Does a college that's right for me exist?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm currently a freshman at Sewanee: The University of the South, and I'm looking to transfer at the end of this year. I've grown a bit disillusioned with Sewanee, and I can't seem to find a school that feels just right. </p>

<p>My ideal college: </p>

<p>Obviously pretty much any school in the country but Bob Jones is going to have a lot of drinking. My problem with Sewanee is that the social life revolves around drinking. People seem incapable of having fun without drinking. Friday nights the whole campus hits up the frat parties and gets wasted. I've spent many a Friday sitting in my room twirling my thumbs. A college where either people do stuff other than drink on occasion, or the surrounding area offers enough stuff to do that I don't have to solely rely on campus activities. </p>

<p>The combination of being a small school and completely isolated sometimes drives me insane. Campus is beautiful, but the surrounding "town" just sucks. It wouldn't be so bad if it was a bigger school, but if it's a tiny school there's got to be stuff to do off campus. Size isn't especially important to me (though I'm not crazy about 70,000 student colleges like Ohio State...). I'd love to go to college in a place like Boston, DC, Annapolis, etc. </p>

<p>I do NOT like the rich, spoiled, preppy, collar-popping student body. My favorite week of the semester was finals week when, for once, I felt like I was in a serious academic institution. I like learning for the sake of learning, not obsessing over getting straight A's. I'm conservative, so a place like Bard might not be such a good idea. Obviously most any LA college is going to be fairly liberal. I can take that just fine. </p>

<p>My stats:
SAT: 720 CR, 660 MATH
ACT (took only once in 10th grade): 28 Composite
HS GPA: ~3.5 unweighted (very difficult course load, including 25 college credit hours)
College GPA: ~3.3 (hopefully a little higher, can't count on it)
Great recommendations
ECs- Decent. Some community service, working for a non profit, etc.
Misc: Interesting background (grew up overseas in 3rd world country)</p>

<p>Suggestions? Does a college that's right for me exist? Sorry this is so long. I realize there's no perfect college, I just want a place where I'll be happy.</p>

2

<p>Try Tufts, Brandeis, Boston Universtity, George Washington, and Macalester.</p>

3

<p>BalletGirl's suggestions seem on target. Also worth a look might be American (dry campus) and some of the LACs that--like Swanee--are not in the Northeast but have a reputation for attracting intellectually engaged students: Beloit, Denison, Earlham, Kenyon, Knox, Rhodes, College of Wooster, et al.</p>

4

<p>Annapolis means St John's College where you'd have to start as a frosh. Reading the Great Books every day'd be like finals week at The University of the South and as far from preppiness as you could find. Reed in Oregon has a similar atmosphere and you could get transfer credit there.</p>

5

<p>TCU, Elon, Eckerd, Fordham, Georgetown, SMU, etc. would fit your needs, and aren't as ultra-liberal as some of the others that have been mentioned. </p>

<p>And although the schools MarathonMan listed are great institutions, they're all rural, secluded, small-town LACs, which may be too similar to where you're at right now. With the exception of Rhodes, which could actually be a good fit.</p>

6

<p>You might look at the University of Chicago. It has the urban-ness that you're looking for, although downtown is about 20 minutes from campus, so the city doesn't interfere with campus life.</p>

<p>Also, there are a lot of students that don't drink/drink very moderately (an undergraduate survey of Chicago said that 1 out of 7 students don't drink, and 4-5 out of 7 drink moderately and occasionally). I'm not really a drinker myself and I've found plenty of people doing non-alcohol related things.</p>

<p>The "learning for the sake of learning" is also very Chicago, as the students who are here want to be here.</p>

<p>We're probably less liberal (I know we are less crunchy granola-ish) than a lot of LAC's, and though most of the student body is probably thinking about voting Democrat, my conservative friends don't feel alone.</p>

7

<p>You don't mention your gender, or if you did, I missed it. If female, the women's colleges provide the atmosphere you are looking for and match your stats.</p>

8

<p>For an urban environment and a more down-to-earth student body, try Northeastern. I also agree with the suggestion of Tufts, which places great emphasis on international awareness and will probably like your background. Though with Tufts, I will warn you that while the Davis Square neighborhood is attractive, safe, and lively (I live there), its politics are of the crunchy-granola type, which you may not appreciate.</p>

9

<p>I love Chicago, but they accept less than three percent of their transfer students. I really wouldn't think I'd stand a chance of getting in.</p>

10

<p>Move further up north and closer to a city and you may find less drinking. Brandeis, Tufts, and the like are good choices.</p>

11

<p>Furman may be a good option for you.</p>