Vote for your favorite and help me out!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi everyone- I know that the college choice is personal and depends on what the individual student is looking for in her college experience. However, in the spirit of CC, I would be really grateful if some knowledgeable strangers would give me their opinion. </p>

<p>Just select the school(s) from below that you love the best and tell me why.</p>

<p>Swarthmore, Amherst, Brown, Yale, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Dartmouth, Williams</p>

<p>Any response at all would be really appreciated (negatives would be good too). Thanks so much!</p>

<p>~Jaimie</p>

2

<p>Heck, why not throw in Princeton too</p>

3

<p>Oh, and try to keep prestige out of the factors
Thanks again!</p>

4

<p>my god. congratulations on the fabulous acceptances! i wouldn't be able to be subjective.. as yale and dartmouth are my dream schools :) I truly believe that those two schools offer THE best undergrad educations in the East. Besides that, they both have great school spirit, beautiful campuses, and just an overall sense of community and love of learning. That's my $0.02!</p>

5

<p>All are really great schools! You couldn't go wrong with any of them...</p>

<p>Personally I would go with Middlebury, Bowdoin or Williams... I have a thing for small LACs, and would feel lost at a larger university. I also have a lot of varied interests, and an LAC can cater to that more than a university. I looked a lot at Middlebury, and both my parents went there, so because I know it best, I'd lean there.
I feel like Swarthmore and Amherst are a little more pretentious than the others... I don't know much about Swarthmore, but Amherst has a reputation among the 5 college consortium as being kind of b*****y. Amherst also has a strange campus... it's laid out kind of weird, and it's a little too mixed into the town for my taste...</p>

<p>But it's of course up to you, and not me!</p>

6

<p>Dartmouth or Brown! Dartmouth is a great mix of a LAC with 4000 people, making it really intimate yet not too small.</p>

7

<p>The only school I have been to out of that list is Williams. I personally liked it a lot. Do you want to go to a school where everyone LOVES their school? Go there.</p>

8

<p>jaimie17, I could give you my opinion of these schools for my son (he goes to Williams and it's perfect for him) but I don't know know if his situation would necessarily be pertinent to your situation. These are all great schools; you need to find the one that's best for YOU. Why don't you tell us more about yourself and what your interests are so we could give an educated opinion? Anyway, congratulations on so many wonderful choices.</p>

9

<p>Yale is in a poor location, but it's a great school.</p>

10

<p>Dartmouth= Research university + small LAC feel= awesome college experience</p>

11

<p>Dartmouth=huge Greek presence and lots of drinking, but good times and excellent academics.</p>

12

<ol>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>Williams</li>
</ol>

<p>would be my top 3</p>

13

<p>I if accepted would only go to Swarthmore from the list you have.
First the other schools are kind of in a crappy location. Swarthmore is in a sub-urban area with easy access to Philly.
It's a LAC so close community + student involvement in administration's decision + more research opportunity
Also it's an arboretum really beautiful. Also there's more focus on research compared to GPA.</p>

14

<p>If you want to be surrounded by rich preppy WASPs for 4 years, go to Middlebury.</p>

15

<p>Brown is my top pick. No requirements (this goes for Amherst too) but unlike Amherst, it's bigger, so you have more course offerings. Mid-sized, more undergrad focus than Yale or Princeton. </p>

<p>Bowdoin and Midd are somewhat...homogenous.</p>

<p>Swat's great, but only if you like being pressure-cooked.</p>

<p>Dartmouth, Bowdoin, Midd are all in rural areas, if that's your thing. New Haven's a hole, but Yale's campus is nice.</p>

16

<p>"Bowdoin and Midd are somewhat...homogenous."</p>

<p>not any more so than amherst, dartmouth, or williams.</p>

17

<p>Bowdoin and Middlebury are smaller though, so they feel more homogenous...</p>

18

<p>is that so?:</p>

<p>amherst - 1600
williams - 2000
midd - 2350
bowdoin - 1750</p>

<p>dartmouth, admittedly, is larger, with an undergrad pop'l of about 4000. but more people in an equally remote location is not necessarily better for reducing homogeneity....</p>

19

<p>Hmmm, I guess I thought Middlebury was smaller than Williams and Amherst. </p>

<p>But yeah, more people sure feels less stifling (for me, anyways)</p>

20

<p>Dartmouth is definitely better at attracting different kinds of applicants than Bowdoin or Midd.</p>

<p>I didn't comment on Amherst or Williams, because I haven't spent any significant amounts of time there.</p>