Some help needed

[Хahar 🤔]

It would take a special kind of person to not enjoy Berkeley.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

It would take a special kind of person to not enjoy Berkeley.

Okay, Berkeley and LA (I know you'll disagree with me there) are great. The rest, not so much.

[Meeker]

I go to George Washington University. The political science department is good and big, but the real value for political science majors is the opportunities presented by being in D.C. We have Senators and Congressmen come to our school on a nearly weekly basis, and President Obama visits several times a year. Not to mention all the other folks who aren't famous but work for various political organizations around town. You simply can't duplicate the amount of hands-on stuff you'll be able to experience if you come to D.C.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Thank you all for your advices, it's helping me a lot to make my first choices (even though the road is still long before I can come up with a top 4...). I won't go to Southern California, for one.

Climate is indeed something important to me. I tend to suffer a lot from cold, and maybe I can stand heat more easily (my Italian roots ). Though 38°C is maybe a bit too much for me, but I hope it's an extreme example. I think that eliminates a lot of universities in New England, upstate NY and Great Lakes region, which is quite a shame because a lot of these places pleased me.

Pardon my bigotry, this is just a "thing" I have... What's the point of you going to Notre Dame? If you catch my drift...

I'm not biased against religious schools, you know ? My high school was a catholic one. On the other hand, if it's a really conservative and rigorous school, I'm probably not going there. Is it the case ?

What, no Michigan State?  Are we not good enough for you or something?

You probably just aren't in partnership with my uni.

The proximity with Washington DC is also something I want to take into consideration, all the more that it will be an election year ! I don't know how much political activity there is in US campuses, but if I have the occasion it would be fun to attend political meetings and this kind of things.

[Antonio the Sixth]

That sounds like a really fun experience, Antonio.

On a related note, and I'll post thise here because I know you'll be reading this thread, do you have any ideas about the University of Paris-Nanterre? I might be trying to get a spot there for an Erasmus exchange next year (in philosophy). (Other contenders are University College Dublin and Queens' at Belfast, so if anyone else has ideas, feel free). It's an Erasmus exchange, so the academical side of things takes a back seat, but I'd hate to be stuck at some third-tier university for a prolonged amount of time.

(As I may have mentioned before on here, I'm currently at the Catholic University of Leuven, so I'd like to maintain that sort of Academical level or not too far below it)

I'm sorry, but my experience of universities is quite limited. I don't know Paris-Nanterre at all.

[ilikeverin]

I would actually strongly disagree that Michigan provides the "quintessential American experience", given that 1) there's nothing campus-like about the campus at all and 2) you're in Ann Arbor, of all places.  Not that I have anything against Ann Arbor, personally—I think it's a fine town—but it's definitely not the stereotypical college town.  Way too hipster for that.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

If it's an election year, you'll want to go to college in a swing state, not DC.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Wow, Antonio, that's a quite list! Penn, Princeton, Norte Dame... a lot of famed colleges.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Pardon my bigotry, this is just a "thing" I have... What's the point of you going to Notre Dame? If you catch my drift...

Some fine people attended Notre Dame, including President Bartlet

[Torie]

Make sure not to go to Southern California; that's the worst school in the world.

This fact cannot be stressed enough. If that's the only college I get into my senior year, I'll have to do a complete 180 on my hatred of the Trojans -- something I do not wish to do. Plus, I doubt that Antonio would like it very much...

If I was in your shoes, Antonio, I would personally try for Columbia, Chicago, Penn, or Princeton; though we might have different interests. If you really want the quintessential "American" college experience, do as Xahar said, and go to Michigan.

It's a shame Stanford isn't on your list; it's one of our top universities, has laid back Californian-weather, and has a great football program to boot. I would have chosen there.

I agree with Torie's list (except for #14, there's no reason to go to the state of Arizona).

Also I assume George Washington's political science program is good, and you'd be in DC, so that would be good choice. I'd definitely try for Princeton, Columbia or NYU if I were in your shoes though.

Torie didn't notice Northwestern. That would be up there with my alma mater, the University of Chicago, but I suspect Antonio would be happier with Northwestern. The U of C is for eggheads. Antonio however seems to want a more intimate place than a large university, although the college at the University of Chicago is quite intimate, about 3,000 students or something.

