Help me choose a college please?!

[chomskyite2]

Hey DU, I’m a high school student in NYC going into my senior year who is getting stressed out over the college search and I need your help.

Just some background info on me: i want to study political and social science, journalism, government, philosophy, and psychology.

I get mostly Bs and a few Cs (I cant deal with Spanish), an A or two in social studies classes.

I want to find a school that is:
Strong academically in the fields listed above
Liberal
Non-religious
Non-frat
Near a big city if possible

Some schools I’ve been thinking about:

Goucher College (Baltimore)
Sarah Lawrence (nyc)
Antioch (Ohio)
Clark (boston-ish)

If any one has any suggestions or advice I would love to hear it. Just throw out some names you have heard of, if you think they might fit me, or just tell me where you went or are going. Anything at all would be appreciated. Thanks DU!

(edit: more info on me...i got high SATs...1350 (im going to take it again probably will make 1400)...my SAT2s were also good...740 writing, 600 math (eh))

[LearnedHand]

1. Well, your grades might be an issue, but...

Columbia School of Journalism
Kennedy School of Government
U of Missouri-Rollo (I think)

These occur right off the top of my head. Again, your GPA might hurt you. Did you take the SAT or ACT? Were your scores high?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

26. MU's J school is in Columbia... Rolla is engineering

[Sean Reynolds]

2. Westminster College

It's located here in Salt Lake City, Utah. It's a liberal arts college, small campus - not really diverse. My uncle is a professor there.

You can find more on the web here:

http://www.westminstercollege.edu/

I like the large colleges, that is why I didn't go.

[MercutioATC]

3. My little brother is going to Sarah Lawrence next year...

and he seems happy with his choice. I realize that's not a real opinion, but if it helps any, great....

[Maddy McCall]

4. Sarah Lawrence...

What about UNC chapel hill? It wasn't on your list. Just wondering why?


Edit: stupidass me thought you said you were in NC, not NYC. I understand now why all the colleges you listed. Sarah Lawrence would be my choice.

[utopian]

5. Save yourself a lot of money

And do your first two years at a community college. Then transfer to a four year institution to finish your degree.

If I could do it over again, I would definitely go that route.

Of course, I'm assuming that money is a consideration.

On edit: Reed college in Portland fits your criteria nicely.

[KCDem]

28. agreed on both counts:

Save some moolah, and I've heard great things about Reed.

[BurtWorm]

6. Try Welseyan in Middletown, CT

Where I went to school. My grades sucked in high school. I don't know why they accepted me, but they did. I guess I wrote a pretty good essay. Lots of NYC kids there. Close to NY and Boston. (2 hours away). Very strong academics. Very, very liberal to radical students. I think they banned frats, but even if they didn't the frats they had when I was there tended to be hip and druggy.

[chomskyite2]

7. i would love to go

but in the past few years wesleyan has become insanly selective, and i would be up against a whole group of kids in my school already planning on going their...all of whom have better grades then i.

i might still apply as a reach though.

what other schools did u check out besides wesleyan?

[BurtWorm]

8. Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio

Paul Newman's alma mater. Has a very good English program, I hear.

I know someone who went to Clark in Worcester and was very happy there.

[elcondor]

18. Kenyon is pretty conservative from what I hear

When I was searching for colleges, Kenyon came across as conservative--great school otherwise.

Of the choices you listed in your original post, I'd go with Antioch. Great school, albeit unconventional, and your grades would (practically) ensure you a spot! Good luck, it's a tough decision--but don't let it stress you out!

[JCMach1]

9. Flagler College

St. Augustine, FL

Old world charm, private non-frat school close to the beach... Excellent Liberal Arts School...

Did I mention the greatest dining hall in the States... compete with Tiffany windows...

My undergrad alma mater...

[OrdinaryTa]

10. Stay in New York

If you stay in New York for a year or two you will have a better idea of where you want to end up. The first two years are the basic courses anyhow. You are all over the map in what you want to study. You can't possibly major in political and social science, journalism, government, philosophy, and psychology. That's a lot on your plate!

Apply to places that have a good solid academic reputation so you can transfer your credits without having to repeat a term or two. It happens! When you zero in on what you want to study, take note of where your favorite scholars teach. It's a very strong selling point to admissions committees when you say you want to come to Kenyon because Evander Bosch teaches there.

By the way, the schools you mention are all quite different. That suggests to me that you don't have a clear idea what you're looking for.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

27. I second that... NYC is the worlds biggest college town

and there are dozens within 30mi of there too.

You want a small college or large?

State or private?

They are all here in our hometown.

[chomskyite2]

29. im pretty sure

i want a smaller, private school, though there are a couple good state schools.

[davidinalameda]

11. West Virginia University

Great college town---one of the best journalism departments in the east.

It's about an hour away from Pittsburgh if you get too crazy. Very laid back. The frat life isn't too dominate but the campus is a bit sports crazy.

Good political science department. One of the professors is a nationally known expert on the presidencey--Bob DiClereco or however you spell it.

Not too sure about the philosophy department. I believe it's fairly small.

And it's cheaper than going in-state to a public New York school. It gets a lot of New York, New Jersey and other northeastern students.

Also, it has the highest rate of Rhodes Scholars of any public university in the nation.

It's a gorgeous area. There's great skiing, hiking, white water rafting close by.

It also has a very strong honors program in which you get priority registration before other students. With your SAT scores, it looks like you would qualify with probably little trouble.

the web site is http://www.wvu.edu

check it out---I think that you'll like it.

[Pert_UK]

12. Consider getting on an exchange year if you can!

I believe it's always worth trying to find a course / university that lets you take a semester or year abroad.

