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I hate to use Hatrack as a personal helper but, as my junior year starts winding down, I'm suddenly finding that I really don't know where I'd like to go to collge. At the moment I'm planning on applying to Brown, Brandeis, Oberlin, and (as my in-state school for parental appeasement) William and Mary. I'm also somewhat considering but not at all sure about applying to either UVA or V-Tech, Colgate (mostly just for the campus ), Cornell, or... heh, it's pretty much open from there.
My criteria so far -
I'd like to go to a school with some prestige since I know how much that can potentially figure into job placement. I'm also looking for a four-year school that is co-ed and that preferably offers at least some sort of post-graduate education (though that isn't really necessary). Financial aid is basically a must since my parents won't be helping me at all. As for majors...
My interests are rather broad at the moment so schools offering student-designed or at the very least double majors are basically a must. I have a pretty strong penchant for foreign languages, and I've completely fallen in love with the anthropology course I've been taking this year, and I'm incredibly interested in international politics so, career-wise, I've been thinking about going into international relations for awhile and, much later on, eventually settling down and teaching. Thus, schools with strong programs in both anthropology/sociology and international relations/political science are best.
Any suggestions? I've been using the collegeboard.com search for over a year now to help narrow my choices but personal recommendations would be extrememly helpful.
Posts: 1548 | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
If you're willing to look at Oberlin, should look over here at Beloit College as well (sister college). This year College Board said we ranked 17th in ammount of financial aid, it's really easy to create your own major (I'm going the double major route though). We're strictly an undergrad school but a large percentage of our population goes on to grad school.
As an interesting note, Beloit is known to have the best undergrad anthro program in the Americas. And we have a really nice poli sci department (which is one of my possible majors).
If you haven't already, there's a book called "Colleges that Change Lives" that is really good reading for choosing colleges, you probably know of it because Oberlin is in the group, there's a website of the group of colleges at www.ctcl.com Satyagraha
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I can't reccomend UVa strongly enough - I went there Undergraduate for political science and math (didn't finish the math major - DiffEQ killed me). I'm also going there for Law School, 11 years later.
It's close to being the best public University in the country, and it's business and law schools are both top 10. Prestige is no problem there. It's coed, 4-year, has graduate levels in all major departments. It's a large school, not giant, but maintains a lot of small-school benefits, especially within departments.
Not sure how good the anthro department is, but the political science department is top-notch. The student governance, including the honor code, is very independent, including the allocation of over half a million in student activity fees each year. There number of student organizations, and there diversity, is unbelievable.
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UC Berkeley's ideal for anything you've named, actually. I wouldn't recommend Brandeis -- I was accepted there, but would you really want to spend four years in a school with, what is it, 3000 undergraduates? It's prestigious, but the cost -- both in terms of social possibilities and actual expense -- is prohibitive, especially given other, cheaper options.
The College Board's search is about as useless as a seach can be. I highly recommend checking out www.princetonreview.com. Best college search engine I've ever seen.
Posts: 3293 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I double majored at UVA (along with a minor) and found it pretty easy to do, especially if you've got AP credits. If you aren't sure, you don't have to declare your major until your third year, unless you are studying Engineering or Architecture. They also have the Echols Scholar program in which you essentially have no requirements and can just take whatever class you want in whatever subject - you've got to be pretty smart to be offered that option though. The politics department is very strong, but I don't know about anthropology. I also know they offer a 5-year Masters in Teaching/Bachelors in Arts and Science combined program, for students who want to major in one field and then go on to get their teaching degree.
The school is very prestigious (and it takes itself rather seriously!) It's a big school, but not so big that you can't get to know professors and so forth. They are weak in the financial aid department, giving more loans than grants - but if you are in Virginia it's pretty inexensive.
As far as the students go, they tend to be conservative for the majority, but you'll find a lot of liberals too - as it IS a college campus. While I was there I got to know a lot of international students, so I'm under the impression that UVA is pretty big on exchange programs. As a rule, though, Northern Virginia dominates the population.
Fraternities and Sororities play a large part in the social life of the school - particularly if you are looking for big parties and/or alcohol. I never once went to a Frat myself, and I'm not particularly bugged by that fact.
I think possibly the best feature is the environment you get to live in there. Charlottesville was rated the best place to live in America, and for good reason I believe! It's a well designed city, especially if you like being outdoors, and ESPECIALLY if you like walking. Anyone who goes to UVA will have to walk A LOT. (If you prefer big cities or massive buildings then you might not be as happy with it as me, though.) The center of the school is The Lawn, which is essentially a big grassy area surrounded by the oldest classroom buildings, the houses of some top professors, and the dorms for the elite fourth year students. Overall, if you are considering it, I suggest you go for a visit.
