Hi! I’m a current high-school sophomore and have been looking into colleges. I wanted to get some advice on what schools I should look into based on my interests and personality. My college counselor has said that I stand a chance at competitive schools; my ACT is a 33 (I will retake it in junior year; why not?) and I have a 3.95 UW at a top private preparatory school (including honors and AP classes). I also have a lot of faith in both my essay-writing abilities and extracurriculars. My current top picks are Brown, Stanford and UC-Berkeley, but I’d love to hear your insights!
A couple of notes:
– I am a liberal-arts kid. I plan to major in French, Italian, Cultural
Anthropology, English or Comparative Literature. (No interest in STEM majors.)
– Obviously, as aforementioned, there needs to be a strong language department.
– I want a medium-sized school; coming from a small high school, a traditional Liberal
Arts campus sounds too small but a huge state school sounds too socially
overwhelming.
– Location doesn’t matter, but I’d prefer to stay on one of the coasts. (Weather doesn’t
bother me.)
– I am not a partier; I don’t mind if there’s a social scene on campus, but I don’t want to
feel pressure into drinking, doing drugs, etc. (I am an ambivert and prefer social events
like getting coffee with friends, going to musicals and exploring the neighborhood/city.)
– I want a school that’s really focused on learning for the sake of learning; although I
respect pre-professional schools like UPenn, they don’t really interest me.
– I really want to feel safe. I know it’s naïve to want to be 100% safe at all times; that being
said, I’m a 5’1" girl and don’t want to constantly have to be on edge.
– I would like a student body with a reputation for being as passionate about learning as I
am; less competitive and more obsessed with interesting niche subjects.
– I would like to get to know my professors. While I don’t mind lectures, I don’t want to be
taught exclusively by TAs.
– I have no opinion on sports; I am not a big rah-rah person but don’t mind if it has a
presence.
– My backups are state schools: UCSB, UCSD and possibly some of the Cal States.
I live in Chicago. I love UChicago. Still, I wouldn’t say UChicago meets this criterion:
“– I really want to feel safe. I know it’s naïve to want to be 100% safe at all times; that being said, I’m a 5’1” girl and don’t want to constantly have to be on edge."
@merc81 : That article offered an incrediblly textured, vivid slice of one man’s experience and thoughts. Textured and vivid enough to have one imagine how rich the long-term experience at a place like Hamilton can be.
The Ass. Prof. is clearly thoughtful, reflective, driven, curious and glad to have found a place where all of those aspects, as well as a seriousness and commitment to purpose, is approached in innovative ways.
Stanford does have a lot of STEM students, but their liberal arts classes are also fantastic. I’m a STEM person myself, but among the most interesting, engaging classes I’ve ever taken were two classes on ancient Japanese literature at Stanford.
Your "top private preparatory school" GC will have the best info
Some things about you won't change over the next 18 months- and some things will. Be prepared to allow for change in what matters to you most. For the next year just treat this as window shopping.
There are a lot of schools that fit the requirements you list. My guess is that you are ruling out most of them b/c the name doesn't rate in your community. Think hard about 'prestige'. As a high-achieving, academically oriented student in a school of kids just like you, notice how much your environment is shaping how you evaluate possibilities for you. You say that "a huge state school sounds too socially overwhelming"- but also that one of your top 3 choices is UC-B. Location "doesn't matter" - unless it's a fly-over state of course. Yet, based on your other criteria, some of your best options (esp for match schools) may be there. Separating what works for you and what fits the expectations of your HS environment is important, so....
Do yourself a huge favour and reverse your search: start your search with safeties. Figure out some colleges that you are are certain to be admitted to- and that you would genuinely not cry about (or be afraid to have to admit to) if that turned out to be your only/best choice. Two benefits: a) you will go into senior year knowing that you will go to a college that you are happy about and b) the work you put into figuring out what you actually prefer will help you identify good fits for your match and reach choices. It's easy to daydream about fancy name places- but a good college plan takes more than daydreaming.
Having said all that, check out Swat/Bryn Mawr, Vassar, Barnard/Columbia, Reed, Macalaster, William & Mary
UChicago has very strong language options. While Hyde Park was a seedy area 20+ years ago, it has undergone a vibrant transformation. It is a very safe area, as long as you use common sense.
Consider Barnard College in New York City which allows you to take classes at Columbia University.
Although not in a city, Middlebury College is strong in languages.
Is COA (cost-of-attendance) a critical factor ?
If comfortable in a preppy, mostly pre-professional environment & cost is not a factor, then Georgetown University might be of interest to you. Strong foreign language department.
P.S. As you are currently a sophomore, your interests / likes / and dislikes may change. At this time, your post indicates that you might be best suited for an LAC (liberal arts college) such as Middlebury or Barnard.
My family will likely be able to afford the full tuition. (That being said, I am still going for many scholarships including the NMSQT.) Hope this helps!