I did a Philosophy degree at Nottingham University in the UK - great city, great course, great uni. Well worth a visit if you get the chance!

P.

[HEyHEY]

13. go explore somewhere else!

Go to school in Canada, if you have a Canuck parent it's super cheap, if not, I believe it is still super cheap. Try UBC (Nude beach and golf course) McGill (AH Montreal, a real experience in culture) Or for Journalism Carelton, Langara, or Ryerson.


Can I make a suggestion? I don't know what it's like in the US but up here, it is better to just do a 2-year journalism course if you want ot work in that field. Many of the University students have a rep for knowing all the theory behind journalism, but not being able to do it. Hence the college students get the jobs.

( I just finished my journalism program)

[DoctorBombay]

14. Ohio University, Athens, OH

Gotta plug my alma mater here.

Journalism program is top notch, one of the best around, especially for a state school. Syndicated columnist Clarence Page is an alum.

Liberal campus. Very live and let live and somewhat active when it comes to demonstrations. Much more left than right on campus.

Non-religious- state school.

Non-frat. OU is notoriously a non-frat campus. When I was there ('91-'95), only like 10-15% of students were Greek. The fraternaties and soroties are almost invisible.

Near a big city- Well, here's a slight sticking point. You are about a 90 minute drive from Columbus. Other than that, Athens is in the middle of nowhere. This has it's good points, too. It is a college town in every sense of the word, but there are city amenities that are out of reach.

May I add, for better or for worse, that OU also has a terrific reputation as a party school. This has not changed since I left.

In closing, if I had to do it over again, I'd wouldn't change a thing.

Best of luck, feel free to PM me for more info!

[JVS]

15. University of Pittsburgh

www.pitt.edu
Urban campus. Tallest educational structure in the free world. #1 Philosophy department in country (title traded back and forth with Princeton).

[lcordero]

16. Consider going to SUNY or CUNY

The Return On Investment for Private Universities is just not there.

[newyawker99]

22. Welcome to the 700 club lcordero!!

Hehehe!! }(

[youngred]

32. as long as its not SUNY Brockport

hellhole of my hometown

[LDB]

17. how about

looking into Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. It's located in University Circle -- the most cultural center outside of NYC (really -- the largest active theatre district outside of New York, the home of the finest Symphony in the US and one of the top 3 in the world, Museum of art that seconds only to the Met) and on a city campus -- great faculty -- remarkable resources -- liberal city -- (Even if Ohio did roll over to the repugs in 2000, Cleveland was a solid unambiguous Democratic stronghold)

OK -- so I'm biased

[ArmchairActivist]

19. Sounds like....

...The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., would meet your needs quite nicely. It definitely fits all the criteria you list and you could most likely get in. Many people come from the east coast to study at this school, which seems to be much more highly regarded there than here.

So, I recommend it with this caveat: You must not fall in love with the pacific northwest. You must not buy land here. You must not compete long-term in the crappy job market. You of course may marry a local or fellow student, but you may not raise your family here. ;)

No offense, but this place has experienced what can only be described as a cancerous growth rate for the last 30 years and we're not wearing it real well. Blossom where you're planted!

-AA

[inthecorneroverhere]

20. CUNY?

In state, right?

Much more liberal than most schools further south.

I'd check out Antioch, if folks could deal with the tuition, and if a liberal arts school were what I wanted. Antioch is very much left of center.

However, I would not go to Antioch for science-related courses. If I wanted some science, I'd stick around in NY and go to CUNY or SUNY.

[CHIMO]

21. No Frats Allowed

Don't know if you would call it Liberal or Conservative?
Majority of the students are away from home.
Who knows what you will end up wanting to do?
Might consider looking at Queen's University at Kingston, Ontarion, Canada.
One might get to olike small towns.

[eyesroll]

23. Shameless alma mater plug

I attended Beloit College and would like to recommend you check it out.

They're pretty strong in political and social science, philosophy (my husband majored in it), government. Ample opportunities for study abroad, and even though the school is quite, um, caucasian, there are about 15% international students (who aren't broken into racial categories), so there's a bit of cultural diversity.

Their journalism program is lacking, but their student newspaper, the Round Table, is pretty autonomous. I held a few editorial positions there (including e-in-c) and I didn't even major or minor in journalism.

It's within an hour of Madison, 90 minutes of Milwaukee and 2 hours into the heart of Chicago (with bus service).

Non-religious, but religious and non-religious people of all stripes welcomed. There's a healthy mix of Christian/Jewish/Muslim/Wicca/Other student groups, a LGBT alliance, an active Womyn's Center (sic), arts clubs, and (at least when I was there) a pro-drug-legalization group.

There are frats, but they are small, unintrusive and make up less than 10% of the student population.

[chomskyite2]

24. thanks DU

thanks for all the comments,

does anyone know about Goucher College in Baltimore?

its my top choice and im going to visit it in a few weeks, any one got anything to say about it?...thanks

[chomskyite2]

25. thought i should kick this back up...

any one else want to contribute to my list?

[KCDem]

30. Heidelberg college

in Tiffin, OH. Small town, but, from what I've heard, fits the rest of your criteria and your grades shouldn't be too much of a detriment to it. Oh, and a good friend of ours is a geology professor there.

I _would_ recommend my alma mater, Trinity University in San Antonio, TX... but I got the latest Alumni quarterly magazine, and it was a bit too Repuke for my tastes. Bleh. Oh well.

[chomskyite2]

31. Goucher College

Any body out there heard of Goucher college, im visiting it in a few days, but i would love to here anybody else's opinion of it. any alumni out there? can any body tell me anything about Baltimore?

anybody been to American Uni.? im also visiting that one.