<p>I'm a rising senior and I've been reading tons of student reviews online. I KNOW I want to go to school in boston. I'm applying to northeastern, boston university, tufts, and brandeis. The problem is, I don't know where I would be happiest. I definitely want to be academically challenged but also have the chance to explore other interests. I also don't want a nonexistent social life, but I'm kind of a weird mix of things. I'm a black middle-class female. I'm very open and friendly and pretty weird you could say (calm down i'm not doing autopsies on roadkill. I might just break out doing the moesby dance in the middle of a conversation about the walking dead). But despite my eccentricity I am NOT socially awkward. I'm incredibly extroverted and very social. I just have no idea how I'll be able to comfortably be myself, challenge myself, and have a life. HELP ME PLEASE!</p>
<p>I’ve heard horror stories about lack of social life, racial acceptance, and a high snob-factor. I don’t want to be a statistic or an outcast…</p>
<p>If at all possible the best thing you can do is to visit the schools and see which environment/student body you feel most comfortable with.</p>
<p>I did visit. Brandeis was the best but I’m concerned about the lack of social life</p>
<p>First apply and see where you get in. You can have some time to think on it. No one can answer this for you. Brandeis, Tufts, BU, NEU.</p>
<p>Also where you can afford. BU’s per person financial aid budget pales in comparison to Brandeis, BC, and Tufts.</p>
<p>These schools are all large enough to have a mix of personalities. I wouldn’t worry about fitting in at BU, Tufts or Northeastern. I’m not that familiar with Brandeis. I’d also suggest that you look at Boston College and Holy Cross. If you’d consider going a little further afield, Amherst, which is part of a larger consortium in a great – though small – college town.</p>
<p>You should avoid BC. They have terrible class and racial interaction there. If you are looking for schools with low snob, avoid BC</p>
<p>I think Brandeis would be good, they seem to attract an eclectic group you’ll fit in with–and it sounds like you will be a social asset anywhere you go. You might get some merit money too. Tufts is very social. Those are my 2 picks. Why don’t you see if anything is going on in the dedicated forums here for those colleges, sometimes current and recent students are posting.</p>
<p>^Does Brandeis give merit? </p>
<p>@bookaddiiict </p>
<p>Some of those schools give lousy aid, so you need to have your parents run the NPCs to determine if they are even affordable.</p>
<p>Do you know how much your family will pay each year?</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>Hum it looks like they only offer merit awards to continuing students. But they recently did offer merit I think. One girl reported a full ride. She said full ride ‘scholarship’ but perhaps just a very generous need based aid package.
<a href=“Should I pick Brandeis or Howard University? - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1628056-should-i-pick-brandeis-or-howard-university-p1.html</a></p>
<p>Her stats are very good, see posting history, she has good chance at any of these.</p>
<p>I think you would fit in at Tufts the best. Tufts will have the brightest students and more than a few weird (quirky?) ones also. It will have the most creative and “social” (as opposed to straight “partier”) students.</p>
<p>I work and live near Boston so I’ve run across quite a few BU and NEU students- I would not say these schools fit your needs as well as Tufts does. In my experience, grads from these schools are a little more “vanilla” in personality. There is plenty of social life to participate in at both schools though.</p>
<p>I don’t know Brandeis that well except that it is still predominantly Jewish (50%) and has a great academic reputation. </p>
<p>BU and NEU are big steps down from Tufts academically but you’d still get a great education. If you liked Brandeis the best, it does have a great academic reputation. Tufts has the best brand recognition, and even though it is considered a safety for the ivy league, it is still lots of students’ “dream school”.</p>
<p>BU and Northeastern are right inside the city, if that’s where you want to be. Tufts and Brandeis are suburban, but pretty accessible to Boston.</p>
<p>@BrownParent
that student did not have high stats so the pkg was based on need and maybe diversity.</p>
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<p>If she had had strong stats, then Howard would have given her merit…large merit.</p>
<p>Brandeis has gradually moved away from offering merit awards to incoming freshmen. They depend increasingly upon need-based aid.</p>
<p>Therefore, you cannot know anything about the likelihood of aid until you run the calculators.</p>