I didn’t get in my top choices, so I’m having trouble deciding between what I have.
My five top were Brown, Hamilton, Wesleyan, Middlebury, and Colgate.
I got rejected by all but Wesleyan and Hamilton, both of which waitlisted me.
The schools I got into were:
- Case Western Reserve University (would cost me around 18,000 a year to attend)
- George Washington University (would cost around 17,000 a year to attend)
3-6.CUNY Baruch, Hunter, Queens, as well as Brooklyn College (still waiting on financial aid statements, but all would be less than GW or Case)
- Northeastern University (would cost 45,000 a year to attend--yikes)
I also got into Pitt and University at Buffalo, but I’ve ruled those out
My goal would be to get off one of the waitlists, but even if I did I would need to get enough aid to be able to attend, so I have to decide between these schools.
My thoughts:
CUNY
While I believe that attending a CUNY college would give me the best deal financially, I have heard a lot of mixed reviews about the campuses. I personally am not worried about them being largely commuter, I don’t think I need the “real college experience” many want, but I am concerned about clubs, class sizes, as well as quality of education. I also want to move onto grad school, so I do not know if attending these public schools harm my chances of getting into a top tier grad school.
Are they well known outside of New York?
CASE WESTERN
Two of the three majors I am considering are not STEM, and I have heard that non-STEM majors at Case Western are not seen as impressive by grad schools. Is this true? Also, I live just outside of Buffalo, New York; I will not be able to visit Cleveland before decision day, so does anyone know anything about the city–is there more to do than Buffalo?
NORTHEASTERN
I’ve pretty much ruled out Northeastern due to the price. I am writing them to ask for more, but I’m not too optimistic. If it was within my price range it would be my number one easily; I love Boston, I know the most about their rigor of education, and I know the name is recognized as being of quality.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
I have not been able to visit GW either, but from what I’ve heard from friends, I think that I would like the campus. I know that the college is bigger than Case, raising some concerns about class sizes, but George Washington is in D.C., which I know will have some advantages as opposed to Cleveland, which I know nothing about.
Mainly what I am looking for is the school that will give me the best education within my major, not financially cripple me for the rest of my life, as well as give me the best chance to get into a great grad school.
As of now, I am planning on double majoring with two of the following: economics, english, or physics, so if anyone knows about which of these colleges is best for any of those, help would be appreciated :).
If anyone knows anything about GW vs. Case Western that would be appreciated. Also, if anyone knows about the CUNY schools and if a degree from, say, Baruch, would compare to any of the private schools I applied to (some have similar acceptance rates, but I don’t know if that reflects in how much the degree is worth).
