<p>Hey, I've heard so many horror stories about some colleges ::cough Lehigh cough:: that I thought it would be a good idea to get some advice and recommendations from you guys about colleges that have the qualities I've listed below.</p>
<p>Qualities I'm looking for:</p>
<ul>
<li>DOWN TO EARTH people (this one's a biggie, I don't want to be stuck with a bunch of unfriendly snobbish people who are way too into alcohol :P)</li>
<li>Open-mindedness</li>
<li>Liberal</li>
<li>Friendliness</li>
<li>Good academics</li>
<li>A social life that isn't dominated by the Greek scene</li>
<li>People who actually care about learning (same with professors)</li>
</ul>
<p>Colleges that I've found with the above:</p>
<ul>
<li>CARLETON.... my dream school =)</li>
<li>Wesleyan</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Sarah Lawrence College</li>
<li>Univ. of Washington</li>
<li>Wellesley (?)</li>
</ul>
<p>Any recommendations?</p>
<p>Oh btw, if it helps towards finding a good fit for me I currently have a 3.9 UW and a 2120 (2210 superscored) SAT. Thanks!</p>
<p>You might also look into University of Chicago, which I think fits in well next to schools like Carleton and Wesleyan in the emphasis of academics and the offbeat, accepting student body. Though it's not save-the-whales liberal, it's liberal and open-minded in that all groups and all points of view are accepted. Considering that human rights is a popular minor, a lot of students are aware of what's going on in the world.</p>
<p>Muhlenberg. Very strong academics and inclusive campus atmosphere infused with very supportive educational and cultural values. Blend of academics and performing arts creates a very interesting and fun mix of students.</p>
<p>I was looking for many of the same things that you were looking for, and the other schools that I found were Reed, Swarthmore, Tufts, Oberlin, Bryn Mawr.</p>
<p>I was looking for the same kinds of things you were as well. The recommendations so far have been good. Some other schools I liked/think you might like (these run a range of selectivity, but many are low match/safety types for you, which is what your list is mainly missing): Brown, Bowdoin, Pomona, Vassar, Barnard, Haverford, Pitzer, Occidental, Lewis+Clark, Skidmore, Goucher.</p>
<p>Also, maybe Middleburry. Although the sterotype I've heard about it is that students there are preppy (and therefore less down to earth), my friend who is currently at Carelton also loved Middleburry, and said from her visit there that the kids seemed pretty chill.</p>
<p>Thanks unalove and Weskid. I've also been looking at some of those liberal arts too. Does anybody know of any bigger universities that might fit the criteria?</p>
<p>thecoolchica08: I didn't really look at larger universities (Brown was a big as I went), just because I happened to like smaller schools, personally. Therefore, I haven't visited any of these/haven't researched them that much. But from what I know of them they might appeal to you (and whole they might have more greeks, I don't think they dominate...of course, as I said, I don't know as much about these). Basically, these're my idea of the uni's I would look at if I was forced to go to a larger school (some larger than others, obviosuly): </p>
<p>Columbia (I actually did visit and didn't like it, but you might), Cornell, Northwestern, UC Berkeley, Tulane, NYU. Also, I agree about Rice.</p>
<p>Some of those might be a stretch in some of your catagories, but they might work.</p>
<p>Note the requirement that the students be "open minded" and "liberal." Gotta love people who think being open minded involves having only one political slant.</p>
<p>I don't think asking them to be "open minded" and "liberal" necessarily implies that the OP thinks only liberal students are open minded. She wants liberal students, who also happen to be open minded. It's just ike saying she wants her school to have a good dining hall and Division I sports. They aren't necessarily correlative, and certainly not causative.</p>
<p>I certainly don't disagree that a lot of liberals (myself included, at times, though I try to avoid this) unfairly malign conservatives as closed-minded, which is, obviously, a form of closed-mindedness in and of itself. I'm also not saying that the OP is necessarily not one of these people...she may very well be prejudiced against those with political ideologies different from hers. But I think assuming this from what she posted is somewhat unfair.</p>
<p>unilove, pinnipotto, and thecoolchica: Nice damage control, but I still believe I caught thecoolchica in exactly the sort of only-liberals-can-be openminded mindset that pinnipotto describes in the second paragraph in post #16. Why do I think that? Because the way all 3 of you are now defining "liberal" it is synonomous with "open minded," and if that's what she meant, she would have said she wanted the students to be "open minded," as opposed to "open minded, liberal." In other words, why even include "liberal" if what you now say it means is the same as "open minded"?</p>
<p>It's obviously not a big deal, but it is very clear that high school and college students tend to get it drilled into them that the opposite of "open minded" is "conservative."</p>