<p>Even though I am leaning toward USC (mostly because of the presidential scholarship), I'm still not so sure where to go. </p>
<p>While I was visiting USC for the scholarship interview, I liked the spirit and everything, but I'm concerned if going to USC rather than Wellesley (or Brown, Northwestern) would undermine my chance of getting into top graduate schools. </p>
<p>The half-tuition scholarship is attractive indeed and will help my parents to pay for college, but I want to choose whatever's going to help me the most in the future. </p>
<p>So, if anyone could tell me about the general atmosphere and the relative prestigiousness of these four colleges, that would be really great!</p>
<p>What are you interested in – what do you want to get out of your college experience? And where do you think will give you the opportunities to give you the best education overall?</p>
<p>Each of these schools is really different; I would say that Wellesley, Brown, and Northwestern are more similar to each other and about the same in prestige. I only say this because I know a lot of current students who also had to decide between these schools.</p>
<p>Congrats on being able to have some great options.</p>
<p>I ended up turning down some great scholarships to go to Wellesley. I don’t regret it one bit. I have loved my experience here at Wellesley, and I feel that if I went to some other schools then I wouldn’t have had these experiences that I treasure so much (friends, classes, etc).</p>
<p>What really comes down to it is where you think you would be the most comfortable. I assume that Wellesley is a tighter-knit community than Brown, being that Wellesley is a smaller school. It’s great to be able to walk around campus and be able to see friends or classmates wherever (which can be a good or bad thing, depending on what you think). I also feel like I have met a lot of people outside of Wellesley, since there are so many schools in Boston. Boston is also a fabulous area. I went to Brown for a summer, and while I liked the area, I feel that Boston is so much more interesting.</p>
<p>I think that whatever decision you make you will be happy. Good luck!</p>
<p>I agree with catsushi. There are experiences I have had at Wellesley that I would not be able to have if I had attended another institution. A huge pull for me to come to Wellesley was that Boston is definitely one of the best places in America to go to college – there are hundreds of colleges and universities in the area and there are so many opportunities for you to meet students from all over. When I go back home and hang out with friends from high school, all of them still hang out with the same people from high school or only know people at their school – I always end up talking about not only my friends at Wellesley but at my friends at other local Boston schools as well. It’s definitely a great opportunity to meet so many people from all over-- one of the best parts of my college experience in my opinion.</p>