<p>Washington&Lee(full ride)/Dartmouth(42,000)/Chicago(i dont know yet)</p>
<p>i'd appreciate it
if anyone knows how many students from these school get into grad schools or get good jobs!</p>
<p>Lol, well, I'm not sure that any of us are really going to be very objective judges of that since we pretty much think W&L is the center of the universe. :-) Congrats, though-- those are three awesome schools to choose from and they obviously love you. Were you a GWHS recipient, too? </p>
<p>~*~</p>
<p>If W&L is free, I would definitely go there. Well, also, remember what Tegan said about us not being very objective!</p>
<p>I picked W&L over Dartmouth (my third choice) without even thinking about money so with a $42,000 difference in money, I wouldn't even think about it for 2 seconds.</p>
<p>W&L has the third highest percentage of alums leading Fortune 500 companies (after Yale and Princeton)</p>
<p>About the money (not to sound spoiled here, just hear me out):</p>
<p>Are your parents willing to pay anything? Are they of the mind that, since they can afford it, you should go to the best school you get into?</p>
<p>If you go to W&L for free, would they help out with grad school? Are you planning on grad school? If so, W&L - because, as someone who will spend well over $100,000 for her grad school, that can be huge. Law school and med school give out NOTHING for graduate study. </p>
<p>Would your parents give you spending money if you go to W&L? Maybe help with a car upon graduation? You can have a lot more fun and get more out of college when you aren't stressed about finances. </p>
<p>Money aside... W&L and Dartmouth have fairly similar environments, but Chicago is different. Personally, of those three, money aside, my list would be: UChicago, W&L, and then Dartmouth at a distant third. But I'm a city girl and I would prefer the intensity of Chicago to W&L's happy laid-back atmosphere.</p>
<p>My friend goes to Chicago: there is NO social life, just a warning.</p>
<p>see... I might actually LIKE that environment. Not LOVE it, but I could really enjoy some of the other aspects enough to make up for it.</p>
<p>Do realise that I'm into self-torture in ways that most people are not. If taking grad level quantum mechanics as your elective when you are 20 years old doesn't strike your fancy, don't do what I would do, both in terms of quantum and Chicago.</p>
<p>i meant im getting 42000 from DArtmouth</p>
<p>Projected tuition and fees at Darmouth for next year is $41,355, so I guess if you're comparing these school financially then W&L would be the most economical choice, since you have all four years free rather than one. But, like I said, we're probably not going to be the most, um, unbiased judges here, and I doubt there's any one thing we could say that would make W&L sky rocket ahead of two other great schools. Besides its great academics and programs, though, I chose W&L because:</p>
<ol>
<li>I think it sounds like a wonderfully positive environment</li>
<li> I was very impressed by how students really seem to value the honor code. Granted that the "real world" doesn't have an honor code and that there are still problems sometimes on campus, but I figure I might as well go somewhere were at least people try to be honorable.</li>
<li>I currently live in the South and I like it here</li>
<li>Because their admissions staff was the only one out of all the colleges I visited that didn't adopt a "what have you achieved lately?" attitude when I went in to interview, which I thought suggested that the school as a whole is enthusiastic about its students as people, and not just as test scores.<br></li>
<li> I met a lot of people who have senses of humor like mine. That seems trivial, but I think it will make a difference when everyone is freaking out over final exams.</li>
<li> I like that the campus is truly service oriented.<br></li>
<li> Trident waffles. Stupid, I know, but come on... that's <em>really</em> cool. </li>
</ol>
<p>Anyway, good luck in your decision! It's pretty nice to be forced to choose between hefty scholarships from three good schools. ;-)</p>
<p>~*~</p>
<p>It sounds to me as tho W&L and Dartmouth have provided you with enough $$ for either/or - congrats to you</p>
<p>Another question for you - weather
Dartmouth - very long cold winters - mud season for spring
W&L - fair and short winters - snows sometimes but not much - just enough to have some fun - great fall/spring
The weather would sure help me make my choice lol - but hey - who am I lol - just a parent</p>
<p>xyxloid2000: Do you mean your'e getting $42,000 PER YEAR from Dartmouth? In that case, it would cost you about $2,000 per year. In that situation, I would really be torn between W&L and Dartmouth because both are great schools with their own redeeming characteristics.</p>
<p>That was a really hard decision to make for me (Dartmouth vs. Washington and Lee) but it became easy once I felt what the campuses and the people are like. Washington and Lee really feels warm and southern, everyone is so friendly and so happy. You can go out and just see people playing sports, having fun, just hanging out outside having fun. Not so at Dartmouth.</p>
<p>I'd recommend Dartmouth College.</p>
<p>Aww, come on, give us reasons to refute ;)</p>
<p>either dartmouth or W&L</p>
<p>Say no to chicago</p>
<p>Well, let's say that we can assume:</p>
<p>1.) Cost is not an issue at this point.
2.) You like both schools equivalently right now.</p>
<p>Basically, your options are to either do a lot of research and take the opinions of people here (who will always gush about their college) or the other thing. The other thing entails making a decision based on a criteria that every college counselor would say was a bad idea.</p>
<p>Do it for the Ivy name, if it's really THAT CLOSE of a tie. Every time somebody delivers a fiery indictment of higher education as being "overrated" in order to make everyone feel satisfied no matter what, you will know the real deal. That you DID what everyone is playing down so peoples' feelings get hurt.</p>
<p>THAT is what I'm saying to you. I, however, am going to Washington and Lee. Go figure.</p>
<p>Happy Camper, yay!, join the '09 thread ;)</p>
<p>For my Washington and Lee was a fourth to fifth choice (after Dartmouth Georgetown and Boston College and possibly McGill) until I visited the campus, found out what it was really like and fell in love.</p>
<p>So I think in a decision such as this, a campus visit is definetely required.</p>
<p>are you a nerd? if so chicago lol, jk. but its a much more academiclly challenging school with little focus on outside activities. washington and lee is the perfect balance. but dartmouth IS ivy leage lol.</p>
<p>don't "do it for the ivy name". employers everywhere know w&l, its a fantastic school, just as dartmouth is. the only people who are more impressed when they hear dartmouth than w&l are people who wont be hiring you and dont matter</p>
<p>Colgate that had the perfect blunt eloquence that I think every high school junior and senior needs to hear. Where I come from (northwest) nobody knows about more than 5 good east coast schools. People need to realize the true reasons behind going to college: getting a good education, broadening one's views of the world, meeting new and interesting people, and providing a platform from which to get a job. If you use just those few simple criteria, then it becomes clear that one would be just as well off at Dartmouth or W&L. It just comes down to what fits you better. Disregard the views of the high school freshman or mall retail clerk that says go ivy because they've never heard of anything else.</p>