I am a junior formally starting my college search, and I would would really appreciate some suggestions! I have already done some research and have a few schools in mind but I am curious to see what other people suggest.
Here are some things that I’m looking for:
-Liberal arts college, or a university that has a really big undergrad focus (small class sizes, no TAs, etc)
-Small but not too small (preferably 2000-5000 undergrads, but this is flexible)
-Not completely in the middle of nowhere; preferably in a nice town or near a big city
-Liberal, artsy, activisty, creative student body; less emphasis on things like sports/greek life (I’d prefer no greek life at all)
-A strong and diverse music department (I will probably double major in music and something social science related)
-Open curriculum or few curricular requirements
-Not too difficult or too much work to double major or major/minor
As far as academics go, I think I have a fairly average profile for CC. I go to a competitive NYC public high school and have around a 3.75 UW GPA (hoping to bring it up a little this year), and have taken hard classes. I haven’t taken the SATs yet, but based on practice tests I think I will probably be in the 2100-2300 range. I don’t of tons and tons of extracurriculars but they are all really meaningful and interesting and I devote a lot of time to each of them.
Cost is not a concern (I’ve talked to my parents already). Right now my favorite schools that I’ve looked at are Vassar and Wesleyan, but I’d love to hear about some others!
muhlenebrg college is designed just for you!
http://www.muhlenberg.edu/
I second Muhlenberg, Lawrence and St Olaf.
What about Hendrix?
Connecticut College, Bard, Skidmore
Thanks for all the suggestions so far!
One other thing that I probably should have mentioned is that I’m Jewish, so ideally I would be somewhere with a decent-sized Jewish community. Because of this, I’ve also been avoiding colleges with religious affiliations. I know that at some of them like Macalester the affiliation is only nominal (Muhlenberg seems this way too, and they also appear to have a pretty large Jewish population). But I am wary about schools like St. Olaf that have required theology classes and everything. It seems like an amazing school, but I’m worried I’d be one of the only jews there. @intparent or anyone else, do you know anything about this aspect of St. Olaf?
While theoretically there is a Presbyterian affiliation with Macalester, in reality I think it has no impact on daily life. There is a beautiful chapel on campus, but every time I have been to it, it has been for a political event or a speaker from off campus. A Jewish student would be quite comfortable there, I think, and a synagogue (possible the biggest one in St. Paul) is within a few blocks of the school on Summit Ave. I agree that St. Olaf does have an affiliation and some requirements for religion classes, and might be less comfortable. I don’t think Lawrence has a significant affiliation that I am aware of.
Tufts might be a good fit. It meets all your requirements as long as you are comfortable with the language/culture requirement.
Thanks again everyone for the replies! @wisteria100 , I love Bard and Skidmore! They are actually pretty high on my list already.
Any more suggestions?
Macalester was historically Presbyterian, but has no connection whatsoever currently to any Presbyterian denomination. During my son’s tour, the guide proudly stated that there were no faith symbols on campus other than within the chapel building where a cross was in the stonework “so they couldn’t get rid of it.” When looking at St. Olaf, do keep in mind that Carleton, about 1 mile away, has a significant Jewish community and Shabbat services are a fixture in the weekly campus calendar.