<p>Maybe you should be smart enough to get a scholarship there.</p>
<p>I never wanted to be a green wave regardless. The school has very nice facilities, its engineering program is finally getting back together. Emory2013, have you ever heard of Tulane where you are from, I always wondered if people here the name outside of Louisiana.</p>
<p>The school didnāt offer my major regardless.</p>
<p>Iām from Louisiana. TBH Iām going to Tulane because Emory didnāt offer enough money. lul</p>
<p>I donāt blame you, tulane will give you an awesome education. Good luck to you, what do you plan on majoring in?</p>
<p>These are just my views of schools in PA. </p>
<p>State Schools/State Funded Schools:</p>
<p>IUP- Party School.
Bloom- Also a party school, but good for education. A ton of my teachers are Bloom grads.
Kutztown- Pretty good school for the arts and education as well.
East Stroudsburg- Honestly, I know nothing about this school, except that a ton of kids from my school apply.
West Chester- People rave about this school and it seems to have one of the best reputations in the PA state school system, but I know nothing about it.
Shippensburg- Party school in the middle of nowhere.
Temple University- Temple seems like a pretty decent school with above average academics. My school sends a ton of kids to temple. The Tyler School of Art is great. Overall, Temple U has a good reputation.
University of Pittsburgh- Iād agree with what other people said about Pitt being āon the rise.ā Admissions were pretty competative this year.
Penn State University Park- I find Penn State to be incredibly overrated, but Iām biased because my Notre Dame loving family raised me to hate Penn State (LOL). Itās a party school, but the Schreyers Honors Program is excellent.
Satellite Campuses- Most of them are pretty mediocre, not going to lie.
Pitt- Admissions were more competative this year than in past years. A know people with 1800ās and pretty high gpaās that were waitlisted at Pitt this year. In past years they would have gotten in. </p>
<p>Privates:
Drexel- All I know is that Drexel is pretty good for engineering.
Saint Josephās- Itās not widely known outside of PA. The Haub School of Business is probably itās best asset.
Wilkes/Kings- I live near Wilkes and Kings and take classes at Wilkes through their dual enrollment program. Some of my classes at Wilkes have been great and others have been terrible. The academics are fairly easy. They have a great pharmacy program.
University of Scranton- U of Scranton is popular at my school. They have decent academics and they are a Jesuit school. I applied there as a safety and many of my family members have graduated from there. They have a pretty well known grad school. </p>
<p>Lehigh University- Kids at my school seem to regard Lehigh a little too highly. Lehigh has good academics, but itās definately a party school. Iām pretty sure itās on PRās list for āmost beerā or something like thatā¦
Lafayette College- I know almost nothing about this school, except that it has good academics, but Easton isnāt exactly picturesque.
Bucknell- Top students at my school apply to Bucknell, failing to realize that Swarthmore, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr are better LACās. Their FA is bad and from what Iāve heard, Bucknell is pretty homogenous. </p>
<p>Best Colleges in PA (in my opinion :D):
UPenn- Do I even have to say anything?
Swarthmore- Fabulous academics, in the top 3 LACās in the country, but incredibly underrated in my area. Noone from my school has even heard of it. Itās horrifying.
Haverford- Same as Swarthmore pretty muchā¦ very underrated.
Bryn Mawr- Best womenās college in the country. Of course, I am biased. 
