<p>Hi, I'm looking for some suggestions for schools that would be a fit for me. I go to a competitive public school in Minnesota.</p>
<p>Things I'm looking for:
- Not in the middle of nowhere (less than an hour to a large-ish city)
- Good study abroad program
- Major in neuroscience/biopsychology/cognitive science/international relations
- No larger than 3,000 students per class
- Not in a place with year-round hot weather
- Quirky students are a plus</p>
<p>My stats:
- 34 ACT, 2080 SAT (probably won't submit)
- 3.9 UW GPA
- Rigorous schedule, spending senior year taking classes at a local college
- AP Scholar
- Did a study abroad program in Switzerland for a trimester of junior year
- Extracurriculars are mostly volunteering, plus my school's GSA</p>
<p>My essay is about my study abroad program. Hopefully I'll be able to get teacher recommendations from my AP Lang/Comp teacher and my Advanced Bio teacher.</p>
<p>You didn’t list the places you are considering. Just a note about the one hour from a largish city thing, you will hardly ever get into the city anyway if it’s more than 15 minutes away, so it might be a shame to eliminate schools like Amherst, for example. 3000 students per grade is quite a few----do you prefer smaller like an LAC? Carlton is supposed to be quirky but maybe you want to get out of Minnesota? Are finances an issue? Are Wesleyan and U. Chicago on your list?</p>
<p>If you will look at Wesleyan you might want to check out Vassar. They tend to compete for the same applicants. In my opinion Vassar is much more attractive of a school - beautiful campus, eclectic student body (but not as much as Wesleyan) and it is an hour or so by train from NYC!</p>
<p>What about Oberlin? maybe it’s more funky/quirky than you want. Carnegie Mellon surprises me at bit. I thought the schools there were quite discrete from each other so if you are in arts and sciences you don’t really meet the architecture people, for example. And arts and sciences is the lesser school, I think?? Carnegie Mellon is not usually listed when “quirky” is mentioned. Maybe it’s the urban aspect that appeals to you…Brown would be a reach, of course, but seems appropriate.</p>
<p>If you’re considering Wesleyan, Swarthmore would be good to look at as well. It’s also much closer to a city than Wesleyan.</p>
<p>Also, Johns Hopkins fits pretty much all of your qualifications. It’s a little different than most of the schools on your list, but it’s very good for your interests and you’d have a better shot at getting in there than, say, Brown.</p>
<p>Take a look at Grinnell. Despite the ‘middle of nowhere’ reputation, it is an hour to Des Moines and an hour to Iowa City. More importantly (perhaps-depends on your financial situation), they offer great merit as well as financial aid, have a program called Grinnell-in-Washington DC which includes an internship that could be interesting for someone interested in IR, they offer a global development concentration, and “quirky” is their middle name. As for study abroad, all the schools these days offer the same range of study abroad programs - that is, they all contract with the same overseas programs that are capitalizing on US students’ affluence and interest in overseas education. You’ll see the same programs offered at many schools and can often make arrangements for whatever program you want with your school if they don’t offer something in a country you are interested in. (My point being, this shouldn’t be a criteria for selection for the most part.)</p>
<p>Sorry, but Grinnell is the definition of a college in the middle of nowhere. I have a good friend who goes to Grinnell and absolutely loves it, but one thing she can’t say about it is that it’s anywhere near a reasonably populated area. She passes through Des Moines twice a semester, when she flies in and out of the country, so that’s not really an argument either–not that Des Moines is particularly metropolitan or anything.</p>
<p>I second the recommendation for Wash U. Their regular decision deadline is January 15th. They have a Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology major my daughter thought sounded wonderful! They also have a two-year program (any major can participate but it sounds like a good fit with your interests) for incoming freshman called Mind, Brain and Behavior :</p>
<p>That program is limited to 45 students each year and appears to get you involved in research right away. My daughter and I toured Wash U on Columbus Day and really loved it. It’s a beautiful school in St. Louis, with a very liberal leaning feel.</p>
<p>Unless a school is right in an urban area, I’d really check into how often students really get into the city. I think you will find that if you’re an hour away, you won’t be going into the city much. College life will be very campus-centered.</p>
<p>That having been said, since you do like LACs, then I would encourage you to be open-minded about the location, so that you have various options come April. You may decide then that “quirky” student body might have precedence over access to a city; or some other factor might be more important at the time.</p>
<p>My own son began the college search saying he didn’t want to fly to college. I encouraged him to at least look at some in the midwest over spring break of junior year, and in the end, he did pick a far-off school over ones in driving distance… (he goes to Grinnell).</p>