Well, isn't that hypocritical... saying it doesn't matter if some else gets a higher score than you, but you should rub it in other people's face? >.> I wouldn't exactly feel happy if my friend got screwed over by the SATs...
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College Acceptances / Discussion Thread
- Thread starter comatthew6
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Well, isn't that hypocritical... saying it doesn't matter if some else gets a higher score than you, but you should rub it in other people's face? >.> I wouldn't exactly feel happy if my friend got screwed over by the SATs...
Ugh why are people posting their scores unnecessarily? It just reeks of arrogance and naivety. I can understand if you are posting in response to someone's question but randomly posting your score for the sake of posting it is quite dumb. If you aren't going to post in a way that benefits this thread, then don't bother posting at all.
On topic: There's a lot of hype about the SAT / ACT, and even though its a very important factor in college admissions, it isn't the only thing deciding your future. I know several people who were admitted to places such as Stanford and Yale, even with their <2000 SAT scores. They all had phenomenal life experiences, one lived in Africa for 3 months, helping a village get back on its feet by building wells, teaching English and basic math, and raising donations, another was a fantastic musician, and gave charity concerts all over the US, and more. I'm not saying you need crazy life experiences like these in order to succeed, but the bottom line is, the SAT is not the only thing colleges consider, and a high score does not mean you will get into the college of your choice. I've seen 2400 scorers + 4.0 GPAers get denied from every ivy league and more.
One more thing, your undergraduate isn't nearly as important as your graduate degree. Where you go to school for undergraduate will hardly matter, as long as you do well wherever you do end up going. For example, employees would most definitely prefer a 4.0 student from a public school rather than a 2.5 student from Stanford. I think I might have already said this, but I'm going to reiterate it anyway.
On topic: There's a lot of hype about the SAT / ACT, and even though its a very important factor in college admissions, it isn't the only thing deciding your future. I know several people who were admitted to places such as Stanford and Yale, even with their <2000 SAT scores. They all had phenomenal life experiences, one lived in Africa for 3 months, helping a village get back on its feet by building wells, teaching English and basic math, and raising donations, another was a fantastic musician, and gave charity concerts all over the US, and more. I'm not saying you need crazy life experiences like these in order to succeed, but the bottom line is, the SAT is not the only thing colleges consider, and a high score does not mean you will get into the college of your choice. I've seen 2400 scorers + 4.0 GPAers get denied from every ivy league and more.
One more thing, your undergraduate isn't nearly as important as your graduate degree. Where you go to school for undergraduate will hardly matter, as long as you do well wherever you do end up going. For example, employees would most definitely prefer a 4.0 student from a public school rather than a 2.5 student from Stanford. I think I might have already said this, but I'm going to reiterate it anyway.
I hope that's sarcasm. Sometimes this stuff doesn't convey well over the internet.
Can we stop the shit flinging and circle jerking and get back to fucking talking about college. Thanks.
To get this topic back on track, I would like to invite all freshman to at least give input on their experiences with their first classes, and in their residences.
Personally, I didn't live on residence in my first year, since my university was one bus ride away, but I found a lot of my classes fairly easy due to the fact that the IB program had essentially prepared me for what university workload would be like. Because of that, I found I had free time to pursue other interests, namely goofing the fuck off, being lazy, and also a bit of volunteering on the side. I found first year to be pretty great, with the lightened workload. Plus, in university freshman year, I met some great people.
To get this topic back on track, I would like to invite all freshman to at least give input on their experiences with their first classes, and in their residences.
Personally, I didn't live on residence in my first year, since my university was one bus ride away, but I found a lot of my classes fairly easy due to the fact that the IB program had essentially prepared me for what university workload would be like. Because of that, I found I had free time to pursue other interests, namely goofing the fuck off, being lazy, and also a bit of volunteering on the side. I found first year to be pretty great, with the lightened workload. Plus, in university freshman year, I met some great people.
I'm in a similar boat as Eradd. My high school was a backbreaker from a homework perspective. College still has a good amount of homework, but my time management skills are good enough for now.
I lived in a dorm my first year, and I think commuters are missing out on some of the experiences. I met some awesome people, but I also found out how some people are serious slobs.
Classes are about the same in actual difficulty as my high school ones, even though they have less work. All in all, I love college for how much freedom it gives. If you can manage yourself, you'll be in way better shape than in high school where you don't have nearly as much control.
