Suggestions... quick!

autotroph · May 14, 2006, 10:39am

I just found out that have two days to send in the National Merit thing to two colleges. Unfortunately, I don't know who to send it to. I like UChicago a lot, but second place looks iffy. I've looked at a lot of schools, but, yeah... I don't know which ones to look at again. I don't trust myself to just flip through my college mail again or websites again, since I'd probably end up basing my decision on who has the prettiest photography and snazziest typography.

Throw me some recommendations, ASAP!

School Qualities: In or near a big city (this is paramount... Nowheresville is an automatic disqualification), small/medium size, good in biology, nice/clean/pretty campus, friendly atmosphere, nothing that's overwhelmingly preppy, lifeless, or cut-throat. My parents would appreciate some name recognition.
Academics/Etc.: I'm ranked near the top of my class, I'm dedicated to some ECs/activities, I take the hardest classes (AP and IB), blah blah. I feel confident about my SAT scores (the verbal/writing was... eerily easy), but I just took it this month. So, I'm thinking of rather selective schools, but any school that fits the profile is a welcome suggestion. ;D

Fsu-uf · May 14, 2006, 11:10am

university of miami
john hopkins
stanford
cornell

huskem55 · May 14, 2006, 12:16pm

Columbia
Penn
Brown
WUSTL
Rice
Emory
Northwestern
Tufts
Barnard (if female)
Richmond
Tulane
Northeastern

OneMom · May 15, 2006, 6:52am

Rice, Emory, Vanderbilt, Brown, U. Rochester,, Georgetown.

TourGuide446 · May 15, 2006, 7:27am

OP wants big city (scratch Cornell), not cutthroat/lifeless (scratch Hopkins), name recognition (scratch Rochester and Richmond), rather selective (scratch Northeastern). How preppy are Vanderbilt, Tulane, and Miami?

huskem55 · May 15, 2006, 9:38am

^^^vandy is one of the preppiest schools out there

TourGuide446 · May 15, 2006, 3:36pm

Ok, scratch Vandy. That leaves Miami, Stanford, Columbia, Brown, Rice, Emory, Northwestern, and Georgetown for sure. Questionable name recognition at the country club out of Tufts and WashUSt. Louis. Is Tulane dried out yet? Also...Carnegie Mellon and Pomona?

bobbobbob · May 15, 2006, 3:50pm

Emory and Georgetown are rather preppy as well.

Fsu-uf · May 15, 2006, 4:14pm

U MIAMI is mostly white/hispanic great school and they give alot of money. In my opinion its a great school academically and socially, I've been to the UM parties and they are pretty wild and have a ton of hot chicks.

CalX · May 15, 2006, 8:40pm

-In or near a big city

Cal is right across the Bay from the most beautiful big city in the US, 22 minutes subway ride to San Francisco, and 10 minute drive to large gorgeous nature reserves and a network of parks. It's an extremely unique campus in that it's at the heart of the 4th largest agglomeration in the US but is in a very scenic and beautiful landscape/environment

-small/medium size

Give Cal a "C+" there as opposed to an "F", because the campus feels smaller than that of almost all schools of that size. It's both compact and green in its layout, and most of the students live close to campus. As well, contrary to what you might think, class sizes at Cal aren't much bigger than elsewhere (74% of undergrad classes at Berkeley are under 30 students, and only 7% of have 100+ students; while there are a lot of students at Cal, there also are a lot of classes...)

-good in biology,
Cal is way better than good, more like world-class in every major on campus. Biology included.

-nice/clean/pretty campus,

see pictures below

-friendly atmosphere: B+. West Coast laid back
-nothing that's overwhelmingly preppy: A+
-lifeless: A+ I'm not sure if any other American university compares with Berkeley in terms of liveliness. If that's a big factor in your choice, you should put Berkeley near the top.
cut-throat: B Cal is pretty competitive, but well short of cutthroat. The academic atmosphere is more intense than that of top rpivate schools with very loose grading policies (though Cal has also had a good deal of grade inflation, though not to that extent, avg GPA = 3.25)

-My parents would appreciate some name recognition.
check! top 5-10 in the US, but top 3 globally.

