Seeking my Dream School!! Can you help?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I finally made a list of what my dream school would have under different categories. So, please list the colleges that match these (and particularly what categories they match the best). Sorry this is long, but thanks for any info!</p>

<p>Location:
split the country in half both ways, and I want a college in the top right area; city or suburb; cool neighborhood with awesome shops, restaurants, and cultural activities/places; many good events going on; many resources; good transportation system (and if not in the city, good transportation to a city!) Basically I don't want a place where the biggest nearby shops are those like Walmart</p>

<p>Campus:
GREEN!, I want many trees and flowers, old buildings, gothic architecture, many walkways and outdoor places to lounge; it could be rather compact and secluded. So kind of a country area within the city.</p>

<p>Socially:
Many events going on, and people wise:
I don't want a school where everyone is the same, but still, you could sum up the general student population as somewhat like this:
friendly, liberal (but not radical) democrats, want to take action to help global issues, people do not dress super brand name preppy, diverse student body (race and socioeconomic classes), people have fun just hanging out ( in other words not just partying), not a big Greek system or partying (though parties should still be around), not much alcohol/drug use, people are respectful, open-minded, academic, motivated, and not super-competitive. They should be unique and like to have fun.</p>

<p>Academics:
They should be very insightful! I want good history and English programs, and a music program with many resources. One can take language classes (particularly German), and music lessons easily. It should be easy to take electives, I would also prefer if one could design their own major or there is not a large core. Also, of course, good professors and classes.</p>

<p>Other Stuff
Good study abroad programs (particularly Germany), one can easily get involved, many clubs, good music groups that aren't reserved for music majors (like the school orchestra), practice rooms for music are easily available, good financial and merit aid, and of course the things everyone wants: good dorms, food, quality of life, and technology aspects</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

2

<p>Emory. It's in Atlanta, though.</p>

3

<p>Princeton- though it's kinda preppy. Also Yale.</p>

4

<p>NYU fits perfectly.</p>

5

<p>Bryn Mawr (great Gothic architecture), Swarthmore, and Haverford are all in close proximity to Philadelphia. Also, consider the University of Chicago: your descriptions of campus setting (esp. Gothic buildings), social life, and academics fit perfectly.</p>

6

<p>Northwestern, Michigan, Wisconsin, maybe Indiana and WashU in the midwest.</p>

7

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<p>Except for the 'green" part ;)</p>

8

<p>Indiana-Bloomington should be VERY high on your list. It could be your safety school. They are top 5 in Music and in German, top 20 in History and English. They have a gorgeous and green campus and the town of Bloomington is charming and liberal. </p>

<p>Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Michigan-Ann Arbor, Northwestern, Wisconsin-Madison, Yale are also excellent and should be looked into.</p>

9

<p>What type of stats are we talking about (GPA, test scores, etc.) It's senseless to name schools if they are out of your range or way beneath your range. </p>

<p>That said, when it comes to your campus description and your interest in English, Kenyon jumps right into my mind. Oberlin fits your interest in English AND music. Neither, unfortunately, are in cities. Washington U in St. Louis certainly fits both your campus description and your city description. I'd also suggest you take a look at Rhodes College in Memphis - Gothic architecture galore there.</p>

10

<p>thanks for all of your suggestions!! :)</p>

11

<p>estargrl88 - check out Case Western Reserve University</p>

12

<p>any more ideas?</p>

13

<p>I'd say Georgetown, Boston College, Amherst College, UPenn, JHU, and possibly Trinity College (in Connecticut). </p>

<p>What are your stats like? (Just wondering, since that would give us a better idea of what school would fit you best) :D</p>

14

<p>SWARTHMORE COLLEGE!!!! its perfect..def look into it, i think going by your description you will love it!! good luck with your search</p>

15

<p>stats wise i am one of those students who gets all As (except in chemistry, lol) and stinks at math, but tends to be good at all the artsy and writing stuff. so my sat was a 2010 but i am definitely trying again to raise that. i also do a ton of ecs. so that does limit my ivy options somewhat, but who knows, maybe the next time i take the SATs i'll magically get a 2300 or something</p>

16

<p>Emory, Northwestern, UNC, Brown, Stanford, Dartmouth, Duke</p>

17

<p>take a look at Rice or Wesleyan. </p>

<p>Rice fits your Dream Campus description PERFECTLY. as in EXACT. (ALL green and trees, long walkways and vast lawns; campus surrounded by hedges, and beyond the hedges lays a moderately upscale part of houston, the country's fourth largest city.) Location-wise, it's only discrepancy is that it's in Texas, but otherwise, perfect fit. Socially, there are ZERO frats but partying and drinking is prevalent, though by no means are you ostracized if you do not. there's lots of other stuff too. The rest match the students fit into all the other adjectives you gave easily. Academically, it's a University that's more like an LAC so your English class discussions should be fun (for a full-fledged University, classes are suprisingly small and TA-lacking), plus, the Sheperd School of Music is great. Also, being ranked 17 by USNEWS (ahead of UC Berkeley; Rice is also almost always at least top 20 in most other rankings) is a pleasant bonus.</p>

<p>Wesleyan (in Connecticut) is a Liberal Arts College so by definition it's small, but of the top LACs its one of the biggest (still smaller than Rice). It's a small walking campus with lots of trees in a relatively small town in the "top right area" of the country. But Middletown still has lots of DIVERSE restaurants and stuff so it's not bad. They're OBSESSED with diversity there, and the English program is WONDERFUL. The profs are great. They are a very liberal campus so you'll get some strange sounding courses like "Religious Worlds of New York", "Debating Blackness" and "Like Lambs to Slaughter", but they are very interesting/intriguing. Wes also has NO CORE CURRICULUM which you mentioned you wanted. And it really deserves the title "University" having functioning graduate programs - however, there only about 150 grad students there. What this means is you have free access to a decent sampling of the resources and technologies needed at a university since there are almost never any grad students around to use them.</p>

18

<p>uc santa cruz sounds like a school you might enjoy. the campus itself is a nature preserve with redwood forest, creeks, springs, and caves nearby. being a student there gives you free bus access to the city of santa cruz. the city itself is a beach city where surfing was first introduced to the mainland. socially, i hear it's pretty laid back. it has a study abroad program in germany (EAP - uc wide program). </p>

<p>it has most of everything you asked for. check it out the website yourself, they have those quicktime panorama pics of the campus. also type in santa cruz, ca in mapquest and you could get a feel for the city/university. try this thread, mr. goose would probably be able to describe the place better than i.</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=54669%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=54669&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

19

<p>Oh, and Wesleyan is also actively trying to get rid of their frats - and succeeding, to an extent. there are only three of them, and only 3% of the student pop is active in them.</p>

20

<p>Maybe Tufts?</p>