Any college atmospheres for these characteristics?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi, I've been doing some college research based on the personality of the student body (general pop. I know it’s impossible to stereotype the whole school) but all the websites and books only give the cold, hard statistics of the college. No help at all.</p>

<p>Are there any colleges that are…
-In urban setting
-Smart, students are actually passionate about learning for learning’s sake and not all about money/career
-Not competitive and the school doesn’t emphasize too much on grades
-Laid back, mellow? Like the students know when to party hard and when to study hard
-Great programs in humanities/liberal arts (I want to major in German lit. or art history/criticism)
-Musically-inclined? I want to possibly start a band for fun
-Possibly a small frat population? </p>

<p>Thanks, I’ll take any advice I can get.</p>

2

<p>Reed seems to fit most of the categories. Alternatively, Lewis and Clark.</p>

3

<p>Loyola New Orleans</p>

4

<p>Not big urban but Wisconsin is pretty strong on all the other criteria. Great German Dept and art museum that is undergoing major expansion. Not frat dominated and everyone has fun and studies.</p>

5

<p>What size school? How selective? Is money an issue?</p>

<p>Among small to mid-sized private LACs and universities, consider:</p>

<p>Brown (Ivy League university; no course requirements; optional P/F grading)
Wesleyan University (LAC in a mid-sized town)
Reed (LAC in a Portland suburb; very good, but may be more academically intense than you want)
Macalester (LAC in the Twin Cities)
Colorado College (LAC in Colorado Springs; one course at a time “block plan”)
Eugene Lang College (LAC in Greenwich Village, NY)</p>

6

<p>What are your stats?</p>

<p>How much will your parents spend each year?</p>

<p>The answers to those questions will make a big difference for recommendations.</p>

7

<p>What size city? I don’t think I’d call Brown’s setting “urban” in the same way that Columbia, Penn, or UChicago’s are…</p>

8

<p>Holy Cross, Trinity, Tufts.</p>

9

<p>Thanks for all the help. I’m very interested in UChicago, since I live in socal it’ll be fun to move far away.
My stats are:
-SAT 2100 (retaking it this Nov.)
-GPA (unweighted) 3.88
&& I definitely need financial aid since my sister attends college but my parents’ income is too high to qualify for need-base aid</p>

10

<p>Sounds like you need merit-based scholarships.</p>

<p>you won’t get merit based scholarships from UChicago.</p>

<p>What is your SAT breakdown?</p>

11

<p>Tufts quickly comes to mind… It’s not right in the city but close enough to get into Cambridge and Boston anytime you want.</p>

12

<p>I don’t think Tufts gives merit scholarships. Also, not a fun school at all.</p>

13

<p>Tufts is not what you are looking for. You could look into BU or Northeastern. NYU would be a great choice, but no greek life. The band thing would fit right in though. And you get to live in NYC.</p>

14

<p>???</p>

<p>I don’t think NYU would be a great choice at all.</p>

<p>Merit scholarships are rare (and the OPs stats aren’t high enough for merit), aid is crappy, and doesn’t have a “spirited campus feel” which I think the OP is looking for.</p>

<p>OP…what is your SAT breakdown???</p>

15

<p>I second Eugene Lang, although I don’t know about frats there.</p>

16

<p>No frats at Lang, very little housing, not much financial aid!</p>

17

<p>Sounds like Macalester would be an excellent fit.</p>

18

<p>Maybe Washington University in St. Louis</p>

19

<p>The OP needs merit aid and wouldn’t get much from WUStL.</p>

20

<p>How about Tulane?</p>