<p>Trinity - Something for everyone. Great academics, great sports, great theater, great parties. Moderate politically and socially (got hard right conservative Reps. and bleeding heart liberal hippie Dems; got booze and drugs but not overdone on either end) got some frat hounds, most not into it.</p>
<p>Barnard anyone?</p>
<p>Barnard (the students): the girls in high school whose best friends were boys and books. Not giggly ditzy girly-girls, but not man-hating feminists. They were just waiting for women like them to be friends with. A little sassy, but usually very open and friendly. Confident, smart, and surprisingly diverse & multi-dimensional.</p>
<p>Barnard (the school): having your cake and eating it, too. LAC and a university, gated campus in a huge city, women's college with guys in classes. Focus on making the students the best they can be at whatever it is they want to be.</p>
<p>it's not an LAC, but how would you describe Berkeley?</p>
<p>hasty generalizations/ one-liners needed:</p>
<p>CORNELL
BROWN
CARLETON
WASH U
NORTHWESTERN
UT AUSTIN
POMONA
CLAREMONT MCKENNA
JOHNS HOPKINS (not pre-med-- intl relations/ poli sci; perhaps that is a diff personality from premeds)</p>
<p>Wash U: The Mail Must Get Through.</p>
<p>Sorry...I know it's not helpful. But it <em>is</em> accurate.</p>
<p>Ugh... you know, Wash U's aggressive mailing campaign was actually counterproductive, at least with me. The postal bombardment really turned me off of the school ;)</p>
<p>all the schools on your list appeal to serious bookworms to one degree or another. Williams may have a tad more athletes; Wesleyan has a tad more performing artists and political activists. My guess would be there are pockets of extroverts at all the schools listed.</p>
<p>What about Berkeley?
Is it possible to sum it up in a few lines?</p>
<p>I'll try: Berkeley -- A school where you can find anything if you are active, determined, energetic, and smart. Any class, any club, any cause, any event, any type of student, any experience. </p>
<p>(That's what makes it so difficult to sum up!)</p>
<p>Princeton: work hard, play hard, do everything else while you're at it, and love every minute of it.</p>
<p>I have never met a group of students and alumni more excited about an institution than Princeton students/alumni. That kind of excitement about a school is one of the things that made me pick Princeton to begin with, and two years into the experience, I would make the same decision again. Going to Princeton has been one of the most fun, challenging, and stimulating experiences I could've asked for. The people are great. Contrary to popular belief, students are not particularly competitive with other students; rather, students are competitive with themselves, working for their own best. Students are intense because they are passionate about everything they do. Professors are very accessible and helpful. Because Princeton is fairly small, and is a primarily undergraduate focused institution (4600 undergrads, 2000 grad students), students get incredible attention and access to university resources. My favorite way to describe it is, all the resources of a large research university, with the attention and closeness of a small college. As far as social life goes, I will concede that Princeton does have a very unique atmosphere and scene (predominance of the eating clubs, which have gotten a somewhat negative reputation from the outside, but I think that the phrase "you think you know, but you have no idea," pertains well to that reputation). I think it's a lot of fun, and I couldn't complain. It's not for everyone, but I think that there is a lot of unwarranted criticism of the system. </p>
<p>Anyway, as I said, I would make the same decision again.</p>
<p>Okay, Okay Tiger - you love Princeton but can't follow instructions very well. The request was to post "brief descriptions" ..... anyway, we all get your point.</p>
<p>For MIT -- Getting an education at MIT is like taking a drink from a firehose.</p>
<p>Quote: "For MIT -- Getting an education at MIT is like taking a drink from a firehose"</p>
<p>what exactly do you mean?</p>
<p>What about the University of Colorado at Boulder, Lafayette College, and Villanova?</p>
<p>
[quote]
what exactly do you mean?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's sort of intended to mean that the work at MIT is so tough that it blasts students with the force of a firehose.</p>
<p><a href="http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_105/TECH_V105_S0941_P002.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_105/TECH_V105_S0941_P002.pdf</a>
Admittedly, this article is almost 20 years old, but I think it's still relevant when talking about the culture of MIT.</p>
<p>Ohio Wesleyan University: tight-knit supportive very international community, arrogant New England student body, tons of work but great social life, involved student body.</p>
