<p>Hello. I'm an amiable junior with many kinds of friends from conservatives, jocks, hippies, etc. However, I am considering going to a school where a majority of the students are alternative as opposed to my high school which has all types except for people of what might be considered a fringe culture. </p>
<p>Can anyone describe the student bodies of the following schools Bard, Skidmore, Sarah Lawrence, Vassar and Wesleyan? I've read other cc posts but it would help if people who were familiar with all or most of these schools could compare. Also are there any other schools like these I should consider? I'm not so interested in "hippie" schools like Green Mountain or Evergreen State. Also, I know Reed and Brown are often put into this category but 1) I don't want or need the graduate school prep workload of Reed and 2) My guess is that Brown is far from alternative except for the open curriculum.</p>
<p>My concern is that Vassar, Skidmore and Wesleyan are much more mainstream than Bard and Sarah Lawrence. So, I guess succinctly my questions are how mainstream are Vassar, Skidmore and Wesleyan and how alternative are Bard and Sarah Lawrence? If someone could order them that would be helpful. Thanks.</p>
<p>Try to step out of the high school frame when thinking about college. The categories are not as cut 'n dried as you might think. I’m not saying look at Bob Jones University, but whatever it is you are looking for in an “alternative” student body will likely be found at a wider range of schools than you have listed. Two years from now, you may look back and say, “What was I worried about that for?”</p>
<p>I Know that a wide range of students can be found at many universities. Even Baylor had/has a fringe gay movement. I’m considering many schools for many reasons such as Caltech for philosophy. But since I still have many months to decide hopefully people will indulge me by actually answering my question as others are probably interested too.</p>
<p>I think the answer to the OP’s <em>actual</em> question is a little more granular than the subject line may suggest. I would venture to guess that yes, Wesleyan and Vassar are a tad more mainstream than Bard and Sarah Lawrence. Wesleyan is a NESCAC college and has to compete with the likes of Williams, Amherst and Middlebury in 32 sports (and does quite well in most of them) so, there’s about 20% of the student body that probably turns to the sports page of the school newspaper first, will watch the Super Bowl (or, at least some part of it) next week and who could tell you who Paul Shirley is.</p>
<p>However, there’s quite a bit of cross-over between student groups at Wesleyan; and, I would venture to say, the same is true of most colleges once they reach a certain size and diversity. I would not be too quick to write anyone off until I’ve sat down and shared a meal or a conversation with them; college gives you that opportuntiy. So yea, like Interesteddad said, it’s not like high school in that regard. :)</p>
<p>I’m not sure why someone felt the need to sit the OP on their knee and give them a life lesson. I’ve asked perhaps even crazier questions (such as a list of colleges near nature) and post number 3 is like if someone said to me “you’ll have so much fun in college you won’t even notice the the trees.” The OP has parents/guardians and guidance counselors… they’ll straighten the OP out if need be. But I personally believe the OP is just curious about these schools and’ll probably disregard this information and go somewhere completely different. Like the said, they’re in their junior year and have plenty of time to decide and the OP’s priorities will likely change come deadline time.</p>
<p>Furthermore, remember that others beside the OP, other students and their friends and family, looking in the months to come might have similar questions so I think it’s important to be as helpful as possible.</p>
<p>That said, back to the OP’s original question it may be true that Vassar and Wesleyan might becoming more mainstream but this isn’t likely to affect you if you attend in two years. There won’t be a sudden de-radicalization. The schools have to placate donors and alums who want to “keep said schools weird”. I have a cousin who transferred from one to another and I suggest you look up the school’s newspapers to see student life/culture. Sorry that I don’t know about the other schools.</p>
<p>It’s not a “life lesson”, it’s just a simple truth about how college is not the same as high school and the same distinctions don’t apply in the same ways.</p>
<p>The OP was asking if Bard and STL are more [something] than Vassar and Wesleyan, but provides no guidance about what [something] means other than “alternative”. The question could be about gay life. The question could be about the indie rock scene. The question could be about students with studs thru their eyebrow and tatoos?</p>
<p>I think the OP is asking a real question and there’s probably useful information to answer the question. I just don’t think the question is framed in a way to provide that information beyond a superficial, "yes, Bard probably attracts a higher percentage of [something] than Vassar. But, does that really provide any meaningful guidance? There’s certainly plenty of [something] at Vassar.</p>
<p>My sense from the original poster is that he or she didn’t find enough [something] in the high school social scene, so it is perfectly reasonable to look for a college with more of that [something]. But, it could well be that the student would find plenty of [something] at any of dozens of colleges and might find that the most [something] college in the country is just too much.</p>
<p>I agree with interesteddad, you need to be more specific in what sort of school you’re looking for. “Alternative” can have many different meanings. I think we could be more helpful if we had more information.</p>
<p>I started to post a reply that re-framed the OP’s question and broadened the set of schools, but then thought better of it. S/he asked for information about 5 specific schools. So what the heck, here goes …</p>
<p>One of my sons has a Significant Other who recently graduated from SLC. A nephew’s wife graduated a few years ago from Wesleyan. The SLC grad dresses like a runway model and strikes many people as very ditzy, but in fact is getting the highest grades in her first year law school class. She wants to practice immigration law (my S is doing Teach for America; his political views are far left not just “liberal”; I assume this ditzy-smart SLC hottie girlfriend shares some of his views but for all I know they are a James Carville, Mary Matalin couple.) The Wesleyan grad is thoughtful and articulate, recently earned a Masters degree at Berkeley, and now works in municipal government in the SF Bay area (my nephew - who as I recall applied to Vassar - does solar energy system design for large real estate development projects; I assume his thoughtful Wesleyan wife shares his interest in alternative energy.) She has a sister at Oberlin, by the way, who plays sweet, comical songs on the ukulele.</p>
<p>Do such profiles say anything at all about the style and substance of “alternative” student bodies at these two schools? Maybe, at a stretch, if you collect enough of them. Both are good colleges that attract smart kids with liberal/left political orientations (many arty kids, too). It’s probably not a coincidence that the only two grads I know seem to be gravitating toward public service work. Maybe it’s no coincidence, either, that a young fashionista would be attracted to SLC (or Barnard) over a school in rural NY or New England. I wouldn’t imagine (but you never know for sure) that the average student on the women’s rugby team at Middlebury also applied to SLC (or Bard). </p>
<p>I agree with interesteddad and others, you’re going to get a mix of students at all these (and other) schools. Still, there are tribal differences communicated in semiotic signs that maybe you have to be young and hip enough to interpret. So look up the school newspapers (lit mags, etc.) as middlemo suggested. And go visit.</p>