<p>What is T-14 law? Top 14 law schools? If that is what it is, then why 14? why not 15, or 13?</p>
<p>Please refrain choosing a college because your best friend or girl/boyfriend is choosing to go there. Although it will be nice to attend school with your secondary school friends, you might be surprised that what they're interested in in the school might not suit you and can ultimately result in boredom while your friend is having a blast.</p>
<p>University of Texas or Georgia Tech. I got waitlisted at Stanford, and it would be a miracle if I got in there. </p>
<p>It's just that although GT has a higher national ranking (I'm going to get grilled for rankings) by about 10, UT is one better in civil engineering and like two behind in overall engineering. Plus, it's got a #2 architecture school and good business school. Not to mention the kicka$$ sports teams and Austin. </p>
<p>Also, GT got some bad ranking on Princeton Review. Bad dorms, professors get low marks, professors don't make themselves available, and no class discusssion. I thought GT was a great school. On the other hand, Texas has the best job placement services, best library, best college towns, and some other stuff. Not to mention chicks.</p>
<p>Can someone advise me?</p>
<p>construction, you sound as though you've already made a decision. In every comparison of things that matter, you are leaning away from GT. go with your heart - remember, this will be your new home and you want to be happy there!</p>
<p>I would really appreciate more advice on this subject; I currently have a very difficult choice! Notre Dame vs. WUSTL, both with significant aid so money can't be the tipping factor.</p>
<p>sorry for hijacking the thread, but can anyone compare nyu, tufts, bu, and carnegie mellon pre-med?</p>
<p>You know, you would probably have better luck posting questions relating to specific schools in their own forums</p>
<p>I personally think you need to look hard at yourself. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Are you a homebody? introverted? social magnet? Have you had the same peer group for many years that you depend on?</p>
<p>Your personality, being far away from any and all people you love and being able to grow in that environment is as impt a question as the academics.....for some, staying close to home, knowing some people on campus, being able to get home in a couple of hours....are impt. For others, they dont' need that.</p>
<p>Just another factor.</p>
<p>I have a tough dilemma...</p>
<p>School 1 and 2 (Chapman and LMU) are great film schools, but not top ranked or overly selective institutions (although the film programs are very selective).</p>
<p>School 3 (U. of Miami) has some decent name recognition, but isn't a "film school," although it does offer a film related major and I'd also double major in Public Relations.</p>
<p>All three schools are in amazing locations, but I'm torn on what to do.</p>
<p>I live in NJ and two of the schools offered me similar money...any suggestions?</p>
<p>Y'all can't be serious about choosing based solely (or mainly) off selectivity. Take it into account to an extent...but c'mon.</p>
<p>its really true that you shouldn't choose your college based on the name. right now, you're all caught up with comparing colleges and competing with your classmates. but the interesting thing is, next year when you're in college all of the sudden you don't see them anymore or care what they think. what you will 100% care about is how happy you are with your overall experience. your perspective will change 360 when your college becomes your home instead of your end of senior year label. choose the place where you think you'll be happiest because not so coincidentally, that'll probably also be the place you'll be most successful...whether its "the vard" or your state school.</p>
<p>I have two pieces of advice:
1) Don't pick a school just because it's prestigious. For a lot of people, an Honors program at a less prestigious school might make a lot more sense financially and academically. Don't let people tell you that you "should" go to an Ivy, and don't feel bad if you choose not too.<br>
2) Don't stress out too much about making a choice. Yes, it's a big decision, but if it doesn't work out you can always transfer. You're not locked into whatever you choose for life.</p>
<p>^ really good advice on both counts. especially the part about transferring. I'm a second semester freshman at an ivy looking to transfer out. last year i would've thought this would be a disastrous, unthinkable situation. but it's not so bad. transferring is common and very doable. and it's pretty hard to know what you need in a school when you've never lived away from home on your own and you don't really know the school. so you arent locked into the college you choose right now. it's a good thing to keep in mind.</p>
<p>My advice (in no particular order):</p>
<p>1) * Money matters! * If you got into your dream school, but they aren't offering you any sort of aid and your parents really can't afford for you to attend, don't go into debt taking out loans just so you can attend it. Think about it: if you're in huge debt for undergrad, you can pretty much kiss any chances of grad school goodbye. It amazes me how many people say "I'm taking out loans to pay for Harvard (or some other prestigious school) and my degree will be so prestigious, I'll be able to pay it back in no time!" The truth is, most fresh-out-of-college grads don't make over $50k a year. And even if a $25k+ loan doesn't seem like a lot, you will have other living expenses aside from your loans to pay off. Just make sure you carefully analyze exactly what you are getting yourself into before jumping the gun and accepting a seat at a school.</p>
<p>2) Prestige isn't everything. This sort of ties in with point #1, but just because the school is prestigious doesn't mean it's the right school for you. It would really suck if you realized you hated the school once you moved in. This happened to one of the girls in my dorm, who ended up leaving our very prestigious school for her not so prestigious state school. She just liked it better there. Also, make sure you are picking a school because it's what YOU want (not your parents or because your best friend/significant other/sibling goes or is going there). After all, YOU have to go there for 4 years, it might as well be a school you like.</p>
