High Point University

There’s no place like it.  In 5 years, enrollment at High Point has tripled and faculty doubled.  There are 28 new buildings. SAT scores are up up 100 points and the schools ranking are rising accross publications.  What happened?  Nido Qubein happened.  Having previously served as a board member, Nido Qubein became became President of the university and with him the school has been on a wild ride ever since.  Having been a successful entrepeneur,  Qubein has brought much of what he learned in the business world and adapted it to university life and High Point.  Not only has what Qubein done been revolutionary, it is also quite contraversial.  

Through his business savy,  Qubein has raised enormous sums of money and invested it directly into the school.  You will find it difficult to identify a more new and beautiful campus.  The landscaping is manicured.  The buildings are constructed with the finest materials (ex marble floors) and decorated beautifully.  Normally for my blogs I provide a photo of an iconic building.  But for this school I provided pictures of one of the libraries and one of the classes because you are unlikely to see these things anywhere else.  Qubein argues that if we desire to have our students get jobs in the most competitive markets and companies than we need to make sure they are comfortable in those environments and with that technology.

Qubein’s impact is not only felt through the physical structures and environment but permeates through the curriculum and culture of the school.  He is a strong personality with a strong presence.  He has decided where the school needs to invest and what it needs to accomplish.  The mission of the school has been redefined as giving “every student an extraordinary education in an inspiring environment with caring people.” He also teaches the most popular course at the university, the Presidential Seminar, which is a required course for every student usually taken freshman year.  In this course, Qubein covers what he sees as the keys to success in life.  He addresses issues like work ethic, how one needs to present oneself 

Currently the school serves approximately 3500 students.  The freshman class 1300.  The goal is to continue growing but the plan is to stay small at around 5000.  Class size is also capped at 34 students. Average class size is 14 - 15. School starts in August and ends in April, allowing for May-mester, a unique third semester allowing students to take alternative classes or travel abroad for 2 1/2 weeks.  The school supports 50 majors and 43 minors.  There are 6 colleges within the university:

• David R Hayworth College of Arts & Science,
• School of Art & Design,
• Earl N. Phillips School of Business,
• Nido R Qubein School of Communication,
• School of Education, and
• School of Health Sciences

Some programs to note include game design, interior design & home furnishing, electronic media journalism.

Wake Forest

When touring Wake Forest you will soon sense the schools Baptist heritage upon which the school was founded.  No longer maintaining their own religious affiliation, the school still describes it’s purpose as educating the whole individual.  They point to a spiritual side to the education as well as the intellectual.  The school also emphasizes a strong service culture.  These goals and values are also often articulated at many catholic and other religious affiliated schools which may make Wake Forest a very comfortable place for those with a parochial education.

Wake Forest is also known for it’s strong academics.  Nicknamed “Work Forest,” Wake Forest was ranked 11th in undergraduate teaching by US News and World Report.    The strongest programs at Wake are in Health and Exercise Science, Chemistry, English  and Psychology.  The undergraduate business program was ranked #1 in academic quality but 18th overall.  Students must apply to the business school during their sophomore year.  Candidates are required to take specific courses prior to applying and will then be evaluated based on their grades. The business school only accepts 70% of the applicants.  If not accepted, the student then declares a different major by the end of their sophomore year like their peers.

Some suggest the school is competitive.  Others say most students are competitive with themselves.  The school encourages group work through group presentations and papers.  There are also plenty of study groups.

Wake Forest students tend to be conservative, caucasian, preppy and attractive.  Some argue that there is a growing liberal population and traditionally outside groups like gay and lesbian populations are finding more acceptance.  However, racial minorities are still rare.  Social life centers around a strong greek system and a very successful sports program.  Not only does Wake have nationally recognized football and basketball teams but intramurals are very popular as well. 

Guilford

Guilford is a small southern quaker school with a student population of under 3,000.  The Quaker influence can be felt through the values of diversity, equality, stewardship and justice inherent in the schools culture.  At Guilford, everyone including the most distinguished professors and president of the university is called by their first name.  Students are very involved in school decisions, describing the evolution of school policy as an engaged process.  The school also stresses community service and maintains a community service office to connect students with opportunities.

Academically, students describe the work as very reading and writing intensive.  However support for students is also strong whether it be from the professors, other students or the Academic Skills Center.  The strongest programs include Psychology, Political Science, English, and Business Management.  Students can also design their own major.  Most students come in as undeclared and identify end of Freshman year, beginning of Sophomore year.

The curriculum also provides and strong focus on internships.  Students start working with Career Development as early as Freshman year.  Students can get academic credit for their work and some majors require internships.  The vast majority of students have an internship.

The student body has been characterized as a diverse group of atypical students.  There are your “liberal granola people.” However, the school promotes a global perspective and as such a diverse student body is a logical extension of their philosophy.  The school is working to increase their diversity regarding ethnicity and spiritual, political and socio-cultural beliefs.