Pictures below...

CalX · May 15, 2006, 8:44pm

<a href="http://static.flickr.com/39/79109171_5d3b23bf6c_o.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/39/79109171_5d3b23bf6c_o.jpg</a>
<a href="http://spectacle.berkeley.edu/pics/campuspics/campanile_sunset_240w.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://spectacle.berkeley.edu/pics/campuspics/campanile_sunset_240w.jpg</a>

Homemade Cal video:
PC/windows media player
<a href="http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/%7Epatrick/berkeley-ad.wmv%5B/url%5D">http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~patrick/berkeley-ad.wmv</a>
MAC:
<a href="http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/%7Epatrick/berkeley.mov%5B/url%5D">http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~patrick/berkeley.mov</a>

old geezer alum in bio bldg:
<a href="http://static.flickr.com/35/123275160_ef508ca9b5_b.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/35/123275160_ef508ca9b5_b.jpg</a> 
SatherToweratdusk
<a href="http://www.berkeleyheritage.com/berkeley">http://www.berkeleyheritage.com/berkeley</a>landmarks/images/UCcampus/SatherToweratdusk.jpg
Park fun
<a href="http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/%7Ecstoy/pictures/berkeley/img/3.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~cstoy/pictures/berkeley/img/3.jpg</a>
<a href="http://www.mse.berkeley.edu/%7Exli/SLi_Homepage/Pix/Bay_area/LBNL_006.JPG%5B/url%5D">http://www.mse.berkeley.edu/~xli/SLi_Homepage/Pix/Bay_area/LBNL_006.JPG</a>
<a href="http://www.biocrawler.com/w/images/2/24/Berkeley_glade_afternoon.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.biocrawler.com/w/images/2/24/Berkeley_glade_afternoon.jpg</a>
<a href="http://www.mse.berkeley.edu/%7Exli/SLi_Homepage/Pix/Bay_area/Berkeley_008.JPG%5B/url%5D">http://www.mse.berkeley.edu/~xli/SLi_Homepage/Pix/Bay_area/Berkeley_008.JPG</a>
<a href="http://www.rohitsrealm.com/gallery2/9639-2/aad.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.rohitsrealm.com/gallery2/9639-2/aad.jpg</a>
<a href="http://www.yak.net/random/pics/2004.12.california/img_2433b.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.yak.net/random/pics/2004.12.california/img_2433b.jpg</a>
<a href="http://writing.berkeley.edu/summer/images/berkeleycampus1_sm.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://writing.berkeley.edu/summer/images/berkeleycampus1_sm.jpg</a>

<a href="http://www.ioc.tu-clausthal.de/abteilung_rw/berkeley.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.ioc.tu-clausthal.de/abteilung_rw/berkeley.html</a>
One of the greatest campus stadiums:
<a href="http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/uchistory/archives_exhibits/campus_planning/atkinson_archive/ucb/photos/UCB_74_rf.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/uchistory/archives_exhibits/campus_planning/atkinson_archive/ucb/photos/UCB_74_rf.jpg</a>
<a href="http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/uchistory/archives_exhibits/campus_planning/atkinson_archive/ucb/photos/UCBaerial_013.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/uchistory/archives_exhibits/campus_planning/atkinson_archive/ucb/photos/UCBaerial_013.jpg</a>

