<p>Okay, so I know that I really want to go to a good college in the U.S (top 20). I'm just not sure which college is 'me' or what I might like. All these threads are really long and take an excessive amount of time to read (and often outdated). I know that lots of people here have more experience in college searching than I do and want to straight out ask for opinions. I want to know what colleges YOU think I might like. Plus, it's highly unlikely I will get to visit any of the colleges as they are really far away from where I live.
Most to least:</p>
<p>-I'm considered 'Artsy', I take art classes for fun. I love admiring theater and Broadway (even though I don't actually participate).
-Academics are really important to me but I don't want to go to school with complete robots.
-Don't want to be stuck in a rural area, suburban to mid-sized cities sound nice.
-Good food and nice dorms. ( this is very important to me since I have a sensitive stomach and a neat freak) But I don't think I'm comfortable with co-ed roommates or co-ed bathrooms.
-Airport should be close within an hour.
-Not in NYC (it smells bad and I feel like I'm about to get lung cancer in some places lol)
-Be in pretty and safe area. (I hate graffiti and want to stay in a safe area) (I really like DC btw)
-I would prefer it to not be much of an athletic school (My school excels in it and I am seriously sick of all the excitement over a football game)
-Not have too much of a party scene </p>
<p>Yeah, I know I'm really picky-but who isn't? I just want to know if I'm looking at the right colleges at the moment. What colleges do you think I would like? What stereotype would I fit into (assuming I have good stats and whatnot).</p>
<p>-Cost isn’t an issue. I’ve figured out ways to pay for college and don’t have to narrow down my results.
-I’m currently exploring what field I prefer which is why I left it out. But so far I like engineering and the sciences. I’m not into English and history type of stuff. Political science and business is somewhere in the middle.
-I have a pretty decent gpa (in the upper 3.00s)
-I’m not using college match because I tend to always put in the stats of my dream school(which I think I like only because It was my childhood dream)
-lots of ap classes (at least 10-15)</p>
<p>I have time improve on my standardized testing throughout the year. I’m mainly asking so I can have a decent goal in mind and find out where to improve.</p>
<p>I have an older sister who happens to be going for the same degree I plan on going for (computer science), so her top college choices are basically my top college choices, and our application lists are similar. What does this mean for you? Find someone who shares your interests in your school or community or whatever and see what they are thinking about. When you talk out your choices with a human, things get really clear. That human could be your high school counselor. That’s what they’re there for!</p>
<p>If I didn’t have a sister, I would’ve found colleges by going to US News and looking at college rankings by field. Look at the top colleges in the fields you’re interested in and research them in detail. Then you’ll know if you fit in. Really getting to know a college is also a great boost, if you work in that information in your essays. </p>
<p>Once you narrow down a few (7-8 for me), you might consider taking a college tour. Get to know the campus, the types of students and the feel of the location. Once you do that, your top college choices will be clear.</p>
<p>So, in short, take the initiative. Go out, do some research and find what fits YOU the most.</p>
<p>Since money isn’t and issue, consider Northwestern and WashU! Both are comfortably tucked away near an international airport. Dorms are probably okay, and you won’t be dealing with the coed situation (I assume) especially with NU since they consider 3+ people in one room a brothel. Cannot guarantee food - you will have to visit. You don’t have to get into sports, especially WashU. People from either schools are really nice, esp. washU. both campuses are nice, but Evanston is to DIE FOR!!! Seriously, it’s gorgeous! And of course, both are safe. Both have artsy crowds. Pre-med track majors at WashU are competitive, but good! They also run 3-2 engineering programs with liberal arts colleges. Engineering is availale at NU too. For your in-the-middle interests, Integrated Science Program, Mathematical Models in Social Science, Kellogg certificate in business, and Econ are all awesome. But WashU also has good business program too. Those are the two that popped of the top of my head. </p>
<p>Although really, you should look at the Top20 schools on National University ranking by USnews. They’ve all have most, if not al, of what you need. Do some research!</p>
<p>Avoid (from the top 20s) UChicago, Columbia (although they are great at engineering and tucked away from downtown), and MIT. Also Harvard, Duke, UPenn, and Notre Dame since you dislike sports. Caltech and Stanford is great for CS and Tech, not sure if you’re into that stuff. Johns Hopkins is great for biomedical engineering!!! Brown sounds good for you too. Their Econ is okay and med is great. It’s more relaxed of the ivies and pretty artsy I would say. Besides RSOD is like across town. Cornell engineering is also strong. Consider Georgetown for Poli Sci and Int. Biz. </p>
<p>@say5256 Oooops. Sorry, didn’t see your post about engineering. Most LACs don’t have engineering, but the few that do are actually pretty good (such as Harvey Mudd).</p>
<p>Thanks a lot everyone! I’ve realized how silly my anti-sports thing sounds and realized that I don’t want it to affect my college search. I like a lot of your suggestions! (Especially @turnupforwhat )</p>
<p>Sports affects college culture to varying degrees (depending on the school, division etc), so it’s okay to consider it while you look for schools to apply.</p>
<p>Vassar may be worth looking into. Very artsy, in a suburban area, not really athletic, excellent academics (depending on what your SAT score is and where in the “upper 3.00s” your GPA is, it may be a reach). Not sure about their science offerings, and they don’t have engineering. </p>
<p>–I’m not using college match because I tend to always put in the stats of my dream school(which I think I like only because It was my childhood dream)–</p>
<p>I don’t know what you mean by “put in the stats” of the SCHOOLS. You put your own stats in–those same stats that you’ve been reluctant to give to us.</p>
<p>I cannot help you if you cannot provide us with more info about your stats. Without an SAT or ACT score and without an accurate GPA, these other suggestions are shots in the dark.</p>
<p>WashU is a good school, here in Missoui. Not really known as a party school, sports aren’t as big here as compared to other Missouri counterparts (SLU, Mizzou). Greek life isn’t big. I think some article said WashU had the best dorms or student life or something. I visited the school last week, it’s very very nice. Worth looking into, I think you would like it here.</p>
<p>Perhaps Swarthmore? It’s 30 mins from Philly is tucked away and nice looking. Their engineering probably can’t compete with MIT etc but I think it’s still good. You can also explore other interests outside of Engineering due to the liberal arts nature.</p>
<p>Haha I am an athlete so it’s wrong for me to say I don’t like sports. I don’t want to cross of a school off just because of it.
So far I like brown, duke(academic wise -but hate how isolated and stressful it feels), MIT (love the area and dorms-but not into co-ed bathrooms or roommates), and Yale(known for being artsy as well but it’s admissions are way too small)
I’ll look into rice and vassar (I don’t know too much About them). They’re not too well known where I’m from.</p>