<p>I'm a junior and just starting to put my initial list together (meeting with reps that come to my school, thinking about spring visits, etc.). I'm interested in English, and eventually going into teaching.</p>
<p>In the absense of test scores, let's assume (for the moment) that my stats are like just about everyone else's on this board.</p>
<p>Main criteria:</p>
<p>-Liberal arts college or medium-sized university with strong undergrad focus; small classes in both cases.
-Strong English program (preferably offering creative writing classes)
-Quirky, friendly, intellectual student body. Ideally, students tend to support one another rather than compete (more competitive with themselves than against one another). Turn-offs would be overt preppiness, extreme lack of diversity/cliquishness despite diversity, and any extreme (EXTREME) political imbalances.
-Cool college town -- Im from suburban St. Louis, so as far as previous exposure to rural/urban areas, it just depends on the way you drive. Same goes for weather. :)
-Study abroad opportunities for English majors</p>
<p>Other criteria to consider (not absolutely vital, but would be a plus):</p>
<p>-Theatre: Im pretty involved with the tech side of things...plus I just really love it. So it would be nice if the college had a strong theatre program as well.
-Publications: It would be great if the college published a literary magazine of some sort in addition to a newspaper.
-Teacher certification: It would be great if the college offered a teaching certification program (for English) along with their BA program...Im fine with taking an extra year to student teach, etc., but this would be a plus.
-As far as grad school goes, it is highly likely that Ill eventually pursue a Masters in English or education.</p>
<p>Schools Im considering at the moment: </p>
<p>Brown
Carleton
Pomona
WUSTL (except its in St. Louis...<em>cringe</em>)
Oberlin
Grinnell
Kenyon (?)</p>
<p>Suggestions for more match-ish and safety-ish schools (all right, might as well throw in a few more reaches)? Thank you!</p>
<p>Ones that come to mind (mind you, these are going to be primarily in the Northeast) are Amherst, Bard, and Vassar.</p>
<p>If you're a female who is willing to consider all-women's colleges, Barnard and Smith.</p>
<p>If you're interested in more experimental types of academics (ie - no real "majors", conferences with teachers regularly), Hampshire and Sarah Lawrence.</p>
<p>I'm not sure how many of the ones I listed offer teacher certification, and pretty much all of them would be more liberal than conservative, but check them out. Also, if you're using PrincetonReview to do so, click on "Other Schools to Consider" if one or two of the above strike you as good to get similar options.</p>
<p>Wesleyan sounds really great for you (except we don't have the teacher cert). We're not as politically imbalanced as rumor would have, and we fit basically all of your other criteria (out college town isn't teh awesome, but I like it). It would still probably be a reach unless you have really out of this world stats, but not so much as Brown and Pomona, at least. </p>
<p>I also agree with teenage_cliche's suggestions. </p>
<p>Some other potential matches and safties: Macalaster, Bates, Skidmore, Occidental, Lewis+Clark, Goucher, Dickenson.</p>
<p>Oh this is EASY....take a STRONG look at Kenyon and if you are female also look at Hollins College....BOTH have SUPERB English programs which have prodoced award winning authors.</p>
<p>THe student body may not be as quirky as you'd like, but Williams fits the bill in a lot of other ways, and although it's small it has an adorable town and a truly amazing theatre facility/department. Also unfortunately UBER difficult to get into.</p>
<p>And yes, I am female. I'm definitely willing to consider women-only colleges as long as there is a coed college in close proximity...preferrably as part of a consortium.</p>