<a href="http://www.emjr.org/cal/football/2002/wsuGame/335.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.emjr.org/cal/football/2002/wsuGame/335.jpg</a>
<a href="http://www.emjr.org/cal/football/2002/afGame/memStadPanoSmall.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.emjr.org/cal/football/2002/afGame/memStadPanoSmall.jpg</a>
<a href="http://www.yak.net/random/pics/2004.12.california/img_2432.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.yak.net/random/pics/2004.12.california/img_2432.jpg</a>
<a href="http://image.blog.livedoor.jp/eijiro625/imgs/3/a/3a92d6f6.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://image.blog.livedoor.jp/eijiro625/imgs/3/a/3a92d6f6.jpg</a>

stadium
One owl: <a href="http://static.flickr.com/1/128774141_fed4cb58b2_b.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/1/128774141_fed4cb58b2_b.jpg</a>
70,000 people: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=132284893&context=pool-37718676511@N01&size=l%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=132284893&context=pool-37718676511@N01&size=l</a>
Rollem up!
<a href="http://static.flickr.com/34/71294604_b887c01815.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/34/71294604_b887c01815.jpg</a>
Rushing the field after the Big Game
<a href="http://www.posicorp.com/pictures/2004-11-20%20UC%20Berkeley%20-%20The%20Big%20Game/IMG_0009.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.posicorp.com/pictures/2004-11-20%20UC%20Berkeley%20-%20The%20Big%20Game/IMG_0009.jpg</a>
<a href="http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/%7Epatrick/flash/DSC02027.JPG%5B/url%5D">http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~patrick/flash/DSC02027.JPG</a>

South hall <a href="http://static.flickr.com/47/137041384_48453aa44d_o.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/47/137041384_48453aa44d_o.jpg</a>
Gorgeous greenery looking east
<a href="http://static.flickr.com/44/130588777_49948e68b4_b.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/44/130588777_49948e68b4_b.jpg</a>
Bay splendor to the west
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=130585008&context=pool-37718676511@N01&size=l%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=130585008&context=pool-37718676511@N01&size=l</a>
And south
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=130589150&context=pool-37718676511@N01&size=l%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=130589150&context=pool-37718676511@N01&size=l</a>
Too bad there aren't any northside pics, it's the nicest angle...

View from the rim of the football stadium
<a href="http://www.posicorp.com/pictures/2004-11-20%20UC%20Berkeley%20-%20The%20Big%20Game/IMG_0001.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.posicorp.com/pictures/2004-11-20%20UC%20Berkeley%20-%20The%20Big%20Game/IMG_0001.jpg</a>
Campanile from stadium
<a href="http://www.posicorp.com/pictures/2004-11-20%20UC%20Berkeley%20-%20The%20Big%20Game/IMG_0002.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.posicorp.com/pictures/2004-11-20%20UC%20Berkeley%20-%20The%20Big%20Game/IMG_0002.jpg</a>

Morrison Lounge, Doe Library
<a href="http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/uchistory/archives_exhibits/campus_planning/atkinson_archive/ucb/photos/UCB_31_rf.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/uchistory/archives_exhibits/campus_planning/atkinson_archive/ucb/photos/UCB_31_rf.jpg</a>

Senior Hall log cabin
<a href="http://www.berkeleyheritage.com/berkeley_landmarks/images/UC_campus/Senior_Hall.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.berkeleyheritage.com/berkeley_landmarks/images/UC_campus/Senior_Hall.jpg</a>

Californium, Berkelium shirts
<a href="http://www.gaftee.com/aFirst/pages/BK_jpg.order.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.gaftee.com/aFirst/pages/BK_jpg.order.htm</a>

Elements of Berkeley URL article
<a href="http://sciencereview.berkeley.edu/articles.php?issue=1&article=elementary%5B/url%5D">http://sciencereview.berkeley.edu/articles.php?issue=1&article=elementary</a>

Campus trees
<a href="http://landscape.ced.berkeley.edu/%7Etreefund/campustrees/treecamp.htm%5B/url%5D">http://landscape.ced.berkeley.edu/~treefund/campustrees/treecamp.htm</a>
<a href="http://static.flickr.com/43/82405813_35917b2c98_o.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/43/82405813_35917b2c98_o.jpg</a>
<a href="http://static.flickr.com/49/133181588_ef374ad1c8_b.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/49/133181588_ef374ad1c8_b.jpg</a>

winter scene at Cal
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/khtoo/100616700/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/khtoo/100616700/</a>

