College Selection Attention Whore Thread: ILV Edition

[ilikeverin]

Brown University

+: Possession of a cognitive science degree, no distribution requirements whatsoever, good school academically
-: Ivy League (yes, this is a bad thing in my book), all attendees are like fezzyfestoon in feelings of eliteness?, no financial aid

Swarthmore College

+: Cute little linguistics program and even a minor in cog sci, good school academically, I got the impression everyone was a nerd when I visited
-: Tiny (1600, half the size of my high school), has distribution requirements that AP credits cannot wish away, no financial aid

Pomona College

+: It's in California, the few online reviews I've seen of it (unreliable, I know) have been stunningly positive, part of a consortium idea I really like
-: Has fairly stringent distribution requirements (for me, anyway, which isn't saying much), no financial aid
0: Couldn't visit, so don't have a very good feel for students

University of Virginia

+: It's in Virginia, has a cognitive science program, is relatively cheap (~$35k/year), no distribution requirements whatsoever thanks to honors college invite
-: Has a "state school" atmosphere (nothing wrong with state schools at all, but I'm not the "rah rah rah" football worshiping type and have little to no school spirit nor desire for any), relatively unknown on the academic side (besides random Newsweek blurbs)

University of Rochester

+: Has a big brain and cognitive sciences program (no sociology!  wooooo! ), good research opportunities and focus, a scholarship worth about 1/3 of costs to attend, no distribution requirements
-: Has a reputation for being the dumping ground for Ivy League rejectees, location
0: Also couldn't visit.

Michigan State University

+: I will essentially get paid to attend (I have a scholarship worth tuition+room+board+spending $), fair-sized cognitive science program, research from week one (I'm eligible for a "professorial assistantship", which I know from my brother's experience would get me started researching right away)
-: "state school" atmosphere (every single effing professor I've talked to mentions "the great school spirit"!  augh!), my dad and uncle and two cousins and brother went/are going here, in Michigan, just not quite what I'm looking for


The first three schools will probably cost around $50k a year, but I know money should not be my primary determining factor.  On the plus side, I should be able to graduate from whichever college I choose in three years (Michigan State in two if I really tried) with AP Credit

[Kaine for Senate '18]

UVA.  They are a great school, and Virginia is a great state.

[Sensei]

I visited Swarthmore in my school search, and I felt like it would be a good place for me to go. Like you said, everyone seemed like a nerd. Small size isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[MasterJedi]

Michigan State

[Ban my account ffs!]

Michigan State university...

You want to minimize your college costs and it is big enough for you to have room to change your mind if you decide to.. also, there will be enough students so that you will find friends and support.

The worst thing you could do is get caught up in a tiny school where everybody is big into football or whatever and you feel like you have to go.

[Lief 🗽]

Swat or Brown, definitely, if money isn't an issue.

[they don't love you like i love you]

What is it with this forum and private colleges?

[Colin]

Swarthmore, Brown or Pomona. My personal opinion would be Swarthmore, a really good school. If it wasn't for it being in Philadelphia I would have applied there myself.

Well it's good to see I'm not the benchmark of elitism on the forum. Thank you Fezzy.

[Meeker]

Brown. Brown is just an awesome school overall (the no distribution req's immediately put it on the top of my list).

UVA is also very good. All of these are good really. Good job

[they don't love you like i love you]

I'm a college graduate and don't know what the f**k "distribution requirements" are. What are they?

[Verily]

Brown, without a doubt, unless tiny is your thing (in which case Swarthmore, but it sound like it's not). First off, Brown doesn't at all have the snootiness you might find at Princeton or Dartmouth, for example, which seems to be your main objection.

Assuming that money is not an issue. I don't think we can really judge what your money situation is like from afar, but I would recommend stretching pretty thin for Brown or Swarthmore. Maybe for Pomona, too, but it's far away and in SoCal (ugh), so I know nothing about it.

[Хahar 🤔]

Swarthmore!

Because everybody loves linguistics.

[bullmoose88]

Swarthmore, Brown or Pomona. My personal opinion would be Swarthmore, a really good school. If it wasn't for it being in Philadelphia I would have applied there myself.

Well it's good to see I'm not the benchmark of elitism on the forum. Thank you Fezzy.

Its not in Philly, its outside of Philly in Delaware County.  Very nice area.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Swarthmore is for nerds and losers. UVA isn't bad, but Brown is better because you can be an elitist there. I'm having a hard time staying elite here at UNC-CH.