Elon

Known for its experiential learning, Elon is currently one of the hottest schools around.  One of the things that makes Elon special is the “Five Experiences”, a requirement that each student must fulfill.  Prior to graduation, each student must participate in:

-an internship,

-a study abroad program,

-research,

-service learning, or leadership program.

In fact, most student participate in multiple experiences.  84% due an internship, 71% study abroad and 87%participate in service learning.  It is also common for students to participate multiple times have in one of the five experience areas.  Not surprisingly this aspect of the Elon education has made their students very marketable.  90% of students have job or are going to grad school w/in 1 year of graduation.     

A second dynamic which distinguishes Elon is it’s strong global focus.  Students are educated to become strong global citizens as evidenced by the fact that there are only three classes which all Elon students must take while at Elon.  One is The Global Experience and examines public responsibility in a global context.  The second class is Contemporary Wellness Issues and covers topics like nutrition, weight control, exercise and drugs.  The last class, Elon 101 integrates academic advising with other academic orientation information.

Elon lis a small - mid -sized school with a student populations of just under 5,000.  Classes are capped at 33 with an average size of 21.  There are no TA’s.  The strongest programs include Business, Communications, Performing Arts and Psychology.

Davidson

Davidson is an intellectual, small, liberal arts, charming, southern, school.  The intellectual aspect of the culture should come as no surprise when one considers the average act score is 30.  Small comes from the fact that the school hosts less than 2,000 students.  

Located in Davidson NC, the town grew up around the college.  The school maintains a strong honor code as seen at many other southern schools like UVA and the University of Richmond.  This allows students to feel comfortable leaving their computer, ipad or iphone out on a table if they have to walk away for a few minutes, something many Davidson students greatly appreciate.  

Classes are small (with a cap of 32 for even their large freshman lectures).  They are also viewed as intense relying on high levels of student participation.  Although the expectations are high, students say great things about the professors. Professors are seen as strong teachers and researchers and the school produces a significant amount of research considering its size.  Professors are also seen as always available to help.

The strongest programs at Davidson are Biology, Psychology, English and Political Science.  Students at Davidson on the whole are driven, intelligent wealthy and white.  There is also a significant religious population.   

Duke

Want a balanced college life, strong academics, sports, community service, research and fun?  Then you have come to the right place.  An ivy league callliber education and student body with a cooperative, not competitive school culture.  Quantitative majors (engineering, math, statistics, economics and pre-med) tend to have heavier workloads but on the whole a Duke students life is relatively laid back relative to it’s peers.  It’s common to find large study groups and review sessions.  There are peer studying programs, a writing center and academic support center.

The culture of the school encourages students to partner in creating their educational experience, creating their academic goals and getting involved both in campus and in the larger world.  To support this involvement there is the Duke Engage program which  funds undergraduate civic engagement all over the world and domestically.  This program supports students for 8 wks and the student must blog about their experience.  Approximately 45% of students study abroad at 120 sites throughout the world including 85 Duke programs.  There is also Duke Away which provides domestic learning opportunities.  Students can go to LA to study film, NYC to study finance and Beaufort NC to study at the marine lab.  Although a well respected University the focus at Duke is on the undergraduate experience.  

15% of Duke students come from the Carolinas and 10% are international making Duke a place with great geographic and cultural diversity. 85% of the students at Duke are enrolled in the college of arts and sciences.  The college has 45 majors as well as offering their students the opportunity to self-design their major. The college maintains distribution requirements.  That leaves 15% of the students in the engineering college.  There students are required to take 5 math and 5 science classes, 1 engineering writing class, additional engineering requirements as well as requirements in their specialization.  All students must take a writing seminar comprised of approximately 20 freshmen.  Each seminar may have a different topical focus but the goal is ensuring college quality writing.   

UNC Chapel Hill

Looking for a top tier academic experience at a public university that also encourages a well-rounded lie?  Look no further than UNC.  Often referred to as a public ivy, UNC was voted the 5th best public university in the country and 28th best overall. 78% of the students were in the top 10% of their high school class.  UNC has graduated 47 Rhodes scholars making it 5th behind Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Princeton.

UNC identifies its goal as serving the people of NC, the US and the world.  Public service is integrated into the school culture and so are the Tar Heal athletics with men’s basketball dominating.  A third important dynamic to the school is it’s connection to research triangle.  Like it’s neighbors NCSU and Duke, UNC benefits from it’s location within research triangle providing it’s students with significant internships and research opportunities.  Mare than 60% of the students get involved in research and that can happen as early as freshman year.  UNC is best known for their biology, chemistry and classics programs.  Other popular programs include psychology, mass communication and mass media studies.

In addition to athletics, the UNC social scene is supported by more than 600 clubs and a strong Greek life.  South campus, where most freshmen live, is not known for their dorm parties however North campus does quite well in that area.  By state policy 82% of every class must be comprised of NC residents. 

NC State

The NCSU experience is dominated by its location in the heart of research triangle.  Because of this, NC State students benefit from  extensive research and internship opportunities that most students at a state school this size never experience.  In addition and possibly because of its location, NCSU is known more for its engineering, physical and math sciences, textile and agriculture colleges than their liberal arts program. The strongest programs include Design, Statistics, Engineering, Pulp and Paper Science, Agriculture Forestry and Textiles. Usually a college of arts and sciences is the largest of the colleges at a university.  At NCSU, it’s third. Engineering and business are the most popular programs.