Fast Food show around Berkeley:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tspauld/sets/1123019/show/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/tspauld/sets/1123019/show/</a>
Asian street food
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/supern1254/sets/329486/show/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/supern1254/sets/329486/show/</a>

sunrise
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/itinerant/104518347/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/itinerant/104518347/</a>

Waterbug on campus stream
<a href="http://static.flickr.com/41/96689653_8afc39bf99_b.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/41/96689653_8afc39bf99_b.jpg</a>

Fall afternoon over the bay
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=133027468&size=l%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=133027468&size=l</a>

Art expo on Doe Glade
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mfitzhugh/49107002/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mfitzhugh/49107002/</a>

Berkeley and Bay by night
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chadisalem/57107391/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/chadisalem/57107391/</a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pbo31/100403294/in/pool-berkeley/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/pbo31/100403294/in/pool-berkeley/</a>

Glade, Doe, Campanile and reflection
<a href="http://www.kimsteinbacher.com/gallery/photos/fullsize/reflection_4_14_00_1_27.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.kimsteinbacher.com/gallery/photos/fullsize/reflection_4_14_00_1_27.jpg</a>

<a href="http://www.kimsteinbacher.com/gallery/photos/fullsize/campanile_and_lawn_4_14_00.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.kimsteinbacher.com/gallery/photos/fullsize/campanile_and_lawn_4_14_00.jpg</a>

Last light
<a href="http://www.kimsteinbacher.com/gallery/photos/fullsize/Campanile11_2002_8.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.kimsteinbacher.com/gallery/photos/fullsize/Campanile11_2002_8.jpg</a>

Doe library
<a href="http://www.kimsteinbacher.com/gallery/photos/fullsize/Doe7_99_14_20.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.kimsteinbacher.com/gallery/photos/fullsize/Doe7_99_14_20.jpg</a>

Campanile at dusk
<a href="http://www.kimsteinbacher.com/gallery/photos/fullsize/campanile_9_27_99_0_12.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.kimsteinbacher.com/gallery/photos/fullsize/campanile_9_27_99_0_12.jpg</a>

<a href="http://static.flickr.com/51/131415726_f970265a43_b.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/51/131415726_f970265a43_b.jpg</a>

Sather Gate from above
<a href="http://www.kimsteinbacher.com/gallery/photos/fullsize/ef2_DSCN0012.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.kimsteinbacher.com/gallery/photos/fullsize/ef2_DSCN0012.jpg</a>

Campus at night, Big Game week
<a href="http://www.mesa.ktu.lt/pic/nuotraukos/UC_Berkeley-Campanile.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.mesa.ktu.lt/pic/nuotraukos/UC_Berkeley-Campanile.jpg</a>
Click on margin and below header to view Big Game Week celebrations:
<a href="http://ucrc.berkeley.edu/Visitor_Pages/bgw_slideshow/campus_decorating-1.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://ucrc.berkeley.edu/Visitor_Pages/bgw_slideshow/campus_decorating-1.cfm</a>

Zellerbach Hall at night: Yoyo Ma, Kirov Ballet, Lyon Opera, Alfred Brendel, Gil Gilberto. Arguably, the best on-campus cultural program in the US
<a href="http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/%7Ecs39j/fa02/images-students/pchien_night-scene.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs39j/fa02/images-students/pchien_night-scene.jpg</a>

Strawberry Creek by the drama house
<a href="http://static.flickr.com/53/133418043_ecd28f9fbd_o.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/53/133418043_ecd28f9fbd_o.jpg</a>

Doe library art installation:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/anirvan/138967708/in/pool-37718676511@N01/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/anirvan/138967708/in/pool-37718676511@N01/</a>
<a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/04/11_artinstallations.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/04/11_artinstallations.shtml</a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffday/138789211/in/pool-37718676511@N01/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffday/138789211/in/pool-37718676511@N01/</a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffday/138789054/in/pool-37718676511@N01/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffday/138789054/in/pool-37718676511@N01/</a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffday/138788472/in/pool-37718676511@N01/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffday/138788472/in/pool-37718676511@N01/</a>

