<p>As a general guide I would appreciate some feedback on these schools. Basically would the culture range as follows- I am not looking to knock any school just looking for a campus feel- I tried to place them in order</p>
<p>Gettysburg Frat/Sor Beer drinking Athletic
Franklin and Marshall
Dickinson
Ursinus
Union
Haverford
Bryn Mawr
Connecticut College
Muhlenberg
Drew
Goucher
Skidmore
Vassar
Bard
Sarah Lawrence- Piercings Tattos Pot Smoking Artsy</p>
<p>tom:
Since no one on here has actually attended all of these schools, and your request is pretty broad, I think you are going to get just a bunch of stereotypes and oft-repeated legends that may, or may not, be true for you. Just wanted to warn you.</p>
<p>I see where you are going with that, but it is so hard to place schools on a single continuum like that. For example, Vassar and Bard are both "artsy" in a way, but I don't see them as being even remotely similar schools. Vassar, while liberal and New York artsy, is a pretty buttoned down, traditional, old-line big-endowment school while Bard would fall much more along the lines of an "alternative, do-your-own-thing" type of place.</p>
<p>Having said that, I think what you are trying to get at is valid. I just think you will need several different continuum scales to really capture the flavors of each school.</p>
<p>I do think that Dickinson, F&M, and Gettysburg group together. I would be inclined to group Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Vassar together as they share more cultural and academic similarities than differences.</p>
<p>I like both ID's comments and Weenie's caveat.</p>
<p>Tom, if you're male, Bryn Mawr is all-female...though I'd understand why you'd want to go there.</p>
<p>Skidmore was my D's safety and our reaction was that it was pretty "whitebread" compared to other schools she was looking at though it has outstanding performing arts opportunities.</p>
<p>I'd group Bard with Sarah Lawrence in some ways.</p>
<p>Hey, I went to Haverford (special student, 1972). And my sister went to Bard (master's 1992).</p>
<p>Both Haverford and Bard have good sciences and emphasize undergraduate sciences as part of their curriculum. </p>
<p>Ignoring campus culture for a moment, each of the schools has academic strengths and weaknesses that are at least as important as campus culture. You have to look at an ENTIRE package.</p>
<p>Tom, I did a similar thing last year - I tried to place schools along a continuum from masculine to feminine in terms of their campus cultures and my thoughts were pretty close to yours.
Here is the link to that discussion which you may find helpful:</p>
<p>Ouch! I'm sorry Carolyn, I tried to read that other thread and just ended up with a splitting headache. I understand what you and tom are trying to do -- and it's an important subject. But it appears to me that going down that path leads to so many "exceptions to the rule" that it becomes a fruitless exercise.</p>
<p>Have been to several of these, daughter at Muhlenberg. Just impressions from what I have read, people I have talked to.....gut feel. </p>
<p>Gettysburg Frat/Sor Beer drinking Athletic
Franklin and Marshall
Dickinson</p>
<p>Ursinus
Connecticut College
Union</p>
<p>Muhlenberg
Drew</p>
<p>Goucher
Skidmore
Vassar
Bard
Sarah Lawrence- Piercings Tattos Pot Smoking Artsy</p>
<p>Separate Category?
Haverford
Bryn Mawr</p>
<p>Thanks everyone- my daughter has requested we put together some "ride by" visits and at this point she wants to look at small schools with a more artsy feel. At the present time she would be turned off by a big frat scene and she could care less about sports. She likes the off beat- she is very liberal but not at all into any substances. Sometimes I think she would fit in at a christian college that supported gay marriage</p>
<p>I'm a Gettysburg Grad, and my sister and mom are Dickinson Grads. Gettysburg is still big on frats and sororities, but has cut down on drinking in the past 10 years. In fact, they've been buying the frat houses, fixing them up (mainly installing sprinkler systems), and and trying to put independent students in them (if the frats themselves can't fill all of the beds). Sororites doen't have their own houses, so most of the partying goes on at the frat houses. Gettysburg is big on sports, but also big on academics. Science and Business majors are especially popular. They just opened a new addition to the science building a few years ago. The campus is absolutely beautiful (I was just there for a reunion in June.) If your S or D is looking for a smaller school where he/she is looking to be part of a Community, you should definately look into the 'Burg.</p>
<p>I was also accepted to D'son, but didn't enroll because my sister was already there. They shut all of the frat houses years ago and now all of the frats live in college-owned houses. Haven't been there in years, but I hear the party scene has died down since I was an undergrad. Sports were never particularly big there. Dickinson is mostly known for their excellent Language programs--my sister was a French/Spanish double major and she's now a Spanish Teacher.</p>