southern california schools. I didn't take too close a look at USC for that reason...thought UCLA was a better film school, or will saying that get a whole bunch of Trojans raiding on my doorstep?</p>

<p>Anyways, yeah I guess I should knock of Princeton (not that I would get in anyways, lol) and Northwestern. Which would take me down to...16? And still 5 of the UCs on the list.</p>

<p>I'll look into this a bit more, but any help will be good!</p>