<p>I have until May 1st two choose from the above. As of now I'm not leaning in any direction.</p>
<p>Caltech: I'd pay 9,000 a year. I would be playing basketball there.
Yale: paying 3700 a year
Duke: paying 7000 a year
Northwestern: FREE (3500 hidden fee, to live in a scholarship house)</p>
<p>I've always been a "math and science guy," but I'm still undecided as to what I want to study.</p>
<p>Advice anyone??!!!?? I only have 7 days left to choose!!!</p>
<p>The highest amount of debt you would be taking out by choosing any school besides Northwestern is $36k (in the case of Caltech) which is very manageable so I think you should choose based on fit.</p>
<p>The opportunity to play basketball at Caltech is kind of cool but the school is extremely rigorous so it may or may not be what you are looking for. Duke, on the other hand, offers a much more well-rounded curriculum that is more manageable and you could be cheering on the best basketball team in the modern era.</p>
<p>Yale is the most prestigious out of the bunch so its a good option but I don’t see anything particularly pulling you to that direction. I would knock Northwestern off your list personally because its not as good as your other three options for math/science.</p>
<p>What kind of things are you looking for in a college?</p>
<p>YALE </p>
<p>10 char</p>
<p>^ Don’t agree. Northwestern’s probably the strongest of non-tech choices in chemistry and overall engineering, for example, but see little difference between Duke, Northwestern, Yale in these fields as a group - all very, very strong in sciences, math. Think about where you’d be happiest.</p>
<p>Caltech is a tiny, niche place. Clearly the strongly of the bunch in science, math, CS, engineering. But you’d better be sure the isolated, very limited environment is what you want. If so, again, great place.</p>
<p>Yale - esp if you are not 100% on math and science. Plus playing BBALL at Cal Tech is a little much with the study load! I think given the costs Northwestern (same as yale) and duke are out. I would choose between Cal Tech and Yale.</p>
<p>Caltech and basketball</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>Yale</p>
<p>Duke, and try to walk on the Duke basketball team.</p>
<p>^ lol.</p>
<p>OP, have you not done visits?</p>
<p>Yeah, visited Caltech. Definitely not what I’m used to but the bball team was very cool. Outside of them not many people I could fit in with, but I would definitely be able to manage.</p>
<p>Visited Yale and liked it.</p>
<p>Visited Northwestern - same as Yale.</p>
<p>Haven’t visited Duke but I know a lot about the campus/ other important stuff (2 good friends headed there next year).</p>
<p>If you want to play basketball and feed your math and science passion, Caltech is an easy choice. Just depends on how strong those passions are for you…</p>
<p>Congrats on these schools!
I don’t know where you’re from but if you’re from the east coast, it might not be worth it to travel so far to Caltech.</p>
<p>Anyway, Yale is obviously the most prestigious of the four. I would go there unless there’s something that you disliked about the campus.
Yale>Caltech>Duke/Northwestern</p>
<p>" Don’t agree. Northwestern’s probably the strongest of non-tech choices in chemistry and overall engineering, for example, but see little difference between Duke, Northwestern, Yale in these fields as a group - all very, very strong in sciences, math"</p>
<p>That’s why I said Yale.</p>
<p>If none of them jumps out at you, then the obvious choice is Yale, for its overall college experience and reputation, price and intramural athletics.</p>
<p>Yale - you may be able to walk on to the bball team.</p>
<p>OP, responses to your previous thread were very clear that Caltech was not a good fit for you. Surprised to still see it on your list. It’s also the most expensive option, though not significantly so. Please, please, please don’t base your wanting to go there on being able to play on the basketball team. </p>
<p>Duke is the most expensive of the other three, but there’s the fun of having a fantastic Div I basketball team. You’ll probably see your school represented in the Final Four. </p>
<p>Yale and Northwestern are equal in cost. Both will give you lots of options academically. If you want to go for the lowest sticker price, choose between these based on whatever preference you have (Chicago vs. east coast, etc.)</p>