<p>Hyperfried, a couple of thoughts. First with respect to considering Brandeis a safety school, that’s a bit optimistic. As a “most selective” school, and given the high-credentialed applicant pool it attracts, you would have to have very impressive stats and ec’s to view it as a safety, and even then you really can’t be sure. Moreover, I believe the more you learn about Brandeis, the more it will tend to become one of your top choices.</p>
<p>Brandeis is truly an amazing school. It combines a nurturing, small liberal arts college and world-class research university-with the smallest student body I believe (less than 800 in a class) of any top tier national research university. And that small student body is matched with high-powered professors who actually teach in small classes. As you can imagine, the research opportunities are tremendous. Plus it’s very close to Boston but on its own suburban campus.</p>
<p>Its intellectual environment is comparable in many ways to its University Athletic Association sister school, U Chicago (perhaps no coincidence that the President of U Chicago is a Brandeis alum). Yet its students are down-to-earth, friendly and non-competitive with one another. FYI in a recent Forbes national college rankings survey, Brandeis was ranked 15th among research universities and 30th overall among all private univerities and LAC’s–a testament to its focus on undergraduate education. Larger schools, including some Ivies, were ranked much lower. </p>
<p>Despite its small size and relative youth, Brandeis’ alumni are very distinguished–to name just a few: Nobel Prize winner for chemistry Rod Mackinnon, Fields Medal winning physicist Edward Witten (often called “Einstein’s successor”), 3-time Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Friedman of the NY Times, The Earth is Flat etc; Mitch Albom of Tuesday’s with Morrie (about his Brandeis professor), the Creators/Producers of Friends; Robert FX Sillerman (billionaire businessman–currently owner of American Idol and Graceland) and Christy Hefner, former CEO of Playboy). Also, if you’re into social justice (Angela Davis and Abbie Hoffman are alums as well, I could go on) or theater/music/art, it’s a very exciting place to be.</p>
<p>As for the attractiveness of Brandeis women, not only is Brandeis alum, and now the reigning Miss Massachusetts, Amanda Kelly on her way to the Miss America pagent, but with Brandeis graduates like Debra Messing (Grace of “Will and Grace”), Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher of “Star Trek TNG”) etc., the sterotype of unattractive students was belied years ago. </p>
<p>Finally, with respect to the gay population, I have no info on that. But I seriously doubt it’s more than reflective of society in general. </p>
<p>Good luck with your applications!</p>