First semester for me was the easiest, but I had the lowest GPA that semester (call it adjusting to college life or whatever).
I was honestly really scared about going to college. I never really fit in at high school and I was terribly shy. I had some family problems at home too, which didn't help at all.
But since everyone is trying to make friends at the beginning of the year, it didn't really matter how shy I was because everyone's trying to make friends (except for those losers who just refuse to talk to everyone but their friends from high school, but I could just be bitter because I really didn't have those here XD). As cheesy as it sounds, I consider the friends I made first/second semester my biggest achievement of the year more than anything else :)
I was honestly really scared about going to college. I never really fit in at high school and I was terribly shy. I had some family problems at home too, which didn't help at all.
But since everyone is trying to make friends at the beginning of the year, it didn't really matter how shy I was because everyone's trying to make friends (except for those losers who just refuse to talk to everyone but their friends from high school, but I could just be bitter because I really didn't have those here XD). As cheesy as it sounds, I consider the friends I made first/second semester my biggest achievement of the year more than anything else :)
Well, I go to UC Merced, the newest and smallest (~5000 undergrad students) of the "best" public school system. I'm majoring in Mechanical Engineering. I arrived at school with 14.7 credits because of my AP Physics, Calc, and Enviro Science tests, and Calc waived a semester for me as well.
So first semester I had Calc, Physics, Computer Science, and Writing, which is fairly standard I guess. I worked hard and got a 3.7 GPA. By the way, +/-s matter on your transcript at a lot of schools, a B+ is 3.4 and an A- is a 3.7 here.
Anyway, I live on campus in a tiny triple, but one of my roommates is cool luckily, the other sucks. I'm not complaining because my residence hall is about a minute and a half skate to my furthest class, walking probably takes 3-4 minutes. It's a small campus!
I'd say living on campus is a really good idea freshman year, just so you can meet people your age and possibly your major. Study groups are super easy to form in the dorms, so take advantage of that as well.
Later edit:
Facebook is your friend is college. I'm part of my "university class of 2015"s facebook group along with the group for my residence hall this year and both have been great ideas. If you need something, want to set up a study group, want to know when that midterm is, etc, the facebook group will have the answers. Everyone is there for the same reasons and most people are willing to help.
So first semester I had Calc, Physics, Computer Science, and Writing, which is fairly standard I guess. I worked hard and got a 3.7 GPA. By the way, +/-s matter on your transcript at a lot of schools, a B+ is 3.4 and an A- is a 3.7 here.
Anyway, I live on campus in a tiny triple, but one of my roommates is cool luckily, the other sucks. I'm not complaining because my residence hall is about a minute and a half skate to my furthest class, walking probably takes 3-4 minutes. It's a small campus!
I'd say living on campus is a really good idea freshman year, just so you can meet people your age and possibly your major. Study groups are super easy to form in the dorms, so take advantage of that as well.
Later edit:
Facebook is your friend is college. I'm part of my "university class of 2015"s facebook group along with the group for my residence hall this year and both have been great ideas. If you need something, want to set up a study group, want to know when that midterm is, etc, the facebook group will have the answers. Everyone is there for the same reasons and most people are willing to help.
you all need to chill the fuck out. 90% of you it seems will have a hell of a time in your first year of college cause from the looks of things it seems like you're tightwads. first year of college is a time to make friends, be social, get to know other people, and get acclimated to a different lifestyle. class preparation and stuff will come with time. no advice is going to help you get acclimated to your specific campus and class lifestyles. i had the advice of many people before me, and it didn't help because i had to figure out how I worked best given time pressures, how to balance going out every night with studying, etc. get in your own comfort zone, don't try and recreate the comfort zone of someone else.
to sat scores, i got a little above a 2200 (which is subpar after seeing what many of you guys got) and got into every school barring georgetown cause im not black (joke, laugh you tightwads). i had a 3.45 gpa after my first semester, because i was drinking too much and partying too much and didn't understand how college exams differed from high school. believe me, i had like a 3.94 out of 4.0 in high school or something ridiculous like that, and to get a 3.45 my first semester was really disheartening. head up, chin up, im at a 3.8+ now, post undergrad job lined up. moral of the story, loosen up, don't let one bad semester get you down, and you'll slowly acclimate to the college life. it isn't multiple choice exams anymore guys, you have to critically think and apply what you learn. everything else will fall in place with time.
