<p>
</p>
<p>All 5 are reaches for most applicants, even with good stats. When you take reputation/prestige away and look at less selective “match” schools, which ones does he like? That might tell us something about his preferences. Meanwhile, here’s a list of metrics suggesting relative student, faculty, and facility strength:</p>
<p>Chicago
Mean SAT: 2180
Average faculty salary: $127,627
Classes under 20%: 78%
Endowment/Student: $6.31 billion / 15438 ~= $409K
Library holdings: 7.8M volumes
Strengths: integrated Core curriculum
Weaknesses: surrounding urban blight; crappy weather
Strength/Weakness (you decide): requirements associated w/ Core curriculum; Chicago location; theoretical orientation; nerdy students</p>
<p>Penn
Mean SAT: 2140
Average faculty salary: $124,240
Classes under 20%: 72%
Endowment/Student: $6.58 billion /21,203 ~=$310K
Library holdings: 5.9M volumes
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Strength/Weakness (you decide): Philadelphia location; relatively pre-professional orientation; large size</p>
<p>Duke
Mean SAT: 1475 (CR/M only)
Average faculty salary: $112,135
Classes under 20%: 71%
Endowment/Student: $5.7 billion / 14,248 ~=$400K
Library holdings: 5.7M volumes
Strengths: great weather; good balance of academics w/quality of life
Weaknesses:
Strength/Weakness (you decide): big-time collegiate sports programs, Greek scene</p>
<p>JHU
Mean SAT: 2090
Average Faculty Salary: $93,587
Classes under 20%: 67%
Endowment/Student: $2.22 billion / 19019 ~=$117K
Library holdings: 3.7M volumes
Strengths: excellent research opportunities (#1 in annual research expenditures)
Weaknesses: Baltimore location</p>
<hr>
<p>Pomona (LAC)
Mean SAT: 2200
Average faculty salary: N/A
Classes under 20%: 67%
Endowment/Student: $1.458 billion / 1548 ~= $942K
Library holdings: (not among top 50)
Strengths: Claremont consortium; great weather
Weaknesses:
Strength/Weakness (you decide): small size</p>
<p>Overall Comment:
For the best balance of academics + quality of life, Duke probably is the best pick (unless you want a smaller, more intimate environment, in which case go w/ Pomona).
If you live and breathe academics, Chicago probably is the best pick.
But don’t count on being admitted to all 5.</p>
<p>Sources:
[50</a> Top Colleges](<a href=“http://50topcolleges.com/]50”>http://50topcolleges.com/)
[url=<a href=“The Best College Rankings and Lists | Inside College | CollegeXpress”>The Best College Rankings and Lists | Inside College | CollegeXpress]The</a> Top 50 Largest College Libraries | InsideCollege.com<a href=“plus%20individual%20college%20Wiki%20pages%20for%20endowment%20&%20enrollment%20numbers”>/url</a></p>