Taking advantage of their location NCSU characterizes it’s approach as a cooperative education program where students can alternate their semesters between traditional classroom experiences and on-site work at local companies.  This is not to say that students don’t get a well-rounded education.  General education requirements include:

• 20 hours of math and science, 
• 21 hours of humanities and social sciences, 
• 7 hours writing, speaking and information literacy
• 3 hours of science, technology and society
• 2 hours of computer literacy, and
• 2 hours of physical education.

Students must also demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language.

Being a large state school enrolling 32,000 students, it is not surprising that classes tend to be large especially for freshmen. in addition, 92% of the students are from NC.  On the other hand it also has the advantages a school that size can offer.  You can always find people like yourself and the school has a great sports program.  College basketball is the greek system  but there are other things out there to do.

Northeastern University

Northeastern University (NU) is known for its experiential learning, providing both hands-on-learning and incorporating real life experience into their curriculum.  They accomplish this by having students students participate in co-operatives and research so that they may see real life applications of what they are learning in the classrooms as well as test and refine what they are learning.  This provides NU students with some of the strongest resumes for any graduating senior.  92% of NU graduates are employed or enrolled in graduate school nine months after graduation.  Some have multiple job offer before graduating from their co-operative employers.

Undergraduates at NU attend one of eight colleges:

- the College of Arts, Media and Design

      ( School of Architecture and School of Journalism);

- the College of Business Administration

      (School of Technological Entrepreneurship);

- the College of Computer and Information Science;

- the College of Engineering;

- the College of Professional Studies

      (School of Education,  Lowell Institute School and the World Language Center);

- the College of Science; and

- the College of Social Sciences and Humanities

       (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs

There is also a program for undeclared students if you don’t know to which school you want to apply.  The program introduces you to the broad range on academic opportunities available and advises you until you find the right fit.  Switching majors can be done but depending on the school can be difficult.  Health sciences only accepts transfers within NU.  Transferring to Engineering can also be difficult because of course requirements NU has  80 majors and nearly 200 major minors and specializations.

The experiential learning comes into play because NU students have the opportunity for 2 or 3 experiential learning experiences.  They choose.  If they choose to participate in two, they can graduate in four years.  If they pursue 3 experiences, they usually graduate in five years.  Experiential learning can take the form of co-operatives, 6 month full-time positions with organizations outside NU or research.  Co op starts second semester second year or fall a students 3rd year.  They can be degree related but do not have to be related.  On average the school helps students find 6000 co-ops every year at approximately 2400 organizations in 160 cities and 69 countries.  97% - 98% of students participate in at least one co-op. 

The other option for experiential learning is to participate in research.  Students pursuing degrees in security, sustainability and health are more likely to pursue some research experience.  The school has relationships with 37 active research centers, five federally funded labs and participates in research co-ops with hospitals, labs, units and corporations.

Located in the heart of Boston, the students not only benefit from the co-op and research opportunities right outside their door but also all the cultural and social events and possibilities.  NU students tend to have that entrepreneurial spirit.  You don’t need to know exactly what you want to do but you have to be excited to find out.

Boston University

Boston University (BU) is one of the largest private universities in the country with over 18,000 undergrads and14,000 graduate students.  The university is comprised of 11 schools and colleges.  Undergraduates can apply to the college of:

- arts and science,

- communication,

- music,

- health and rehabilitation sciences,

- education,

- visual arts, 

- management,

- engineering,

- hospitality administration, or

- general studies.

Each of BU’s schools has their own general education requirements but all students take the two semester Freshman Writing Program.    Students are also very positive about the First-Year Student Outreach Program which brings freshmen to campus a week early for community service projects.

The schools strongest programs include communications, management/business, biomedical engineering, natural sciences, psychology, international relations and the fine arts.  The school offers enormous opportunities from international paid internships, hands-on-learning opportunities, robotics and biomedical engineering labs, its own concert hall and more.  However, like all large institutions the opportunities are there but it is up to the student to make the most of them. To get the most out of BU, you need to be self-motivated and pro-active.  The school encourages both cooperation and competition.  Unlike many large schools, BU is able to maintain small class size with over 90% of classes being 25 students or smaller.  It accomplishes this by creating smaller groups within the various college freshmen co-horts.

In addition to the size of BU, another characteristic that dominates the BU experience is that it is an urban school that is integrated into the city like GW and NYU.  One may be walking through campus and not realize they are walking through a university.  The urban integrated nature of the school allows for great internships, a faculty that is also working on what they are teaching and cultural opportunities that are hard to match.Simply put it empowers the academic and social life of the academic community.

Since BU is so large, there is no typical students.  With a liberal culture, BU has strong athletics and arts programs which attract particular students but the school is so much more.  Whoever you are, you can find a home at BU.