Other notes:
-If you like sports, UVA is tops in a lot of them. -If you hate preppie students, beware. UVA is run by them. They are fairly easily ignored, fortunately. -If you are into student involvement, there's a rather elaborate student self-governance system. -If you care about food, the dining halls are mediocre, and you will be forced to get a meal plan your first year. -If you like silly traditions, school-specific terminology, and a fanatic worshipping of Thomas Jefferson (The Founder!) you might like Virginia.
That seems like a lot of information! Any other questions?
Edit: Just to correct Dagonee, UVA IS the number one public school in the country.
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Awww, thanks for all the info but... ::laughs:: Schools outside of Virginia are highly preferable. Aside from William and Mary, I can't really think of a single school in the state that could induce me to stay here and even then only if I didn't get accepted anywhere else. No offense to the state itself, but in terms of proximity to my family... I'm getting out!
Edit - the same thing basically goes for schools in Pennsylvania.
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I would suggest giving Temple University in Philadelphia a try. The administration kinda sucks, but the school itself is really good. The theater department is fantastic, and I really enjoy the general school atmosphere.
You have to like city living though.
Posts: 3852 | Registered: Feb 2002
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99-03, Undergraduate. And possibly back again someday in the future...
And I think I maitained my objectivity! Well, okay, maybe not completely... but at least I restrained myself from making some comments about Virginia Tech. Posts: 2432 | Registered: Feb 2001
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Also, I wouldn't worry too much about distance to parents. I know a lot of people who did, but as long as it's an hour away or more, most parents don't visit more than once or twice. Especially if you can be out a couple of times when they drop by unannounced.
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I've been searching for a school based on almost your exact interests, and I found the Teacher's College at Columbia University has a great, relatively new international and transcultural program. This is itsWeb sitePosts: 377 | Registered: May 1999
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Hmmm... thanks for the link, that's incredibly close to what I'm looking for but, for now, I think I'd just like to get a degree in the subject areas and then actually work in international relations first (maybe with the UN or in one of our embassies (or the Peace Corps as a stretch), though I know that would take some time to build up to). I'd still love to go into teaching someday, but a part of me also just wants to go out and actually do something for awhile instead of just teach "how" and "what" and "why".
Posts: 1548 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Just for extra info- if you look into the programs, you can work a track that emphasizes policy and program development. In fact you'd not likely become a teacher, if you're interested in international relations and development, more likely you would work for an NGO to support or create educational systems.
Just a thought, it's good to go into international relations with an area of interest. What I've run into is most programs require you to create your own schedule at some point. All the schools I looked at were similar, but for example my major is International Studies at the University of Utah; I chose to work on an emphasis in education systems. There's a core curriculum that includes classes from poly sci, econ, anthro, etc.; once I've completed those I'll finish out my degree with upper-division classes I choose in my particular emphasis. It's challenging, it's definitely on you to create a cohesive schedule. You have time to choose your emphasis, though, while you complete the core courses. Whatever you choose, good luck. May passion be your guide.
Posts: 377 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
Well, here comes a Hokie with comments. If you're not interested in applying to Tech, don't do it even for parental appeasement. If I'd known international studies and Spanish were going to be my majors, I would never have gone to Tech. I got a good education but I wouldn't recommend Tech to anyone with your interests unless they're in love with the school.
Even though you want to get out of the Northern Virginia area, you may want to check out some of the DC schools. They all have good programs in international relations.
Some more distant schools that are worth looking in to are Harvard, Tufts, Syracuse, and Columbia (not necessarily Teacher's College). They've all got well regarded graduate programs in international relations and can give you a good undergraduate eduation in the field as well.
Posts: 959 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Pixie, just out of curiousity, being a fellow Northern Virginian, what high school do you go to?
Posts: 145 | Registered: Jan 2004
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I was supposed to go to Centreville but ended up going to Robinson as an out-of-area student for the IB program. We just moved out to Manassas, though, so now I'm at Stonewall.
Posts: 1548 | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Have you considered schools in Canada? McGill is a great school in Montreal Quebec... (the bonus is that not only is tuition much less because it's in Canada, but if you study French they'll give you a discount on top of that) You should definately check them out.
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Pixie, don't go to Colgate. Go to Brandeis. Brandeis is AWESOME. Colgate is not a pleasant campus.
