<p>Yes, I’ve visited all of the Ivy League schools I’m applying to except for Princeton, but I have a good friend who goes there and I’ve learned a lot about the school through him. I guess I’m a chronic Kerouac-like personality, I fell in love with each of those four schools I visited. I’ve also visited Amherst, Northwestern, UChicago, NYU, and Madison, so the only schools I’m applying blind on are Princeton, Stanford, and Berkeley… though I’m going to California next January and may check out Stanford.</p>
<p>Harvard, Princeton, and Yale are for the great teachers and the work hard/play hard atmosphere (Yale particularly for its more laidback feel). Stanford is for high academia but in a more pleasant part of the world. Columbia and NYU are because I love New York. Amherst and Brown are for their awesome curriculum. Georgetown and Berkeley are for great political schools, and finally, NW, UC, and Madison are for great schools closer to home. So I have legitimate reasons for all of my choices; I’m not the type of person who just checks the rankings and applies to all of the top 20, nor do I really care for prestige but rather education and fun.</p>