<p>3) Give other schools a chance. So you were admitted to your dream school. Congratulations! I know this my sound a little stupid, but visit other schools you may be remotely interested in anyway (along with your dream school, of course). You may realize you fit in better somewhere else or that the school you wanted to go to for so long and worked so hard to get into no longer appeals to you. I'd much rather be safe than sorry.</p>
<p>4) * Distance matters! * Some of you might be thinking "I can't wait to live on my own" or "I can't wait to get away from my parents". Leaving home is a lot harder than you think. Everyone gets homesick at some point. I'm sometimes jealous of my friends who live 2-3 hours away by car because they can go home for a weekend and see their friends and family. If you go to a school located on the opposite side of the country you are from, you might not be able to go home until Thanksgiving or even winter break which, if you think about it, can be an extremely long time away from home.</p>
<p>5) Consider the school's calendar schedule. This might sound a little bit strange to you, but what I mean is the way the school year is set up (quarters, semesters, ect.) My best friend goes to a school on a quarter schedule while I am on a semester schedule. There are a few huge differences. First of all, the course load is completely different. Whereas my friend is taking 3 or 4 courses max per quarter, I am taking 4 or 5. Second of all, her schedule flies by way faster than mine. That might seem obvious, but she tells me she constantly feels midterms and finals are just around the corner which works fine for her because she's the type of person who can handle high-stress, under-pressure situations. I, on the other hand, would die in such an environment. Bottom line: make sure you can handle your school's workload. Aside from that, our schedules never coincide. So for those of you considering schools using a non-traditional schedule, you may not see your friends who are on semester schedules as often as you think. This might not be a big deal for you, but my best friend and I were quite shocked when we compared schedules and saw we only had one vacation that coincided (and even that was just a one day overlap).</p>
<p>6) And finally * location, location, location!* Many of you probably already considered this when you applied (as with quite a few of these points), but consider it once more. It's very different living in the middle of nowhere than living in the middle of a metropolis. Both experiences can be a bit overwhelming or can get boring after a while. Make sure you are comfortable with where the school is located because you might love the school, but hating the town/city it is located in can seriously affect your overall experience.</p>
<p>I hope this helps you guys!</p>
<p>@ KittyLow - Thanks for that comprehensive post; I've never really considered #5 before. (:</p>
<p>And as for my own dilemma... It's pretty much a money vs. prestige vs. applying for medical school issue. Basically, I can either go do BME @ JHU and pay the 50k a year or go to Arizona State University's honor college on a National Merit Finalist scholarship and have immediate access to research opportunities. I know I want to go to a prestigious medical school after graduating--well okay, I don't /know/ but I definitely want to make sure I keep that option open--so I know that going to ASU is probably the more practical out of the two...</p>
<p>But BME @ JHU is just so damn alluring. D:</p>
<p>illegiblyclear - paying for medical school on top of at least $200,000 out of pocket (assuming you don't take out loans, in which case that will cost you much more) seems awfully pricey. You said you want to keep the option of med school open - the debt might close it for you.</p>
<p>Elgguj is right on target. In five months, nobody will care about where everyone else went to school. I avoided my state school all through junior and senior year because I didn't want to be known as "another girl who went to the state school". When I was accepted into the honors program and business school, my parents made me take a look. I loved what I saw, made the (tough) decision to go there over NYU and have never once regretted my choice. I went 40 or so rankings lower.... who cares?! Nobody. It's not the sort of thing you talk about after the occasional dorm conversation about where else you applied. </p>
<p>I'll put it another way. You're getting married and you have to choose between two wedding dresses. They're both beautiful. One fits perfectly and makes you feel gorgeous. The other is too big on the top and so long that you trip over it, but it's made by a famous designer. Which do you choose?</p>
<p>quote--Go to the most selective school you can</p>
<p>I am unclear on its meaning and the reasoning behind this factor.</p>
<p>Does this (also) mean, highest ranked? most prestigious?</p>
<p>Does it mean highest academics?</p>
<p>Or is it simply the face value meaning of the lowest acceptance rate?</p>
<p>What is the reasoning behind using most selective? Is it that 'most selective' is assumed to have students most like yourself, as one other poster speculated?</p>
<p>idic5-
"Go to the most selective school you can" means to go to the school with the highest SAT scores that you can.</p>
<p>The following are all correlated with higher SAT scores:
higher retention after one year
higher graduation rate
higher level of instruction in the classroom
better class discussions
more academic orientation
more sophisticated campus culture
more interesting and "wholesome" social scene
better role models among students
better role models among faculty
better resources
more opportunities for involvement in research
better grad school/professional school placement
better job placement
more prestige
better alumni network
higher endowment
better library
less drinking/drug abuse
greater tradition and history</p>
<p>I am a high school student from India. I want to major in biology, (no pre-med) and im especially fascinated by genetics!
I got accepted into Claremont Mckenna, Smith, Scripps, Davidson, Haverford, Wash U and now am thoroughly confused. I like the liberal arts setting, but the bio program at WAsh U is brilliant! (25% of the human genome was sequenced there!!!)
My biggest concern with Davidson/Haverford is the lack of diversity. I like CMC but it is not a 'science school' so.......basically, im back to being utterly lost! :(</p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>