Would anyone like to help me find some similar schools?

College Search & Selection
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<p>Coming back from my first 'real' set of college visits, I think I have a little bit better of an understanding of what I like. It'd be great to hear some more ideas, though.</p>

<p>I want to study one or two of the following, so a potential good match should have halfway decent progams in at least a couple: theatre, English, public policy, and hospitality management. (Which is why MSU and Cornell are near the top of the list)</p>

<p>First choices:</p>

<p>Cornell University, number one
Brown University, number two
Vassar College, tied for number two
The University of Chicago, number three - Early action, 8% benefit (40%-48.3%)
William and Mary, tied for number three
Michigan State University, tied for number three (justification: they have great career connections in hospitality, cheap, close to home, great hotel opportunities for work, Disney program, Ritz-Carlton etc come to visit plus nice residential college, single rooms cheap, scholarships for 33 ACT)</p>

<p>Schools I'm interested in:</p>

<p>Stanford
Michigan
Indiana</p>

<p>Schools I May be interested in (feedback would be great):
Yale (visited and liked it but I'm not sure the drama program is right for me)
Oberlin
Macalester
Grinnell
NYU</p>

<p>Briefly, statistics: white gay male (rather significant gay rights background, will address in well-written essay), excellent to superior recommendations, 3.7 or so GPA at a competitive private school with 7-8/12 junior and senior level classes honors, AP or otherwise advanced. SAT/ACT: around 2250 (this morning on a practice test it was 780W, 770CR and 730M) and 32-34 (based on a conversion table).</p>

<p>I don't want rural unless it's pretty rural (Iowa) and not strip mall city (Wesleyan). I like urban settings in small towns, like Providence, Ithaca, Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Williamsburg, Poughkeepsie, etc... larger towns are OK but I'm not sure if I would like to live in NYC.</p>

2

<p>Bump ? ? ?</p>

3

<p>well first off - i'd say being gay isn't anything special - and i would just forget about writing about it unless you founded some sort of homo-straight super club that raises tons of money for displaced homos.</p>

<p>2nd - im shocked you think william and mary is "an urban setting in small town" its more like a small town in a small town.</p>

<p>also, your 3.7 needs to be seen in context of ur class - does that put u in top 5%? top 10%? top 20%? even with ur high prospective sat scores - if ur only in like the top 20% you're going to need some schools that are going to be easier to get into. you might want to consider clairemont mckenna, skidmore, wesleyan, or connecticut college.</p>

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<p>I didn't say being gay was special. And basically yes, I have gone above and beyond starting a club for "displaced homos". The point of me mentioning it was that I have extensive extracurricular involvement in community affairs dealing with gay rights. THIS is what I plan to address in (one of) my essays.</p>

<p>I didn't suggest that W&M was an urban setting. I said I liked Williamsburg. Brown, Cornell, Michigan, and MSU were what I was hinting at with urban small town.</p>

<p>I'm slightly below the top 10%, but my class is only 70 kids so we don't rank. (I only know I'm one or two students below the top 10% because they use the top 7 students out of 70 kids for a special award).</p>

<p>Thanks for the LAC suggestions. I visited Wesleyan and really hated it. Im worried CMC may be a little bit too conservative. Apparently it's a lot more rightwing than Pomona. I'll look at Skidmore and Connecticut.</p>

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<p>Wait a minute, you "liked" Poughkeepsie, but, hated Wesleyan? [shakes head]</p>

<p>Other than that, I'd say your list is fine; you're sure to get into one of the colleges you've mentioned.</p>

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<p>I had an awful experience at Wesleyan. I think the campus is ugly, especially the "Center for the Arts" (which is about the most unattractive college building(s) I've ever seen in my entire life); our info session students knew absolutely nothing about the school, there was no adult present the entire time, and there was a ton of construction. And it was bitter cold. And the programs are not that good.</p>

<p>I actually did like Poughkeepsie. I thought it was cute in a ghetto sort of way. It's not so much what the surroundings are like but knowing that there are people around me.</p>

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<p>How about Carnegie Mellon? Boston University? Amherst (cross-registration with UMass, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Hampshire).</p>

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<p>Good luck in your search. :)</p>

9

<p>I went to Grinnell many moons ago. I do not believe it will offer anything in the hospitality area, but gives you a wonderful general background. It let me try my hand at sports and art and some drama, none of which I was that proficient at before hand. Good luck making your choices.</p>

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<p>I'd really suggest looking at:</p>

<p>Grinnell, Oberlin, Macalester, Haverford, Swartmore, Reed, Columbia, Earlham, Amherst, Middlebury, and Connecticut College.</p>

<p>Brown and UChicago are also cool.</p>

<p>I'm surprized you liked Vassar...I had several bad experiences on the telephone and in person with representatives, so much so that I scratched them off my list. The campus was great looking, but I thought the campus was a bit divided.</p>

<p>Just my opinion.</p>

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<p>ReninDetroit. You've scoped out MSU pretty well. A couple more things in response to 2 things you mentioned. English, gay:</p>

<p>First, (something I just learned): MSU has the oldest (44 years old) undergrad student-run literary magazine in the country: The Red Cedar Review, which has published many famous author’s stories and essays over the years (and RCR is in addition to the older Centennial Review, which is a national-oriented lit mag housed at MSU that is run by profs -- but w/ some publishing opportunities for students).</p>

<p>Second, Michigan State is one of the most gay-friendly colleges in the country and East Lansing has been called "progressive" "tolerant" and "liberal." The campus LBGT organization is very powerful and respected at State.</p>

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<p>after all these various posts, im leading the movement for straight white anglo christian males rights. jk good luck in ur search, ever considered university of texas, its in a nice city, and its somewhat liberal. ive heard theres a big gay community, but i wouldnt go on my word. plus since ur into arts, how could u go wrong in austin.</p>