to sat scores, i got a little above a 2200 (which is subpar after seeing what many of you guys got) and got into every school barring georgetown cause im not black (joke, laugh you tightwads). i had a 3.45 gpa after my first semester, because i was drinking too much and partying too much and didn't understand how college exams differed from high school. believe me, i had like a 3.94 out of 4.0 in high school or something ridiculous like that, and to get a 3.45 my first semester was really disheartening. head up, chin up, im at a 3.8+ now, post undergrad job lined up. moral of the story, loosen up, don't let one bad semester get you down, and you'll slowly acclimate to the college life. it isn't multiple choice exams anymore guys, you have to critically think and apply what you learn. everything else will fall in place with time.
derailing the thread a bit, but is Johns Hopkins as competitive and difficult as portrayed by online sources? by competitive and difficult i mean is it like nearly impossible to maintain a 3.7+ GPA through the end of your undergrad.
also, is it better to go to a less prestigious school, like Boston University, where you think you can obtain a higher GPA?
i know JHU has a better premed program than BU, and i will probably become better equipped for medical school there. but, realistically i have heard rumors that say that your GPA is a crucial factor in whether you get into medical school, and that schools like JHU that have harsh grading can actually hurt your chances even if you are truly better equipped than the guy with a higher GPA at a less prestigious school.
thoughts..
also, is it better to go to a less prestigious school, like Boston University, where you think you can obtain a higher GPA?
i know JHU has a better premed program than BU, and i will probably become better equipped for medical school there. but, realistically i have heard rumors that say that your GPA is a crucial factor in whether you get into medical school, and that schools like JHU that have harsh grading can actually hurt your chances even if you are truly better equipped than the guy with a higher GPA at a less prestigious school.
thoughts..
In Canada, at least at my local university, to get to the interview stage, you have to have the stats to reach the cut. When I say stats, I'm referring to your extracurriculars, GPA and MCAT. After you're selected for the interview (which is the most important stage), you then receive your decision. However, there are two universities in my province: UBC and SFU. Typically, UBC takes about 150-175 UBC students while taking less than 10 SFU students. I'm not about to believe that SFU students aren't as competitive as their UBC counterparts (even though UBC is a much better university for the sciences), so the university you do come out of does play a factor.
Talking to a few of my Americans friends, it is apparently true that they do favor GPA to an extent; a few of my friends chose to stick to local universities as they knew their GPAs wouldn't be lowered, while still having a good time. I'm not comment on the American system as I'm not as familiar with it (I'm not planning on going to America, the amount you guys pay for medical school, and schooling in general is fucking atrocious what is wrong with you America), but I've read reviews criticizing universities for favoring too much their GPAs.
To be quite honest, being "prepared" for medical school is a farce; students in Korea start medical school in 2nd year, while being as equally prepared as students back in North America. Johns Hopkins will not "prepare" you better than your local state university; it is the responsibility of the medical school to start with courses that bring everyone up in equal footing and build their foundation of knowledge, and for the respective student to have the work ethic to work for it. If you have the proper drive to succeed in your undergraduate studies, and in your graduate or professional studies after, you'll be fine.
Great thread (for the most part), I appreciate the advice. Seeing as I'm just a high school sophomore, I know that this advice will certainly come in handy later down the road.
My question is about money and how much different colleges are actually "worth." I live in Michigan and easily have the stats needed to get into U of M. For 20k or so (in-state) a year at a top-25 college, I probably see myself going there. The deal is too good, in most cases, to pass up. Obviously if I get into an Harvard or Stanford (jk I'm white), the better education and increased prestige associated with those schools would be worth roughly triple the price (money is important, but thanks to my very generous grandparents, I'll get out of any undergrad school debt-free for sure).
The question comes in when dealing with other very good, but not in the same league as an Ivy, colleges. I'm thinking more along the lines of Northwestern, Emory, Berkley, Columbia, Wisconsin, etc: all great schools, but not incredibly different from University of Michigan. Would paying 60k a year to attend Northwestern, for example, be worth it given that I have Michigan as a safety school for almost a third of the price? More specifically, what particular schools would be worth the money? Of course there are tons of intangible factors, such as student life and everything, but I'm primarily concerned with the quality of the education.