But in all honesty, it has fabulous academics, itās a top feeder school, and itās in a consortium with Haverford, Swarthmore, and UPenn. </p>
<p>Sorry if there are typos, I typed that super fast.</p>
<p>Iām glad you left Nova out :P</p>
<p>^haha oopsā¦ thatās pretty bad especially considering I applied there and got in. The financial aid was terrible though.</p>
<p>Illinois (again)-</p>
<p>UIUC- The real gem of Illinois publics. Almost everyone in the top 25% of my class applied here. A good chunk got rejected and I go to a pretty competitive school. Everyone wears the orange in Illinois even if they are not an actual Illini student or alum.</p>
<p>UIC- Very big and concrete (meaning most of the campus is concrete) school. Med stuff is good. They attract mediocre students that want to be close to the city. Very interesting demographics as well. </p>
<p>UIS (Springfield)- The only state school I have never visited; I am happy about that. I know nothing about this school. They might be NCAA D3 but I donāt know. </p>
<p>EIU- Teachers school. I would imagine it attracts a lot of kids from the area. </p>
<p>WIU- Known in my school as standing for āWe Idiots Uniteā. Not saying itās right, that is just what they say. Really no ones first or second choice, people just go there for the parties really. </p>
<p>NIU- I went to high school about 20 minutes from campus. We had numerous field trips to the NIU library to do research for projects and stuff. Both my parents went there and 6 of my dads 9 brothers. Needless to say I have a strong legacy here, I may be a little biased. I think it can be a good school if you want to go to their law school after undergrad. I may be transferring here because of the low price tag. </p>
<p>ISU- Teacher school. I visited it and I did not like it at all. People regard it as the UIUC reject school. 2nd choice to a lot of students that want to stay instate. </p>
<p>SIU- Party central. I donāt know if they do academics half the time. They do have a med and law school though. I may be transferring here as well. </p>
<p>SIUE- Nobody cares really.</p>
<p>University of Virginia = #1 large public university in VA, party school, prestigious, difficult to get into, reputation for strong academics, great law school, beautiful grounds.
College of William & Mary = #1 small public university in VA, difficult, prestigious, for the mature student who knows he/she will have to study but also knows the degree from W&M means something.
University of Mary Washington = small public university similar to a private university, beautiful architecture and park-like setting, good international affairs program, good historic preservation program, good liberal arts education.<br>
James Madison University = students seem happy there, party school, area is beautiful (mountains), lots of general education requirements, good food, good music department. Good liberal arts education.
Virginia Tech = not so easy to get into, good engineering program, good food, students seem happy there, lots of school spirit; Blacksburg is beautiful (mountains).
Christopher Newport University = small university, getting more popular, beautiful library. Great entertainment center. Friendly, accessible administration. Students seem happy there. Good arts program. Good liberal arts education. Will become more difficult to gain acceptance in the futureābecoming more like William & Mary.
Virginia Commonwealth University = good arts and pre-med programs. Lots of team spirit. Good education. Students seem very happy there and often transfer from other universities to go there, never regretting their decision.</p>
<p>Iāll take a shot at NY. (from LI) These arenāt necessarily MY views, just the reputations.</p>
<p>PRIVATE:
Columbia: Ivy, NYC, awesome reputation but most people want to go a little further away. Known for having a kind of lackluster social life, everyone who goes from my school is very intellectual and not that into partying.</p>
<p>Cornell: Great programs, great reputation, attracts kids as smart as the ones Columbia does, but that like to party a bit more. My school usually sends quite a few people, this year being the exception.</p>
<p>NYU: High school redux, but artsier. Seriously, we (& surrounding schools) send 20+ every year. Awesome business and arts programs, but CAS has a reputation as a bit of a joke. Hard to get in from other places, but our school has a ridiculously good relationship with them so a lot of not-that-intelligent people get in.</p>
<p>Barnard: Known as a āback doorā to Columbia, kind of, and this has been said by people who go there. HOWEVER, usually we send really ridiculously fashionable/cool/smart girls there, and they all love it.</p>
<p>Vassar: Liberal/coked out. We send a smart druggie here every year. EXCELLENT academics.</p>
