Universities?

[lightningandsnow]

I'm in grade 11, I'm kind of casually looking at universities at the moment, and there's a small possibillty I might go to a U.S. university.

The thing is, I don't really know of any, except for the ones I could never get into (NYU, Harvard). I have about an A/A- average, but I'm really involved in a lot of extracurricular stuff and volunteer work, which I'm thinking may put me at an advantage - since Canadian universities only consider your marks, and U.S. universities consider "the whole package".

I'm most likely going to do a double major in political science and women's studies. Or I may do a degree in just political science, journalism, or sociology.

Any places I should check out? Keep in mind, I live in southern Ontario, so places in the south and on the west coast would probably be too far.

[TZ]

1. Well if you want to do Poli Sci.....

There is a good university here near me..Georgetown Univ..my Uncle used to be a Professor there..but its pricey and private. Don't sell yourself short though on what you think you could get into. I think you are better off than you know....

[auntAgonist]

2. U of M Ann Arbor MI.

Not terribly far from Toronto really.

http://polisci.lsa.umich.edu/

[lightningandsnow]

11. I know a family friend who goes there...

she really likes it.

[bif]

43. My daughter goes there. She absolutely loves it

and Ann Arbor is a great town!

[dropkickpa]

3. University of Pittsburgh

Is an easy travel from S. Ontario. Big university, LOTS of programs, and Pittsburgh is awesome (I may be biased).

[TZ]

4. Biased? You?

Now why would anybody think that?;-)

[dropkickpa]

6. I couldn't possibly imagine

It's not like I run about yelling "Da Burgh iz awesome n'at!". Well, not on Tuesdays.

[PRETZEL]

36. Pittsburgh is great,

the town that is,

If you're going to go to PA to go to school, the only one to go to is PSU (class of '81).

:)

[SKKY]

5. I went to the University of Louisville for 2 years before I joined the Navy...

...and it would be worth checking out. Louisville is a liberal city, very inexpensive, and is pretty "gay friendly". When I retire from the Navy in 4 years, I will definitely be going back.

[bicentennial_baby]

7. Smith College

or Mount Holyoke. :)

[lightningandsnow]

24. I looked both of them up...

and they sound awesome! Totally sounds like my kind of place.

Not sure if the parentals would like it, though :P

[Xipe Totec]

8. Wellesley College?

http://www.wellesley.edu/

[Mike03]

9. My only experience is with University of Southern California

Although my major was cinema/TV, I believe they have a very good journalism department. I also know from friends that they place a lot, if not more than most, emphasis on the social, extra-cirricular activities. It is an extremely social university environment, where networking and social contact probably means a huge deal (more than it did in the film studies departments).

USC also has a daily paper. People in the industries also are very loyal to USC grads, so it is often possible to get a helping hand from someone in your selected industry who has gone to USC.

Good luck, whichever University you choose.

[lightningandsnow]

10. Ok... I just realized a problem.

The Canadian system of marking is different - it's quite a bit more rigorous, it seems. I have about an 80-85% average - which is considered an A where I live. But it's only a B in the U.S.

Will they take this into account? Because if they don't... well that would just suck.

[Mike03]

12. I'm confused as well. But because of the collapse of the U.S.

dollar, wouldn't it be advantageous for a Canadian to go to University in the United States?

[TZ]

13. Considering Canadian education is usually considered

more rigorous than the US education system, I do think your average is equivalent to an A in this country. I'm also thinking you probably have had coursework that most US students don't do until college. Thats been what I've found with friends who went to school outside the US...

[lightningandsnow]

15. Yeah, I noticed that

when I was looking at practice SAT questions for math, they were generally stuff I did around grade 9, maybe 10. Which was definitely a relief as math is definitely not my strength.

[Mike03]

16. I'm sure that your Canadian schools are more rigorous..

In fact, I know it for a fact, since my relatives are Canadian, and one of them is an English teacher.

Wouldn't that make it more likely that a Canadian would be accepted to a private university, perhaps with grants and so forth? Speaking only for the case of the University of Southern Cal, at least half of our students seemed to be from other nations. It was a wonderfully diverse campus. And that was a fantastic aspect of the educational experience.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

26. yes they will. i had marks from india, which were 67% but in the top 2 percentile

so yeah they will take that into consideration

[rockymountaindem]

27. I think they'll understand

I applied to US grad school with my relatively modest GPA from the University of Toronto and I don't think that having gone through a more rigorous marking system hurt my chances. I got into plenty of good places. I was worried about it too, but ultimately it didn't matter.

[ScreamingMeemie]

14. My daughter has just enrolled at Wayne State University in

Detroit (don't worry, it's safe). She is going to major in political science and they have an excellent program. Not as expensive as UofM or Michigan State and you get a quality (or better when it comes to poli sci) education. Have you taken the ACT? That will be looked at in conjunction with your grades at most of the midwestern universities. Good luck in your search.

[Cant trust em]

17. as soon as you said "grade 11" I knew you were canadian.

I love the slight cultural differences.

Sorry I don't really have much input on your University search.

[yvr girl]

18. I would check to see how the individual school compares with a

Canadian one. Check to see if you could transfer the courses back to U of T for instance. I know of people who were juniors (3rd year) in American schools, and were knocked back down to fist year in Canada. The US has some great schools, but they also have some that are viewed as 'Mickey Mouse' elsewhere.

I was watching an American game show recently. The contestant was a 'Surfing Professor' at a US university. I laughed.

[cordelia]

19. For women's studies, you might

want to take a look at Agnes Scott in Decatur, Georgia, near Atlanta.

