<p>She has been accepted and narrowed her list down to John's Hopkins, Tufts, Berkeley, USC, UVA and Emory. She debated for the last five years, is obsessed with Doctor Who, Disney and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She plans to major in either International Studies, Philosophy or Women and Gender Studies with the intention of going to law school after. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Tufts might be a good fit</p>
<p>All are great schools. Berkeley should meet all of her needs. </p>
<p>All of them are good schools although different in overall environment. I think that JHU and Emory share the most similarities. </p>
<p>Emory offers strong programs in all of her fields of interest. The WGS program is especially vibrant although the International Studies and philosophy majors are by no means weak (quite the contrary!). To put in a small plug for Emory, the Dali Lama is a professor at the school, and it’s not unusual to see Tibetan Monks studying or socializing with current students (Emory runs a Tibetan science exchange program). One of my friends will work at a German firm this summer, while another will study abroad in Morocco but not before she interns in Israel at a multinational corporation. </p>
<p>Among schools accepted to, Tufts and JHU are strongest for IR. And given your D’s “quirky” interests, I agree Tufts might be best fit. </p>
<p>I agree that Tufts is the best fit for her personality wise, but I’m worried about the Hill. She is pretty lazy physically(sorry —, but you know it’s true-love you just the way you are). I’m worried it may deter her from going to class occasionally, especially in the winter! </p>
<p>What a great set of choices! Tufts sounds like a good match based on how you describe your D. By winter she’ll have calves of steel just from walking up-and-down and up-and-down for three months. 
Plus, there are ways to cheat the hill a little bit if you’re really motivated. </p>
<p>So funny that a hill would be a stumbling block! Yes, my D Tufts complains about it occasionally, but she’s never used it as a reason to skip a class (as far as I know…). If anything, it makes her feel she’s getting in some exercise for those days/ weeks she can’t get to the gym. And I do believe EllieMom is correct about being able to “cheat” the hill.</p>
<p>Back when I went to school we walked uphill both ways… But I digress. Certainly a nice set of choices for her. I take it no place she visited and fell in love with immediately? Weather a factor in the decision? Distance from home? Finances? Honestly, I think those are all fine institutions and will allow her to progress to grad school. I also think they are all large enough that she can find “her crowd”. Perhaps due to her broad interest set at this time she might be best served by the school(s) most willing to let students explore and switch among majors.</p>
<p>Are you instate for UVa or Berkeley?</p>
<p>All great schools. Are the finances equal? If she’s truly serious about law school, she may want to save some money for that.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for your thoughts so far! We are from MN. My D’s narrowed down list didn’t include Emory. I added it as she got a nice merit scholarship with her acceptance and I’m sending her for a visit this weekend. When we started the search, she was certain she wanted Tufts. Then we visited Brown and she applied there ED, only to be deferred and then R. She is leaning towards JH now, isn’t certain it’s the one and hasn’t seen Emory, USC or Berkeley. We will hit the 2 in CA next weekend. As she hasn’t had an aha moment, I reached out here for your help!</p>
<p>If your daughter received a merit scholarship from Emory, wasn’t she required to visit campus during Scholars Weekend? Granted, I’m not familiar with the criteria for the Barkley Forum Scholarship.</p>
<p>No. We were notified in her acceptance letter and she didn’t apply for it either. She also received 3 other merit scholarships from Hofstra, Brandies and William and Mary. We didn’t apply for those either and were notified in her acceptance letters. She has removed those three from her list along with Madison and Wash U. </p>
<p>Will money be an issue? Like for law school? What she can save in ug costs can really make a difference in what she/you has to pay and what she may have to borrow from there. Unless there is a school staring right out there as her favorite, I’d go with the money. UVA. Easier to get the grades for a chance to get into top law school than Tufts, JHU, not as big as Berkeley and more of a cohesive school, less distractions than at USC, and a lot less expensive in the 4 years unless there is merit reducing the costs to the same or so that the economics are not at sticker prices, as I am assuming. </p>