“hedonistic anti-religious college”
LOL.
It depends on how you define that. I went to church weekly at my college. My son is going to a non-religious affiliated college, and there was a list of 20 houses of worship local to the school that accept college students with open arms, and they have four full-time religious leaders on campus, plus they have many non-religious faith-based events.
There is NOT a lot of pressure to have sex and drink alcohol at college- if you avoid parties where alcohol and drugs are offered and sex is rather casual. I went to more than a few of those parties, drank alcohol, did no drugs, and avoided one-night stands (did end up in a long-term relationship). On occasion, there might be a few floors that are “wild” but colleges do not want students drinking alcohol in dorms, and frown upon opposite sex roommates.
What do you really want? Do you want an alcohol-free campus? Do you want a school that would expel a student for pre-marital sex? Do you want a school that has clear clothing and behavior standards, and strict enforcement of a moral code? Do you want a school that is single sex not co-ed, or one that has entire dorms one gender or the other?
Do you want a school that has a minimal LGBTQA presence?
My cousin went to Swarthmore, and there were no reports of it being “tamer” than any other college.
I would also note that some colleges have a lot of Muslim students, like where I teach, and some Muslim women choose to wear full body covering, and some do not. We have a strong Muslim student association.
Is this a parent fear, or a student want? If there were a few choices where the presence of the student’s religion on campus was strong including campus groups, would that be more important than a truly religious college?
@rhandco Agreed with your lol – the opposite of religious isn’t hedonistic. I know quite a few non-religious students who do charitable work and do not want to involve themselves with pre-marital sex or drinking – and quite a few good christians who really like to party. You can make your own choices.
More and more we are seeing kids attending religious schools only to humor their parents. I think you hit the nail right on the head. Any parent who trusts his child should not need her to insulate herself completely from the rest of the world. If someone isn’t christian, why shouldn’t they attend a secular school and be a good ambassador for their religion?
I wouldn’t recommend Grove City as enough non Christians reported pressure to convert.
I would say Moravian, Point Loma, and Pepperdine may work.
St Olaf is a “dry” campus, academically-focused, and rooms are not gender-neutral and floors are not co-ed. It’s probably a good bet for your daughter (I know non Christian families who lived abroad and sent their daughters there because it’s safe and it’s not “wild”.)
Women’s Colleges have much lower incidence of drinking. Men’s presence is variable - there are no parietals that I know of but obviously no men reside in women’s college dorms. These colleges, however, are not conservative.
I know that there are a lot of devout Muslim girls at Barnard. Mount Holyoke is well-known for its diversity and it’s more isolated than Barnard.
All colleges also have “wellness”/“healthy lifestyle”/“substance-free” dorm where all students there pledge not to drink or use drugs or party in the dorm - doing so is an immediate expulsable offense and as far as I know the kids who request those dorms abide by the rule. They also tend to be nicer dorms because the risks to surroundings are lower when students are sober. And they organize activities for students who don’t think drinking alcohol is fun - trips to concerts or to the zoo or to a museum, tie-dying, crafts, etc.
I think that you won’t find a majority of students willing to abstain from sex anywhere but there are VERY strict rules whereby a student who makes it clear they’re not interested is off limits as far as sex goes. anything that doesn’t involve direct consent is illegal - and this is very enforced at women’s colleges, as this is considered part of women’s rights. In other words, other students will not try to impose their interest in sex upon someone who makes it clear they want to wait till marriage. I suppose you trust your child won’t turn into a crazed-sex zombie overnight - that doesn’t happen in real life- I’m assuming you trust your child but don’t trust others, right? You shouldn’t worry: if someone wants to date your child, they’ll have to wait too, or face penalties by the college for sexual coercion. (This is taken VERY seriously).
So, essentially, rather on focusing on colleges with strict behavior codes, look for colleges that 1° have substance-free dorms and 2° profess a lot of respect for women’s rights.
I’m guessing St Olaf, Agnes Scott, Mount Holyoke, Barnard would all be good places to look into.
“Top academics in STEM fields is also highly desirable for this student who scored a 2400 the first time they took the SAT and who scored 5’s on all 5 APs taken so far.”
I also recommend St. Olaf. They have a great track record at placing students in quality med schools. And merit money! Two religion courses are required but there are many options to choose from.
I have a non-partying, very proper, non-religious daughter and we have been looking for schools with subdued party scenes.
You might also try the match search on this forum, limiting for “no Greek life.”