<p>I'm just a junior, but I want to start sifting through more colleges right now. Since most of you seem knowledgeable, I figured I'd post here.</p>
<p>Obviously, I don't have much in the way of stats at this point, but when making suggestions, I guess you should keep in mind that my GPA has been floating around 3.8UW, I'll be in the IP diploma program, and that although my ECs are all very important to me, they make for an underwhelming list. x_x So I'm not looking for anything specific, like "reaches" or "safeties" or whatever, just a shorter list of colleges to start thinking about.</p>
<p>Besides a strong department of biology, these are the qualities I'm looking for...</p>
<ul>
<li>Can be anywhere, but Mid-Atlantic would be the most convenient.</li>
<li>In a nice town or city, but easy access to the great outdoors is a major bonus.</li>
<li>Enrollment of about 2000 is good, but nothing much smaller.</li>
<li>An active social scene with plenty to do on campus.</li>
<li>A tidy, aesthetically pleasing campus.</li>
<li>Nothing too conservative, but I'm not looking for ultra-liberal places either.</li>
<li>At least a little diverse in <em>some</em> way. I'd feel out of place in a uniformly preppy student body.</li>
</ul>
<p>I just recommended Drew to someone looking at liberal arts colleges, and I'd do the same for you. My brother graduated from the school last year and had an absolutely stellar experience academically. It's only 45 minutes from Manhattan on a 200 acre campus (complete with arboretum, lakes, etc.) and sponsors a number of unique programs in the city (Wall Street Semester, Semester on the United Nations, Semester on Contemporary Art). Biology and pre-med are very strong and they have a summer science research institute that is funded by all the pharmaceutical companies nearby, with housing and stipends for the students accepted. It has a reputation as being fairly affluent and preppy which isn't surprising given the location, but honestly, when I visited I was surprised (and I went to NYU!) at how eclectic the student body was. It's a very well-ranked, respectable school and got a lot more attention when some of the 9/11 Commission Hearings were held there, and I just want to get the word out!</p>
<p>Dartmouth Pton Duke Stanford have outdoorsy campuses and good science programs. Penn is in the city, maybe too urban for you. Swarthmore has a cool premed program, diverse, cool area. Lafayette has a strong bio department too. There's actually a lot...hmmm.</p>
<p>HMC is really small, like 200 a class (the entire claremont consortium has like 1500 a year or so I think?) and is sort of a nerdy counterpart of like pomona and claremont mckenna; its an awesome place if you dig that sort of thing.</p>
<p>definitely look into williams. its a veryy outdoorsy school. i don't know much about it's biology program but its obviously a really prestigious school so look into that.</p>
<p>Some other suggestions: Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, Lafayette, Lehigh, Bucknell, U of Rochester, Tufts, Johns Hopkins, Colgate. Farther afield, check out Carleton, Wake Forest, St. Olaf, U of Miami, Tulane and Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>Brandeis is a place to consider if you are willing to consider the Boston area, a bit north of mid-Atlantic. It has a very rigorous Biology program for undergraduates focussing on molecular biology which is really the cutting edge for the foreseeable future. It has ~3000 undergraduates, the great outdoors is very reachable (NH, Vermont, ME, wester MA are close drives and you have the coast of course).</p>
<p>University of California, Berkeley
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of California, San Diego
Johns Hopkins University
University of Wisconsin, Madison</p>
<p>It's a great Premed and Medical University, gorgeous campus with state-of-the-art buildings, in the heart of Baltimore so you'll never get bored. The undegraduate body is pretty diverse, too.</p>
<p>LOL, yeah, I live about 20 minutes away from Hopkins. I don't really like the atmosphere there (not sure why), and 20 minutes away seems a bit TOO close to home, but I'll probably end up applying there because they are so great academically... and because if I got in, I'd get free tuition. (The whole "Baltimore Scholars" thing they started up last year.)</p>
<p>Well, the atmosphere is kind of sterile. I only visited for a couple days, and I liked the campus, but I did get the sense I would do much better there as a graduate student.</p>
<p>That's a sweet deal. I wish I lived in Baltimore. But then, I might get a full ride to IUB, and I'll be happy :) You could look there too. Fantastic Interdisciplinary sciences, and the best darn music school in the country if you're interested. Huge though.</p>
<p>Since you are so close, you should take a Saturday afternoon this fall, drive up, and visit all three of the Philadelphia area liberal arts colleges if they are in your "stats" range. All three are a bit smaller than your 2000 target, but satisfy most of your other critieria.</p>
<p>Swarthmore has always been co-ed and is very strong academically -- terrific Bio program, one of the largest majors on campus. Unbelievably pretty campus -- like a garden, with wild undeveloped woods along a creek. Not a big drinking campus, but lots of stuff going on all the time.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr is a women's college. Very strong academics. Gorgeous campus.</p>
<p>Haverford was all-male until 1970s; now co-ed. Pretty campus with a small lake. About a mile down the road from Bryn Mawr.</p>
<p>You can take a commuter train from all three to downtown Philadelphia. They are all about 10 - 15 miles from downtown Philadelphia with easy commuter rail access (Swarthmore's train station is in the middle of campus). </p>
<p>Swarthmore is the most diverse, but all three place a premium on diversity. All three are left of center, with Swarthmore probably being the most politically active; Haverford the most preppy (but not extremely preppy. All three put more emphasis on academics than athletics.</p>