<p>Are there colleges with the educational resources of Ivy-league or top colleges without the competitive atmosphere and pressure between students? Or, is it impossible to have a top school with top students without competition? I want to embrace learning for personal enrichment...grades and things seem to take too much emphasis away from this goal--but, at the same time, I can't see myself at a place like St. Johns College or another alternative kind of place. Does anyone have any thoughts?</p>
<p>Chicago is often seen as the cross between a place like St. Johns, characterized as hermetic and deeply focused on education, and the super-shiny Ivy League.</p>
<p>I don't think Chicago's competitive at all, but then again I went to a high school where everybody knew everybody else's SAT score and the most commonly heard question was: "What did you get on that test?!" I also think the idea that the Ivy League is competitive is overblown a bit-- at a school where everybody is talented in their own ways, it seems immature for one student to try to oust another.</p>
<p>Chicago might be what you're looking for for a few reasons, though-- you don't often come across the "Must go to med school. Must go to law school. Must be rich" types of competition that you might meet at other schools, partly because Chicago is known in these circles for grade non-inflation and a Core Curriculum that holds itself against pre-professionalism. </p>
<p>Also, for students who are able to get into the school but are concerned with prestige issues, they don't often come, thinking that a "University of" school doesn't sound good on the resume, and they'll opt for either an Ivy, a school with more pre-professional recognition like Hopkins, Georgetown, WashU, or a sports giant like Berkeley.</p>
<p>Berkeley's a sports giant? News to me.</p>
<p>Check out Brandeis University.</p>
<p>hah, Michigan. oops.</p>
<p>That would be true of Michigan, yes.</p>
<p>Go Blue! Hehe!!!</p>
<p>check out Michigan and WashU
they certainly have top students who are not super-competitive</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is very laid-back. People would rather be your friend than beat you on a test.</p>
<p>Carleton College - outstanding academics and lack of "corrosive competition". Enjoy the Minnesota nice.</p>
<p>A lot of the LACs are non competetive--think Swarthmore, Pomona, Wesleyan, Haverford, Carleton, Vassar etc. (Probably Amherst and Williams as well, though I know very little about them). They aren't Unis, so they don't have the same resources, but you have small classes and a more intimate student body, and will get a fantastic education. For a school without grades that isn't quite as out there as St. Johns, check out Sarah Lawrence. </p>
<p>Also, check out Brown. When I visited my hosts stressed how non-competetive it was. Not sure how true that actually is, but they seemed pretty into it.</p>
<p>I would second LACs in general, and Pomona in particular. Pomona has smart kids who by and large aren't there for the prestige. More of a SoCal mentality than cutthroat. But it's a top-tier school with pretty good student stats:</p>
<p>Class of 2011 acceptances:<a href="http://www.tsl.pomona.edu/index.php?page=news&article=2412&issue=82%5B/url%5D">http://www.tsl.pomona.edu/index.php?page=news&article=2412&issue=82</a></p>
<p>25% valedictorians
90% in top 10% of HS class
Average SAT 740M, 750CR, 740W</p>
<p>Their admissions brochure has a skateboard pictured on the front...</p>
<p>The prestige of the HYPSM schools attract more cutthroat kids, IMHO. LACs in general are not as well known and don't attract those kids who need the "name" to prove they're the best...</p>
<p>LAC's in general are more intellectual, and Brown! Definetely check out Brown. I ended up choosing one of the most opposite schools - but I appreciate how many neat things Brown students are doing. Of course, there is some cut-throat-ness, but out of the top Universities its definetely the least cut-throat.</p>
<p>I would suggest the following: U Virginia, W&L, U North Carolina, Wake Forest, Davidson College, Vanderbilt, Rhodes, Tulane, Rice, USC, Pomona.</p>
<p>Yeah, just dont go to McIntire then...</p>
<p>Top tech schools are the worst.</p>
<p>I second Carleton, and add in Macalester.</p>
<p>Reed students are very driven to learn but it's not really competitive. They don't even give out grades (you have to ask for them).</p>
<p>vassar, wesleyan, connecticut college, brown, bates, colby, macalester, brandeis, boston college</p>
<p>I second WashU. Academics are very rigorous but students help each other. Midwestern "nice" even though there are a lot of students from the NE (no offense intended.)</p>
<p>Perhaps I'm just completely insane, but I'm wondering why everyone here seems to think the top schools (HYPS etc) are extremely competitive. Admittedly, I can only comment from personal experience about one of them, but in my time at Yale, I have never noticed how competitive it (according to everyone here) apparently is. To me, collaboration characterizes Yale far more than competitiveness. Students happily read each other's papers, explain how to solve problems on problem sets, and study together before tests. Unlike at my high school, where everyone knew everyone's grades, at college I'm generally limited to vague perceptions of other people's performance. I would love to hear what the other colleges people are talking about have that makes them so much less competitive that HYPS. Maybe, coming from the high school environment that I came from, I just don't know how good it could be.</p>