The Great College Search

Today we had a half-day at school, so Dad picked me up at 11:35 and we went to visit Vassar College up in Poughkeepsie. I didn't expect much going in, since it didn't meet two of my criteria. I'm not looking for a liberal arts school AT ALL, and I want a school that is in an area where there's stuff going on. I love being in or near a city.

So here's my list of thoughts:

Pro:

• The campus is pretty, pretty, pretty. I LOVE the campus.
• Academic freedom. I really want to have the time to take a random class that I just feel like taking. Vassar doesn't have a core curriculum and their majors aren't too intense.
• 98% of kids live on campus, and there's no Greek system.
  
• It's a good school. Enough said.

Con:

• It's a liberal arts school. Therefore, I can't get a B.S. if I decide to do a double major in Chemistry.
• It's a little too artsy for me. I'm an engineering kid. I need people who are really down-to-earth around me.
• Poughkeepsie is only pretending to be a city. Seriously. It has a population of 30,000. The town I currently live in--which is technically called a "village"--has 29,000 people.
  
• $$$. My parents say that they'll pay for college, but I don't really want to burden them with the costs of a school I don't like that much.
• Seems very insular.
• Too many women. By the time I leave for college, I will have spent four years in a program with seven girls and 28 guys. I'm too used to being in a male-dominated program to switch to a place with majority females.

And now, the question my dad asks me after each college visit: If I had to choose now, where would I want to go. At this point, definitely Lafayette. (We haven't yet visited the schools that, based on stats alone, would fit the best). They have the programs I want and their campus is pretty and they have an AWESOME government and law library. In the hallway outside, there's a portrait of John Marshall. It's sooo cool.

So far we've been choosing colleges to visit based on convenience. But this summer, we won't have to worry as much about staying within a day trip length. My dad has compiled a stpreadsheet with all the SAT scores and stuff of a bunch of schools. WE're estimating that my scores will be around 2100-2200, but if a school doesn't use writing, then I'll have a better chance, because the writing was my weakest section.

The other colleges I've looked at so far:

• Williams: Remember the part where I said that I want a good location. Well, in the middle of a giant forest doesn't count. If they were actually part of civilization, though, they would be on my list.
• Lehigh: Too many hills. Sorry.

I've also been on the campuses (but not taken tours) of Seton Hall, William Paterson, GW, and Fairleigh Dickinson.Three of the four are not even being considered. One of the criteria that my parents don't approve of is my desire to be at least an hour and a half, two hours away. I don't want to be visited.

Next schools to look at:

• Georgetown
• Boston College
• Brandeis
• Duke
• University of Virginia
• UPenn
• Amherst
• UChicago
• Columbia
• NYU
• Brown
• Dartmouth
  

And, I must admit, some more schools that don't interest me in the least.

Any other suggestions?