HELP me!! Colleges with the best lifestyle/happiest students/best location

So im not that familiar with colleges in the U.S. but I really want to start making a list of colleges I would want to enter.
I want to major in chemistry and premed but i don’t really care about “prestige” of a college.

I just want to go to a college with 3 things: <----------

  1. Happy lively students, and students who are friendly, out going, and not extremely cutthroat competitive and an attractive student body is always a plus!
  2. Colleges with the best lifestyle, not known for heavy grade deflation or extremely difficult tests and heavy coursework.
  3. A good location, preferably near a lively town or even a city, a place where there is a lot to do and the activities are endless.

I have a 1550 sat and 4.4 Gpa, I couldnt care less about ‘top’ schools

I want my undergraduate experience to be pleasurable, memorable, and the best damn 4 years of my life with my friends!

All help will be highly appreciated!

How much are your parents willing and able to pay?

What is your financial situation? Are you a US citizen? And you better be ready to work hard if you are premed. If you go to a school that is too easy, you will not be well prepared for the MCAT.

Thanks for the quick response!!!

my parents are able to pay for my undergrad and still live very comfortably, please do not take finances into consideration.

I operate on the philosophy that experiences>money

I live in Northern Virginia, my highschool regularly sends kids to Uva W&M and ivy league schools, yes i am a citizen!

@intparent @allyphoe

thank you sm

Well, W&M rep just visited our school and told the kids that their students are the #1 Happiest Students according to Princeton Review. You must know kids there. What are your thoughts?

@homerdog

hehe yes I have about 13 friends at that school and i have visited multiple times and to be honest, according to my friends and my own experiences, that rep couldnt be farther from the truth

  • i have been told by all of my friends that there is major grade deflation and that its very stressful during finals and that students have to work twice as hard and still may not receive the grade they deserve (1 of my friends couldnt pursue medicine bc of her grades and is now in dental school)

-williamsburg is nice and historic but only for a little while, after some time passes it becomes (quoting my friends) a “boring and old hell hole”

-there is also no school spirit, athletic appeal, and the student body seems almost too quirky

but no hate on W&M!!! they are a very reputable and historic undergraduate college

Princeton Review and Niche both has a list of happiest college campuses. W&M is at the top of the Princeton Review list though ; )

@momofsenior1

yeah i checked both of those sources and although they have helped me a little bit, they seem a little “off” and i dont really know what criteria they are grading the schools on.

I just wanted to see the opinions of ppl on CC.

i am especially curious on schools like northeastern, clemson, and auburn

Well, if you just want to have fun there is always Hawaii.

@JBSeattle cant tell if this is sarcasm or not.

I am very hardworking student (ha not a genius by any means, im one of the dumbest people I know)

but I just want a school that has a very nice lifestyle, im not a slacker

Miami, Tulane (New Orleans), UNC, Michigan, UT Austin, University of Washington (great campus a few light rail stops from downtown Seattle), College of Charleston, Vanderbilt (a few miles up the road from main downtown strip), Occidental and USC (LA), NYU (in Greenwich Village), Amsterdam University College (an elite LAC affiliated with University of Amsterdam, classes in English)

I would add Miami of Ohio is also generally considered a happy school. St. Olaf too.

I think where you will probably see more stress is within your pre-med track. Because med schools require such high GPAs for admission, it can create more angst for undergrads.

@TTG Thanks sm!!

@momofsenior1 yeah i totally agree with you, im not expecting premed to be an easy cakewalk, i just want to leave my stress and hardwork in the classroom and not let it follow me through my social life (like jhop i think)
and relationships if you get what I mean.

UC Santa Barbara! They’re top 10 for happiest students, and you can’t beat the beach location. Very vibrant and fun college town. Absolutely loved my time there!

There are Princeton Review happiness rankings as mentioned earlier. Niche also has some summarized responses.

Percentage of alumni giving back may be a post-graduation indicator. LACs often rank quite high along with schools like Princeton and Dartmouth, so I’m not sure athletics is the best indicator. If I recall correctly, W&M is also ranked tops in this category among national public schools.

But I think fit is probably going to be a better indicator than a general survey. One person’s perfect place is not necessarily going to be the same for someone else.

Regarding grade deflation, that is pretty much a myth. Grades have been going up for 50 years and show no signs of stopping. For the most part, the top ranked schools have higher average GPAs. See http://www.gradeinflation.com/ Just a note, though, pre-med is often difficult everywhere due to the suggested curriculum.

@BayAreaRecruiter thanks a lot for your feedback, I always really appreciate personal anecdotes!

@IzzoOne yeah i completely agree that fit is different for every person, im really busy right now and cant really take tours but ill do them soon. and i also agree that premed is inherently challenging but would strongly argue that different colleges may have easier classes due to level of competition and curves etc, tbh i never bought the idea that premed is exactly the same everywhere, an organic chemistry final will almost definitely be easier (not easy but easier) at Clemson, Alabama, or LSU than at Harvard, Yale, Uva, Georgetown etc

@Student1928 Was happy to comment…sounds like we were looking for similar environments coming out of high school. I started at USC (LA) before transferring to UCSB and found UCSB to have every bit of school spirit (their soccer games sell out and are crazy fun), but a much more relaxed and collaborative student body. Living in a completely walkable college town was amazing. There was always something going on! Best of luck to you! I know California (UCSB) is a bit far and tough to tour at the moment, but hopefully there are You Tube videos to give you a feel for the environment. Cheers!

Yale and Rice consistently score highest in happy student scores. USC and Tulane are known for school spirit, which often means happy students.

Are you affected by weather and seasonal changes? If so, someplace sunny and warm might be appealing.

@LoveTheBard i am more accustomed with living on the east coast with less tolerance for warmer southern weather

Then I would base your choice both on the types of school-based activities that make you happy (e.g., importance of sports, Greek life, party scene), size of school (big school versus small school), location (urban, suburban, rural), and what you like to do outside of school, how you like to spend your weekends (listening to music, hiking).