<p>ok, so I'm currently a sophomore in college at a school called Rose-hulman and last year I didn't really have a good time, but decided to not to transfer since I thought maybe sophomore year would be better. This school is great academically (US news ranks us 1 in undergraduate engineering for schools w/o a PhD program), but everything I thought I wanted in a college turned out to be completely wrong.<br>
this school has 1600 people in it, and I thought I wanted a small school, but I hate having a school w/ so few people (and a 7-1 guy to girl ratio), everyone is an engineer also, which gets old real fast.
I thought that location wouldn't matter, but the town of Terre haute Indiana is about as horrible as possible. if waking up to the smell of a paper mill in the morning doesn't get you, the inability to go anywhere off campus w/o a car will. I really want to be on an urban campus where there is a public transportation system and something to do on the weekends besides frat parties (I'm in a frat, but when you have nothing else to choose from, since Terre Haute doesn't have any night life, it kind of gets old). I don't want a campus that's fully integrated into the city, more of something that is like Carniege Mellon, with a city around it, but a very campus feel.<br>
Academically, the school needs to have a strong Bio and Bio-medical Engineering department, since my major is Bio-Medical Engineering. </p>
<p>So I guess that I'm looking for a school with a strong social scene, a biomedical-engineering department, a school size of somewhere between 5,000 and 12,000 students, and not in a disgusting town. I've looked at US news, but all that tells you is how they think the schools are academically. Heck, if they were perfect, I'd love my school. That's why I'm asking for help in looking at schools, I have one chance at this and I don't want to go somewhere and find that socially it's the same as where I am now. I can get an education anywhere, what I want is a college experience. thanks for any help.</p>
<p>PS: in terms of where in the US, I'd had my fill of the midwest from this school, so anything on a coast is a lot more appealing to me...</p>