<p>Hi, so I'm having a very tough time deciding on which school I'm going to attend next year and right now its between Northwestern, Notre Dame, or UVA. I like all these schools for diffrent reasons. A little bit about myself, I am a strongly opinionated Libertarian-Conservative. I really love business and want to go into investment banking. I also really like just hanging out with friends and playing sports. I could definitely see myself getting into intramural/club sports. I also would like to go to a school with a nice party scene too. I like to drink and smoke so a lenient school would be fun, although drinking is a lot more important to me and I don't really care about smoking all that much. Also a school with a lot of gorgeous women would be nice as well. I'm sort of a work hard, play hard guy. I want to get good grades at these schools but I want to have a great time as well. These are my opinions on the 3 schools so far based on visits and what I've read and what not. If you guys could elaborate on any of these characteristics or give me any guidance in my decision making process it would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>UVA
Good school but not all that prestigious compared to the others and also a state school. Seems like it would be a fun party school with pretty girls but it seems very big and a little fratty. UVA has a great business school and recruiting for major investment banking firms but I fear it may lack in other areas especially in New York where I live. I also don't know if I want such a big school. Also I'm not a huge fan of liberal arts and here I will have to take those classes and you dont even get to apply to McIntire until after sophomore year. Overall it seems like it will be very fun but not the best choice for my future.</p></li>
<li><p>Notre Dame
I visited this school and really liked it. Its a very prestigious institution and its a school I can see donating a lot of money to and having my kids and grand kids attend. I definitely like the sports atmosphere and I know for a fact the campus is very lenient with alcohol. The parties seem like they will be smaller but fun and consistent. I think I'll have a great time chilling with friends and I love the intramural sports but I feel that the girls here are not all that attractive and too conservative and catholic. One thing I love about this school is the fact that with all the AP classes I have taken I will be able to take business classes right away and it is more business oriented. On the downside though I feel like Notre Dame is the weakest in terms of investment banking although its Alumni base would be very strong in other areas of business. Overall this is a memorable school that I think I will have a good time at but will also be a great legacy school for my family. My major concern is its investment banking recruitment which is low.</p></li>
<li><p>Northwestern
This is my least favorite school as of now. I visited it and was not very impressed. The only things I like about it are the fact that its ranked the highest and its Kellogg certification program is good for business and investment banking alike. I felt this school was just very weird and had a lot of strange kids. Its also a little to diverse for me. I feel that this school is just super liberal and this is an environment I don't think I will like. Also I feel it doesn't have all that great parties and the girls aren't great. Overall I'm not sure how happy I will be her but it is a great school and I also got a $20,000 scholarship here so my parents like it and its the cheapest.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Please tell me what your take on these schools are and help me with my decision any way you can.</p>
<p>On ND, I would encourage you to take another look at the first year studies program, which all entering freshman do. My understanding is that freshman do not take B school classes but must fulfill essentially liberal arts breadth requirements during the first year. Then they apply to and are admitted to Mendoza or other specific colleges within the university. </p>
<p>Also, I would caution you about the supposed lenience with alcohol (or anything else) at ND – while kids get away with it, when they are caught the student code of conduct is strictly enforced and that applies to pot, sex etc. </p>
<p>Among adults, UVA is considered one of the top public schools in the country, along with Berkeley, Michigan and NC so I don’t think you need to worry about reputation, especially in the NYC area.</p>
<p>If Northwestern strikes you as too liberal and beyond your comfort zone, UVA and ND are generally considered more homogenous and conservative (giant over-generalization) in terms of lifestyle and values than Northwestern. </p>
<p>If you are hesitating about Notre Dame because you find the women too unattractive, conservative, and Catholic, please do yourself and the ND community a favor and enroll elsewhere. </p>
<p>I agree with claremarie. While Notre Dame is the most prestigious of the schools you’re looking at, and their business school has been ranked #1 in the country for four years running in undergrad, don’t feel the need to insult the women. Worried about a career in business? As I said, a degree from the Mendoza College of Business will carry a lot of weight in the business world. But make the choice that works the best for you, but you may want to not consider girls as a factor in a college decision. After all, it’s no guarantee that the “best” girls will even be interested in you. Not a means statement, just a fact. Good luck.</p>
<p>If you re-read your post and the emotion associated with each school description, I think your decision will be clear… I can easily weed out two…</p>
<p>Your criteria for choosing a school seems terribly misguided. This isn’t the 60’s. Smoking marijuana is a misdemeanor in every state you are thinking of attending school. IB’s and Fortune 500 companies alike require each employee to acknowledge their respective company’s drug-free policies. Not to mention the institutions you are considering have honor codes and/or codes of conduct that would jeopardize your ability to continue at these schools. Smoking pot kills brain cells, makes you complacent, makes you irritable and can result in a significant drop in high school grades.</p>
<p>You seem like a smart kid. If partying is your thing then why not enroll at a state school or a community college? As claremarie suggests, UVa, ND, NW would prefer it that way. You may even want to consider a school where you may have received a full scholarship such as a Fordham or a Northeastern. This way you’re not wasting your parents hard earned money and at the same time you can avoid any further insults towards every person who attended or is thinking of attending UVa, ND or NW.</p>
<p>As for help with your decision I suggest the following:</p>
<ol>
<li>Begin drug/alcohol abuse counseling immediately</li>
<li>Get a job that will help pay your own way through college</li>
<li>Consider becoming an independent. People like you give conservatives a bad name.</li>
</ol>
<p>Alright, everyone stop antagonizing this poster. Seriously, let’s push our pride aside for just a second. He didn’t actually say anything mean or even ignorant, and that thing about drug abuse/alcohol counseling?? Are you serious? It sounds to me like the OP is a fairly regular, decently smart individual and should be treated as such. What it all boils down to is not only where you’ll get the best education, but where you will be able to truly thrive. If that requires the ability to smoke marijuana occasionally, party every other weekend, or even smoke cigarettes without receiving dirty looks, then so be it. If you’re genuinely smart and you know what you want to do, you know how you will get there. I’m sorry, but if we are going to call someone who obviously does these sort of things sparingly an addict, then we really have a problem. And don’t tell him these schools would be better off without him. He got in to multiple amazing schools, so odds are, regardless of his own personal choices (that are being blown out of proportion and unfairly stigmatized), he is certainly good enough to attend them. </p>
<p>Small advice on ND: I strongly advise making sure this school is the right fit for you. People who go there will tell you it’s the greatest place on earth, but if you don’t fit the mold, it could leave you quite depressed-- something that will affect a grade point average much, much more than marijuana or partying ever could.</p>
<p>P.S.