Brandeis

Brandeis was founded in 1948 by the American Jewish community to provide a top tier institution for all students including those battling quotas at the ivy league colleges.  Because of their unique beginnings, Brandeis has always had a progressive culture with an eye towards social justice.  Cultural respect and diversity is also a hallmark of the institution as evidenced by the three chapels on campus originally erected to serve Catholic, Jewish and Protestant communities,  The structures were designed so that the shadow of one chapel never crosses the shadow of another, an architectural symbol that articulates the values of the institution.  The jewish community makes up 40% of the student body.  There are also 200 muslim students with their own dedicated prayer space.  The student body is 4% African American, 4% Hispanic and 9% Asian American.  24% of students come from Massachusetts and the population tends to be very bi-costal.

Academically,  Brandeis is a  top tier liberal arts college and respected research institution.  Brandeis is said to be particularly strong in the pre-professional programs, pre-med and pre-law.  Pre-med students get a significant amount of support and guidance through special advisory programs, internships and their own pre-med center.  They also benefit from research opportunities usually reserved for graduate students and have the advantage of participating in some of Brandeis’ strongest programs, Neuroscience and Biology.  Other highly regarded programs include Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Music, English and American Literature, Theater Arts, Economics and Psychology.  Brandeis maintains a core curriculum, with a focus on writing, quantitative analysis, foreign language and Non-Western and comparative studies. 

With Leonard Bernstein as an original faculty member it is not surprising that the theater arts plays a large role academically and in students social lives with many performance-based clubs.  Students are also very involved in community service, political and social activism, ethnic clubs, political clubs, independent sports clubs and just about anything else one can think of.  Brandeis is located in Waltham, not a particularly exciting town but its only 9 miles outside of Boston and the school runs a free shuttle service Thursday through Sundays.  Brandeis is not a big sports or party school but these is a lot going on.

Boston College

Boston College (BC) has it all. Great academics, great athletics, a gorgeous campus in a beautiful suburb just outside the number one college town in the country, Boston.  BC is a jesuit school and as such focuses on developing the whole person intellectually, socially and morally.  To reflect the ideals of community, spirituality, and social justice central to Jesuit teachings, the school requires classes in philosophy, theology and cultural diversity,  Other aspects of the core curriculum include literature, science, history, social science, writing, math and the arts.  All students in all four colleges are required to take the BC core curriculum which determines 15 out of 38 courses required to graduate.  Each school then has its own core curriculum for that school.  The philosophy, theology and ethics departments play a significant role in developing the culture of the entire campus including a strong focus on volunteer work.  

When applying to BC, a student applies to one of four colleges/schools,  the business school, the school of education, the school of nursing or the college of arts and science.   The business school, or Carroll School of Management, is the second largest of the four colleges with 450 incoming freshmen. Economics and Finance are the strongest concentrations.  The school of education is home to 120-130 freshmen.  Students specialize in either elementary or secondary education.  Nursing is the smallest school with 85-90 freshmen and one of the most highly regarded nursing schools in the country.  The college of arts & sciences is the largest with approximately 1,585 students and 30 programs.  The strongest programs are Chemistry, English and Political Science.  If you do not know what you want to major in, it is recommended that you apply to Arts and Science.  However, if you are deciding between one of the pre-professional schools and arts and science, apply to the pre-professional program.  It is easier to transfer into arts and science than a pre-professional program.

BostonCollege students in the past have been characterized as a J Crew catalogue come to life and walking through campus, the description seems justified.  The typical student is white, Catholic (70%), from the Northeast and usually has family who went to BC.  However, with 9,000 undergrads you are bound to find the diversity you are looking for.  Jesuit teachings stress tolerance which means if you don’t fit this mold, you are still welcome and can find a home here.  BC students are also hardworking and ambitious.  They have also been known to party hard although that reputation is diminishing with stricter rules regarding alcoholic consumption.

Harvard

Its Harvard.  What else is there to say.  Its perhaps the most sought after acceptance in the country (9%), among the most intellectually competitive and arguably one of the strongest universities in the country.  Compared to other Ivy League schools,  Harvard might be characterized as an all-american bastion of our countries best and brightest.  It also attracts the most accomplished faculty and the most lavish donors of any school in the country.  Some departments may be smaller than others but all are comprised of leaders in their field.

Something unique about Harvard and not widely known is its unique approach to housing.  All freshmen live in Harvard yard which is comprised of 17 dorms, all of which have a common room.  All freshmen eat together in Annenberg.   At the end of freshman year, students form block groups of seven students.  Each group is then assigned a house where they will live for the remainder of their college experience.   Every house has own dining hall, computer lab, gym, and lounge area.  In addition, each has something unique  (pottery studio, climbing wall, photography studio...)  Each house serves 300-500 students.

In addition to the physical make-up being somewhat unique so is the social and cultural aspect of housing. Every house has masters who serve as parents.  They entertain students, invite them for food, etc.  Tutors (grad students) also live in each house.  Different tutors have different specialties (pre-med, pre-law...) These tutors provide guidance on classes, summer internships and more.  These houses are  mini-communities within the larger Harvard community. Each house has a house committee to create activities and make improvements.  Different houses have different personalities. Every week each house has academic speakers and weekly life lesson seminars. 98% of students live on campus all 4 years because the houses are the center of social life and they are cheaper.  97% think their house is the best.

