Summer college trip

[Psychic Octopus]

We will be in the same area at the same time, probably. I'll be visiting (in order) the following schools, and I have a strong interest in studying Economics, with perhaps a minor in East Asian Studies. Any recommendations? I may also just be a history major, considering I'm going to go to law school anyway.

Georgetown
George Washington
Johns Hopkins
Swarthmore
Haverford
Penn
Princeton
NYU
Fordham
Columbia
Vassar
Williams
Hamilton
Colgate
Cornell

Any suggestions for me?

[Psychic Octopus]

Any suggestions for me?

Xahar and I have a suggestion for you!

I also have a suggestion for you: don't drown in debt.  I do not see a single school on your list where that won't be the case.

I'll check out Maryland while I'm there. It's near DC, right?

Fortunately, neither I nor my parents are going to be paying for it. So it doesn't apply to me, really. Plus my parents would prefer that I attend a private school (elitist as that sounds).

[Psychic Octopus]

snip

Do Hamilton and Cornell both or neither because it is a 4-6 hour drive from NYC depending on traffic. I'm looking at Hamilton now, but I'm not going to go visit Cornell since my sister has gone there and I've been there, gone to class, eaten there, and lived in student housing One of her house-mate's? mom and the woman who oversees her house and their brother house (they started a new christian oriented housing this year, one boy and one girl) both separately suggested I look into Hamilton on the same day, weird.

I think I'll visit, mainly because I've been interested in Cornell for a long time. I've only recently been reading up on Colgate and Hamilton, but both seem to be exceptionally good liberal arts colleges with a focus on what I want to study. I like several things about both. Colgate seems to be very good at finance and economics, and has DI sports (pretty remarkable, for such a small college). I've actually spoken to a few people who chose Colgate over Cornell, mainly because it has more of an undergraduate focus. As for Hamilton, I really like the "open curriculum" (though really, I'd probably be fine with a core one, too), as well as the fact that they have a 3-3 plan with Columbia Law School (meaning that I could go to Hamilton, and if I do well enough, go directly to Columbia Law School after three years).

I really can't decide... I expect (or rather, I'd love to have this dilemma) to be in a lot of trouble when I have acceptances in places that are drastically different.

What subject tests did you take besides Math Level II? If you haven't, take US History. I got an 800 and I didn't study.

[Psychic Octopus]

snip

Do Hamilton and Cornell both or neither because it is a 4-6 hour drive from NYC depending on traffic. I'm looking at Hamilton now, but I'm not going to go visit Cornell since my sister has gone there and I've been there, gone to class, eaten there, and lived in student housing One of her house-mate's? mom and the woman who oversees her house and their brother house (they started a new christian oriented housing this year, one boy and one girl) both separately suggested I look into Hamilton on the same day, weird.

I think I'll visit, mainly because I've been interested in Cornell for a long time. I've only recently been reading up on Colgate and Hamilton, but both seem to be exceptionally good liberal arts colleges with a focus on what I want to study. I like several things about both. Colgate seems to be very good at finance and economics, and has DI sports (pretty remarkable, for such a small college). I've actually spoken to a few people who chose Colgate over Cornell, mainly because it has more of an undergraduate focus. As for Hamilton, I really like the "open curriculum" (though really, I'd probably be fine with a core one, too), as well as the fact that they have a 3-3 plan with Columbia Law School (meaning that I could go to Hamilton, and if I do well enough, go directly to Columbia Law School after three years).

I really can't decide... I expect (or rather, I'd love to have this dilemma) to be in a lot of trouble when I have acceptances in places that are drastically different.

What subject tests did you take besides Math Level II? If you haven't, take US History. I got an 800 and I didn't study.

I also got a 790 on US History and 720 on World History. None of the three tests I've taken I've studied for :/ . So now I've begun studying for the actual SAT on saturday, yes late I know, but considering I only studied math for the ACT, eh. But I do feel the SAT is harder, a lot of people I know from my school feel the opposite.

One of the guys who sorta goes to my church (when he's in Colorado) was at Columbia this past year for some 1 year law program he really wanted to get in (idk what it is, you might). He already is a lawyer and was JAG for the military in Iraq.

And Cornell is a better graduate than undergraduate school. Especially concerning engineering and the alarming amount of suicides. Still, it is a beautiful campus and huge, which I enjoy. It's not spread out across a city like some large campuses are, but pretty much in one location. They also have special relations with NYC if you want to work there. Bloomberg was the convocation speaker, they are building the tech center on Roosevelt Island to expand the NYC campus. And a lot of undergraduates work in NYC after graduation.

Yeah, I've heard about the suicides before, too. I thought it was overblown, but I could be wrong. I didn't know that Cornell was considered a better graduate school, though. I mean, yeah, it has exceptional programs in some pretty random topics, but I heard that its law and business schools lagged a bit behind the other Ivies (though still being among the top in the country).

How hard did you find the World History subject test? Just curious. I'm taking it, and I haven't studied for it. Though I think that I am better at World History than U.S. History.

[Psychic Octopus]

Me too! All of you- come to Columbia!

When I first started researching colleges (when I was like 13, lol), one of my top schools was Columbia (the other being Yale). That's changed somewhat, mainly because I can't really see myself being accepted at either (Columbia's the second hardest college to get into in the country, but I'm sure you know that). I didn't cure cancer, you see. Maybe for graduate school, though. I *think* I could get into one of the other Ivies or a peer institution (say, Chicago, Cornell, JHU, or Penn CAS) though given how much of a crapshoot it is, I have know idea which.

I'm still unsure I want to attend a major university, though. An elite LAC would seem to suit my interests a bit more, considering all of the increased attention you get from your professors. That's why I'm interest in schools like Swarthmore, Williams, Colgate, Hamilton, Pomona, Reed, et cetera.

[Psychic Octopus]

Columbia and all the Ivies can suck it

But yeah, don't forget about the state school.  I can't wait to go to UVA

Oh, I'm applying to UC Berkeley and UC Davis. I think I'd be very happy with the former, and reasonably happy with the latter.

To put things into perspective, my school's valedictorian is going to UC Santa Cruz. Now, while there is one girl going to Cornell, another girl to USC, and a few guys to UCLA and Berkeley, but that's about it. It's not like I have to "prove" anything. I'd say there were a dozen or so Berkeley acceptances this year.
UVA's a great school.

[Psychic Octopus]

I'd say that with those numbers, you are in at GWU (probably with scholarship money), American, UVA, W&M, Richmond, and Tufts, as well as competitive for Brown, Columbia, and Georgetown (as in, you'll most likely get into at least one or two, but no guarantees), and have a chance at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, as long as you can stand out from the crowd. I am unsure about MIT, mainly because I know for a fact that's it's very hard to get in without clear dedication to math and science.

That's just my honest appraisal, though.

[Psychic Octopus]

Verin, out of curiosity, do you know of any other good honors colleges (besides MSU and Maryland)? I'd be interested to hear if there were any solid programs that were closer to the West Coast/Southwest. I know UT has a nationally-renowned program, but I don't think they accept out-of-staters into it.

And by the way, is it true that it doesn't matter where you go for your undergraduate degree when it comes to law school? I'm just curious, because I've heard conflicting reports. I know that this isn't necessarily your area of expertise, but you seem to know a lot more about the graduate/professional school process than I do.