Where should I go to college?

Where should I go to college? UNC, Berkeley, USC, or Wesleyan?

• Right now I'm trying to decide between four schools: USC (Presidential Scholar), UC-Berkeley, Wesleyan University, and UNC-Chapel Hill (Honors). However, I am not really sure where to send in the deposit to before the May 1 deadline. Here are some basic pros and cons for each school. Also, before you look at the pros and cons, I want to go into academics after graduate school. USC Pros: proximity to beaches/surfing, great weather, many course offerings, good sports teams, being in southern California, good college, well known, "Trojan family," good looking girls, cheaper than the others (excluding UNC), having access to Los Angeles, beautiful campus, Frat Row (maybe) Cons: distance from home (parents live in Pennsylvania), not necessarily a "renowned" economics program, too big?, don't know anyone there, University of Spoiled Children UC-Berkeley Pros: proximity to beaches/surfing, great weather (love foggy days), many course offerings, good sports teams, proximity to San Francisco, great college, extremely well known, great for economics, decent grad school placement, nice campus Cons: distance from home, too big?, don't know anyone there, expensive for out of state students, concerned about possible budget cuts, questionable neighborhood Wesleyan University Pros: great graduate placement, small New England liberal arts college, member of unofficial "Little Three" (with Williams and Amherst), nice campus in my opinion, able to pitch on baseball team, close to home, close to girlfriend of three years (weak, I know), very intellectual environment, one of the best undergraduate educations in the world (or so I have been told; I'm not presenting this as a fact lol), renowned economics department, liberal girls if you know what I mean ;) Cons: liberal to the extreme, would have to experience winter, doesn't seem as much fun as college in California, not as well known by the average person, super expensive (don't give out merit scholarships and I didn't qualify for any need-based aid) UNC-Chapel Hill Pros: cheap, many course offerings, good sports teams, live in Chapel Hill, great college, extremely well known, good honors program, decent grad school placement, nice campus, weather, good looking girls Cons: distance from home, too big?, don't know anyone there, economics program not "renowned," I can't get excited about it and don't know why So after reading all that, where would you go? Thanks a lot, and any answer is appreciated. If you're daring, I have another question lol. I also got waitlisted at the University of Chicago, Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania, Williams College, Amherst College, and Swarthmore College. If I were to get off of the waitlist at any of those colleges, would you choose that instead? Again, thanks a lot. :)

• Answer:

  Now's that time of year huh? Well, I personally would be stuck between UC Berkeley and UNC-Chapel Hill. Both are super academically challenging, in the good sense and I would have definitely gone to either if I had applied. See honestly, it really depends on what you are interested in doing. I know UPenn has an amazing 6/7-year combined BS/MD program, the University of Chicago is also great, and Duke has an amazinggg medical school. But, do you know what you want to do [as a profession] yet? If not, then I would still keep Duke, UPenn, and UNC- Chapel Hill on my list. They are quite versatile and have excellent programs in whichever major you choose. Those are like all-rounder schools. That's just my two cents though! I wish you luck in whichever college you choose to attend and whichever major you decide to pursue! Hope this helps!