On a final note, if applying to Harvard, remember it’s Harvard with a 9% acceptance rate. They are interested  in interesting people. They look for involved engaged 

students with strong academics.  Some say they go for lopsided people  ie people with an exceptional strength in a particular area.  They do no disagree.  However, when considering the thousands of gifted and accomplished students who apply, remember  when reviewing candidates they are splitting hairs and basing their decisions on complimenting the people who they have already accepted.  Many students qualified and gifted enough for Harvard don’t get in because there simply isn’t enough spaces.   

Olin College of Engineering

“The future model for engineering education,”  that’s how the founders and current faculty at Olin College of Engineering describe their school. Interdisciplinary project-based instruction that trains students how to think, learn and approach challenges is at the core of this school’s curriculum. Olin is a small school serving less than 350 students who are all pursuing a degree in engineering. The school is young, having graduated their first class in 2006.  The school is also unique in that one of its major goals is to provide a tuition free college education to the best and brightest in the engineering field.  Due to current economic conditions they have had to amend this goal and currently offer half tuition still making it one of the best college buys in the country.

Olin’s curriculum is based on the “Olin Triangle” emphasizing engineering and science, business and entrepreneurship and liberal arts.  Classes are held in labs and machine shops as well as traditional classrooms.  Classrooms have state-of-the-art instructional media.  Basically, the place is gorgeous with the newest and best of everything.  

To be a part of this little oasis is not easy though.  To be accepted you have to be incredibly accomplished (SATs CR 780, M 770, ACT’s 34).  In addition, the school looks for students with strong social and verbal skills.  Once at Olin, students are described as working all the time.  However, they also point out that they are working because they are intrigued and excited by the projects.  Faculty are young and passionate as well.  There is no tenure and while professors are expected to conduct research they are not expected to do it at the expense of teaching.  Professors leave MIT and other top tier engineering schools because they are equally excited by the innovation that is Olin.

Inherent in the culture of Olin is a strong honor code which highlights respect, patience and understanding for your community.  While students are generally liberal, there are also students who come from highly religious and conservative backgrounds.  This, however, has not seemed to create a problem.  Women make up over 40% of the student population.  The school is 1% African American, 4% hispanic and 11% Asian.   

Babson College

Babson is one of a kind.  Yes, there are other undergraduate business programs but at Babson everyone studies business.  Specialization comes into play in your junior and senior year where you may choose a focus in accounting, marketing, entrepreneurship, finance and other sub-disciplines.  

The curriculum at Babson surprisingly requires approximately half of your classes be business and half liberal arts for all four years.  Liberal arts is viewed as equally important because of the skill building involved.  Liberal arts classes are designed to strengthen and hone research, writing and presentation skills.

Freshman year students participate in the Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship.  This year long program groups students into teams of 30 with the goal of inventing developing, launching, managing and liquidating a business.  Sophomore year and first semester Junior year, students participate in Intermediate Discovery an integrated management course designed to show how accounting, economics, finance, organizational behavior and operations issues must be balanced when managing a company.  Classes often use case study methodology and the work load is tough but students say its worth it because they know they will graduate prepared to pursue their dreams.

The student body at Babson is often characterized as white, conservative and wealthy.  There is a significant international population which broadens the ethnic pool but does little to expand socio-economic diversity.  Socially, students characterize their peers as athletes, Greeks and Internationals.  Freshman and sophomore year students tend to socialize on campus.  By Junior year, students are more likely to venture to Boston for the night life.    

Wellesley

Often thought of as the best women’s college in the country, Wellesley can not only hold their own with any small liberal arts college, it can hold its own in any crowd.  When talking about what makes Wellesley special, the first thing people note is that it is an all women’s institution but what does that mean other than the gender of your classmates.  At Wellesley it means having an institution whose priorities and purpose center on the success of its women.  Certainly not a surprising concept but an important one when one considers that women continue to be paid less than men and hold fewer positions of leadership than men,  Wellesley talks about these imbalances and how you can overcome them. An important weapon in this fight is the Wellesley alumni network.  Not only is it filled with many impressive and successful women including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Madeline Albright, Diane Ravitch, Diane Sawyer, Linda Werthheimer, Nora Ephron and more but the alumni network is one of the most active of any college or university in helping current students get opportunities, jobs, internships... and succeed.

Wellesley is also powerful because of the education it provides to its students.  Best known for their Economics, Political Science, Psychology, English, International Relations and Neuroscience Programs, Wellesley makes sure their students have access to a broad array of academic opportunities.  They accomplish this by expanding their already strong course offerings with cross registration at MIT (architecture), Olin (entrepreneurial engineering), Babson (business) and Brandeis (expanded liberal arts options).  The success of Wellesley students can also be seen in the high acceptance rates to graduate school ( 70% medical school, 80% law school, more than 20% above the national average.  