Last, what universities should I be looking in to? As someone who will have the grades, outside of school stuff, and test scores, I think I will be a competitive applicant to any college. To give a frame of reference, schools that I've visited and enjoyed have been University of Wisconsin at Madison, Stanford, Emory, Northwestern and U of M. Thanks for any feedback!
My question is about money and how much different colleges are actually "worth." I live in Michigan and easily have the stats needed to get into U of M. For 20k or so (in-state) a year at a top-25 college, I probably see myself going there. The deal is too good, in most cases, to pass up. Obviously if I get into an Harvard or Stanford (jk I'm white), the better education and increased prestige associated with those schools would be worth roughly triple the price (money is important, but thanks to my very generous grandparents, I'll get out of any undergrad school debt-free for sure).
The question comes in when dealing with other very good, but not in the same league as an Ivy, colleges. I'm thinking more along the lines of Northwestern, Emory, Berkley, Columbia, Wisconsin, etc: all great schools, but not incredibly different from University of Michigan. Would paying 60k a year to attend Northwestern, for example, be worth it given that I have Michigan as a safety school for almost a third of the price? More specifically, what particular schools would be worth the money? Of course there are tons of intangible factors, such as student life and everything, but I'm primarily concerned with the quality of the education.
Last, what universities should I be looking in to? As someone who will have the grades, outside of school stuff, and test scores, I think I will be a competitive applicant to any college. To give a frame of reference, schools that I've visited and enjoyed have been University of Wisconsin at Madison, Stanford, Emory, Northwestern and U of M. Thanks for any feedback!
If U of M is the school that would cost you the least then go there. There is no school that I can think of as particularly better than Michigan for the purposes of obtaining an undergraduate degree, unless you very much desire to not live in Michigan. Scholarships to those other schools are the only thing that could make them more desirable imo.
here is my advice to you all: determine what you want to do and pursue a great program in that field of work. debt or no debt, it makes a huge difference. ENZ0, i got into hopkins undergrad but chose not to go there because of not wanting to become a doctor. if your end-goal is med school which i assume it is, i would definitely go to hopkins over bu. tuition amounts are about the same, and one is leagues ahead of the other in terms of medschool opportunities and placement. the curve you're referring to exists at every single school. it's not some glorified thing. all the ivy's have it, all the top business schools have it, where only a certain percentage of kids get A's. if you stay on top of your shit you should be fine. remember one bad semester to acclimate to college is not a bad thing, and you can still wind up with a 3.8+. the hopkins name has a lot of brand equity, trust me.
kaxtar, depends on what you want to do. i also got into u of m, and had a tough choice cause their business school is very good. ultimately comes down to what you want to do. if you want to do business the recruiting opportunities are great and you'll be debt-free cause you're in state. if you want to do something else and you get into a program that specializes in that go for that, as you're investing in a better future job.
kaxtar, depends on what you want to do. i also got into u of m, and had a tough choice cause their business school is very good. ultimately comes down to what you want to do. if you want to do business the recruiting opportunities are great and you'll be debt-free cause you're in state. if you want to do something else and you get into a program that specializes in that go for that, as you're investing in a better future job.
nice. I was thinking about going there but decided to go to the University of Indianapolis.
Bloomington nice play though.
Starting at University of Utah this fall, was rejected by several other schools but still very happy with where I'm gonna end up.
After reading the thread I'm gonna reply at random to some things from earlier pages.
I put quite a big of Pokemon on my applications, and I'm pretty sure it backfired. I used the experience essay and talked about VGC, as well as mentioning C&C stuff on my resume. I was literally rejected from everything that went to. So it may be just coincidence and the advice I received from counselors might not have been complete bullshit, but my advice would be to steer clear.
I had strong test scores, an average gpa, and pretty good extra curriculars, but it seemed like the gpa was clearly the most important with what I was rejected by.
As far as the SAT, I've never had issues with timing, and never quite knew what to study so I just went in blind both times. The first time was right after breaking my arm, and while I was still on heavy pain medication, and I didn't do very well. I was happy with the second score and just stuck with it without every having to worry about the SAT much.
I also had the fun experience of being one of the few rejected by national merit in the midst other decisions coming in. They also got the Pokemon essay.
After reading the thread I'm gonna reply at random to some things from earlier pages.
