<p>Hello!!
With my rejection from Brown today I have finally heard back from all 8 schools I applied too with 5 acceptances, 2 waitlists, and 1 rejection. I would like to hear any advice from the College Confidential Community on where I should attend next year.</p>
<p>Sooo...I was accepted to
-Northeastern ($16,000 merit scholarship and invited to Honors Program)
-Virginia Tech (Invited to apply to Honors Program)
-UC Berkeley
-Virginia
-William & Mary</p>
<p>I am a Virginia resident who would like to major in either Geography, International Relations, or Political Science. Also I did not receive anything from FAFSA except a 5000 loan so all schools would be full priced. </p>
<p>Any and all advice is gladly welcomed!! :)
Thanks in advance</p>
<p>UC Berkeley is a good school, but it’s not worth out of state cost, and UVa is just as good a school. W&M is also an excellent option. I don’t know much about VT or Northeastern.</p>
<p>Overall, I’d say to stay in state since money is an issue (by the way, the FAFSA doesn’t award you aid, each college does). Look into them for your major, though I would lean UVa if I were you, as I hear they have excellent Politics programs.</p>
<p>UVA or William and Mary…if you want the LAC feel (judging by the schools you applied, you don’t) go to William and Mary. If you want the traditional university feel, go to UVA.</p>
<p>Based on what you want to go into, I would go with any of the Virginia schools over the others (but I am very biased toward Va schools!) I think with your International Relations and Poly Sci interests, UVA and WM are a good bet, but VT has a really good Geography Dept from what I have heard. </p>
<p>Some of the other variables, big vs. small school, bigger sports program vs. medium sized one, the campuses, student bodies…your personality may fit one school better than another. Hopefully you can spend a day visiting each campus to see how you see yourself fitting in. </p>
<p>One last thing, VT’s Honors Program is great for some kids as well and opens the door to future scholarship possibilities. I think you are in a great position with some great options. Good luck as you decide!</p>
<p>Although I would love to go to California im finding it hard to justify the $50,000+ a year to attend versus $20,000 for the Virginia schools.</p>
<p>As to UVA vs. William & Mary when I visited bother earlier in the application process I definitely felt that I liked W&M better. The people at W&M seemed quirky, intelligent, and slightly nerdy (but happy about it) where as UVA seemed more preppy. I feel more similar to the W&M student body. The only thing about W&M im slightly hesitant about would be the size (potentially too small) and Williamsburg (definitely not Charlottesville or Boston or Berkeley for that matter). Im for sure visiting both school soon for their respective welcome days.</p>
<p>As for VT I would love to major in Geography but I would only really consider going if I got into the honors program. Does anybody know anything about the Honors Program there?</p>
<p>RAL, if the honors program at Tech is what would cause you to decide to go there, I think I would focus on deciding between the others. It is a nice program, but shouldn’t be the determining factor to where you want to spend the next four years of your life. The other thing is, you may decide you do not want to stick with it or grades may cause you to not stick with it, and then the reason for you wanting to go there is taken away. Just my two cents…Here is a link to their website if you want to learn more, but I think you need to look btw UVA and WM…Can’t go wrong with either one of those! Good luck to you!</p>
<p>It looks like Northeastern’s scholarship would bring the tuition and fees down to about what your total COA in Virginia would be. When you account for food, housing, and all of the other factors that go into the COA for Northeastern, you are still looking at a difference in the 15k to 20k range. Unless Northeastern offers something truly spectacular and you have a rich relative who is willing and able to help pay for your education, it doesn’t make much sense for you to go to Northeastern.</p>
<p>You have several great choices. When considering cost of attendance, be aware that many Northeastern students attend for 5 years, due to their coop system. If the coop experience isn’t a big draw, it makes sense to pursue your other excellent options. Good luck.</p>
<p>You’re lucky to be in a state with such good instate options. Like others have said upthread, my advice would be to choose between UVA and W&M, based on which one you think would be a better fit for you. And you’ve already said that when you visited you liked W&M better.</p>