All this and Wellesley is still a small liberal arts college of approximately 2,250 women, a nurturing environment where people know and look out for you.  Although all women, Wellesley is diverse in ethnicity, age, geography and socio-economic status.  What Wellesley women have in common is that they are smart, accomplished, passionate and hardworking.

Tufts

What makes Tufts special?  First, it truly is a small liberal arts college and a first class intensive research university.  What does that mean for you?  With an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 5,000, Tufts is able to maintain a sense of community where no one gets lost, people know you and you don’t have to do much beyond walking outside your dorm door to find a friend.  However, it also has an extensive top tier research program allowing undergrads research opportunities, only graduate students at many other schools can get.  The focus on the undergraduates is not by accident.  Most of the graduate programs are at a separate campus.

In addition, Tufts has purposely tried to encourage cross and interdisciplinary research and inquiry, realizing that most of the world is not divided into departments.  The barriers between the liberal arts college and school of engineering are very low.  Because of this, research projects may be staffed by biology, computer science, engineering and maybe even poli sci or ethics professor.  This benefits the students because they have the opportunity to gain insight into different disciplines and see how they are related.  Evidence of the success of this philosophy is that at most colleges often graduate far fewer engineering students than originally start out because the experience is so demanding.  At Tufts one year the school had more engineers graduate than initially enrolled because the work they were doing was so inspiring and liberal arts students had the opportunity to see participate and eventually enroll.  Tufts usually has a 100% retention rate in engineering.

Students also rave about the faculty at Tufts.  One students explained that the professor student relationship often feels like that of a peer imparting knowledge to a junior colleague.  Professors are usually identified as the number one reason to choose Tufts.  

Another huge draw for the school is its international perspective.  Not only does Tufts have one of the best international relations programs in the country, but it also maintains  a world view in its inquiry.  As one administrator put it, “The world is enormous and complex. College is about how you engage the world.   How are you going to engage and affect it comfortably in this ever growing multinational reality.  Because of this world view, students are required to take six classes in a foreign language.  This can be satisfied with all six classes in one language, two groups of three classes in two languages or three classes in one language and an additional three classes in the history, culture, traditions... of that language.

Once thought of as the school students go to when they don’t get into the Ivies, Tufts is now so much more.

MIT

Hacks and Hacking... you probably think you know what they mean and you probably do in average society but at MIT these terms take on a whole new meaning.  A Hack is someone who carries out a benign practical joke that is so clever no one can figure out how they accomplished it.  Past famous hacking incidents including putting a life size model of a cop car with a police officer inside on the dome of the main academic building and remotely setting off a hot air ballon which had been buried underground in the middle of the field at the beginning of the big Harvard Yale football game.  Why do I begin my discussion of MIT with this bit of trivia?  Because it is this type of focus and celebration of accomplishing things beyond the imagination or intellectual capacity of others that is at the heart of MIT culture.

Founded during the industrial revolution and Civil War by Professor William Barton Rodgers, a geologist from UVA, the Mission of MIT expanded the role of universities at that time to greater practicality and contribution,  to tackle the problems of the future through science technology engineering and math.  Today approximately half of the students at MIT are pursuing engineering and 1/3 are focused on the life science.  The school also offers undergraduate degrees in the social sciences and in business through the Sloan School of Management.  Recognizing the great success of many techies in the business world, business has become the most popular minor attracting 1/3 of the student population. 

The math science culture is imbedded in many aspects of life at MIT, buildings are numbered not named, interior architecture is very utilitarian, the application process does not require a long essay but does mandate 2 SAT subject tests, one in math and one in science and last but not least acceptance and rejection letters are sent out March 14th, 3.14 get it?  By now you may be getting the feeling that this is a pretty intense place and you’d be right but the people at MIT recognize this and have structured the academic experience to decrease stress and competition and increase collegiality.  First semester freshman year, all classes are pass/fail.  Second semester, students receive grades but are not recorded.  Students are also encouraged to work with other students on homework and problem sets.  They even list the names of these students on their assignment.  Although not for everyone, MIT can be a magical place for the right student.  

Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)

Created in the late 1800’s to address the need for artisans and craftsmen throughout the country, RISD grants degrees in Architecture and Design ( Apparel Design, Architecture, Furniture Design, Graphic Design, Industrial Design and Interior Architecture),   fine arts (Ceramics, Film/Animation/Video, Glass, Illustration, Jewelry Making and Metalsmithing, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture and Textiles) and Liberal Arts (English, History of Art & Visual Culture and History/Philosophy/Social Sciences).  

A bastion for aspiring artists honing their craft, one may imagine a compound for artists with few rules and little structure to allow the individual to explore and create.  That image would be wrong.  While RISD is a home for young artists to hone their craft, this home has high expectations and standards for the diverse community it attracts.  Freshmen are expected to take three 8 hour studio art classes in addition to two other courses.  To graduate students must complete 126 credit hours, 54 in their major, 18 in the Foundation Studies program (RISD’s core curriculum in the visual arts, 42 in the liberal arts and 12 in non-major electives.  Not surprisingly the arts side of the curriculum gets high marks while the liberal arts classes often receive criticism.  Located next to Brown University in Providence, students have the opportunity to take their liberal arts classes at Brown.

