<p>When I visited Caltech, almost every single dorm door was covered in math/physics problems, and the tour guide excitedly told me about his area of study; I could feel intellectual vitality in the air. Conversely, when I visited a certain Ivy League university, students seemed completely apathetic about their schoolwork and were not at all excited about their classes; to me, it appeared they were studying only for tangible awards and not for the love of learning.</p>
<p>So, where do you think college students are most excited about their work/classes/research?</p>
<p>Brown, uchicago, swarthmore, reed, MIT, UCB, tufts, Yale, Brandeis ( Nyu tisch & USC film, if that’s your interest, but probably not if you’re looking at caltech).</p>
<p>Probably the schools with the highest percentage of students who truly love learning would be those schools best known for academic rigor… because prodpectives know about the rigor but decide to attend in spite (or because…) of it.</p>
<p>Chicago.might be where fun goes to die; it’s also among the top places where learning goes to live.</p>
<p>To RM’s list I would add the following:
Grinnell
Princeton (they go in spite of the known grade deflation…)
Oberlin
Haverford</p>
<p>Have you visited Harvey Mudd? It might be in that category.</p>
<p>I’d also add Wesleyan and Pomona.</p>
<p>@Ynotgo: Actually, I didn’t get that impression when I visited Harvey Mudd, but I’ve heard others describe it as such. I completely agree with @RenaissanceMom and @prezbucky about UChicago, though.</p>
<p>Tufts, Haverford, Swarthmore, Sarah Lawrence, Reed, Olin, St. John’s, Kenyon.</p>
<p>I would put Mudd on that list – my kid’s final choices were U of Chicago, Swat, and Mudd, selected for that very criteria. And she picked Mudd, as I think you know. She has not been disappointed!</p>