USC v. Tufts v. Berkeley v. Syracuse v. U of Rochester

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Okay, So money isn't really a concern, but USC and Tufts are ~50k, Berkeley and U of R ~40k, and SU ~30k, and I plan on going to med school, so I guess the extra money from going to SU would pay for another year of med school, but I hear that deciding a college based on money is not really a wise call...</p>

<p>I just got back from the Tufts campus and while I really like it there, and the bad weather doesn't really bother me, the silly language requirements is something that really turns me off, if anyone could discuss that further that would be nice, especially as to how far 4 years of high school language would test me out of (I really dislike foreign language classes). </p>

<p>I am visiting USC and Berkeley next weekend, and the weather there is obviously a huge plus, and USC's sports are a big plus for me, as well as being in Thematic Option and Freshman Science Honors there... but I worry about its "party school" rep, and I live in NY so the whole being really far away from home thing concerns me a tad, but my main concern is definitely parting.</p>

<p>Berkeley is a really amazing place, but I fear the super-competitive atmosphere there, as well as the giant classes and that I might just become lost in a sea of people.</p>

<p>U of R I feel like is just a pre-med school that has no school spirit and a bunch of people that are just there to go to med school, and super competitive chem/bio/ochem classes that I'm not quite sure that I want to deal with.</p>

<p>SU is really nice in that it has Newhouse, and I got accepted into that, and into the College of Arts and Sciences, but I feel that outside of newhouse and the school of architecture, SU kinda sucks, I got into the honors program there, but still i just feel like its a school that has a very large amount of parties and doesn't really take academics all too seriously, and I don't want to go to just a mediocre school.</p>

<p>I also got accepted to Fordham which would be ~40k and Stony Brook which would be ~12k, but I feel like Fordham is way beneath me and that SB is way way beneath me, plus it seems like a commuter campus.</p>

2

<p>please some help would be amazing... thanks</p>

3

<p>No one has an opinion?</p>

4

<p>I would go to Berkeley</p>

5

<p>BigEast55, I don't know what your criteria is when choosing a school. But, Syracuse is definitely considered a great school, ( at least by US News). You sound a little pretentious, but I think you needed to have gotten into a tt University to have that right. I don't see any Ivies or the equivalent on your list.</p>

6

<p>At Berkeley, there are only "giant classes" in the lower divisions. Only 15% of Berkeley's classes have more than 50 people; 60% have fewer than 20 (this is comparable to Stanford's and Harvard's ratios).</p>

<p><a href="http://cds.berkeley.edu/pdfs/PDF%20wBOOKMARKS%2005-06.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://cds.berkeley.edu/pdfs/PDF%20wBOOKMARKS%2005-06.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>With ~2,000 faculty, hundreds of grad student instructors, and thousands of peers, there's plenty of help if needed. You can get lost in the crowd only if you don't put any kind of effort to put yourself out there.</p>

7

<p>Learning a language, or even at least being somewhat proficient in it is a skill that will help you no matter what you do. Let's say you want to do medical work in Africa? Or Latin America? Don't think so small!</p>

<p>The great thing about being pre-med at Tufts is that you have all the pros of a research university but the focus is like it would be at a liberal arts college--on undergraduates. Tufts gives a LOT of money for undergraduate research, especially in the sciences. I am a senior here and have several pre-med friends majoring in the natural sciences who have been published in peer-reviewed journals! You can imagine how med schools and research labs are clamoring for them! Additionally, Tufts' med school acceptance rate is quite high.</p>

8

<p>Shannyc, I think a lot of my negative about SU comes from the fact that I live 45 minutes away from campus and a lot of people who aren't really that smart from my school get in and go to syracuse, so that kinda makes me nervous about the make up of the whole student body</p>

9

<p>These students must have decent Sat scores and GPAs, as I thought Syracuse had pretty competitive admissions.</p>

10

<p>Are you in upstate, downstate, or western NY?</p>

<p>Syracuse has something for everyone: sports, academics, social.</p>

<p>U of R is more rigorous and prestigious. Sports is not emphasized, but for pre-med you can't beat it.</p>

<p>Tufts and U of R are similar academically, but Tufts has Boston (however tourism is not a good reason for choosing a college). </p>

<p>West coast schools are not worth the inconvenience.</p>

<p>I think the U of Rochester would be a good fit for you. Tufts is worth considering if you live in eastern NY. Syracuse if you want the sports and school spirit.</p>

11

<p>No, one student I know had a 990 on the SATs and averages about a 91 in her classes in a fairly easy public high school, and normall kids with ~1000SAT and ~90 average get in yearly from my school</p>

<p>edit: College help, I'm from upstate</p>

12

<p>I think Tufts and Berkeley are the best schools, academically that you got into. I also personally feel their locations are better than the other three schools. However, they're both very different -- one is a huge state school, the other is a small private university with a liberal arts vibe.</p>

13

<p>BigEast55, are you referring to UR in that story about someone with 990 on the SATs? Because 80% of the students here scored 600+ on the SAT Verbal and Math sections. Admissions to Rochester isn't ivy-league but it is highly competitive. You have got to be exaggerating -_-</p>