RISD is based on a semester system with a six week winter session nestled between fall and spring semester.  During this time students are encouraged to take classes outside their area.  Each year about 30 students attend the European Honors Program in Rome and participate in independent study, projects with critics and italian immersion courses.  RISD also offers an international exchange program with art schools around the world.  

RISD students are very diverse in every way.   Their social life however is not nearly as wild as their appearance may suggest.  At RISD the social life often centers around the friends you make in studio.  For a more traditional college nightlife students can walk just a few blocks onto Brown campus.

Brown

No core curriculum, no distribution requirements, all classes can be graded satisfactory/ no credit.  What a school!  Must be a joke.  Nope it’s one of the most prestigious, popular and competitive universities to get into in the country.  The open nature of classes and grading is reflective of Brown’s liberal perspective on a college education.  They don’t necessarily believe that there is a core body of knowledge that all college educated people should possess.  Instead they merely require that all students demonstrate a competency in writing and take 30 classes before graduating.  The assumption is that students will take 4 classes/semester or 32 classes before graduating.  Students must also pass seven classes in two consecutive semesters or they will be placed on academic warning.  

Brown wants students to feel comfortable exploring and challenging themselves without the pressures students at other ivy league and top tier colleges feel.  They also want students to feel empowered to start making decisions for themselves. Some students find this incredibly liberating and use the satisfactory/NC option to take a fifth class or exceptionally challenging class the student might otherwise not take.  Some parents may worry about such an academically liberal environment but remember students at Brown have been successful in life, want to continue to be successful and are aware how the outside world might perceive a transcript dominated by satisfactory evaluations instead of grades.

Challenging conventional wisdom is not something only the administration does but is also reflective of the students it attracts.  Brown students tend to be enormously progressive, free thinking individuals who are confident in their opinions, willing to speak out and challenge the norm.  All of this has led to the reputation of Brown as a bastion of liberalism.  For concerned parents this does not mean that the personal life styles of the students are any wilder that their peers at other institutions.  Rather, students are less judgmental and more willing to intellectually stand out.

Brown is primarily and an undergraduate institution with approximately 5,750 undergraduates and 2,400 graduate students.  As such it strongly values undergraduate teaching and considers classroom skills as much a s research and publishing in tenure decisions.  Brown’s most popular and highly regarded programs include Biology, International Relations, History, Political Science and English.     

Columbia College Chicago

Located in the heart of Chicago, Columbia College is the largest and most diverse private arts and media college in the nation.  Serving undergraduate and graduate students, Columbia’s goal is to educate students who will give voice and shape public perception of issues and events.  This may happen through artistry and/or education.  Columbia College is divided into three different schools. 

The School of Liberal Arts & Science, offers programs in:ASL-English Interpretation, 

Education, English, Humanities, History, Social Science, Science and Mathematics.  The School of Fine and Performing Arts offers programs in Art & Design, Arts, Entertainment & Media Management, Dance, Dance Movement Therapy and Counseling, Fashion Studies, Fiction Writing, Music, Photography and Theatre.  Last but not least,  the School of Media Arts provides programs in Audio Arts & Acoustics, Film & Video, Interactive Arts & Media, Interdisciplinary Arts, Journalism, Marketing Communication, Radio and Television.

Columbia is a very progressive school from the topics covered, to the people involved to how students present their work and are evaluated.  It’s not for everyone but for the right student it is a dynamic and exciting place where they can study topics never available to them before or offered at more traditional institutions.

DePaul University

DePaul is the largest Catholic university in the country.  Founded on the teachings of Vincent DePaul, the school was created to allow access to education for everyone.  Because of this, from the beginning the school was never only for catholic  use.  Instead, the student population reflected the immigrant population of that time.  As the university progressed, it was the first school in Chicago to accept women and African Americans. This openness has continued to evolve in perpetuating a very diverse and liberal community, 12% hispanic, 9% African American and 9% Asian American.  One dynamic which the school has not been able to maintain diversity is geographic.  81% of the student population is from the Illinois area.

DePaul in many ways is a preprofessional school.  It is comprised of seven colleges, the college of Arts and Science, Education, Theater, Music, Commerce, Computing and Digital Media and Communications.   The school is also divided into two campuses, one in the heart of the business area (the Loop) and one in a more residential area of Chicago (Lincoln Park).  Not surprisingly the more business centered schools, Commerce, Communications and Computing and Digital Media, are located in the Loop while Arts and Science, Music, Theater and Education are based in Lincoln Park.   Lincoln Park also houses 15 of the 16 dorms.  The dorm located in the Loop is shared with Columbia College and Roosevelt College.

DePaul’s strongest programs include Accounting, Computer Science, Finance, Music, Theater, Communication and Psychology. DePaul’s theater school is the oldest in the country.  Both the music and theater schools require auditions for entrance.  The theater school produces over 40 productions/year but only theater students can perform.  The school views this as necessary to ensure theater students receive ample performance opportunities.  However, non-music students can perform music.  