Poppies at the Botanical Garden (one of the largest collection of plant types in the world)
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kagoldberg/138396794/in/pool-37718676511@N01/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/kagoldberg/138396794/in/pool-37718676511@N01/</a>

Kroeber <a href="http://static.flickr.com/48/133854593_30978846f0.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/48/133854593_30978846f0.jpg</a>

Fraternity houses
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jiathwee/95166571/in/pool-37718676511@N01/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jiathwee/95166571/in/pool-37718676511@N01/</a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jiathwee/95166559/in/pool-37718676511@N01/%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/jiathwee/95166559/in/pool-37718676511@N01/</a>
<a href="http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=54116660&size=m%5B/url%5D">http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=54116660&size=m</a>

Dorms:
Wada Hall
<a href="http://static.flickr.com/30/42072238_d7169f9954.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/30/42072238_d7169f9954.jpg</a>
International House at dusk
<a href="http://www.emjr.org/cal/football/2002/wsuGame/336.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.emjr.org/cal/football/2002/wsuGame/336.jpg</a>

Bear attack!
<a href="http://static.flickr.com/33/45712609_b634b28ba9.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/33/45712609_b634b28ba9.jpg</a>

Sather sun
<a href="http://static.flickr.com/3/2388766_8dde27ace0_b.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/3/2388766_8dde27ace0_b.jpg</a>

Blue and Gold sky
<a href="http://static.flickr.com/1/2388742_55e51fe119_b.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/1/2388742_55e51fe119_b.jpg</a>

Campus walk in winter
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/supern1254/59257016%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/supern1254/59257016</a>
Our campus is so nice, I feel like I'm in a fairytale whenever I walk to class in the morning.
Briones - 10 minutes east of campus
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/supern1254/96029341%5B/url%5D">http://www.flickr.com/photos/supern1254/96029341</a>

Dwinelle Plaza at noon
<a href="http://static.flickr.com/26/39146983_86ab1dd3e6_o.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/26/39146983_86ab1dd3e6_o.jpg</a>

Morning stretch
<a href="http://static.flickr.com/47/143525525_3a6c210ce2_b.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://static.flickr.com/47/143525525_3a6c210ce2_b.jpg</a>

DRab · May 16, 2006, 2:20am

[quote]
That leaves Miami, Stanford, Columbia, Brown, Rice, Emory, Northwestern, and Georgetown for sure. Questionable name recognition at the country club out of Tufts and WashUSt. Louis. Is Tulane dried out yet? Also...Carnegie Mellon and Pomona?

[/quote]

Stanford in relation to San Fran? Near but not that near a big city, you decide, op. Also, I don't know if Providence would fit the bill for you (Brown).

TourGuide446 · May 16, 2006, 10:01am

If you could only get your hands on some photos of Cal-Berkeley, you might be able to get a feel for it. But where would one get photos of that place?

CalX · May 16, 2006, 6:44pm

Beats me, TG446. lol.

You've got to admit though, it's kind of a scenic place, that's why there are so many pics of Cal out there (that and the fact that it's an early web technology adopter.)

Thread		Replies	Views
Match Me, Baby! College Search & Selection	6	40	April 15, 2021
Looking for additional college suggestions Parents Forum	17	55	April 14, 2021
Help me find my PERRRRFECT college! College Search & Selection	11	44	April 15, 2021
a few more suggestions, please? College Search & Selection	6	66	April 15, 2021
Okay...I reaalllly need some help College Search & Selection	4	48	April 15, 2021

Suggestions... quick!

POPULAR STATES

SEARCH SAT SCORES

SEARCH ACT SCORES

SEARCH GPA’S

Suggestions... quick!

Related topics

POPULAR STATES

SEARCH SAT SCORES

SEARCH ACT SCORES

SEARCH GPA’S

CONNECT WITH US