Colleges for weird, quirky, nerd?

College Search & Selection
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<p>Hello! I am a female Hispanic Buddhist LGBT going into my senior year at a tiny private Catholic high school in Northern California. :) Also a first generation college student. </p>

<p>GPA: 4.1
SAT: 2070 (620M, 650CR, 800W) and only taken once.
SAT IIS: US History 680, Lit 690
Freshman classes: Algebra I, Honors English I, Honors World History, French I, Integrated Science, Chorus I, Religion.
Soph classes: Geometry, Honors English II, Honors Modern World History, French II, Biology, Chorus II, Religion.
Junior classes: Biology at community college, Algebra II, AP Lang, AP US History, French III, Honors Chorus, Religion
Senior classes: Physics at community college, Honors Chemistry, Precalculus, AP Lit, AP Gov, Honors Chorus, Religion</p>

<p>ECs:
- Mock Trial for 2 years
- Member of 4 different choirs throughout high school
- Sang with Eric Whitacre at Carnegie Hall
- President of my school diversity club
- Editor-in-Chief of school newspaper
- Music honor society member
- Link Crew leader (freshman integration)
- Over 100 service hours at a low income Hispanic school (where I learned Spanish and reconnected with my culture)
- Submitted a plan to school administration for greener technology and compost that was put into action </p>

<p>I developed an eating disorder my freshman year, its climax at the end of sophomore and beginning of junior year. I sought treatment, and my junior year has been comprised of ups and downs. But I am a stronger person through accepting my insecurities. I have had 3 doctor appointments for hours every single week and for that reason have several Bs and less than ideal ECs. </p>

<p>I am really weird. I love love to learn, and I hate how little our school system is focused on actual learning. I read allll the time. I am passionate about the world and people and unity and healing, and have so many ideas and hopes. I'm very outspoken and I love people. </p>

<p>I am really looking for a school in a fairly big city. Other than that, the only other requirement in a school is that it be intellectually stimulating, with lots of interesting diverse people. I especially need suggestions for safeties.</p>

2

<p>Probably would go in undecided. Ultimately I want to do something environmental and biological.</p>

3

<p>Quirky= UChicago</p>

4

<p>Sounds like the University of Chicago might be a great fit as a reach, given the type of student body you’re looking for and your passion for learning. If you’re contemplaring med school I would be hesitant to full heartedly recommend UChicago, but if not then I suggest looking into its Bio and Environmental Science programs to see if they suit your interests. Chicago itself is a great city, and getting downtown takes at most 30-40 minutes (this is with traffic) on the bus.</p>

5

<p>What is your estimated family contribution ? How much can you pay ?</p>

<p>University of California- Santa Cruz is definitely not nerdy. Its full of heavy party-ers with 1650 SAT and 3.3 GPA. You do not belong there. You will only be miserable.</p>

<p>You need to look at colleges like Carnegie Mellon University, College of William and Mary, University of Chicago, Duke University, Tufts etc. Basically any top private liberal arts colleges.</p>

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<p>XtremePower, you know nothing about the UC system. UC Santa Cruz is probably one of the least “party” schools of the UCs.</p>

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<p>U Chicago has foresaken some of its quirkiness (not all) in its recent quest for ranking improvement. My D and I were surprised by how UNquirky most of the current and accepted students were this past spring at Accepted Student days. Lots of “strivers”, though… Plus, the OP is not close to the scores needed to get in there these days… CalTech also out of reach unless her SATs go way, way up.</p>

<p>What about one of the Claremont Colleges? Or you might find your fit at Carleton – it is NOT in a big city, but is about 35 minutes from the Twin Cities. It is a reach, though, unless you improve your SAT scores. It is not in a big city, but Smith might be a good fit for you – and the 5 College Consortium adds academic and social options. Or maybe Bryn Mawr? Macalester is in the city and has a good share of quirky students.</p>

