schools most similar to yale, brown, tufts? also, check my cons list if time
which top 30 schools are most similar to yale, brown, and tufts? are there any schools that are the exact opposite?
i know a lot of people say LACs, but i don't really want to apply to LACs because of the small undergrad size and "everyone knows everyone" atmosphere. it kinda feels like a repeat of high school lmao
for more context, i like yale/brown/tufts because of their artsy, liberal, and collaborative environments
if you have more time to read: what is your opinion about what turns me off from these schools?
- columbia: it feels like columbia students are "thrown out into the world." since it's so close to the city, it feels like the city would be your school and not the school itself. it seems like nyc would be bigger part of the culture than columbia itself. also, im not sure how i feel about core curriculum bc with premed+core, i feel like id have no time to take classes just for fun
- princeton: grade deflation. also everyone seems really research focused and "scholarly" over nonprofit-y. but, is the grade deflation actually that much worse than other schools? i also heard that it seems like a cult?? i love the architecture though
- harvard: uh idk just seems like nothing special LOL but i heard there's grade inflation which is good for premed?
- usc: seems too big of an undergrad population
- stanford: im from the bay area and dont want to stay here. also seems really tech focused which i dont like
- duke and georgetown: frat culture, sports culture
- john hopkins: too much competition for premed, also seems toxic
- uchicago: seems very very hard in terms of grades
- northwestern: high-stress, mainstream culture
- vanderbilt: seems like its not a place for people who dislike conformity and care a lot about social justice (which are both really important to me)
- upenn: gives me finance bros, "work hard play hard" vibes
- cornell and dartmouth: in the middle of nowhere. if i hate the school, i can't just go out. also if there's no one around that doesn't go to the school, i feel like i can never escape. also, i don't want to not have at least some shops and active streets around
- rice: idk how i feel about texas. also seems not that artsy. also idk it seems kinda "plain" vibes
am i wrong about what type of school i'd like? i'm a creative and liberal person. i go to a very competitive high school and would like to not re-experience the toxicity of that. i love artistic people, people who would want to have deep talks on the roof at 3 am, and the "have tea with the queen" vibe. i get really obsessed when an idea or goal gets in my head. i'm really persistent and get really obsessed with ideas or goals that i have. i care a lot about social justice. also im an infj 1w9 if that matters lol