You give conservatives (myself a left-leaning moderate) a great name. You seem to be quite level-headed.</p>
<p>While I am not so old that I cannot remember my college days and the things we did for fun in the 1980’s (not so different from today’s kids), I do have to suggest that maybe the OP’s criteria for selecting a college (and spending a quarter of a million dollars over four years) are immature. Taking a year off to work might clarify priorities.</p>
<p>I believe he stated he’d like to be in an atmosphere where he can comfortably enjoy his vices if he feels the need to indulge occasionally. Once again, he made it clear that his priority was not to get high or have sex. However, he (like many others) simply would like the freedom to choose to do so if he wishes. I don’t see a problem with that. There are many, many, many people at schools such as Harvard that smoke weed daily, and to say that they don’t belong there should they perform at an acceptable level is blasphemous.</p>
<p>@bonzobv, seriously, thank you for injecting some rational thinking into this thread. I think posters here are too jaded by either their “success” or the “success” of their kids in the high school classroom to realize that the overwhelming majority of kids go to school just to party. </p>
<p>Now, I understand that’s not the case in these top, “prestigious” schools; however, I will hopefully be admitted to some of these schools, and believe me, the party scene will have an impact on my decision. I think it’s absolutely asinine to critique the kid for wanting to smoke and drink. If you didn’t want to do those things when you were 18, you weren’t normal. Period.</p>
<p>Lol, efeens44, how do you commend someone for rational thinking and then make ridiculous comments like “If you didn’t want to do those things when you were 18, you weren’t normal”? That’s just a wildly inaccurate statement, plain and simple.</p>
<p>@spencerg you’re telling me the vast majority of high school seniors and college freshmen don’t want to drink alcohol and/or smoke weed? That’s a bit na</p>
<p>I really don’t see what your purpose was in asking this question, it’s obvious that you like UVA the best out of the three (though your reasons may be misguided). But hey, to each his own.</p>
<p>Of course a lot of 18-year-olds want to drink /smoke, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that those who don’t are so outnumbered that they are considered " weird" or " not normal." Btw, I’m a soon-to -be high school graduate, and I come from a fairly large (2000+) public high school.</p>
<p>I don’t think you can twist my words to make “not normal” mean “weird” in this case. If the majority of people do it, then that it what is normal, or typical, or however you want to say it; if someone doesn’t do something that’s normal, that would make them not normal in that regard.</p>
<p>the fact of the matter is, yes ND students drink, and yes they like to have a good time on the weekends, but smoking pot or smoking in general is just not done. I have many friends at the university who say that not only does the school have a no tolerance policy for things like that, but students, on the whole, don’t have the desire to do that. </p>
<p>If you are looking for a rager-like party scene and it means that much to you, UVA is the place for you. You will have lots of fun in a frat there</p>
<p>Everyone has different metrics for making their decisions. Whatever those may be, I feel they are valid for that person. Keeping that in mind–I’ll offer my opinion. I’m not familiar (just past cc posts) on UVA. We visited Northwestern and S did not apply–for some of the reasons you mentioned. S attended ND. </p>
<p>Your first paragraph seems as if ND might be the best fit. Conservative (not hugely, but yes in the scheme of college liberal-ness), business (Mendoza!), sports (duh), drinking but not so much smoking, work hard/play hard, etc.</p>
<p>Not going to flame you for the women statement–you aren’t the first to say this. Girls are smart and fit and there for an education–same as the men. ND does, depending on the dorm/rector, enforce the hard liquor rule, but IMO definitely turns a blind eye to beer. Smoking–S said the only students who smoked were Asian. Pot-no, not done much. S said Adderall was much more common than weed.</p>
<p>You seem to like UVA the best so I would go there. It sounds like it would be the best for you if you want to go into investment banking as well.</p>