In that case, I join in recommending Middlebury. And, kudos to @Publisher for his recommendation of Barnard. Despite a recent, totally tragic murder that took place off-campus , Barnard students are not living on the edge. The Morningside Heights area of Manhattan is cosmopolitan and relatively safe. Heck, I’d even recommend NYU since FA won’t be a problem. But, basically, you sound like a LAC person. Add Scripps to your list.
Check out the Claremont Colleges, especially Pomona, Scripps, and Pitzer. Each one of them is fairly small, but they are all adjacent to each other and socially feel like a single pool. It may be the best of both worlds: A smaller community as your home base from which to explore the greater environment. Perfect for an ambivert.
I agree with the recommendation for the Claremont Colleges. If you want students who are as passionate about learning as you are, you’ll find them at liberal arts colleges. Claremont has 5 of them on adjacent campuses plus 3 grad schools. Collectively they form the medium sized school that you’re looking for. Pitzer is strong in cultural anthropology and offers both French and Italian.
If you like Brown, you’ll probably also like Wesleyan. Yes, it’s a small liberal arts college, but it’s the biggest of them with 3000 undergrads plus a few hundred more grad students. It’s often referred to as the “mini-Brown” because of its open curriculum and artsy, creative student body. Like musicals? Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway smash hit “In the Heights” while a student at Wesleyan, where it was accepted by the student theater company Second Stage for its first performance. Fifteen minutes away is the Goodspeed Opera House, dedicated to the preservation of the American musical. State Capitol, Hartford, is not far away and also has a vibrant theater scene. Wesleyan is strong in cultural anthropology and offers both French and Italian. Middletown’s Main Street is only a few blocks away with more than 20 restaurants and coffee shops.
No city has more neighborhoods to explore than New York City and nowhere are there more musicals than Broadway. So, I second the suggestion for Barnard. Another small liberal arts college on the larger side (2600), but more important is that it’s affiliated with Columbia University across the Street. The two have a combined enrollment of almost 9000 undergrads. In fact Barnard College grads receive their degree from both Barnard and Columbia. Students can cross register for courses at Columbia and Columbia students take classes at Barnard. It will meet all of your academic needs and interests in languages, literature, and anthropology. If you get bored, there’s more available across the street.
Not on either of the coasts but a medium sized (6700 undergrads) University with an undergraduate focus in one of the most walkable cities in the country is Tulane in New Orleans. The St. Charles “streetcar” (trolley) runs in front of campus and takes you through the Garden District to downtown, the French Quarter, and Jackson Square. Of course there are lots of restaurants and coffee shops, starting with Brennan’s Napoleon House just a short distance down Charles Street. It’s the only place in the country where the legal system was based on the French model, not the English. If you want to study French in a place where it’s French origins are treasured and preserved, New Orleans is as close as it gets in this country.
“As a grad student I taught at a big research institution, Stanford, and there are very smart students there as well, but they weren’t the ideal I had in mind, which was the engaged, enthusiastic liberal arts student who’s in it for the ideas, for the love of knowledge …”
If that was the case, why is there a world-class institution there, the Freeman Spogli Institute of International Studies, which has superb faculty and programs. In fact one of them, Michael McFaul, who was ambassador to Russia during the Obama Administration, teaches Foreign Policy Decision Making, a class for seniors and grads.
I didn’t attend Stanford or Berkeley, but If you’re fortunate enough to get in to Stanford even in a non-stem major, you should consider it, even if you’re surrounded by students that are not engaged and will blow off every lecture!
Stanford is a marvelous school, with professors, professional staff and administration fully dedicated to providing a wealth of educational opportunities for the engaged student of the liberal arts, yes.
Assessed, reviewed and determined to be so engaged as a condition of acceptance - its liberal arts students bring a valuable, distinct character and rhythm to the study of languages and literature, and to the Stanford community.
It was not for him.
The Asst. Prof. found at Hamilton College the environment which for him presented in mood, energy and -who knows- perhaps architecture and climate, the greater degree of what more authentically aligned with the pursuit and study of the liberal arts.
(At Stanford, he says, the students “weren’t the ideal I had in mind…”)
He was looking for zeal and thirst expressed in some particular way he did not find during his graduate teaching experience.
It is unfortunate that his wording leans toward a smear of the zeal and thirst for pure intellectual engagement present in Stanford students, and, therefore, the Stanford environment.
That being said, I found his discovery of both his personal and professional fit at this point in his teaching career to paint a picture which offered an invaluable ‘look in’ to what Hamilton may offer.
You are a sophomore and many of these priorities will change before you apply and some will even change between the time you apply and the the time you commit to a school.
I would also look at colleges that might be a step down from your top tier of choices but that have strong honors programs and might offer significant merit aid. You state that money isn’t an issue but a full ride and acceptance into in an honors program might be attractive.