I put quite a big of Pokemon on my applications, and I'm pretty sure it backfired. I used the experience essay and talked about VGC, as well as mentioning C&C stuff on my resume. I was literally rejected from everything that went to. So it may be just coincidence and the advice I received from counselors might not have been complete bullshit, but my advice would be to steer clear.
I had strong test scores, an average gpa, and pretty good extra curriculars, but it seemed like the gpa was clearly the most important with what I was rejected by.
As far as the SAT, I've never had issues with timing, and never quite knew what to study so I just went in blind both times. The first time was right after breaking my arm, and while I was still on heavy pain medication, and I didn't do very well. I was happy with the second score and just stuck with it without every having to worry about the SAT much.
I also had the fun experience of being one of the few rejected by national merit in the midst other decisions coming in. They also got the Pokemon essay.
So I got news Saturday that I got into the School of Education (Social Studies) at UW-Madison, which I'm super pumped about! (For those unawares the School of Ed is what teaches you how to be a teacher, I'm going in for high school). I actually wasn't expecting to get in this year since I'm only a sophomore in college and the school is really competitive (they only accept 15 out of an average 40 applicants a year).
Seeing as how I got in, I'll give some advice for those that have to apply to a further school while in college to complete their major that I think helped me when I applied.
1. Stay active even in college. Starting my first semester as a freshman: I signed up to volunteer and tutor at a local high school, I signed up to be a condom conduit for the Sex Out Loud organization on campus (if anyone ever has any questions regarding this lemme know!), and I participated in the dorm community being a House Representative and being a member of the campus LGBT org. Just because you're now out of high school doesn't mean you can stop participating in organizations!
2. Keep in contact with all of your old organization/volunteer leaders from high school and on. Not only can they possibly write you recommendation letters, but they also really love hearing about how life is going for you and may even offer sound advice or even let you in on scholarship opportunities down the line (4-H and NHS are particularly big on this).
3. Try to stress what makes you unique and particularly good in your subject area when writing essays and resumes. I think this is a bit of a no-brainer and has been stressed enough in the thread as is, so I'll leave it at that.
Seeing as how I got in, I'll give some advice for those that have to apply to a further school while in college to complete their major that I think helped me when I applied.
1. Stay active even in college. Starting my first semester as a freshman: I signed up to volunteer and tutor at a local high school, I signed up to be a condom conduit for the Sex Out Loud organization on campus (if anyone ever has any questions regarding this lemme know!), and I participated in the dorm community being a House Representative and being a member of the campus LGBT org. Just because you're now out of high school doesn't mean you can stop participating in organizations!
2. Keep in contact with all of your old organization/volunteer leaders from high school and on. Not only can they possibly write you recommendation letters, but they also really love hearing about how life is going for you and may even offer sound advice or even let you in on scholarship opportunities down the line (4-H and NHS are particularly big on this).
3. Try to stress what makes you unique and particularly good in your subject area when writing essays and resumes. I think this is a bit of a no-brainer and has been stressed enough in the thread as is, so I'll leave it at that.
Posting to say, fucking Oglemi's avatar, thought you were steamroll. Oglemi edit: steamroll made me do it, 9.9
Also, congratulations.
Also, keep in contact with your high school teachers. They are great sources of recommendation letters for scholarships, and also for future schooling. My math teacher told me that he wrote a recommendation letter for a student who was applying for medical school and was accepted. This said teacher had been teaching for 50 years, and was on Rate My Teacher's Hall of Fame as one of the best rated teachers. Another one of my friend asked his former English teacher for a recommendation for Pharmacy school and he also got in. Plus, they're great to talk to after you graduate. I make it a point to go back to my old high school to visit all the teachers (who haven't retired; about 4 of them retired the year I graduated, which is a bummer).
Also, keep your writing skills and grammatical skills sharp. I found my writing regressing after first year, so I make it a point to continue to practice writing, (this is where C&C comes in handy!) and also my grammar did regress since the peak (which was when I took the SATs), so I do read up on grammar time to time (again C&C!).
Also, for the love of god, keep up on what's going around in the world; medical school interviewers will ask you questions based on these events. Just head to CNN, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, BBC and Fox (just joking!) every two to three days, and just spend 15 minutes reading on what's happening in the world. Not only will it help you gain a better awareness of the world, it'll help you also to shape opinions and formulate arguments to back up these arguments, which is crucial for writing and interviews.
Also, congratulations.
