<p>Have any students used multi-city flights to accomplish this? For example, fly to a far coast, but on the way back stop in a Midwestern city? I've never costed it out, myself, but I see those "multi-city" air tickets so I wondered if anyone knew.</p>
<p>Are you more interested in the science based or social science kind of anthropology. If it's the former, then I would strongly encourage you to look more closely at Hampshire. You wouldn't think it based on the reputation of the college, but imho, the natural sciences + cognitive sciences are the strongest academic programs at Hampshire. </p>
<p>One way to narrow your list would be to email the anthropology profs at each of the colleges and evaluate what you find out. Some profs can be very frank about their schools. </p>
<p>P.S. I would definitely keep Oberlin on your list.</p>
<p>Having been to both places, I can tell you that Middlebury, while a wonderful school and a beautiful campus, is much more isolated than Oberlin. Also, Midd students tend to be more mainstream. A lot of the student population is really into different kinds of team and individual sports.</p>
<p>What is this with "mainstream"? Yes, Middlebury kids are well rounded (if that's what you're trying to say). You'll find the crunchy granola types on campus, along with jocks, intellectuals, hipsters, etc. Maybe you're trying to say that Middlebury kids are less "quirky" than kids at the other schools?</p>
<p>Fanatic517: I actually don't care THAT much about location. It's a factor, but not a particularly big one. For example, if got into Reed and Middlebury and I decided I liked both equally in terms of academics and general feel, I'd probably choose Reed cause it's in Portland. But the chances of me liking any two schools exactly the same (I like them all for completely different reasons, and I'm still trying to prioritize my reasons) are slim to none... And woohoo. I have a friend who's obsessed with Sondheim...</p>
<p>paying3tuitions: Talked about it with my parents, but we couldn't find a way to make it work.</p>
<p>hampster: Cultural anthropology (so social science), and I'm hearing a lot of good things about Oberlin...</p>
<p>shennie: Yeah, I figured it was pretty isolated, but like I said, location isn't THAT big of a deal... </p>
<p>arcadia: Mainstream is the majority of kids at my high school. Not in terms of intelligence or dedication to learning-- some are really smart... But I just can't relate to them... Heh. I sound so lame. THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND ME. No. I have many friends, but they tend to be more... I guess quirky is a good way to put it. I don't concern myself too much with "types"-- I have crunchy granola friends, hipster friends, jock friends (okay, not so much), intellectual friends, anarchist/activist friends... But I don't like SELF-RIGHTEOUS crunchy granola types, or SUPERFICIAL jock types, or PRETENTIOUS intellectual/hipster types... It's the subcategories I'm trying to avoid/minimize. Quirky people are more likely to sometimes do dumb things and ridiculous things and not think less of me or roll their eyes (hate eye rolling) when I do dumb things and ridiculous things.</p>
<p>I don't know how to put it... People assume when I suggest I don't want some place mainstream that I'm looking for some really artsy school or pot smoking hippies or something... Artsy kids scare me... They think they're so much cooler than I am with their asymmetrical hairdos and heavy eye make-up... Psht.</p>
<p>I have always heard very good things about people getting in to graduate school from Hampshire. Most grad schools know that anyone who has made it through Hampshire have already done graduate level work.<br>
For what it is worth, this from wikipedia:</p>
<p>In some fields (Hampshire College) is among the top undergraduate institutions in graduate-school enrollment: fifty-six percent of its alumni have at least one graduate degree and it is ranked 30th among all US colleges in the percentage of its graduates who go on to attain a doctorate degree (notably 1st among history doctorates), when adjusted for institutional size.[1] Its School of Cognitive Science was the first interdisciplinary undergraduate program in cognitive science and still has few peers.</p>
<p>allthosethings: Thanks. Maybe it depends on the department. Or the grad school... Or maybe the person I talked to was just wrong... Huh.</p>
<p>Hey, Steven Sondheim was actually a graduate of Williams, magna cum laude, 1950. :)</p>
<p>The understated, undercover quirk factor was very much a concern for my son as well. Will they get my sense of humor? It turned out they did and more so. </p>
<p>I agree, piercings, clothes and hair don't necessarily mean weird and original, especially if that's the prevailing uniform. What's important is people that are open to listening alien ideas and not locked into a group-think. Personally, I think this is more common in schools that lean far left than the middle roadish ones. (They are all somewhat left -- but some at least provide balance.)</p>
<p>I'm losing track: Tell us again, which schools did you visit and of those which did you like and which did you eliminate? Stereotypes are valid to a degree, but for kids who like to think differently but in a whole-wide-world frame of reference decisions based on stereotyping can be misleading.</p>
<p>I've visited Smith, Hampshire and Vassar. Smith was great. Northampton is awesome-- too bad it's a women's college. I know it's in a consortium and a lot of the classes would be co-ed, but I just don't want all girls... Hampshire I liked too, just based on the feel. I took a tour, and it was nice. I felt comfortable on the campus. I HATED Vassar. I was surprised (I thought I'd like it), but we got there and I just did NOT want to get out of the car. My parents made me, and it wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought, but I still didn't like it... It felt like a nunnery... </p>
<p>Visiting Wesleyan, Bard, Hampshire (again), and Brown next week. Interviewing with Wesleyan on the visit and Reed tomorrow morning (NERVOUS). Also, I'm visiting Reed and L&C in the fall.</p>
<p>I'd like to visit all of them, but it just isn't possible... Oberlin, Kalamazoo and Middlebury will have to wait until AFTER I figure out if I got in and decide if I'm seriously considering them, as will any additional colleges in the midwest.</p>
<p>My daughter and I visited Vassar last year in her college search. I fell in love with its gothic beauty, but she found it cold and unappealing. (She ended up at Carleton.) My older daughter visited Oberlin and thought it was OK, though I was absolutely in college heaven there. Did you know that you can check out original and pretty amazing works of art from the campus art museum, and hang them in your dorm room for the semester? (Correct me if I'm wrong, any of you Oberliners who happen to read this.) Kenyon was drop-dead gorgeous, but if you didn't like Vassar you probably wouldn't like Kenyon. ... Do look into Carleton and Grinnell, both high academic schools with the proverbial "quirky" reputation--and both free to apply on-line.</p>
<p>Hampshire is actually well known for getting people in to graduate school. It makes the top 100 list in pretty much every major, and has a very high PhD production rate. Take a look at some of the other threads on cc that have that info and you will see for yourself.</p>
<p>Also, one thing that Hampshire has in it's favor is the 5 college consortium. The value of that cannot be stressed enough. Students have all the good qualities of a small LAC and the resources of a big university (UMass) + access to classes at the #1 LAC (Amherst) and lots of women!! (Smith and Mount Holyoke---oh wait--this last one might only be important to male prospectives, haha) </p>
<p>I looked at Oberlin too and frankly got scared away by the location. I have a friend there though who really likes it.</p>
<p>Hampshire is unique, a one-of-a-kind type of school--and a good one. And that five-college consortium is terrific! ... Oberlin's location didn't scare me, simply because at a great school there's really little need to prowl around a big city. My Carleton daughter--who always thought she wanted a college in a large metropolitan area--ended up in the tiniest of rural places. There is so much going on around campus, she rarely needs to shuttle to Minneapolis for entertainment or culture.</p>