Posts: 7877 | Registered: Feb 2003
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I was actually wild about McGill a few years back but just kind of let my interests slide from there. I'll be sure to give it a second glance, though. Merci .
PS. French? ::laughs:: No problem there. I actually have a personal goal of attaining fluency in at least 3 European languages and, preferably, at least one of both Asian and African languages (maybe 2). I've already got somewhat of a start on the European languages, actually. By the end of next year I'll have completed 5 years of advanced study in Spanish, and the equivalents of two years of study in both French and German (I skipped French I and went straight into the second level this year and will be doing the same thing with German next year).
Posts: 1548 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Wow! You used to live really close to me. I was supposed to go to Chantilly until they built Westfield, so now I go there instead.
Posts: 145 | Registered: Jan 2004
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I'm a Virginian (Newport News), and I went to Brown. I still go to Brown, in fact, through the PLME program (8 years, undergrad then med).
We are just what you're looking for . It's easy to double major here. There are no core requirements (though there may end up being one or two in the next few years). I even know a couple people who decided to triple major (a personal choice sort of thing).
I double majored in Biology and Religious Studies. Biology required about 14 classes (I don't remember the exact number), and RS required 8. That still left me with 10 classes to do with as I liked. You can take 40 total classes if you want to take 5 a semester instead of the suggested 4 (I know several folks who took five every semester).
You can make your own major, if you'd like. It's not simple, because you have to prove that it's significantly different from the majors offered, but that you can still complete it at Brown. You can also design your own Independent class, or Group class. I designed an Early History of Weapons seminar that 6 of us took, with an engineering professor as our advisor.
Anthropology is a good department at Brown. Martha Joukowsky is a well known field archaeologist who spends her summers at Petra and brings Brown students along.
I'm certain International Relations is a strong dept, but I can't tell you much about it. Languages are generally good. I know a few French majors. A friend took Sanscrit, Latin, and Greek at Brown. We have russian, japanese, korean, akkadian, german, spanish, chinese... but I think you'd find a similar selection everywhere.
So why Brown? 1) The freedom to decide what you want to take at any given semester: There's a shopping period in the beginning of each semester in which students browse classes for a week before making final decisions. Since there are so few requirements (requirements for majors, for example), the students in any given class have made a conscious effort to be in that class.
2) We're a good size. 5500 undergrads means there are always new people to meet, but you're constantly seeing familiar faces. It's a good enough size to maintain clubs from Anime, Juggling, Flying planes, many martial arts, Christian a capella group, modern dance groups, two papers, and multiple literary magazines.
3) It's a great city. Providence is a medium size city, about 200,000. You can walk to Federal Hill (Italian restaurants and groceries), Wickenden (artsy shopping), Thayer St (shopping next to Brown), and Wayland (more upscale). It's a 1 hour bus to Boston ($6 each way on the commuter rail), and 4 hours by bus to NYC. Waterfire, one of my favorite downtown events, is a free, romantic way to spend an evening.
4) Like all the Ivy league and many other colleges, Brown offers need-blind admission and need-based financial aid. It may come with a mix of on-campus jobs, loans, and grant money, but they try to do the best they can for everyone.
5) They're very supportive of experimenting with class choices. You can choose to take any class Pass/Fail instead of for a grade. I'm not sure if they're going to have +'s and -'s. We didn't when I was there, but I know they've been talking about trying it out. At least a couple years ago, the grade was only A, B, C, or No Credit. They don't calculate a GPA. You can ask for a written evaluation of your class effort by the professor for any class (whether for Pass/Fail or for grade).
---- I don't know if you mind being in a particularly liberal or conservative atmosphere, but Brown is definitely known for having a liberal bent. But conservatives and socialists both have their own following and periodicals. It's an on-going debate, how liberal is liberal, and how should the conservative side best be heard. But it's definitely there. On the other hand, the gay community is very open and supported warmly by the administration as well as the vast majority of the student body. The Vagina Monologues are performed every February, and "love your body" (Papa Moose alert) lectures are given yearly.
I've been here for six years now (two years through med school). I love the area, I adore the campus, and I'm happy with the school. Any more questions, I'd love to answer. You can even e-mail and I can call you.
I hope this wasn't overkill, but I enjoy it when people are interested in coming to Brown. Mike (#55) and Beca both went to Brown as well.
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I'm not going to let a little 3-day hatrack outtage stop people from reading my post! Length'll stop 'em!
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
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), Cornell, or... heh, it's pretty much open from there. 
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May passion be your guide.
