TVtropes, tell me where to go to college

I would assume that Northwestern also goes against "terrible at studying," as it is the 12th highest ranked university in the country. But, I don't go there, so I can't be completely sure.

I did a lot of online researching and even read a book during my college search project. The most influential thing for me was, without a doubt, College Prowler. College Prowler organizes thousands of colleges by all of the factors I mentioned and more, putting them in lists from best to worst. The information is sometimes spurious, being written by students. Nonetheless, College Prowler introduced me to my personal dream college.

http://collegeprowler.com/

With chaosakita's grades, I think that s/he has strong enough credentials to go to be accepted at a top school. chaosakita is apparently also taking community college classes while in high school, which is great. If chaosakita also has a good extra-curricular resume, there is a definite chance at some of the top schools. However, a top school would require a lot of studying, and even though his/her self-description as a terrible studier seems paradoxical to me, if that's the truth, s/he should probably avoid the top schools.

Right now, my understanding of chaosakita's desires is vague to the point that I would recommend any liberal arts college that isn't in the top 30 of a rankings list.

I'll link a random liberal arts college that's a bit below your range to show you what the website it like:

http://collegeprowler.com/earlham-college/

edited 12th May '11 9:52:12 PM by Grain

Anime geemu wo shinasai!

Thanks for the website! It looks really great. What college do you go to now?

Yeah, my study skills really need to improve. Maybe next year? lol

edited 14th May '11 1:48:05 AM by chaosakita

If money is really no issue, you could even try applying overseas — still searching for scholarships, of course.

The London School of Economics (Wikipedia article here), for example, is a superb institution, probably one of the best universities for economics in the world*

; and some international experience would look great on any curriculum, not to mention would be an eye-opening experience of the highest level.

It has about 4000 undergraduate students (and about 5000 postgraduate ones, too — it is very much research-oriented), too, so it is relatively small as you said you want.

Expect to have to work hard if you get in, though, obviously.

edited 14th May '11 1:35:29 PM by Carciofus

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

I want to go far away from my state, but not that far! Thanks for the suggestion though. I know someone who went to the University of British Columbia because it was a good deal for her.

Canadian schools are DIRT CHEAP compared to American schools, but many are top-notch schools, Mc Gill, for example, is called Canada's Yale. But it's at least half as expensive, and they take a fair number of American students.

The one major downside is it's located in Montreal, a great city, but you need to know French.

Charlie Tunoku is a lover and a fighter.

I heard Mc Gill went way downhill after WWII, sort of like CUNY.

But like I said, the cost isn't an issue to me, so I don't really want to go out of the country just for money reasons, and neither would my parents.

edited 14th May '11 9:56:39 AM by chaosakita

Come to University of Western Ontario. /shameless plug Although, that is pretty far from Tennessee. :) I wish I could give you more meaningful advice, but to a Canadian, American colleges is like discussing rocket science. (And biology is more my thing, so I totally do not get it.) Western has a really huge Social Sciences faculty, and they offer all sorts of great degrees that you can combine with management studies.

I paid $6000 for last year, although I am in the Science faculty. You would pay more than a Canadian citizen, plus residence fees, (or rent etc. and that should you wish to live off campus) but it would still be cheaper than a US college. And Western is one of the better schools in Canada.

I can attest to the great quality of the student life. There's clubs, events, Greek life, etc. everything you would hope to find at a US college. As for partying, it depends on the crowd you fall into, but it's not too bad and you can successfully enjoy it or avoid it.

Western also has affiliated colleges. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huron_University_College Specifically, Huron University college sounds like it would be perfect for you. They have a focus on Arts and Social sciences, (economics included in that) and a student population of 3600. Plus, the tuition is cheaper and even if you are enrolled there, you have access to classes and services offered by the main Western campus, but with all the small school benefits, like a small residence and a small classroom size.

Shine

I'll look into that!

Has anyone heard of the University of Southern California? Someone suggested it to me.

And has anyone heard of a college with good food? I've heard Bowdoin College's food is heavenly.

USC is a school in Los Angeles, it's good, but moderately high-end on the academics, I think they've gone more graduate than undergraduate.

USC is supposed to be really hard to get in if you're out of state, I have a friend heading there and she's been one of our top three students every quarter for four years.

As for good college food, Middlebury, my folks' alma matar, has excellent food, especially for a college.

Oddly, they always hire a crappy catering service for most of the alumni events, so we sneak away to eat in the caf.

Charlie Tunoku is a lover and a fighter.

I've heard of Middlebury before. One of my prep school friends is going there. I heard it's in Vermont.

Yes, incredibly beautiful, the quintessential New England college. Only Dartmouth looks more like a stereotypical college in the fall. They have the Middlebury Snow Bowl, their own ski area, with dirt cheap tickets for students. They're Division I in skiing, if no other sports.

Oh, and I'm going to Carnegie Mellon University, but I can only tell you why that's the case, since I'm still a month from the end of High School.

Charlie Tunoku is a lover and a fighter.

Oh cool. Can you tell me anything about your new school?

Well, I like the campus a lot, but what's really attracted me is the environment in general. I visited campus twice, and wore a Dresden Codak shirt in both instances. The first time, a standard tour, the guide commented on it.

The second time, a Sleeping Bag Weekend (and CMU does tons of fun stuff like this) my host's friend at an accapella group meeting commented on it.

I usually have to explain the joke on the shirt to people, so this really helped sell it.

I also really like all the science and engineering that goes on at the campus, things I find interesting even though I'm set to be a Creative Writing major. It's just full of people who are very smart, very cool, and not afraid of having nerdy interests. There were also chalk advertisements on all the sidewalks for a retro-gaming party one of the frats was holding.

I was also personally attracted because the English department is very small, so unlike most CW programs, I would be working with professors, not TA's.

Food wasn't as good as Middlebury's though...

Charlie Tunoku is a lover and a fighter.

That sounds really great! The school has been sending me a bunch of mail, so I'll be sure to check it out.

Really? I didn't get anything till I put myself on the list.

But yeah, if you have any specific questions and don't want to talk to a kid working for admissions, feel free to ask me.

Charlie Tunoku is a lover and a fighter.

Yeah I've been getting mail from everybody. I tried reading it all, but then I gave up. Like, currently, half the email in my inbox is from colleges.

Colleges are spam-artists too.

It's not at all impossible that they're selling your name too.

A counselor from Carnegie Mellon visited my high school. The counselor emphasized that Carnegie is not a school for undecided-type undergraduates. If you're interested in Carnegie Mellon, don't be wishy washy.

Anime geemu wo shinasai!

Yeah, but take into account that if you REALLY want to do something besides your declared major, it's administratively easy. Even if it's across schools.

I'd blocked out the mound of college stuff I had. Philadelphia Biblical College is still sending me crap, and I never even implied I had a lick of interest.

Charlie Tunoku is a lover and a fighter.

Oh well. The plus side is that the University of Chicago sent me a t-shirt. And St. Olaf's had a pretty interesting ad. But that's about it.

The University of Chicago is called "The place where fun goes to die." It's not a school for someone who's bad at studying.

Anime geemu wo shinasai!

I guess so...

A ton of people from my school want to go anyways. I doubt I could get in.

My friend suggested that I should apply to Northwestern, Georgetown, or...Chicago. What should I make of this?

I don't know your friend, but they're suggesting schools that are rather...top-end. They are all private research schools, with good reputations, but are they suitable for you?

It's all too easy for somebody to say "oh, that's a good school" without thinking about whether or not it is a school which is good for you.

edited 15th May '11 11:37:45 AM by blueharp