As you know, I'm interested in UChicago... is it really that small, though? I always assumed it was around five thousand students. Still, a lot smaller than Northwestern.

The U of C was 2,000 students when I was there. I see that it now does have 5,000 students. Wow! Chicago with its wind chill and humidity factor in the winter is colder than hell by the way. If you don't like cold, go room with sbane at Vanderbilt or something. Boulder's cold is dry by the way, and much more tolerable than in Chicago. If politics is your thing, George Washington would indeed be a good choice.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Heh, that's a lot of different aspects to take into account. Thank you Torie, your advices have been extremely useful.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Dude, you should totally attend Redlands University!

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I can't speak to the polisci departments at any of those, since I was a math major and I took history rather than polisci for my required electives in the social sciences.

So let me speak to the one thing I can offer advice on, the campus of USC (the original, not the one in Southern California that stole its initials) as it is the only campus of those you listed I can offer a personal viewpoint on.  First off, it's a lovely campus, especially the parts centered on the Horseshoe.  It's just southeast of the State Capitol complex if you care to drop in on actual politics during the spring semester instead of just getting some theory. Five Points to the east of campus is the traditional student nightlife area, but the Vista on the other side of the State Capitol is a newer trendier area, tho its more oriented to young professionals instead of poor students in its offerings and its prices than Five Points is.

Off campus housing within walking distance of the campus varies considerably in quality and price.  There are also several nearby apartment complexes that offer shuttlebus service to the campus.  I'm assuming you likely won't have a car of your own when you are here.  That'll make getting groceries interesting unless you want to pay convenience store prices for their limited selection, or trek a little farther from campus to go to a supermarket.  Taxi service is available.

Off-campus public transit is poor.  The local bus system used to be run by the electric company as a descendant of the electric streetcar service they used to provide as a condition of having a monopoly, but about a decade ago when it looked like the State might deregulate the electric market the city agreed to take over the service in exchange for the assets and some temporary funding.  They never have managed to figure out how to properly fund it, especially since not all the governments in the metro area are willing to chip in to be part of the system.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Thank you all for your advices, it's helping me a lot to make my first choices (even though the road is still long before I can come up with a top 4...). I won't go to Southern California, for one.

Climate is indeed something important to me. I tend to suffer a lot from cold, and maybe I can stand heat more easily (my Italian roots ). Though 38°C is maybe a bit too much for me, but I hope it's an extreme example. I think that eliminates a lot of universities in New England, upstate NY and Great Lakes region, which is quite a shame because a lot of these places pleased me.

Hmmmm well Minnesota in January is frequently between -30 and -15°C...

[Antonio the Sixth]

Thank you all for your advices, it's helping me a lot to make my first choices (even though the road is still long before I can come up with a top 4...). I won't go to Southern California, for one.

Climate is indeed something important to me. I tend to suffer a lot from cold, and maybe I can stand heat more easily (my Italian roots ). Though 38°C is maybe a bit too much for me, but I hope it's an extreme example. I think that eliminates a lot of universities in New England, upstate NY and Great Lakes region, which is quite a shame because a lot of these places pleased me.

Hmmmm well Minnesota in January is frequently between -30 and -15°C...

According to this it's rather "only" -10°C...

Why do all the nicest places (Scandinavia, Northern USA, Canada) have to be so damn cold ?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

That's the average low. It goes below that on some days.

[ilikeverin]

Thank you all for your advices, it's helping me a lot to make my first choices (even though the road is still long before I can come up with a top 4...). I won't go to Southern California, for one.

Climate is indeed something important to me. I tend to suffer a lot from cold, and maybe I can stand heat more easily (my Italian roots ). Though 38°C is maybe a bit too much for me, but I hope it's an extreme example. I think that eliminates a lot of universities in New England, upstate NY and Great Lakes region, which is quite a shame because a lot of these places pleased me.

Hmmmm well Minnesota in January is frequently between -30 and -15°C...

According to this it's rather "only" -10°C...

Why do all the nicest places (Scandinavia, Northern USA, Canada) have to be so damn cold ?

