Hello all! I have narrowed my list of colleges down to three, but I feel as though my mind changes every minute and would love to hear other people’s input. I am out of state for all schools (NJ) and my major is undecided. Each school will take the AP credit I already have/expect to have. I visited all three (PSU and Bama twice) and can afford each school.
PSU: they have a separate college for being undecided which I like because I have absolutely no idea what I want to do, my mom is an alum so I grew up loving the school, the main cons are that I did not get into the honors college and that I worry whether I go or not i’ll always wonder “what if” , as in “what if i had gone south” (which i thought i was completely sold on) or “what if I had gone to penn state” (seeing as though im pretty much in love with it other than the dorms, the people (based on groupchats i’ve been in and that i wanted to get away from northeasterners), and it not being in the south)
Clemson: probably the most competitive to get into of the three, flying distance but there a lot of direct flights to airports nearby, did not get into honors but not as big of an undergrad size as other two, a con (as silly as this sounds) is that is in the ACC (seems less exciting to me than BIG or SEC)
Bama: gave me the most scholarship money and I got into the honors college, nicest dorms (I would have my own bedroom), main concerns are that Greek life is overpowering (I want to rush a sorority, but don’t want it to become my whole life), and once football season is over I might get bored
Thank you to anyone who read through all that, sorry it’s a bit all over the place!
want to get out of New Jersey and really don’t like the campus of Rutgers…and I wish Penn State was in the south, but that’s true about conservatives, if only it was warmer haha
Your first post is confusing to me. Do you or don’t you like “the people” at Penn state ?
Since your original post in this thread suggests that you do not like the dorms at PSU, you do not like the people at PSU & you want to get away from Northeasterners, then why is PSU being considered at all ?
The ACC is an exciting athletic conference for the big 3 sports ( football, baseball & basketball). Clemson has a beautiful location next to a very large lake. Great college town.
If you have narrowed it down to these three, it would be interesting & helpful to know which schools you are not considering but have been accepted to.
I don’t like the people, but that is based on grouchats I have been in and what I have heard, so I am worried that may not be an accurate representation of what the people are like. As far as the dorms go, that would only be for one year so I don’t want to make that a 100 percent deal breaker. The reasons I have it as one of my top are I feel like it will be the most helpful as far as me being undecided (the other two schools are not as clear with what resources will be available), that it is within driving distance in case something were to happen, I love the campus and town (and the feeling I got on campus, as cheesey as that sounds), the alumni network, and that I grew up loving/cheering for the school.
I was also accepted to LSU, University of South Carolina, Univeristy of Georgia, Tulane, Texas Christian University, Southern Methodist University, and Auburn. I realized I do not want to be in a city,which is the reason I cut off most of these. Auburn and UGA were two schools I wanted to love, but just didn’t for no specific reason.
I am familiar with all three schools. Greek life for one in a sorority at Alabama is your life–so your fears seem justified. I agree with your other impressions.
Is cost a factor ? If not, I would consider Clemson–at least visit the school again.
I have lived in several parts of the country including the Northeast & the South. I love the South ! But I also love the West & the Southwest. I encourage you to rule out Penn State & take a chance on a different region of the country.
LSU has financial issues that make it less attractive than the others.
SMU has a culture of wealth in a wealthy city.
I also prefer Alabama over Auburn. In fact, I don’t know many who applied to both schools–either one or the other.
Tulane has a culture of its own. I have spent a great deal of time in New Orleans & do not recommend it for one’s college years.
Univ. of South Carolina is a great option if in the Honors College.
I do not know anything about TCU.
If you visit Clemson, rent a car & take a friend or family member & drive down to Univ. of Georgia. Or fly into Atlanta, drive to Athens, then up to Clemson.
Anyway, I am envious. I wish I had the knowledge when I was young to apply to such a wide variety of large state schools.
Although not an academic consideration, road trips to the beach from USC or from Georgia or Alabama to the Florida Panhandle are great bonding experiences. Create wonderful lifetime memories.
I like you because you want to venture beyond the Northeast & , I think, that you want to really enjoy life during your college years !
I would vote Clemson of those three. Beautiful campus, real seasons, and small town, which you said you like. It’s a stem school, so greek life will not be as big as others. You mentioned sports, Clemson is as close to SEC football as you can get and yearly rivalry games with South Carolina, Florida State as well as GaTech, NC State and Louisville. I’ve been there for a couple of games, pretty awesome. You also get ACC basketball.
thank you everyone! i think i am going to just go for it and go south. as much as i’ll always love penn state, i think seeing a different part of the country will be beneficial. hoping to visit clemson again, more expensive than bama but not enough to rule it out.
In order to really enjoy The South learn to play tennis–especially if you end up in Atlanta (most active tennis community in the world)–and enjoy jogging/distance running.
If you go to Clemson, try to spend some time water skiing in Lake Hartwell.
All of these fresh air activities & exercise make studying & retention of material much easier. Plus, you will make lifelong friends.
With respect to intercollegiate sports, the SEC is the best for football & track & field. Also strong in baseball. Baseball & track & field events are relaxing; football games are exhilarating.
Alabama has a beautiful gym that encourages everyone to work out. College is a time for intellectual, social & physical growth. For some, spiritual growth also–but that most often comes later in life.
I haven’t been to any of these universities in years, but I suspect that they all have great facilities–and that is important because you want to develop in many ways–not just intellectually.
Would you be okay at Bama if you didn’t rush a sorority and instead found another social group? It sound like it’s the school you liked best except for that, so if you find an alternative to bama greeks (and since 70% aren’t in Greek life there HAS TO be some Social alternatives) it’d be a good solution.
Clemson is more of a STEM school so if you’re totally undecided it may not be the best choice academically.
As for Penn State, you could join the paterno fellow Aspirants, take honors classes with Schreyer and if you measure up use that as your gateway to Schreyer. Paterno fellow is a program for liberal arts majors but it’s open to undecided students who could end up majoring in one of their programs (political economy, labor relations, organizational psychology, global studies, statisticd applied to politics, biological anthropology, professional writing, as well as more traditional subjects like sociology, French, philosophy…) So you’d have another way to get into Schreyer.
That being said, I think college is a great time to travel and discover the country. So, if you can’t revisit, but this time do an overnight. Pick an easy class to compare: freshman English ( note that for Paterno fellow Aspirants it’s totzlly different from others, not 4/5/15/30 but English 138; at Clemson, English 1030;? at Bama) and a course of interest. Do the students seem engaged? Does the syllabus seem interesting?
Go visit the library: is it inviting, can you see yourself studying there? Eat in the cafeteria: are people social? Sitting in cliques?