<p>I am trying to help my niece choose a college. I posted elsewhere on here describing my questions and her predilections in much more detail.</p>
<p>Here is my long list of colleges that I think she should consider. Right now, she wants to go to Berkeley or Columbia; either of these would be fantastic, but I think she should have a much longer long list before narrowing it down.</p>
<p>I know this is open-ended: if you have informed points of view about any of these schools, please let me know. Please let me know, too, if I have improperly classified any...</p>
<p>Urban/large:</p>
<p>Columbia
Berkeley
NYU
Harvard
Yale
Georgetown
UCLA
Duke?
Brown?</p>
<p>Suburban-rural/large</p>
<p>Princeton
Stanford
Duke ?
Brown?</p>
<p>Smaller</p>
<p>Amherst
Williams
Swarthmore
Middlebury
Colby
Colorado College
Dartmouth?</p>
<p>Reading through your other post, I can understand why this list is so eclectic. If she really likes the excitement of an urban campus, some of the more rural colleges like Colby and Middlebury could get a little dull in winter. Visiting (preferably overnighting) at some of these would be a very good idea. </p>
<p>On the flip side, a couple of the schools (particularly NYU) have little in the way of a campus, and a sense of community is lacking. Like rural LACs, this isn't for everyone. </p>
<p>It seems a small/medium college in a suburban/urban area would be best. In your list, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Princeton, Stanford, Duke, Georgetown, and Swarthmore would be good fits. Dartmouth, Amherst, and Williams would fit to a lesser extent. </p>
<p>There are several other colleges that might fit the bill- Davidson, Tufts, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, Reed, UVA, Rice, Pomona, etc.</p>
<p>Does she have any idea what location she'd prefer? Issues like a freezing cold climate shouldn't be discounted. Is she not interested in Pomona?</p>
<p>Maybe UNC-CH and Michigan as well? These lists really are all over the place! Middlebury, Dartmouth, Williams, and to a slightly lesser extent Amherst are all pretty rural.</p>
<p>While Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore may be mentioned in the same breath academically, the bent of the student body and campus atmosphere is decidely different at Swarthmore than the other two. The list seems kind of all over the place. Why consider Middlebury and Colby, but not Colgate and Bowdoin? Also, NYU and Dartmouth are about as close to complete opposites as there can be. I would think someone who would thrive at one would hate the other.</p>
<p>If she likes Columbia and Berkeley, she ought to look at University of Chicago. Also, most of her schools are very competitive. Unless her GPA, test scores, adn ECs are phenomenal, she needs some match and safety schools.</p>
<p>Yeah, you may be right about Dartmouth (which I have seen) and Princeton (I imagine, though I've heard the campus is beautiful). I want to suggest she keep places like Swarthmore on her list, though 'cause in my experience the smaller schools can do a very good job of general preparation for folks who want to go to grad school. </p>
<p>I am going to talk to her this weekend. I am sure she'll nix a few right off the bat: probably Princeton and Stanford, definitely the weird/electic choices I made like Colby. I just threw a few names in 'cause I know them to be great schools. I think she'll view most of the more suburban/rural ones as kinda country clubbish, knowing her. Urban may be the way to go with her. Maybe Penn should go on this list.</p>
<p>Someone asked what her scores are; I know her SATs (practice) are very high.</p>
<p>Someone mentioned UNC and Michigan. Maybe Virginia should have been thrown in too. I think those are all superb public schools, though maybe only Michigan is semi-urban -- I have seen UVA and it seems to fall into the country clubbish category, though it's an excellent school. She likes Berkeley, and I am personally a fan of schools that have a public mission (not about me, I know). I'll mention them. The only thing she's indicated clearly is that it's between Columbia and Berkeley for her, but I can't get her engaged beyond that....</p>
<p>What's very high? Is she averaging perfect scores? If not, you'll need safety schools. Heck, even if she is averaging perfect scores you'll need safety schools.</p>
<p>She might want to consider Washington University in St. Louis. Excellent school. Rated #12 by U.S. News. It's semi-urban, just on the western border of St. Louis. Kind of a UPenn on the Mississippi, but smaller, with a grassier, more open campus and an inviting mid-western friendliness.</p>