<p>Well, friends and neighbors, this thread seems to have petered out. Either we have characterized all schools that are susceptible to such type-casting, or students who go to other schools just don't travel these parent threads. So, as a final assignment, what about doing what idad did -- 1) post clips from other threads by actual students reporting their own views of their schools -- and 2) what momsdream did in her post of 5/14, which is post a link to opinion end-of-year pieces by senior editors of college newspapers on their own experiences at their schools. </p>
<p>(I tried to create those nifty quote boxes, and there were detailed instructions on how to do this on another thread, but I can't find this right now.)</p>
<p>Idad's post was this:</p>
<p>{"Two recent grads from the UChicago forum. (<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com...48&page=8&pp=20%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com...48&page=8&pp=20</a>)</p>
<p>BY hanna1: hi I graduate from uofc ast spring... There is very, very much a social life at chicago, I went out at least three nights a week, the entire time I was there, and was not alone, I would say that at least half of any given class, are very social, and it seemed like the kids younger than me were even more social than my class. There are frats, there are house parties, there is down town. The original poster is totally wrong if he is leading you to believe that he is "normal" for spending all his time at the reg.</p>
<p>By chicagograd: At Chicago, I majored in biology, played a varsity sport, took some time off to work in the real world, and am now heading off to a top 20 medical school in the fall. The Chicago name is, in my opinion, very very well respected for applying to grad school. At my Harvard intervew, my interviewer called it a phenomenal institution. Word of advice: Be yourself at Chicago and explore everything and anything, including the city. If there is anything that Chicago doesn't like, its pretentiousness."}</p>
<p>Back to the present:</p>
<p>If no one has the energy for this thread anymore, well, I understand, and thank you so much for all your help. I have learned a lot from this.</p>
<p>Chicago sounds cool, then. There are some guys that say that UChicago has a very boring atmosphere. I don't know, but I can't imaging how can that be when you have such a city at your doorstep and when the students are supposed to be o brilliant and, therefore, interesting people</p>
<p>Great ideas, Xmere. Here's one from the Harvard Crimson:</p>
<p>
[quote]
I had been inundated with Harvard propaganda in high school: Harvard has the most distinguished faculty of any university. Harvard has the most diverse athletic program. Even Harvard dining hall cuisine is the most delicious. Naturally, I was anticipating an amazing college experience.</p>
<p>I have had one, but not for any of those reasons. No Harvard literature ever mentioned anything about making friends at school. Granted, if it had, I probably would have thought it was a bit presumptuous. After all, even Harvard can not guarantee that. I never really thought about the friends I would make. I was excited to meet new people, but thats as far as it went.</p>
<p>I came to school in the fall of 2001 and found much of the propaganda to be true. The faculty was distinguished. The athletic program was diverse. Even the food was not too bad. Freshman year was a lot of fun. I worked; I played; I met a lot of people; I made some friends.</p>
<p>It wasnt until sophomore fall that I fully realized what I had though. I suffered a concussion and the experience (quite literally) knocked some sense into me. After an awful night in Mt. Auburn Hospital being woken up every hour to make sure I was still alive, I was returning to Dunster in a taxi. My cell phone beeped, and I saw that I had a voicemail. It was from a bunch of my friends. They had gotten together to call me and see if I was alrightspecifically, to see how my crippled ass was doing (yes, thats a direct quote). A simple gesture, sure, but a meaningful one too. Perhaps my exhaustion or my rattled mind enhanced the effect of the voicemail, but that was the first time I really understood how lucky I was to have these friends. More than two years later, that message is still saved on my cell phone.</p>
<p>(...)</p>
<p>Together, we have learned to live away from home, chosen concentrations, coped with the zoo known as Annenberg, figured out blocking, been punched (fortunately, by clubs), searched for jobs, joined organizations, suffered through 7 a.m. practices, crammed for exams, triumphed, failed, held each others hair back, slain the thesis beast, whined, dined, thought, joked, laughed, and, most recently, partied in Cabo. It has been an amazing four years.</p>
<p>(...)</p>
<p>Some may call me schmaltzy (you may well be right). Others may think I am stating the obvious (you may be right, too). But I think I am just lucky for finding the friends that I have. To my nearest and dearest comrades, you know how you are, thank you for making these four years at Harvard so wonderful; thank you for being there for me whether I was laughing or crying; thank you for giving me the greatest gift of all, your friendship.
[/quote]