<p>Hi I'm new to CC and i'm just trying to gain some insigt as to how most students differentiate which top schools they are intrested in, and which ones they are not.</p>
<p>Guesswho, sweetie, for the sake of the adults on this forum, could you please write in more-or-less proper English? </p>
<p>To answer your question: most students select their school based on their own grades/stats; finances; regional preferences; size and academic interests. </p>
<p>For example a high achieving student whose grades/stats are comparable to Ivy admits but who doesn’t want to live in a cold climate is going to be more interested in Stanford, UCLA, Berkeley or USC. A qualifying, high achieving student needing extensive FA is also more likely to focus on Ivies due to their need-blind policies or other private universities known for their aid. That same student is unlikely to apply to out of state public schools, even the very good ones (University of California, University of Virginia, University of Michigan, University of North Caroline) because they’re unlikely to give extensive FA to someone from out of state. A student who wants a big urban campus is more likely interested in Columbia or Yale than, say, Dartmouth. Someone who wants to do math/science is less likely to select a liberal arts college; likewise a student passionate about literature probably won’t pick Cal Tech. </p>
<p>There are many choices and many variables.</p>
<p>^ Yes, that seems to be what the OP is trying to get a feel for: what kind of things to consider and how everything weighs in.</p>
<p>My favorite “quasi-Ivy” is Swarthmore for a number of reasons: very strong academics includingthe departments I’m interested in, English and Education Studies, seems like a social fit, the campus is beautiful, it’s right next to Philadelphia with a train station on campus. There are other reasons but I’m blanking at the moment.</p>
<p>You will find that all Ivies and other top schools are completely different from each other. My suggestion is that you use some search tool (I used the one on CollegeBoard–if you do, keep your search terms general, only specifying region, maybe, and major of interest) to compile an initial list. Using too specific terms will get you few results. General terms will produce a massive list with a lot of schools you don’t care about. But then you can sift through and pick up the ones that you would consider academically. Become a master of the college website. Research those schools and see what is unique about them that appeals to you. Then you’ll have another list, those which you want to visit, and then you can rule others out as well.</p>
<p>Thanks. Wow, I didn’t even notice how much I butchered like every word. </p>
<p>*favorite
*league
*insight
*quasi
*differentiate</p>
<p>And I just saw that there is a really in-depth thread on this topic so I think I’ll just save my self any further embarrassment and just go ahead and delete this.</p>
<p>If I only knew how to.</p>
<p>*interested</p>
<p>Princeton because I’m going there.</p>
<p>Honestly, that’s the bias that will affect the majority of posts you read on this board in this vein, sometimes reasonably and sometimes excessively. Most people won’t admit it though!</p>
<p>I love Yale, Princeton and Brown</p>
<p>Y and P are just as good as harvard but more undergraduate focused. </p>
<p>brown is just so loveable in every aspect, except they aren’t need blind for internationals and I didn’t have the balls to apply for FA …</p>
<p>Honestly though, I would have chosen Harvard had I been accepted. it’s harvard…</p>
<p>UChicago. Because monstor344 is right.</p>
<p>I have yet to visit, but my two top schools right now are Northwestern and Brown. Both are great schools and pretty high ranking-wise, but I’m interested in them for their med amazing programs. If an applicant is accepted to the Honors Program in Medical Education (NU) or Program in Liberal Medical Education (Brown), they are automatically accepted into the university’s med school. I don’t generally care about the weather, as I live in a place where it can be 80 degrees one day and then be snowing the next.</p>
<p>That is a long list to choose from. From the 8 Ivies to the usual top schools to Newsweek’s 25 new ivies. I guess one would choose wherever one is going to.</p>