<p>I'm looking for a college that fits the following criteria, please leave your input, as I"m quite confused on where to apply next year.</p>
<p>-Definitely a "smart" school, I guess you can call it. Doesn't 100% have to be an Ivy, but something like it.
-Student body that ISN'T uptight and competitive about grades.
-Work hard, play hard. So if you want to party you can but then go back and do work.
-Not HORRIBLE at sports, somewhat of school spirit.
-Either a lot to do on campus, or a town within a half hour radius.
-Grades aren't deflated, not extremely hard to get good grades.
-Pretty campus.
-Don't mind preppy people, but not a whole school of private school kids.
-Did I mention, parties?
-I'm not sure what I want to major in, but it's definitely not math or science.</p>
<p>modestmelody, yah i was thinking about Brown. I went there this summer for summer@brown but I think it just wasn't for me. I think its more of an "artsy" person school, which unfortunately I"m not. </p>
<p>Chedva, thanks. I considered URochester, but I think I can go a little higher. Some background info.
3.9 GPA, Really Good EC's, Mid Range SAT's.</p>
<p>I was really swaying towards Duke or Dartmouth. Is there any criteria that either of the two don't fit?</p>
<p>It may have appeared more artsy than it is because we don't have a substantial summer program for our own students whereas RISD has a more substantial summer community.</p>
<p>I wouldn't write it off though-- I'm not "artsy" and I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.</p>
<p>Oh okay, I see what you're saying modestmelody. I think the best idea for me for Brown would be to visit during the school year, which I intend to do.</p>
<p>Also, for any other opinions, does Princeton fit all of the above criteria? I would love to go to Princeton, but I'm worried it's too competitive or too "nerdy" I guess you can call it. Any input?</p>
<p>Yah Bengal, that was my one worry about Dartmouth, the isolation. I feel like there are a lot of great things about Dartmouth that kind of make up for the isolation, but I'm not quite sure. </p>
<p>And EngrMom, Duke was definitely on the top of my list but I never even thought of Vandy. What's the social/academic/athletic life like there?</p>
<p>The lots of private school kids doesn't fit, Duke, Dartmouth and Vandy are teeming with them.</p>
<p>D and D are probably the closest you're going to get. Duke has the town but it's not a nice one IMO. Dartmouth does not but the kids seem not to want to leave campus anyway and when they do Montreal and Boston are just over 2 hours.</p>
<p>Wesleyan would be another good choice. Mark that down as a school I didn't really look into but wish I had-- not because I would have gone instead of Brown but had I not gotten into Brown I would have probably liked it there better than my second choice.</p>
<p>Yah, I love Duke. But the only problem is I'm a little weary that I won't get in there. What is a school similar to Duke that is per se a tier lower?</p>
<p>This is easy. I think Brown, Haverford, etc. are exactly the colleges you wouldn't like...they're artsy or nerdy (not that there's anything wrong with that).</p>
<p>Go with Vandy, Lehigh, Georgetown, Duke, Virginia, Syracuse, Illinois</p>
<p>Some of the above schools have a lot of private school kids, though...</p>
<p>2-iron-- are you a student at either Brown or Haverford?</p>
<p>As a student at Brown I will strongly contest the "artsy" image of Brown. The only two things artsy about Brown are RISD students and the prevalence of hipster fashion/indie music listening. If you think 1/10 as opposed to 1/20 of the population wearing stupid clothing and listening to bad indie makes a school artsy, well, then Brown is guilty as charged. But there are more athletes here than there are hipsters, more Econ majors than chemistry, physics, math, and geo combined.</p>
<p>Just because RISD is near by does not mean the entire campus is "artsy". We have 6k undergrads-- once you get that big it's hard to classify the student body as any one thing. We're pretty mixed.</p>
<p>More than that, there's nothing about not being artsy or nerdy on her list-- just places that know how to party. There are few people who have spent any time at Brown that would contend that we don't know how to party.</p>
<p>I'm not a student at Brown, nor do I have anything against either school. It's just that the OP wanted sports, preppies, parties. Based on almost everything I've heard about both of these schools, they're far more liberal/"hipster" than, say, Georgetown and Vandy.</p>
<p>it's everything you want. the school's motto is work hard, play harder. brilliant kids but not nerdy or competitive at all. good sports but not overwhelming. enough bars and frat/house parties to keep you busy and tipsy every night of the week if you want. right in the middle of new orleans, but enough happening on campus to keep you more than entertained. good in the sciences but also good in other subjects. the campus is surrounded by mansions and a gorgeous park. loyola is next door for smoothies if you want em :)</p>
<p>beautiful weather, beautiful campus, beautiful people. what more can you ask for?</p>