Just a thought, but all the best to you, whatever you decide. It will be the right decision.

[harmonicon]

20. stay in Canada

It seems like schools there are better and cheaper. If you are going to look at US schools (and why the hell not? keep your options open), don't write any off because you think they're hard to get into. The students studying at those places you mentioned are just normal people and are no smarter than you. I have friends who have gone to Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, etc., and they're just regular people. On the same note, don't go somewhere just because of the name. Any school can give you a good education, especially at the undergraduate level. I think you should think more about lifestyle and what sort of environment you want to be in than a school's name or whatever ranking it might have. No matter what a school's average something or other is, you're YOU, not a mathematical average.

[elleng]

21. West Virginia University

Varied, interesting, good prof schools, good athletics, improving .

St. Joseph's University (Philly). Med size. Good business school; don't know about social sciences but prolly good.

[Lasher]

22. And WVU is the number one party school in the US!

That's the most important part!

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07233/810922-298.stm

[lightningandsnow]

30. ehh, I'm not much of a "party" person.

[elleng]

33. That's OK, Aspie!

Its not 'required!'

My daughter majoring in education: early childhood and special ed.

[elleng]

31. If you follow these things,

you know how this 'list' changes/evolves over time:

'this year it took the top spot away from last year's designate, the University of Texas, Austin. The Texas school was ranked third this year, behind the University of Mississippi.

Penn State, which finished third last year, was rated sixth'

Here's the rest of this year's list:

http://lyke2drink.blogspot.com/2007/08/princeton-review-top-party-schools.html

[Rhythm]

28. I was going to suggest WVU as well...

Both Oktoberain and i are students there... PoliSci program here is great, and i have friends in the Women's Studies department as well, so i've heard all of the good stuff.

The 'party school' reputation is over-rated, and in some programs is total BS.
Contrary to popular belief, "Beer Pong" is neither a major nor a minor.
Yes, there are a ton of bars in Morgantown. There are a ton of bars in EVERY 'college town'.
Yes, a lot of students overdo it...
No... they don't all graduate anyway.
Approximately half of freshmen don't make it to graduation, and it's usually the ones who spend all their time bragging about their partying that are the ones to drop out or lose their financial aid when their grades nose-dive.

Besides, it's not that far a drive down from Toronto... takes about 8 hours.

[elleng]

32. Hi, Think!

Daughter LOVES it! For academic and social life! Profs, counseling program, etc.

[Rhythm]

35. We really DO have some great professors here...

I've learned much even in the classes that i was only taking to satisfy some arbitrary 'general curriculum' requirements.

Tell your daughter that you know of at least 2 DUers on campus!

[elleng]

42. I'll do that!

What year? Where living?

How's the weather????

[Lady Freedom]

23. Missouri Southern State University

Check it out at www.mssu.edu

[La Lioness Priyanka]

25. NYU and harvard are not on the same scale. i got accepted at NYU and rejected at harvard

so i think if you want to go to NYU, you could probably make it. i also got a pretty large scholarship to nyu.

just remember to take the SAT's and the SAT II (3 subject tests)

best of luck!


there are some smaller colleges you should also look into. if i had to do it again, i may have picked a smaller school

[GreenPartyVoter]

29. We have some very nice schools here in Maine. :^D

[yellowdogintexas]

34. don't forget about Boston, which has about a zillion institutions of higher learning

other than Harvard which is actually across the Charles River in Cambridge. There are public, private, large, small, and in between; liberal, conservative you name it
Harvard
MIT
Boston College
Boston University
Tufts
Brandeis
Wellesley
Emerson
Northeastern
Suffolk
UMassBoston

Boston is probably the ultimate university town, and you can live there quite nicely without a car.

On the other hand if you want Big State University kind of experience, consider Indiana University, Univ of Illinois, or Ohio State. None of these are that far from Toronto ..Indiana has a gorgeous campus and is in a smallish college town ..IU has more people than the town of Blooomington, actually, but the university is about 30K I think.

There are so many to choose from. Ohio and New York State both have excellent state college systems.
the SUNY system is huge! 64 campuses altogether,

keep us all posted on your quest, and be sure to take the SAT and the ACT

[qb]

37. University of Minnesota, home of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs

http://www.hhh.umn.edu/
I hear they have a great women's studies department, too.
http://gwss.umn.edu/

[MissMillie]

38. All that extracurricular stuff is what will get you into places like Harvard

seriously.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

39. Come on down to North Carolina!

Mountains, beaches, great college sports and great institutions... Duke, Davidson, Wake Forest, NC State, Appalachian State, UNC-Wilmington. Yep, I think that's it! :D

[Rabrrrrrr]

40. An A/A-? And lots of extracirricular? Perfect for Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, MIT, etc.

Don't sell yourself short -

If you're gonna go to college, go to the best one you can get. And don't worry about cost, either, when applying - the good schools have shitloads of grants, scholarships, and other stuff. So even though Harvard might list at $45,000 a year with housing and tuition (or whatever), there are probably only two people at Harvard that actually pay that.

Apply first to everywhere you want to go, regardless of money - then wait for the financial packages to roll in, and THEN make the decisions.

[Sabriel]

41. How about the Univsersity of Wisconsin?

Their women's studies area is very good, and it's a very progressive campus (not to mention attractive).
OK, so I'm a tad biased....

Poli Sci:

http://www.polisci.wisc.edu/

WS:

http://www.womenstudies.wisc.edu/

Tuition:

http://registrar.wisc.edu/students/fees_tuition/tuition.php