“The bus ride from Beloit to Chicago (downtown) is 1.5 hours”"
…at 3:30 am!
From your list, the most hipster choices would be: Connecticut College, Evergreen, Reed, Skidmore, The New School, Vassar, perhaps Goucher, perhaps University of Washington–in my opinion.
To those I’d add Bard, Grinnell, Hampshire, Kenyon, Sarah Lawrence, UC Santa Cruz (totally!)–depending on your choice of study.
There are a few on your list I don’t know well enough to say.
Boston U, Brandeis, Fordham, Lafayette, Lehigh, Northeastern, Syracuse, and Trinity are not hipster-ish at all from my observations. Certainly good schools, where you may meet a few hipsters, but that’s not the dominant school atmosphere.
I agree with Ivygrad, except I think Boston U & Brandeis would be quite hipster friendly, even if they aren’t dominated by it.
Also, Emerson & Virginia Commonwealth are very urban & not self-contained
I’m not actually sure of my college gpa currently, because I was graded though evaluations. I have been in contact with my old college though and have asked them, because it could definitely be useful!
@IvyGrad09 Thanks! I’m okay with a school that isn’t predominately hipster-ish, but I would prefer at least a more artsy, liberal feel. I feel as though Bard, Kenyon, etc. would be great options if they weren’t so rural… That really deters me from those schools, unfortunately. Otherwise, yes, they are basically what I am looking for lol.
More questions, yikes. Is anyone able to comment on what the art programs are like at some of these schools? Particularly Brandeis, Clark and Willamette? Or is anyone able to recommend a medium-ish liberal arts school (or small uni with strong liberal arts) with good art programs, preferably rural or suburban?
Finally, any info or thoughts on these schools would be great! Thanks again. I think I probably should just pick some schools and be done with it by now but UGH
Muhlenburg
suny purchase
bu
brandeis
u minnesota duluth
whitman
SUNY Purchase is suburban, but near the small city of White Plains, and is clearly art, film, and dance literate. It was Nelson Rockefeller’s brainchild of a conservatory for the middle class. You’re only 30-40 minutes from Midtown.
Fordham of course is right there at Lincoln Center–couldn’t have a better location for music, theater or independent film; or in the Bronx on the Rose Hill campus, near the subway to midtown Manhattan. (They have a van to midtown too.)
Boston U is near Cambridge, plenty of museums and students; and Boston is such a nice city, big enough to be exciting, but not overwhelming. Terrific music, dance, and avant garde theater.
Brandeis has an active arts community. Last time I was there I saw an impressive art installation.
No idea about the rest.
How about UW-Madison? It’s big and it does have Greek life, but also everything else. It has good art programs. And you’d get tuition reciprocity, I think.
My D is at Willamette so I can speak to it a little. I will work off of your “wishlist” from your first post.
- "liberal colleges with a decent lgbt population": Willamette is consistently ranked one of the most liberal colleges in the country. My D lives on a co-ed dorm floor with gender neutral bathrooms. From what I can tell, LGBTQ students are well-integrated into the student body, but I can't speak to how large the LGBTQ population is.
- "more of a "hipster" vibe than frat/athletic feel": My D does wish the hipster vibe was stronger. She says students are generally very social justice oriented but not as environmental justice oriented as she would like.
- "in/or near a city but with more of a contained campus (bonus if it's near home - MN)": The campus is definitely self-contained and it is in downtown Salem, sandwiched between the large regional hospital on the South edge of campus, the Amtrak station on the West edge, the State Capitol on the North edge, and the downtown shops, hotel, and restaurants on the East edge. There's a decent size farmer's market, 3 parks, 2 of which are huge, and a small mall with a Nordstrom's. You can walk to all of this from campus. Also, the college's art museum, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, serves as the art museum for Salem and is the third largest art museum in Oregon.
- "very interested in psychology and arts (bonus if they offer graphic design)": Unfortunately, I don't know as much about studio art or graphic arts at Willamette but I have attended one of their drama programs and my D's roommate is heavily involved in music both on campus and in a community orchestra. Just from browsing Willamette's website, it does look like they offer studio art as well as arts, technology, and multimedia. Here is a link to photos and videos of their studios:
http://willamette.edu/cla/arts/studios/index.html
As for psychology at Willamette, it is their 4th most popular major. My D is taking Psychology of Sustainability next semester. I thought it was neat that they offer a class on that. - "medium-sized school is ideal": Willamette has about 2,000 undergrads but it does have a law school and a management grad. school so that increases the student body size a little.
- "option to live off campus or single dorm": You have to live on campus your first 2 years. However, they do offer single rooms as well as student apartments. You can choose a co-ed dorm floor like my D did, or you can choose a single sex dorm floor.
- "cost isn't much of a concern": Willamette offers generous merit aid.
Just a couple of other thoughts. Have you seen the art studios at Macalester? Out of all the liberal arts colleges we toured, I liked the art studios at Mac the best. However, Mac is pretty competitive and I do think it’s a reach for you. Someone mentioned UW-Madison - I have seen their art studios, too, and they are large and well equipped and Madison checks off a lot of your boxes: liberal, very LGBT friendly, etc. And as someone else said, as a MN resident, you would get in-state tuition. Finally, I find Beloit to be more artsy than Lawrence. Yes, Lawrence has a music conservatory, but for drama and studio art and overall “hipster vibe”, I would choose Beloit.
Looking at your short list from page 3… These are good options and i get a sense of the kind of student body and environment that would inspire you. You like and want something hipster and arty/quirky that’s in city or suburban setting, not too large but not too small. My input:
Macalester: Reach (but they do a wholsitic approach, so anyone has a shot) My S loved going there.
Lewis & Clark: Match (even safety). Lots of crossover applicants with Mac. Beautiful campus in capital of hipsterism
Whitman: Match. More remote in Walla Walla (city of 30k) but fabulous school with excellent profs; not as hipsterish as other schools, but down to earth engaged students. Test optional.
Beloit: Match; easier to get into than Mac
Clark: Match; Worcester isn’t too bad, easy bus to Boston.
UPS: Match (maybe safety). Cool little school in Tacoma, which is in an arts renaissance with a fabulous Glass museum and art museum
State Unis:
UVM: Safety. Love Burlington.Smaller than other state unis.
UofO: Safety. Totally biased – love the Ducks! Eugene is hippie meets hipster, but U of O is NOT hipster; Jock culture.
Washington: Match, even low reach. Hard to get into. Gorgeous campus, excellent sciences. Seattle is awesome. Huge school (30k undergrad) and hard to get into some classes as frosh and soph for some majors.
Michigan: Reach. So large that there’s everything. What’s not to like about Zingermans Deli? It’s really HUGE.
Hope this helps!
“What’s not to like about Zingermans Deli?”
$20.00 for a sandwich might do it…