<p>You do sound a bit pretentious but... I find that most people who act like you usually have a mind to justify it. So, so long as you're as smart as you act, I'll disregard your attitude.</p>

<p>Over 50% of the undergrad students at UR are non-science majors - Political Science, Business and Psychology being the most popular majors among non-premed students. There's more to UR than pre-med, like our engineers. </p>

<p>Competition is something you will find at any of the top schools anywhere - it's what make good schools good. I picked rochester because I felt like the competition here is kept in class - outside of class, people are just their friendly selves. lolabelle is right in describing it as a small private university with a liberal arts vibe. If you think we don't have school spirit - it's because you probably don't know about the hundreds of clubs and events we have on campus. Sure we don't much spirit for our athletic teams - because we're not so big on sports, but we love our music and arts (you probably didn't hear about our campus-wide obsession for the Midnight Ramblers - an award winning a capella group). </p>

<p>I feel like we have a better time here than at crazy-competitive schools like Berkeley or SU, where it snows forever. </p>

<p>Anyways,
Tufts = best location, if you hate langauge well... (see UR)
Berkeley = best academics, not so good spirit and it is true you may feel lost in all that sea of geniuses.
USC = good all-around school but you'll be shelling out tons to fly out there all the time, great sports though,
SU = not sure, i'd hate the weather
UR = you've heard me rant. It's no berkeley, but it's a good balance - Almost complete freedom of curriculum, UR doesn't force you to take what you don't want. <a href="http://enrollment.rochester.edu/admissions/academics/curriculum.shtm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://enrollment.rochester.edu/admissions/academics/curriculum.shtm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Let me know what you wind up picking.</p>

14

<p>Awakien, I was referring to SU with those kids... the only people that get into U of R from my school are in the top 5 year after year (out of ~400), and just to point out, Berkeley has amazing school spirit, especially with their Football team that just tied USC for the Pac-10 title in football and their huge rivalry with Stanford. Also... Rochester weather and Syracuse weather... pretty much the same in my book, I live 1h45min from Rochester and 45min from SU so that's not much of a concern though.</p>

15

<p>I go to Tufts; I too hate studying languages. I would much rather enroll in a language institute type program somewhere down the road than study them in college, where I consider the opportunity cost of taking a foreign language class far too high (There are hundreds of other courses I would much rather take).</p>

<p>Tufts's foreign language requirement is actually easily circumvented. The requirement is divided into 2 halves of 3 courses, and only in the first half (ie French 1-3, Spanish 1-3, etc) are you required to take or demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language. If you have taken 4 years of a foreign language in high school, you should be able to pass out of at least this half. For the second half, you can continue with the language for 3 more semesters, or do the ever popular culture option, where you need only take 3 courses related to any facet of a non-English language based culture. I and many others I know have elected to study Classical culture, Chinese culture, etc. taking courses in the culture's literature, art, history, etc. all in English. Thus, you too could graduate from Tufts never having to step foot in a language class.</p>

<p>Good luck with your decision; for what its worth I would narrow it down to Tufts and Berkeley.</p>

16

<p>On the west coast choices, USC and Berkeley are very different choices. Cal does have large undergrad classes the first two years, but some amazing upper division classes with world reknown profs. USC is a beautiful campus island in a not so great part of LA. Your classes the first two years would be much smaller the first two years with much less reliance on TAs than Cal. While USC has a great undergrad social environment, it is not the party school of the past and would offer a strong academic environment in their honors program. When you visit you will get a feel for the difference between Norcal and Socal; they really are two different states in culture.<br>
I believe your visits to any of the schools are key...see where you find yourself feeling comfortable as it will be four very important years of your life.</p>

17

<p>BigEast55, I go to Syracuse and I'm pretty sure it's like any school. Some people you might wonder why they came here, some are perfect, and some you wonder about. I think that you would like going to school in California. I'm from there and I would recommend the two schools you mentioned. Tufts is a good option too. If I were you, I would grind it down to those three. It depends on what you are looking for. What are your criteria? Maybe that can clarify things..Hope that helps!</p>

18

<p>I don't know what my criteria are I guess, I'm visiting Cal and USC this weekend so hopefully one of them will just feel like home.</p>

19

<p>First of all, keep in mind that there is no such thing as a college that is "beneath you." When you are in high school, you have not earned the right to make that claim, sorry.</p>

<p>Now onto your question - The schools you mentioned are all fantastic colleges. I am from Los Angeles, so I can only comment on schools out here. Cal would not be a bad choice - its a wonderful campus in a very fun region, with San Francisco 20 minutes away, although it is a rough social environment due to all of the stresses placed upon the students. USC is also a great campus with a great academic environment, but you have to have a car to live in LA. The money situation may be worth some consideration, but really, you have to go with your gut.</p>

20

<p>I personally would go to Tufts. I think you'll appreciate the undergrad focus, access to research, and it doesn;t have the grade deflation of Berkeley.</p>