Best combination of academics and social life

College Search & Selection
21

<p>I’ll elaborate on my post since I’m at work and I'm bored. I had the same concerns with finding an elite school with a great social life. I have also visited a ridiculous amount of schools so maybe I can help. In general, the Ivies are not good socially but there are some exceptions. Personally, I feel if you can get into the upper-Ivies (Harvard, Yale, Princeton) that the prestige should outweigh social considerations. You can join a finals club or eating club (Ivy, Cottage) and find some kids who value social life. I’d say Yale has an average social scene by Ivies standards –many kids will be satisfied by eating food and watching movies in the buttery. Most of the clubs in New Haven are also sketchy though (aside from maybe “Bar”) but the residential colleges will throw some decent parties and you can have a good time. Also – Quinnipiac girls will hang out at Toad’s and are generally much more attractive than Yale girls. But out of Ivies, I’d give my vote to Upenn and runner-up to Dartmouth. You can find decent social scenes at these, but I wouldn’t call them “party schools”. It’s not going to be like Girls Gone Wild. Brown would be a good fit for the more liberal and generally has decent guy:girl ratios at parties. So if being part of the Ivy League is important, there are some options.</p>

<p>If you are interested in going to a big-time party school with also top academics check out which elite schools that are in major sports conferences. This will eliminate schools like Uchicago or MIT that have lacking party scenes. (Also stay away from very heavily engineering/science orientated schools like Hopkins/Carnegie Mellon). When looking at private schools on USNews you get (Duke, Stanford, Northwestern, Rice, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Tufts, Wake). The girls at Notre Dame and Rice aren’t amazing, but no worse than most of the Ivies. Northwestern isn’t much better. So out of the ultra-competitive schools I’d say Stanford or Duke. But remember it also depends what sports you like. Going to a Duke football game is awful, but they have an amazing basketball scene. But nevertheless, I'd say Duke and Stanford have the best social scenes out of the T-10 US News.</p>

<p>But if you look at all the schools in the Top-20, Vanderbilt would win. The girls are absolutely incredible. They are down-to-earth, athletic and many look like models. The school sponsors huge festivals like Rites of Spring (2 days festival w/30 bands) and there are always huge blowout parties on the weekends. The school isn’t really that southern and rumors that Greek life dominates are myths. But there definitely is a preppy element and the stereotype about kids being wealthy is true with many coming from affluent neighborhoods of NY, TX, FL, CA, GA, MD, IL, and Mass. Basically, the school has a good social scene because it breeds the kids that were smart/popular in HS. Similar, I’d say is UVA. Although they will have more instate students, they have an excellent party scene. For some reason, all the cool/popular/smart kids will go to UVA, and the nerdy smart kids will go to William and Mary. I’m really not sure why this is but UVA definitely has the more socially capable student body while also arguably being better academically. UNC is a little less preppy than UVA and has a top-notch social scene. Also, Georgetown also attracts a lot of cool kids and you can find some good parties. They also will have a decent number of attractive girls. My friends complain the RAs are strict but overall I’d check them out. UT-Austin is another gem. And – USC should definitely be on your list. Amazing football, hot girls, and California weather. They deserve an app and also U. Miami – a rising star academically with a great social scene. </p>

<p>I’ll quickly note some other schools – Emory/WashU/and Tulane generally attract the same types of students. The girls are generally Jappy and sometimes in the more severe cases are high maintenance. They generally like tougher guys who work out and wear flashy/tighter clothes. They are generally a mixed bag in looks but you can definitely some hot girls here. Some girls will have that ‘stuck-up” look, but there are other types of kids too. Tulane is probably the most mainstream and the biggest party school of the three. </p>

<p>Other Notables:
Lehigh – probably has the hottest girls out of all the schools in the Northeast. Rapidly rising in the rankings and has been ranked in Playboy for parties.
Colgate/Wake/Boston College – these schools are a lot of fun, are on the preppy side. Colgate is very small though and in the middle of nowhere but it attracts very cool students. BC and Wake are both in the ACC.
Villanova/Bucknell/Loyola-Maryland -- are smaller, preppy schools that will have alot of drinking
Florida -- hot girls/rising academically
These schools are generally more moderate/conservative, so liberal schools:
New York University – has a big marijuana scene and NYC has some of the best bars and clubs in the world. But since the school is less united it may suffer with school spirit.
UCLA -- one of the few liberal schools with big time sports and top party scene
Also big state schools like Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State will have big parties due to their size. You should also consider how big of a school you are interested in.
As a safety school I’d recommend U. Delaware as it attracts really cool kids. I’d also apply to UCSB or other schools in warm weather as a safety. </p>