[7,052,770]

not Michigan State.  Because the Big 10 sucks.  Go to a school with a real football team.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

not Michigan State.  Because the Big 10 sucks.  Go to a school with a real football team.

UVA

[JohnFKennedy]

I had dinner with a history professor from Brown not that long ago so I recommend there.

[ilikeverin]

Thanks all

Eh, money isn't quite "not an issue"... it's more "I know I should be making it less of an issue than I am".

I'm a college graduate and don't know what the f**k "distribution requirements" are. What are they?

Usually colleges force you to take some amount of credits of classes you're not interested in.  At MN State, Mankato, they're "general education" requirements.  For the horror of observers, I shall illustrate them here:
1. English Composition (core curriculum class, ENG 101)
2. Speech and Oral Reasoning (1 class; only five classes to choose from!)
3. Writing Intensive (2 classes)
4. Critical thinking (1 class)
5. Natural science (2 classes, 1 of which is a lab science.  Oh, and two Anthropology classes are counted as "natural science" :S)
6. Mathematical reasoning (1 class)
7. History and social science (2 classes)
8. Humanities (2 classes)
9. Human diversity (1 class)
10. Global perspective (1 class)
11. Ethical and civic responsibility (1 class)
12. People and the environment- (1 class)
13. Performance and participation - phy ed or music? (1 class)
14. First year experience, probably like a "don't booze.  here's condoms" thing (1 specific class)
15. Information technology (not sure... the requirement appears to be "know how to use a computer")

I, on the other hand, prefer to have respect for "human diversity" and "global perspective" and "civic responsibility" and whatever because I choose to, not because some dumpy old administrator who lives in happy ivory tower land decides that true respect and tolerance for others can only be learned by forcing students at gunpoint to take certain types of classes.

Swarthmore!

Because everybody loves linguistics.

They all have linguistics programs, or I wouldn't've applied   But Swarthmore's department is just so darn cute... like 4 professors, and something like 5-10 linguistics majors each year... it's adorable!   Bumped into a linguistics major on campus (somehow?!) and he really seemed to enjoy the fact that he got so much attention from a group of dedicated faculty members.

But linguistics departments are fairly small everywhere.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Usually colleges force you to take some amount of credits of classes you're not interested in.  At MN State, Mankato, they're "general education" requirements.

Oh those. I thought they were dumb but then again most were easy grades.

3. Writing Intensive (2 classes)

Not classes in and of themselves. Just specific classes of other areas.

12. People and the environment- (1 class)

Either that's new to the curriculum or I substituted something else for it since I don't remember anything along those lines whatsoever.

13. Performance and participation - phy ed or music? (1 class)

Phys Ed. I did Bowling.

14. First year experience, probably like a "don't booze.  here's condoms" thing (1 specific class)

Not really. It was mostly writing papers about your personal life. And it wasn't required, you could just use it to substitute in some area, I don't remember all the details (I finished all generals more than 2 years ago.)

15. Information technology (not sure... the requirement appears to be "know how to use a computer")

Yes basically.

Even with all my major requirements and above requirements filled, I was still 3 credits short of graduating. I had to take a class, any class to fill that, so I took Intro to Mass Comm my last semester, the easiest A I have ever gotten.

[Conan]

Brown or UVA...Brown.

[Bacon King]

Brown.

[Platypus]

Michigan State. You can get a quality degree in a short timeframe without spending heaps of money, leaving you more money for PostGrad, which I'm fairly sure you'll want to do.


I've actually done a bit of reading on Pomona, and it seems like a really good uni. It's affilliated with some other good unis too, be it is the standout. I'm not sure how it is for linguistics. The biggest problem it has is that it is in suburban Los Angeles. No thanks.

[Colin]

Swarthmore, Brown or Pomona. My personal opinion would be Swarthmore, a really good school. If it wasn't for it being in Philadelphia I would have applied there myself.

Well it's good to see I'm not the benchmark of elitism on the forum. Thank you Fezzy.

Its not in Philly, its outside of Philly in Delaware County.  Very nice area.

Yes I know its not in Philly, it's out on the Mainline, however I didn't want to be anywhere near the city myself. Too close to too many relatives.

[ilikeverin]

Estimated student loan burdens upon graduation, assuming I do it in three years:

Brown: $55,980.00
Swarthmore: $53,496.00
Pomona: $52,740.00
Virginia: $330.00 (essentially nothing)
Rochester: $0.00
Michigan State: $0.00      

[Хahar 🤔]

MSU.