<p>Hamilton: Awesome LAC, middle of nowhere, not mentioned that much but generally well-respected.</p>
<p>Colgate: PREPPY, but very good academics.</p>
<p>Skidmore: Artsy, kind of on the rise, decent academics but a bit overrated around here.</p>
<p>Fordham: Really, really solid reputation. My school sends a bunch of people here who maybe werenāt academic STARS in high school but end up doing very well there.</p>
<p>Syracuse: Where all the Jewish American Princesses go. VERY Greek dominated. Can be high school redux some years, not that hard to get into from around here.</p>
<p>Hofstra/Adelphi/CW Post: High school high school high school!</p>
<p>PUBLIC
SUNY Binghamton: The one everyone wants to go to if they know they have to stay in-state. Big, good academics, everyoneās parents went here. Notoriously ugly campus, though. </p>
<p>SUNY Geneseo: Apparently not that good back in the day, but amazing now. Small, really pretty campus. Lots apply, but not that many go.</p>
<p>SUNY Albany: Party school, hideous campus, kind of on a downfall.</p>
<p>SUNY Stony Brook: Great for the sciences, but a commuter school with no campus life.</p>
<p>Buffalo State: Ridiculously easy to get in. RIDICULOUSLY. Theyāll take you if you breathe.</p>
<p>Local CCāNassau Community College, or NKK, actually one of the best CCs in the country. Slackers and those who canāt afford anything else go and usually transfer somewhere really good (I have some friends that transferred to NYU, Tulane, etc.) or middle about and go five years without getting their associates.</p>
<p>CUNYs- Theyāre fine, apparently.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>But the point is that smart and motivated students from high school by and large are much more likely to attend top undergrad institutions (which explains why they can end up later at top graduate programs). In other words, the chances of picking a dud from Princeton is pretty low. But picking from UCF? The variability in quality (relative to Princeton, at least), is huge.<br>
Where you went to school definitely doesnāt define your intellectual horsepower ā but rightly or wrongly, it <em>is</em> a data point thatās taken into account.</p>
<p>SUNY Buffalo is much more selective than Buffalo State.</p>
<p>1) Univ. of Alabama - Beautiful Campus, Great Honors Programs, Great Scholarships, Wonderful New Dorms, Highest Ranking for an Alabama University in both US News and Princeton Review, Awesome Business, Communication, Nursing, Health, Creative Writing, Accounting, Public Relations, and Improving Science and Engineering Programs. Get in while you can as the admissions standards are increasing now that the school has reached its goal of enrolling 28,000 students.</p>
<p>Iāll do Louisiana:</p>
<p>LSU-TOPS is pretty cool. Baton Rouge is the most boring city on planet Earth. All you have to do there is pretty much go to football games and get drunk. You could go the Mall of Louisiana or the urban sprawl that is Seigen Lane too. Yipee. LSU itself is okay esp. the Honors College. </p>
<p>Nicholls State-A really nice campus. Thibodaux itself is pretty godawful (slightly more godawful than Baton Rouge) though. </p>
<p>Tulane-The best school in Louisiana hands down. New Orleans is amazing, and would be a great city to spend four years in.</p>
<p>LaTech-The only thing I know about it is kids in my high school sign to play football there.</p>
<p>California: orange county</p>
<p>UC Berkeley: goal, but not as good as ivys.
Standford: gamble admission.
UCLA: easier to get in than people say (this is probably biased since 40% kids of my school who applied got in. seriously biased).
UCI: too close to home.
UCSD: the one school with its own tier.
UCR: back up.
UCD: easy to get in but not absolutely safe.
UCSB: party/rich school.
UCSC/UCM: jokes.</p>
<p>Pomona: too small. too hard.
Chapman: really expensive joke.</p>
<p>ASU- party schoolā¦good school but more known for its CRAZY parties
NAU- flagstaff=snow, cool school
UofA- totally disowned by the people who love ASU which is like everyone, but itās a good school</p>
<p>university of kansas- good med school, party school
kansas state- i think their engineering school is ranked. is supposed to be smarter on average than ku
wichita state, emporia state, mac colleges- tinier colleges really donāt know much
misc community colleges- hell if i know</p>
<p>āUC Berkeley: goal, but not as good as ivys.ā</p>
<p>What does that mean?</p>
<p>PA:</p>
<p>Generally, Pitt > Penn State > Templeā¦the others. </p>
<p>The kids who canāt get into Penn State usually go to Temple (with the exception of art students), and the kids who canāt get into Pitt go to Penn State, although there are some who choose PSU over Pitt (usually for Schreyer Honors).</p>