<p>Good luck choosing.</p>

22

<p>Let me guess, you went to Vandy, college2332?</p>

23

<p>I agree with mikemac in that there's really no way for anybody to answer this question for you. Realistically, you should probably be looking at the larger state schools people have already mentioned, like Berkeley, Mich, UW, etc. But there's no way for anybody to predict what your experiences are going to be there.</p>

24

<p>Yes, and if I die and there is a heaven I will go back to Vandy. Being surrounded by beautiful women at all times.</p>

25

<p>
[quote]
Jappy

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Unacceptable usage on this forum. Bigoted and anti-semetic.</p>

26

<p>Jappy is short for Jewish American Princess. I never heard of this term being offensive and was not my intent.</p>

27

<p>You have know heard it. It is grossly offensive and you should stop using it.</p>

28

<p>i dont understand how you all are responding with "harvard, princeton, MIT," etc to this question. its true that some kind of social scene can be found anywhere if one looks hard enough. but that wasnt the question. the schools that offer the best balance of social life (which encompasses more than drinking) and top-notch academics are washington and lee, wake forest, uva, tulane, and vanderbilt. case closed.</p>

29

<p>^^^ the post above reads a little better if read while whistling "Dixie". ;)</p>

30

<p>Case closed. I like that. While you do list two schools out of the six I suggested, clearly if you know anything about these schools would have to admit that the environments of Dartmouth, Colgate, Bucknell and Stanford would be, at least, similar to the schools you have mentioned.</p>

31

<p>colgate, bucknell, dartmouth are undoubtedly similar. stanford i cannot put into the same category. as you can see gellino, my bias lies with the south. ;-)</p>

32

<p>Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Lehigh, Williams.</p>

33

<p>I want to talk about Vanderbilt and UVA since I have some knowledge of those two schools.</p>

<p>I toured Vanderbilt and very nearly applied there Early Decision. If I hadn't gotten into UVA ED, I would have gone to Vanderbilt without a doubt. The campus was beautiful, everyone was friendly, and my tour guide COULDN'T stop talking about how amazing he thought Vandy was. He had turned down Duke, Princeton, Northwestern, and several other prestigious schools to go to Vandy. Why? He said it was the only school that had the right balance of social life and academics. He was a frat boy from his visor to his pink polo to his Rainbows, and he had clearly been one of the most popular kids at his HS. He was smart, attractive, charming, and charismatic. Honestly, by the end of the tour, I had a crush on him. If he is any indication of the typical Vandy student, then I say you won't find a more balanced atmosphere anywhere. A friend of mine attends Vanderbilt (actually, she chose to attend Vandy after being rejected from UVA ED), and she took me with her to a sorority party. It was some of the most fun I have ever had in my entire life, everyone I met was amazing and fun. </p>

<p>You might be wondering why I DIDN'T apply ED to Vanderbilt. There were a few reasons, one of them being that I didn't want to be in a big city, I felt the campus was a little too urban...and a rather large one being that Vanderbilt is, well, pretty bad at sports. Even my tour guide acknowledged that nobody cares about Vanderbilt athletics.</p>

<p>Now, UVA has got just about everything Vandy has got. Stellar reputation, beautiful student body, amazing social scene, excellent acadmics, a gorgeous campus...plus, nationally ranked ACC sports teams. I have always LOVED sports so I won't lie, this was a pretty big factor in my decision. I also liked that UVA was a bit larger and a bit more rural. And although Vanderbilt is technically further into the dirrrrty (i.e., the dirty South) than is UVA, UVA has a bit more of a Southern feel to it. Maybe it's all the Virginians, the sundresses, the magnolia trees...I don't know, but I liked it. Despite a reputation for snootiness, I found everyone I met from UVA--including my tour guide, a bubbly girl in shorts, flipflops, and a camisole from Newark, NJ--to be friendly, intelligent, encouraging, and absolutely IN LOVE with UVA. Another girl, leaving a classroom, joined our tour group and talked to my mom and I and a few others near us about how much she loved UVA and how we had to come because it was "the best school in the world".</p>