If you go to a small liberal arts college in Minnesota—and it sounds like you'd prefer something like a SLAC—you hardly have to spend any time outdoors because they're so small.  It looks like Macalester College is on your list, which I think would be perfect for you.  It's in the Twin Cities, so you can enjoy city living (the Twin Cities themselves are very nice for American cities, even I as a suburbanite can vouch for it); it's small, so you can get to know a lot of people; it's very well known for international affairs and poli sci (Kofi Annan went there); etc.  If St. Olaf College and Carleton College are on the list you should consider there, too.

EDIT: Also, of course, you'll get to meet some of the nicest and most wholesome Americans, that race known as the "Minnesotans"

[Wonkish1]

UPenn, U of C, and Northwestern are no question the schools where your going to learn a lot. They are prestigious, you have very smart competition, and they are going to try to get you to learn a ton and that's even baselining with an already smart student body not using a baseline of other schools students.

Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Michigan, Indiana, (and probably a few that I don't as much about) will also push you very hard, but their names are a little less prestigious.

Princeton and Columbia are very prestigious, but once you get there they aren't quite the rigorous environments of the schools listed above.

If you like to party go to Madison. It is the ultimate work hard, play hard school.

If you love to smoke weed and go to pretty damn good school go to Boulder.


Ultimately though it depends on what your after. If you want the most prestige for the least amount of work look at Princeton and Columbia(I mean you still have to work hard, but nowhere near as much as at a U of C or a Northwestern).

If you want to be the strongest person and know a lot out of college go to U of C, Northwestern, or UPenn.

If you want to have a good time partying and get a damn good education look at Wisconsin.

If you want to smoke weed and get a damn good education go to Boulder. Also the school if you like to ski or snowboard.

If you like a warm beach and good school Florida and USC are good choices among the warm weather places. Emory might not be a bad idea as well.



There's my 2 cents.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Hi everybody ! Thanks in part to your advices, I've now made significant progresses in my choices for universities. Here is what I've come up with : as I said, I have to rank 4 universities, and I think I've made my final choices for the first 3.

1. University of San Francisco I've been told the city is beautiful, the campus isn't too big (5000 undergraduates according to wikipedia) and it's apparently an excellent university.

2. Colorado College Must be a nice place, very small campus and original teaching methods. And apparently it's good too.

3. Macalester College Despite weather concerns, I've heard so good things about it both here and from the people I've met, that I think it's worth trying.

For 4th choice, I'm currently hesitating fetween 6 (though I have some preferences, I'm note yet sure) :
- Emory University (It's not too big, Atlanta should be a nice place and a living experience in the "deep South" is worth trying. Don't know about the quality of courses though)
- University of Pennsylvania (Apparently a very good one, Philadelphia should be nice to see and it's not too far from Washington. It's a bit too big for my tastes though)
- Middlebury College (Small, good quality, and has the advantage to be situated in the best US State. That said, I'm concerned about weather and about the college's competitive nature)
- University of Richmond (Not too big, good weather and close to Washington. Don't know about the quality though)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Southern, might be worth trying, I've heard good things about it in the forum. Not sure though, and it's quite big)
- San Diego State University (Nice weather, might be a nice place, and apparently a good university. Don't know much about it though, and it's quite big too)


So, here is it. I'd really appreciate if you could finish helping me out, both commenting on my first 3 choices and giving me some advice for the 4th one. I'd really like if you could tell me more about each university. Thank you !

[Hash]

Go to Vermont. You'll love that place.

(say hi to Hans the bagel boy in Burlington for me and my friend)

[Antonio the Sixth]

Go to Vermont. You'll love that place.

(say hi to Hans the bagel boy in Burlington for me and my friend)

That's very tempting indeed.

[Хahar 🤔]

San Francisco is a wonderful city and the weather is far better than any other place you'll be considering. It's cool all year, but it's never below freezing.

Emory is an excellent school; Richmond is also good. San Diego State is mediocre; it's the third-best college in the city of San Diego.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     My mom went to law school at USF. It's in a nice place, but don't travel east from there.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I wouldn't call Atlanta "deep South".

[Хahar 🤔]

     My mom went to law school at USF. It's in a nice place, but don't travel east from there.

Yeah, the Tenderloin is special.