School recommendations

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey guys. I would like to know the colleges that satisfy these criteria:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Beautiful (e.g. Stanford) but NOT REMOTE campus - preferably in a safe area</p></li>
<li><p>Good economics department</p></li>
<li><p>Small class sizes, if possible</p></li>
<li><p>Weather should not be really cold as I'm used to winter days of about 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit</p></li>
<li><p>Good college town nearby, with a selection of restaurants, bars, cafes and nightlife (e.g. Boston, Ann Arbor)</p></li>
</ul>

<p>So far I've come up with:
Trinity University (TX)
Rice University
Vanderbilt University
University of Southern California
Duke University
Stanford University
Carnegie Mellon University
Susquehanna University
Case Western Reserve University
University of Michigan
Pomona College</p>

<p>By the way, I'm an international student.</p>

2

<p>You did not mention what your statistics were?</p>

3

<p>1380/1600 SAT I
710/800 Maths 1
770/800 Chemistry</p>

<p>5 A-levels Grade A
8 GCSEs Grade A
Class rank:1/90
GPA: 4.0</p>

4

<p>Any recommendations?</p>

5

<p>Ok, so here is the list of universities I’m looking at, my criteria are stated above. If anyone has any comments or recommendations or any advice I’d greatly appreciate it.</p>

<p>Bowdoin College
College of the Holy Cross
Colorado College
Connecticut College
Davidson College
Denison University
Drew University
Duke University
Elon University
Emory University
Franklin & Marshall College
Furman University
Hamilton College
Haverford College
Indiana University
Kalamazoo College
Knox College
Lafayette College
Lawrence University
Miami University
Middlebury College
Northwestern University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Pomona College
Rhodes College
Rollins College
Rice University
Stanford University
Susquehanna University
Syracuse University
Trinity University (TX)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Michigan
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
University of Virginia
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin – Madison
Vanderbilt University
Wake Forest University
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington and Lee University
Whitman College</p>

<p>Also to add my ECs to my academic stats:
24-month military service
Model UN participant
Some work experience</p>

6

<p>If you do not like cold weather you should remove Hamilton, Bowdoin, Holy Cross, Syracuse, Northwestern, Ohio Wesleyan, Kalamazoo, Drew, and Indiana from your list.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the info.</p>

8

<p>You have schools in cold weather states on your list (Bowdoin, Holy Cross, Case Western, U Michigan, etc.) Think about how much you’re really concerned about the cold weather, and if it’s a significant issue for you, take any school that’s in the northeastern US and the middle west off your list - so scratch anything in New England, NY, PA, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, etc. Focus instead on states south of Maryland, and on the western US. </p>

<p>Your stats look strong. Your military service counts as work experience, btw - it’s an asset. </p>

<p>Some schools that are great in economics, are in great college towns, nice campuses, and where I think you stand a shot of being admitted, include: MIT, U Chicago, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Northwestern, U Penn, UC San Diego, Columbia U, UCLA, U Michigan Ann Arbor, U Wisconsin Madison, New York U, U Minnesota Twin Cities, Cal Tech, Carnegie Mellon, Brown, Johns Hopkins, Boston University, and U Texas Austin. </p>

<p>I did not take winter into consideration on that list. Again, if winter is an issue, you’ll need to sort out those, like MIT, which are in cold weather states. But really think about that, because it’ll eliminate so many great universities, and one of the best college towns in the US - Boston. That’d be too bad. </p>

<p>I also didn’t look into class size. In general, at a large uni like U Michigan Ann Arbor, your “Intro to Microeconomics” classes may be quite large. But once you move beyond the basic classes, the class size goes down drastically. I remember, at a large uni, my “Intro to Micro” class had 800 students in it. Eight. Hundred. Students. But my honors English class had only 6.</p>

9

<p>as long as you’re okay with a moderate winter (i.e. not as intense as Maine or Vermont), you should consider the liberal arts colleges Amherst (massachusetts) and Wesleyan (connecticut).</p>

<p>both have excellent econ departments, small class sizes, not in the middle of nowhere, and have very rigorous academics… similar to Bowdoin and Middlebury</p>

10

<p>Thanks for the comments guys. I’d be willing to look past the winter conditions for an awesome college like MIT, but do you guys think I have a shot with my SAT score of 1380/1600? Would it be worth retaking it? Or should I take another SAT subject instead?
(I’m not really interested in MIT but I am looking to Stanford and possibly Princeton)</p>

11

<p>Any ideas?</p>

12

<p>UC Santa Barbara
UCLA
Berkeley</p>

<p>to add to the list</p>

13

<p>Add Boston College and Georgetown unless you’re not for the Jesuit thing.</p>