Also, keep in contact with your high school teachers. They are great sources of recommendation letters for scholarships, and also for future schooling. My math teacher told me that he wrote a recommendation letter for a student who was applying for medical school and was accepted. This said teacher had been teaching for 50 years, and was on Rate My Teacher's Hall of Fame as one of the best rated teachers. Another one of my friend asked his former English teacher for a recommendation for Pharmacy school and he also got in. Plus, they're great to talk to after you graduate. I make it a point to go back to my old high school to visit all the teachers (who haven't retired; about 4 of them retired the year I graduated, which is a bummer).
Also, keep your writing skills and grammatical skills sharp. I found my writing regressing after first year, so I make it a point to continue to practice writing, (this is where C&C comes in handy!) and also my grammar did regress since the peak (which was when I took the SATs), so I do read up on grammar time to time (again C&C!).
Also, for the love of god, keep up on what's going around in the world; medical school interviewers will ask you questions based on these events. Just head to CNN, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, BBC and Fox (just joking!) every two to three days, and just spend 15 minutes reading on what's happening in the world. Not only will it help you gain a better awareness of the world, it'll help you also to shape opinions and formulate arguments to back up these arguments, which is crucial for writing and interviews.
Not to be a downer (since it's still awesome you got into the program you wanted), but an acceptance rate of 38% isn't that "competitive". I've been applying to jobs where there are around 40 positions for something like 1000 applicants.
Even my university course was around 3% acceptance rate.
Hopkins premed neuro major here!
It's not nearly as cut-throat here as the online sources portray it. I have a great group of friends, and we study together all the time! Also, the professors are top notch, and I love all my science-related courses (especially neuro, obviously!). I've heard from people majoring in humanities that they've also had good experiences with classes in those sorts of areas. If you're going into engineering (particularly BME), prepare to get clobbered; you will never sleep.
As for difficulty, it depends on what classes you take and what you consider difficult. There are online reviews of classes beforehand, and if you ask around, you should be able to figure out what classes and professors are tough. Just to reassure you, it really isn't impossible to have a 3.7+ GPA here as long as you manage your time well and make good choices (you'll probably end up having to pull some all-nighters, though).
I have to say, pre-med here is definitely worth it. There are tons of clubs and organizations devoted to pre-med interests (on-campus and international community service organizations directly related to medicine, honor societies, undergrad research journals, etc), and the pre-professional advising office is extremely helpful. Not to mention, there are tons of research opportunities available at the medical campus, and quality research is EXTREMELY important in med school apps.
There are some things here that are not so great though. Baltimore sucks, for one. There's not much to do around here, so you pretty much need a good group of friends along with the ability to create your own fun. Also, the food sucks on campus except for a couple of places. Lots of other things too, but those are the main complaints I have.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or would like me to elaborate on anything :) I'm currently a senior, so I pretty much know the ropes around JHU.
One other major thing to take into consideration when determining where to go for your undergrad, and this is important...is how much it costs. You have to ask yourself if "paying through the nose for that Ivy education" is worth it...or if you should just take Good College's scholarship offer. You can't guarantee your financial stability at all--and if you think your parents or grandparents or whoever is supplying you through college, something might happen and they aren't able to anymore. You have to take these possibilities into consideration as they are very REAL possibilities. Undergrad isn't too important--it's further education that counts. So when deciding between two good schools...where one is placed above the other or has a reputation, but the other is still really good...you don't have to blindly accept the higher ranked one's offer.
College is expensive, and you still have to pay for further education. Take the money, except in extremely obvious differences of quality.
College is expensive, and you still have to pay for further education. Take the money, except in extremely obvious differences of quality.
For this reason is why I make such a big deal out of Student Services/Clubs and Societies.
My 5-step-guide for choosing a college is:
1) Does the college offer the degree program you want to do? If Yes, go to 2.
2) Does the college have a good reputation for the degree program you want to do (expecially w.r.t specific majors you're interested in); and is this important (Some vocations care more than others about where you went)?
3) What are the student services and facilities like (legal advice, careers centre, clubs and societies, events, book exchange, food outlets and bars, libraries)?
4) Is the local environment of the college good for your social scene (nightclubs, bars, movie cinemas, restaurants, sporting grounds, etc. depending on what you like to do with your time)?
5) Is the campus itself a nice place to be (greenspace, nice buildings, etc., places to hang out)?
