<p>Hi, I'm a Junior, and I am trying to make a list of colleges that I plan on applying to. Out of these (Penn, Stanford, Duke, Harvard, Northwestern), which best fits me? I realize that I should visit these schools to really get the feel for which is better, but I am just looking for some help nonetheless. Anyways, here is what I'm looking for:</p>
<p>-great pre-medical program (I want good advising to help me find research opportunities and internships, etc. I want a place that has great overall academics too with friendly and accessible teachers.)</p>
<p>-location in/next to a big city (I want to experience a cultural city that offers things from great restaurants to popular sports teams to fantastic shows. I know that I probably won't be able to see everything and will probably only go out to the city once or twice a week, but I want to have the option at least.)</p>
<p>-great school spirit (I want to be around a tight-knit environment with people of the sort. Also, I really enjoy watching sports (especially football and basketball) and want to go somewhere that has lots of school spirit and fans for their sports teams, which are at least pretty successful. I don't need the top ranked school in each sport, but entertaining, competitive sports would be super fun to watch.)</p>
<p>-competitive atmosphere, but not cutthroat (I like competition. I feed off competition in a way. And I want to be around competitive people, but not SUPER competitive people. I don't want to be around people who won't work with me on homework, help me out, etc.)</p>
<p>Duke, Penn, Stanford, Harvard, Northwestern for premed
Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Penn, Harvard for spirit (stanford, duke and NW are all fantastic sports schools, Penn> harvard in ivy league)
Harvard, Penn, NW, Duke, Stanford for semi-competitive people (harvard might be too high)
Penn, NW, Harvard, Stanford, Duke for location</p>
<p>If you want to be in/near a big city that pretty much limits it to Harvard, Penn and Northwestern.</p>
<p>Now that I live in San Francisco I can say that it’s a great city, but you won’t be coming up from Stanford once or twice a week. It’s close to an hour away by Caltrain. And Duke just isn’t near any city worth the name.</p>
<p>If you come from the east coast like me, your best options are probably Harvard and Penn for all those criteria. Research what each school has to offer and apply it to what you want to do academically–that’s the best way to choose. Go visit them, too, because that changes everything. I originally did not want to even apply to Penn, then I applied ED and was accepted. Good luck!</p>
<p>when you get into any/or all of these schools, come back with this question. This is really only relevant if you are deciding where to apply ED, in which case you should indicate that.</p>
<p>Harvard and Penn are probably your best bet. However, I’m not too sure about Harvard about its environment. Penn is considered the social ivy, has a great football team and is really in the heart of Philadelphia. Its in a safe place, offers great support, the kids don’t make it feel like their only here to be number one. Overall, wherever you choose to apply to, it’ll all work out in the end. happy college-picking!!!</p>
happy college-picking!!!</p>