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<p>New College of Florida might be a good fit. Here’s a link to another CC thread about the college:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/new-college-florida/1436838-san-francisco-sarasota-ncf-life.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/new-college-florida/1436838-san-francisco-sarasota-ncf-life.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I believe they have good scholarships for OOS.</p>

9

<p>Why a big city? If you love music and want quirk and a supportive LGBT community, I would suggest Oberlin.</p>

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<p>Reed College in Portland.</p>

11

<p>Have you thought about women’s colleges like Smith or Wellesley? Wellesley is near Boston and offers a great support program for first generation students.</p>

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<p>Surprised no one said Berkeley! </p>

<p>Berkeley is full of quirky people and its in Berkeley so it’s right next to San Francisco! :slight_smile: there’s a train that takes you right there.</p>

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<p>What are you talking about? U of Chicago is a private school… there is no “OOS” tuition. Depending on the OP’s financial situation, financial aid could make it well worth her while to apply at schools that aren’t in California. And some of the suggestions have been west coast (Berkely, Claremont, Reed). And I don’t think you will find higher fees at lots of these college than the in state colleges have in CA these days. </p>

<p>The OP should run the net price calculator with help from her parents at the schools she is interested in. That will help her get an idea of the potential financial aid package at each school.</p>

14

<p>Grinnell is a very good, quirky school (albeit in a Ia cornfield!) that encourages the kind of kid you describe yourself to be. They also have a large endowment. Your scores and grades would make you competitive.</p>

15

<p>Vassar has a reputation for being quirky.</p>

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<p>Patriots9608, then why would you suggest CalTech? You can’t like the cost to attend there either… it is a few thousand less than U of Chicago, but still over $58,000/year without financial aid.</p>

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<p>Occidental College might be a good fit. It’s one of the most diverse LACs in the nation, fairly intellectual, and located in a nice part of LA. </p>

<p>For a safety you could try University of Puget Sound or Lewis & Clark. Both are in suburbs of major cities in the Pacific Northwest. Neither are particularly racially diverse, but they can be intellectually stimulating. </p>

<p>Many of the UCs, although they’re not located in major cities, have a very high concentration of intellectual students. Berkeley is certainly not a safety, but UCSC and UC Davis might be matches. Then there’s UCSD, which is harder to get into than either Davis or Santa Cruz, but one of the most intellectual students in my high school went there and loves it. </p>

<p>On the East Coast, Brandeis gives fairly good financial aid and isn’t nearly as competitive as Tufts, a school frequently cited for its intellectual vitality.</p>

<p>Colorado College is very competitive for admissions but offers a block plan which encourages students to focus on one subject and one subject only for around three weeks. If you’re into learning as much as possible, it might be a possibility.</p>

<p>Davidson, a super reach in a small town, seems to fit most of your criteria. It’s across the country, but an outstanding school. </p>

<p>Other schools that might interest you:
-Loyola Marymount
-Mills College
-Agnes Scott
-Emory
-Beloit (small town)
-Reed
-Whitman (smallish town)
-Trinity University (Tx)
-St. Mary’s College of California (the Catholic Institute for Lasallian Social Action and Integral Program may be of interest)</p>

18

<p>Patriot, I am not biased toward U of Chicago (did you read my post? My kid did not choose to attend due partly to what I stated). If you want to give advice to people on colleges to select, it might be helpful for you to learn a little more about public vs. private schools, and in-state vs. out-of-state tuition before making suggestions. I didn’t know CalTech’s tuition off the top of my head, but I knew it was a top tier private – so knew it would likely come in over $55,000 (and a quick Google search showed this to be correct).</p>

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<p>Yes, but you were jumping on others for suggesting high cost colleges, but also and suggesting them yourself.</p>

<p>

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<p>At least be consistent…</p>

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<p>Vassar and Wesleyan have some quirk as well as Pitzer in CA. Evergreen State, Sarah Lawrence, Reed, Amherst, Uchicago, Brown. Good luck!</p>