<p>I think your daughter needs to widen her geographic scope if the atmosphere you say she wants is actually important to her. I second the suggestion of Wesleyan (not far from Boston - prob 2 hours or so) or Oberlin.</p>
<p>Emerson would indeed be Boston collegiate hipsterville, but be aware that it’s a college dedicated exclusively to the study of Communications and the Performing Arts.</p>
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<p>Yup. I third.</p>
<p>Quotes from the OP:
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<p>I’m confused. Waltham (Brandeis) is a lot closer to Boston than Worcester is. D is a second-year at Brandeis and goes into Boston or Cambridge regularly - there is a commuter train stop just off campus. (She also liked Clark a lot, Worcester notwithstanding, but wanted to be closer to Boston.)</p>
<p>Also agree that her constraints (hipster plus Boston) might be just a bit too narrow!</p>
<p>I know-- Brandeis is closer than Clark. The suburban-ness of Brandeis kind of bothered her. We haven’t visited Clark yet, and I suspect the distance from Boston will be a turn-off. </p>
<p>D is definitely an activist type so hearing what is being said about NU is disheartening :(</p>
<p>Thanks for all your comments!</p>
<p>Something to keep in mind - with 3,000 colleges and universities in the U.S., you’d think there’d be one perfect fit. There never is. When you make your list of desired features, you ALWAYS need to compromise on some of them. My S wants a top-ranked university with an outstanding marching band that has generous merit aid or unusual aid for middle-class applicants. Oops . . . those circles don’t overlap on the Venn diagram.</p>
<p>good point gadad. D1 wanted a small-medium size school in or near a major city with Jewish studies major. it made for a very short list, but Brandeis is perfect for her. D2 (HS class of '12) wants “a hippie school in a warm climate”! so far her list has one school on it: Pitzer 
much to my delight she is beginning to relax the warm weather constraint, which will widen the field considerably.</p>
<p>What about Wesleyan as a reach school. Not in Boston, but nearby. </p>
<p>Whoops, guess I posted without reading others. I guess this is a 4th suggestion for Wesleyan.</p>
<p>I hear BU has a lot of hipster floating around. Really, though, your daughter will be able to find that kind of scene at any school in any big city just because of the huge variety of people attracted to cities.</p>
<p>Emerson, Tufts, Northeastern, Wentworth, one of the many art schools in the area.</p>
<p>"I hear BU has a lot of hipster floating around. Really, though, your daughter will be able to find that kind of scene at any school in any big city just because of the huge variety of people attracted to cities. "</p>
<p>BU also tends to be highly pre-professional with a mostly apolitical student body. More activists…but still a tiny minority that’s par for the course considering it is also a larger school than NEU. It is not that much different from NEU other than being more expensive, having a higher proportion of so-so students from wealthy families who attended college as a default option (a.k.a. Because the parents said so), larger campus, slightly more prestige, and a larger bureaucracy to boot. </p>
<p>Having been on that campus…I very much doubt she’d be happy on such a campus considering her interests in social activism. </p>
<p>If she wants to stay in Boston, Tufts, Emerson, Wellesley and Brandeis are the only seemingly viable schools which come closest to fitting the social environment she wants. Even then, they aren’t as good in this regard compared to schools like Brown, Wesleyan, Oberlin, Vassar, Smith, etc. </p>
<p>Moreover, Emerson is extremely narrow in its focus as another commenter has noted and has a reputation among some locals as being weak academically outside of the performing arts and communications.</p>
<p>Brandeis is not hipster either, unless you consider people aspiring to be lawyers and accountants as “hipsters.”</p>
<p>Not Emerson-- it’s a great place but has a narrow curriculum focused on pre-professional communications (theatre, film, journalism, speechwriting)-- it would not have the curriculum she wants. My D used to have Emerson on her list but dropped it for that reason. One of her best friends is there now and is transferring because there isn’t a broad enough liberal-arts curriculum.</p>
<p>If she is willing to be on a commuter line to Boston, I’d say Clark. My D just visited for the second time and loved it. Excellent psych, good all-around liberal arts, not preppy, a more eclectic mix of kids. Seems to be a fair amount of activism and volunteerism, and it’s definitely liberal. Worcester is a large city, and while it has its poverty and challenges, it has a lot going for it. My D is a city girl, so the “gritty” part of Worcester that scares so many suburbanites doesn’t faze her. </p>
<p>With your D’s stats, she’s very likely to get good merit aid at Clark. I’d give it serious consideration.</p>
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<p>Maybe Warren Wilson in NC or New College of Florida?</p>
<p>^^Thanks, gadad. Yes, both Warren Wilson and New College are on her list. I have my doubts about both, simply because they are so small, but if she continues to be interested, we’ll probably visit.</p>
<p>Given Clark’s excellence in psych-type fields and its left-leaning student body, it’s the obvious choice. </p>
<p>Surprised to hear people say BU is not a good choice…it used to have tons of leftist activist hipster types. </p>
<p>My brother got a B.A. in psych from Emerson a while ago, but it looks like that option has been discontinued.</p>
<p>What about Hampshire? Part of the 5 College Consortium. My daugher wanted a similar school and refused to look in New England so thankfully she had other choices. Agree w/Warren Wilson and Lewis and Clark is a must see!</p>
<p>Also, 18-year-old neo-hippies have a way of changing over four years of college. She may come out far more traditional than she goes in, or may turn out even more edgy. I wouldn’t restrict the list of potential colleges on the assumption that her current self-assessment of lifestyle and personality are permanent.</p>
<p>Surpised by how many people are throwing out non-Boston schools. Did those of you throwing out Wesleyan or Lewis and Clark even read the original post?</p>
<p>Yes! we are trying to encourage the neo-hippy to expand her mind!</p>