<p>If you are in SCS you can definitely find some nerds at Carnegie Mellon U. I find Uchicago and Cornell to be nerdy too.</p>
<p>Political science? Which area primarily? If you want to study international relations, make sure Georgetown is on your list. I have no idea if you could get in or not.</p>
<p>How close are Amherst and Williams to Swarthmore in nerdiness?
How does Bates compare? Middlebury?</p>
<p>atomicfusion--do you know anything about Case? or just spouting what you have heard? </p>
<p>As any urban campus, there's an area you know to stay away from. But right next door there is Little Italy, which is fun & ethnic, and downtown C'land has R & R Hall of Fame, lakefront, and more. </p>
<p>The airport on the other side of town is only a subway ride away (no transfer!)</p>
<p>And on campus, there are acappella groups, films, concerts (next door to Cleveland Inst. of Music & Severance Hall, home of C'land Symphony) the Art Museum, etc. And in October they have a Pumpkin Drop! ^^</p>
<p>That being said, if the OP has more of an interest in humanities/poli sci, Oberlin is another great Ohio school with a rep for quirky students.</p>
<p>
[quote]
atomicfusion--do you know anything about Case? or just spouting what you have heard?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, I live 10 miles from Case, I've been there around 6 times (plus other times for science olympiad and research), my Uncle's entire family went there, my good friends dad is a Professor there, I did research over the summer in the biomedical school, and I have around a dozen friends who currently go there. So I'd say I know quite a bit.</p>
<p>And I love Cleveland too. It has a lot of stuff going on including... the soon-to-be NBA champions. But, on campus Case is dead, ask anyone going there.</p>
<p>Then I'm sorry to hear your friends find it "cold, boring, and hard."</p>
<p>I know a lot of students who are having a great time there despite it being hard. The student body seems to be a self-selected group of fun-loving nerds. If there's nothing going on, they manufacture something.</p>
<p>Definitely Georgia Tech. Very nerdy.. and that's why I love it.</p>
<p>MIT, Cornell, UChicago, CalTech, Reed, Rochester, UC Berkley</p>
<p>The OP is looking for schools like UChicago. Therefore, Case is a fit; UChicago has all the same things atomicfusion is "complaining" about, except Case is more collaborative, less competitive. These other suggestions are also good: Swarthmore, Reed, Cornell, GaTech. I would add Columbia. I didn't see the OP state an interest in Political Scince, or tech schools.</p>
<p>i don't know if this question will help the OP, but how are smith, wellesley, and bryn mawr?</p>
<p>Jackson --</p>
<p>A previous poster suggested CMC, which I'll actually second, despite atomicfusion's disagreement. If you're interested in California and in poli-sci, then you may want to look into the Claremont schools in general (Pitzer, Scripps, and CMC judging by your interests and ACT). I don't know the test policies or medians off the top of my head, but I listed them from least to greatest selectivity: <a href="http://www.claremont.edu%5B/url%5D">www.claremont.edu</a></p>
<p>CMC, which is extremely focused on poli-sci, int'l relations, government, etc., has a reputation for being kind of split: half very non-nerd, half very nerd. Regardless, the immediate proximity of the other 4 schools makes it pretty easy to find a social group. The school might be a reach, and b/c of it's odd social dynamic (I totally and completely understand where atomicfusion's comment was coming from), I would spend a night before really being sold.</p>
<p>If you're female, Scripps has a less competitive admissions process but a much greater deal of "nerdiness," in my opinion. It was one of the factors that led me to attend. IR and bio are two of the most popular majors. Also, very active campus in terms of <em>events</em> but not parties. You can walk across the street for all the partying you want. It allows you the best of all worlds. Don't write it off as a women's college before looking more into the consortium.</p>
<p>Pitzer, same story as CMC in that I don't think it's the environment that you're looking for, but I do know a number of self-proclaimed nerdy types who've gone and loved it, often through finding their niches at other campuses. Least selective admissions process; test scores are optional.</p>
<p>The schools have location as well as availability of and strength in your interest areas going for them. I've personally found the environment I think you're looking for, but I really think it depends which of the Claremont colleges you end up at and how willing you are to involve yourself in consortium life. I would definitely advise you to look into the schools, but I wouldn't say off the top of my head that it's exactly what you're looking for.</p>
<p>The schools are expensive and you haven't said much about your stats, but you're probably not likely to receive merit aid at any of them (potentially excluding Pitzer...I don't know their basis for providing merit money, if they do so at all). Availability of need-based aid tends to very from school to school.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>