<p>I was accepted to these universities:</p>
<p>University of Virginia
University of California Los Angeles
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
University of Chicago
Carnegie Mellon University</p>
<p>Of these five schools, which would give me the best college experience? If you could rank them that would give me an idea of how each compares with one another (1-being the best experience, 5-being the worst).</p>
<p>They are all excellent schools and you should feel very proud and lucky that you have so many wonderful choices. Have you visited the campuses? What are you looking for in a college campus besides the academics? Which school offered the best financial package? Have you thought about transportation to and from during college breaks? --just a few things for you to consider when making your college choice. They are all great schools. Cast the prestige factor and rankings aside and consider the campus feel and environment because this is not only going to be your school, but it will also be your new home for much of the year.</p>
<p>If that’s one of your main criteria I’d suggest UCLA. Any state school is going to give you a great college experience, and UCLA also happens to be quite prestigious and located in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>From what I’ve been told, University of Chicago would definitely not give you a “real” college expirience. I don’t know for sure since I’ve never visited, but that’s just what I’ve heard.</p>
<p>I think that UVa or UCLA would be the best.</p>
<p>abkgirl- all depends what you mean by “real”. If you mean big emphasis on sports loyalty and frat/sorority focus, you’re right. If you mean celebration of questioning, intellectual discussion, academic rigor and of individuality (a/k/a quirkiness) U Chicago is very much the “real” college experience.</p>
<p>I thought University of Michigan- Ann Arbor would. I didn’t know University of California- Los Angeles was seen as a normal college experience.</p>
<p>stupid question.
<p>Well of course there is going to bias since I’m asking for opinions. I’m sure that some of you have heard about each schools’ reputation from friends, family members, news, etc and I welcome those comments. So feel free to post.</p>
<p>What type of experience are you looking for? My child is a third year at the U of Chicago and loves it. It meets most if not all of her expectations for a college experience. The classes and students are stimulating intellectually and socially. Extracurricular activities abound. She has been in several choirs and has had national and local tours. All sorts of cultural events go on, including but not limited to theatre, classical music, folk music and international dinners and shows. World famous speakers come to campus regularly. A pretty active division III athletic association goes on with schools such as Tufts, Case Western, U of Rochester and the athletic facilities are top notch.They have the country’s oldest university film society. I could go on and on. Is it a party school with lots of greek life? No, but there are some fraternities/sororities and you can party if you want to. The city of Chicago is sensational. The school really pays attention to its students and helps them get some of the country’s and world’s most prestigious fellowships. The education there can not be beat. Plus the campus is gorgeous.Definitely consider the school. It may very well be what you are looking for. People who put it down probably have not experienced it personally or are just not good fits for the school.</p>
<p>^Glad to hear someone saying something good about U of Chicago. I’m considering going there and it doesn’t help that the majority of comments here seem to be insulting the school in some way.</p>
<p>UChic is a greatly sought after school. Look into it…! A preliminary way of judging schools (perhaps not the best but sometimes it can be quite telling) would be to go back and look at the school’s supplemental questions. UChic had some very quirky ones… that I would guess say a lot about the school as a whole, too!</p>
<p>University Of Chicago or University Of Virginia</p>
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<p>Your point is well taken, but I see no reason to be rude to a O.P. asking for help. </p>
<p>There seem to be a lot of parents here so I’m not sure about your percentage split. I’m sure many (like myself) went to a different grad school than they went undergrad and many others that may have transferred to multiple colleges. Others have sons and daughters that went to a school that can at least share their anecdotal experiences. </p>
<p>As others have suggested, the O.P. needs to better describe what kind of college experience they are looking for before answers become (at all) helpful.</p>
<p>Chicago</p>
<p>Unless you mean big sports U then UCLA or Michigan.</p>
<p>Chicago and Carnegie Mellon would definitely not give you the normal college experience. But you haven’t told us what kind of experience you are looking for, so we can’t really say whether those schools are for you or not. </p>
<p>But in general, UCLA and UM would give you the best ‘typical’ college experiences out of those schools. Probably UM in particular, because it is located in more of a collegetown. And if you like the typical tailgating/big-time football experience, it doesn’t get much better than the Big 10.</p>
<p>By the best college experience I mean good academics, good sports/school spirit, diversity in student body, and a place to really grow as a person.</p>
<p>Based on your last post, I think Michigan would be the choice.</p>
<p>^Yup. I don’t know if Michigan has too much diversity, but the academics, sports, and school spirit there are top notch. And I’m sure you can grow as a person and all that good stuff. Just talk to alumni and current students there.</p>
<p>I think UCLA or University of Michigan will probably give you the experience you desire. I would choose UCLA is you like basketball more and UMich if you like football more. At both schools the academics are top notch and they both will evoke personal growth since large public schools require a special type of students; they generally require the students to be more outgoing and etc. So yeah, either UCLA or UMich. I would choose personally choose UCLA since its in LA and the nice weather.</p>