<p>If there is an emotional fit, the kids will have fun doing things together no matter the surroundings. In our new world, you are never really cut off.</p>
<p>Close connections to the professors is key to anything after college.</p>
<p>Go where D will thrive emotionally and academically. All else will fit into place.</p>
<p>Mini has the best advice – Let your D making the final decision so that she owns it.</p>
<p>My mantra has been - Student applied for a good reason. Each of the schools my son applied to was carefully examined in the fall. Now, it is just $ and nuances. If your daughter was careful with her application list, then each of these schools has plenty to offer her in different ways.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention that my daughter’s school in the middle of nowhere has internships with major corporations and sports teams.</p>
<p>My D visited a small LAC that she absolutely loved - but ultimately decided not to apply because it was so secluded and difficult to get to (fly into Syracuse and then drive for an hour).</p>
<p>Now, she has (mostly - but not officially) decided to attend a school highly acclaimed for its’ student’s quirkiness. And guess what - she actually fits right in!</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s fair to say kids’ interest in anime is quirky or weird, as if it is a bad thing. A lot of kids are into it. My daughter is into it, and there is nothing strange about her. Creative, yes. Interesting, yes, but not weird. I think it’s terrible for people, especially adults to marginalize younger people’s perfectly healthy interests.</p>
<p>Do you really want your kid going to a school where everyone is a striver or a jock?</p>
<p>My gut would say to go with student body fit, if academics are comparable.</p>
<p>One note: just because a school is near a city doesn’t mean many students ever go there, and just because it (theoretically) has an exchange program with other schools doesn’t mean that many students actually take classes at the other schools.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s comments. @redpoint–Please understand I was not saying that kids into anime is weird or quirky–my daughter said that she thought it was strange that many of the kids on the accepted students fb page said they were into anime and neopets, etc…and that she worried that she would not fit in with her classmates. </p>
<p>The term quirky is one that the students at this college use to describe themselves. I read some of the student reviews, and although all were positive about the school, the majority did talk about the unique (and very accepting) student body. Some comments:</p>
<p>the college is a place where the weird kid from high school can come to be themselves.</p>
<p>A quirky, small environment that allows you to do most anything </p>
<p>The college is full of quirky, weird, eccentric students, giving it a unique atmosphere. </p>
<p>I think it is great that there are schools that are so accepting of kids with varied interests. Im just not sure that this is the school for my daughter, as much as we both loved the campus and the location.</p>
<p>Bloomfield- just be careful that you are not allowing the tail to wag the dog.</p>
<p>There are plenty of colleges where a quirky or eccentric student will feel comfortable, but you would hardly call the typical student quirky or eccentric. I think that’s very different from a college where a quirky student would NOT feel at home, and therefore, that a student who didn’t fit the mainstream culture would feel quite marginalized.</p>
<p>I think there are plenty of quirky kids at Emory for example. I don’t know that the overall vibe is quirky. I think a quirky kid at Wake Forest might not find their “peeps” as readily as that kid would at Emory.</p>
<p>So you can help your D make sure she’s not writing off a school which would be a terrific fit FOR HER on the basis of a minority population’s perspective- that the school is tolerant and welcoming of differences.</p>
<p>My college had plenty of eccentrics and oddballs nicely blended in with the frat boys and football players and the banking wanna bee’s and pre-meds. (Not that a pre-med can’t be eccentric!)</p>
<p>My absolute favorite college - Earlham - is filled with “quirky” kids. But it works well because the faculty is so committed to putting that quirkiness towards good ends.</p>
<p>I think the best advice I read on this thread is to let your daughter decide. She seems to know where she wants to attend, but you’re not sure. But in the end, I think our kids know what is best for them.</p>