<p>What schools (with preferably good academics) give what some would call the college experience? Hard to explain but I'm not really thinking specfics! Thanks:)</p>
<p>Pretty much any of them with a campus. The experience will vary based upon the college, but they all have it. You’ll need to define what you are looking for to get a better fit (along with stats, etc).</p>
<p>All of them, except schools with no campus like NYU.</p>
<p>By “college experience,” do you mean: puking your guts out on Friday and Sunday mornings after binge-drinking, overcrowded libraries during test week, a general loss of sleep due to rowdy floormates and some form of propaganda weekend(ie homecoming) etc, etc etc . . .</p>
<p>^^^ you mean this cliche’?</p>
<p>Depends on what you mean by “college experience”.</p>
<p>Most college students’ “college experience” is: commute to community college or local state university, attend class or lab, commute to home or work.</p>
<p>Yes, living the dream. </p>
<p>Any campus where most of the students are NOT doing the above would be decent but generally the better the name the more the better the overall experience. Top 25 privates and most public Top 25 flagships plus Top 50 lacs would be a good start.</p>
<p>We can all agree that “college experience” could mean lots of things. I’ll take a guess at what wintergirl means:</p>
<ul>
<li>traditional campus environment</li>
<li>residential options</li>
<li>strong campus social environment, maybe (but not necessarily) with a Greek system</li>
<li>intercollegiate sports</li>
<li>this one is tricky to define, but good “bonding” between school and student. Years later, does the alum happily identify herself as such, or was that college simply a vehicle to move into the next phase of life?</li>
</ul>
<p>I’m a fan of Notre Dame for a traditional undergrad experience, but many other schools, from big state universities to smaller private colleges, also offer all of the above.</p>
<p>Stanford, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Duke, Notre Dame, USC, Wake Forest, University of Virginia, Georgetown, Michigan, UNC, Boston College, Lehigh, Wisconsin, Tulane, UMiami, UT-Austin</p>
<p>timetodecide’s list is quite good for the mid to large end of the spectrum. For smaller schools I’d throw in Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Carnegie-Mellon, Kenyon, Middlebury and the Claremont Colleges.</p>
<p>Duke, ND,Stanford, HYP. For LAC’s Williams, Holy Cross, Davidson, Bowdoin.</p>
<p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Good definition. This is what we looked for for our guys and it’s what we enjoyed in our day. Personally, we opted for very little drinking and the only commute was for those rare trips home. Both of us considered these years some of the best ones in our lives… and we want our boys to enjoy the same - while getting a decent education. We still have a bit in common with alumni and feel comfortable meeting them anywhere, anytime and really enjoy getting together with those we knew.</p>
<p>One can see college as “just” the education and get that anywhere (online or whatever). The college experience is much more than that and available at pretty much any truly residential college. Each college will have a little bit of “themselves” to distinguish them from others, so find one that fits that you can afford and enjoy! The years will fly by quickly!</p>
<p>
That was pretty much the one I had starting out, until I joined a sorority mostly because I wanted something of a “traditional” college experience. That helped but I’ve always felt I missed out by not going away to school, and I advise anyone who asks me to do so if at all possible.
Other than that, I think one’s college experience depends on finding one’s niche on campus. For me it was my sorority, for my son, it’s been the campus radio station. For a friend of mine, it was the Baptist Student Union. Find your place and you’ll have a great college experience wherever you go.</p>