With over 90,000 alum in the Chicago area, DePaul provides its students with great opportunities into the Chicago business community, including networking opportunities, internships and more.  The city is also an important factor in the social lives of the students.  As part of orientation to the school and city, Freshmen are offered the opportunity to take “Discover Chicago” (the week before schools starts) or “Explore Chicago” (the first week of school). For many these hold fond memories of navigating the city, learning of the various educational and entertaining options the city offers and prepares them for the adventures ahead.

Northwestern

What distinguishes Northwestern in the strength it maintains across the board in all that it offers.  The undergraduate program at Northwestern is comprised of 6 colleges, the College of Arts and Science, Journalism, Engineering, Education and Social Work, Communications and Music.  

The Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences College offers over 100 in majors natural science, math, social science, humanities and more.  It is the largest and oldest of the colleges and serves 1/2 of the undergraduates. Freshman year students participate in a freshman seminar that 1st helps prepare for college level work.  

The McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, like the university, is strong in all that it offers. There are 10 areas of study within the school of Engineering.

Students are paired up with clients with real life problems.  Recently a group of students developed a machine so that paraplegics can give themselves insulin as necessary.  They are currently presenting it to hospitals in the Chicago area for use.  Co op employment opportunities are available and part of a 5 years program.  A student would then graduate with 4 years of coursework and real life full-time work experience.

The School of Communication is the second largest of the schools and takes an academic approach to the issue.  It also hosts 80 theater productions/yr.  The School of Journalism is the only such program offered at a top tier university.  The J school like the other pre-professional schools integrates a full-time internship, the journalism residency, into the curriculum.  Often taken the fall of Senior year, the residency offers a great transition to a full-time position.  The school also prepares students for the real world with use of the latest multimedia technology.  Students work on the newspaper on the radio and in producing television shows.  Also offered is a 4 year accelerated BSJ/MSJ program.

The School of Music serves students  who have the abilities of a conservatory level musician with high level academics.  Auditions and required for admittance.  It is a 5 year program but students graduate with two BA’s.   Students may choose to combine their study of music with Arts and Science, Engineering, Journalism, Communication or Education and Social Policy.   The School of Education & Social Policy is the only school of its kind and competes with Vanderbilt for top students.

NU follows the quarter system with 10 week periods.  Students usually take 4 classes per quarter meaning by the time they graduate students have take 10 -12 more classes than peers at traditional semester universities.  This allows students to pursue double majors, travel abroad and participate in internship programs while still graduating on time.  In fact, it is not unusual for students to be informed that they can graduate early.

NU students are well rounded.  They work hard and play hard.  The northern end of campus houses the fraternities and sororities and is known for parties.  The southern end is known to be quieter and more artistic.

Bryn Mawr

Bryn Mawr is a study in contradictions.  Its a college with 500 graduate students in programs such as Social Work and French.  It’s an all-women institution but incredibly diverse with 40% minority and international students.  It is also a woman’s college who historically has partnered with an all male college Haverford that is now itself co-ed.

Like it’s brother school, Bryn Mawr has a strong honor code constructed and enforced by the students and refined every year through a plenary meeting.   Also like Haverford, the strengths of Bryn Mawr compliment the strengths of Haverford and allow students to not only take classes at both institutions but major and live at either institution.  In fact, the two schools have a combined course catalog and bus facilitating the integrated nature of the two schools.  Bryn Mawr students can also take classes at Swarthmore and UPenn.  The most popular majors a re Biology, English and Foreign Languages (12 languages).  1/4 of the students at Bryn Mawr major in math or science.  That is three times the national average.   THe strongest programs at Bryn Mawr are Archeology, Growth and Structure of Cities, Physics, Math, Art History, Classics and Foreign Languages.

Because of the small size of the school, Bryn Mawr is able to offer small classes.  Like all schools, the largest classes tend to be the intro classes students take freshman year but in this case the largest class maxes out at 50.  Regular class size is 10 - 19 with a student faculty ratio of 8:1.  Classes are not lecture based but rather focus on discussion.  As a result, strong mentor relationships flourish.  The school requires two classes in each of the three divisions (social science, natural science and humanities) as well as one semester of quantitative work, intermediate level competency in a foreign language and physical education.  During their freshman year students are required to take the Emily Basch seminar.  Its comprised of 14 students and focuses on critical thinking, research and writing.  Different seminars focus on different topics.  

Life at Bryn Mawr is steeped in tradition with May Day festivities, Lantern Night, Parade Night Hell Week and Step Signs.  Bryn Mawr students are not worried about what others think. Instead they are independent minded, very respectful of one another, inquisitive, interested in others, and collaborative.  The social life at Bryn Mawr is relatively low key with student theater, cappella concerts, movies, speakers...  It’s more of a “friends over to your room” kind of place.  For the more traditional party scene Bryn Mawr students head over to Haverford, Villanova and Swarthmore.