<p>I am so thrilled to be attending UVA, but I have nothing but love for Vandy. If you are at all similar to me--work hard, party harder--I think you'll love them too. They are extremely similar institutions in terms of the feel of student body and campus life, and in terms of prestige. I hope you'll consider them both and I hope this helped. :)</p>

34

<p>The OP wanted a "balance" of academics, athletics, social, and campus beauty. A place like Vandy where nobody cares about athletics would therefore get an immediate red card.</p>

35

<p>Well, I wouldn't feel good about myself if I didn't recommend it since it's so amazing in all the other aspects.</p>

<p>I was looking for those exact same things, and although the "we don't care about sports" dynamic threw me, I had to forgive it because Vandy fulfilled the other 3 so amazingly.</p>

<p>It's hard to find EVERYTHING, sometimes you've got to sacrifice. In fact, UVA was the only school I found in all my tours that sufficiently fulfilled all four for me. Close seconds were UCLA (too urban, too close to home), Berkeley (too ugly--sorry CalX, just not my cup of tea), Wake Forest (too small, but GORGEOUS), Michigan (too huge, too ugly, nothing matched), Brown (no sports at all :(, a little too liberal), and Duke (didn't like the two campuses thing).</p>

36

<p>Those pictures are so awesome CalX. I'm so jealous of your camera.. :D</p>

37

<p>Yeah, Semi, Michigan is a tough sell in the "campus beauty" category. The "nothing matched" part bugs me too. And I agree with you that there is something mysteriously uncompelling about Berkeley's campus, but I thought it was just me. Quick, somebody revive CalX! Stanford is another place that SHOULD look great, but it it didn't do much for me.</p>

<p>I would agree that Virginia is one of the very few places that has it all. Wouldn't you put UNC-CH in that category too? I happen to think Boston College is another place that has it all (not as good as UVa in academics, but better in sports), but I seem to be the only one here that thinks that way. I went to one Notre Dame - Boston College football game, and it had an intensity I've seen in very few other sporting events.</p>

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<p>TourGuide, I've never been to UNC-CH, so I don't feel qualified to comment. But based on it's reputation and it's amazing athletics, I'm willing to bet it fits. I also agree with you on BC, I was going to apply there as well. </p>

<p>My analogy for Berkeley is that it's like a half-eaten box of chocolates. None of the chocolates are the same size, shape, color, or flavor, and they're all strewn about in the box haphazardly amongst pieces of trash, but taken individually, they're almost all delicious. (That is to say, many of the buildings were nice on their own, but they seemed to have no logical order or placement and none of them were similar--I had no feeling of being on a cohesive campus.) The center of Berkeley's campus was nice, and the town was lovely, but there was a lot of modern architecture or buildings that just felt out of place. Plus, the campus was largely stone and conrete, and I was really more into a redbrick, Georgian feel. :/ Michigan has got pretty much the exact same problem. It mostly just comes down to personal opinion, though.</p>

<p>I wanted to have the quintesential college experience, the kind you see in movies like Animal House and Van Wilder...the type of thing you think of when you think of college. I wanted red brick buildings with trees and lawns and pathways, football games with students painted in the school colors, sorority and fraternity parties all the time, and a cute but not overwhelming college town--plus excellent academics, since I'm serious about school. UVa fit the bill perfectly. :)</p>

39

<p>Wisconsin is pretty hard to beat--best social scene according to Playboy and PR, three very good major sports (top college sports town in SI), very good to excellent academics in just about anything, great lakefront campus in a happening college town, and school spirit off the charts. Only negative is some nasty winter days.</p>

40

<p>Semiserious, Michigan's campus is ugly? It is not a pretty as UVA, that much I can agree with, but it is still a nice campus. And Michigan does not feel big, so saying it is too huge doesn't make much sense. Classes at Michigan are statisically identical to classes at UVA (in terms of size). All in all, I'd say Michigan is just as well rounded as UVA. In some ways it is better, in other ways it isn't quite as good.</p>