<p>Earlham and Wheaton are probably the two most prominent “hidden gems” in the Midwest. One’s religiosity (Wheaton’s) is stronger than the other’s, but both are extra-virgin-press academically.</p>
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<p>A couple of thoughts. Haverford is a cut below Swarthmore (and Williams) that you mentioned in post #236. He may have a pretty good chance at Haverford. He should visit any of the four listed in this quote before applying, they have pretty distinct ‘flavors’ that do not appeal to everyone.</p>
<p>I am not sure Wheaton, which is fairly conservative, is going to be a great fit for a kid who is passionate about the OP’s son’s causes.</p>
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<p>Seriously? When my son and I drove to Grinnell for a tour (i.e., we are from the midwest) every single person on our tour was from NY or NJ. Beloit and Lawrence also have a ton of kids from the coasts.</p>
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<p>I disagree with this too. Wheaton is not a school that most non-evangelical people would ever suggest. And no one would say Earlham has any “religiosity” at all.</p>
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<p>While Williams has topflight academics, it also has a heavy drinking culture according to Mini, a CC poster who is an alum and an alcohol/substance abuse researcher. While I’m not sure I’d classify Williams as a party school, I’d be concerned about sending my child there if there are serious concerns about alcohol experimentation or issues. </p>
<p>I’m sure the campus and student body at Lawrence are wonderful. I’m just saying as someone who lived near and knows the area well, that it’s very much a little Wisconsin city and not a sophisticated college town. Get away from campus, you’ll find a very different place and lots of people born and raised in Wisconsin (not a bad thing–some of my favorite people…) The people on the tours are from lots of different places, but the people who live in the area/town/many of the students are home-grown.</p>
<p>I don’t have the energy to look through all the posts, but Carnegie Mellon has a fairly low partying atmosphere. Kids are very focused and work quite hard.</p>
<p>However, he might not have many people to share in the camaraderie of, “How can I be happy if others in the world are suffering?” I would be very concerned about that, and I don’t know if I would want my child hanging out with others who encourage those thoughts. While some might think this is very admirable, I personally think this could be mental disease and depression. I had a close friend who suffered from this, and of course, we all personalize other people’s experiences to our own. But this was not a positive trait for her, she could never be happy.</p>
<p>She always felt guilty, always felt bad about how much money she made while others suffered in the world. It was a constant fight against depression. It wasn’t until she started taking medication, that she realized that most people feel kind of happy all the time, not constantly sad and depressed. I think there is a healthy level of compassion that people have (some more than others), but there is a destructive type that I would not wish on anyone, and would not want to encourage. What do you think?</p>
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<p>Williams does have several characteristics associated with higher drinking (see <a href=“http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/niaaacollegematerials/panel01/highrisk_05.aspx”>http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/niaaacollegematerials/panel01/highrisk_05.aspx</a> ):</p>
<ul>
<li>Not historically black.</li>
<li>Not women-only.</li>
<li>Residential (non-commuter) school.</li>
<li>Rural location.</li>
<li>Small size.</li>
<li>Northeast region.</li>
</ul>
<p>However, it has no fraternities or sororities.</p>
<p>Ethnic demographics as they related to alcohol consumption (see <a href=“http://www.samhsa.gov/data/nsduh/2k10nsduh/2k10results.htm#3.1.4”>http://www.samhsa.gov/data/nsduh/2k10nsduh/2k10results.htm#3.1.4</a> ) are 61.5% white and 19.9% black+Asian.</p>
<p>Students concerned about drinking should do more investigation of each individual college.</p>
<p>Hard to say, since most of these parties happen off campus.
However, some people have found that:
- Religious colleges
- Colleges with Zero alcohol tolerance on (ALL) students regardless of age,
- No Fraternity/Sorority presence, etc…
have been a bit safer than the rest.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>jaylynn, just speaking from my personal experience as a parent of a student currently at Grinnell, there are alot of sophisticated kids from all parts of the country who attend the school, including, yes: New York… Kids pick a place like Grinnell College for the campus community and culture, and often want to experience a different part of the country. My son likes the fact that when he walks down the street in town, strangers smile at him and say hello – we don’t get that very much here in the Northeast where we’re from! </p>
<p>These LACs bring so much activity onto campus to keep the students busy, and just speaking for Grinnell, I know the students run a concert organization, for example, which brings in a ton of bands that are on the cutting edge of today’s music. </p>
<p>What I found from our college tours and my firsthand experience with Grinnell is that these midwestern LACs are very special places: they combine the progressive culture of a college community with the niceness and unpretentiousness of the region. What we find at Grinnell, and i suspect that others are like this as well, is that the students take their work seriously, but don’t take themselves seriously (ie., aren’t full of themselves). That accepting, “come as you are” vibe is very much in evidence.</p>
<p>Plus, college towns generally offer a degree of sophistication just by virtue of the need to satisfy professors and students who live there that may set them apart from other communities more “typical” perhaps of the area. </p>
<p>Perhaps this is too much of a generalization but many schools that are remote locations are known as schools in which the culture revolves around drinking. To a certain extent any time you put a good deal of young people many who have never been away from home before and are unsupervised, guess what… they will party. However, many grow out of that fairly quickly and do find their own niche and their own group. For students who are work-study or just are able to find some work, sometimes those jobs on campus or off-campus involve working on Friday and Saturday night, cutting down on their ability to party.</p>
<p>I cannot speak to the drinking culture at Williams which is a fine school and in a beautiful location. .but I do know that Williams is not a school in which there is merit money. There are lots of opportunities however for outside sports like hiking and skiing and canoeing.</p>
<p>Williamstown is really, really, really small. There are only about two tiny streets with shops and a few places to eat. We went to the Clark one day (I live only 40 minutes from W’town) and we couldn’t even find a place open to eat a late lunch. I can’t think of one other town with a college that is so small, except Kenyon. </p>
<p>Kids at every school drink/do drugs, but imo, drinking at the more elite schools, is pretty much confined to the weekends - because they have a lot of work that needs to get done during the week or else they will flunk out. Even on the weekends my kid will tell me he might go to a party, have a few beers then call it quits because he knows he has to be in the library all day on Sunday. </p>
<p>Also, a lot of kids on these campuses are involved in sports and aren’t even on campus for the weekend. I know my kid, who is on the sailing team, has to leave after classes on Friday and might not be back on campus until late Sunday. </p>
<p>As for NY/NE kids being at schools in the midwest.south,west - a lot of kids do go far away to school. Kids from NY/NE are much less likely to go to their state flagships - unlike kids in other parts of the country - so you will find kids from this area all over the place. </p>
<p>I’ve seen Oberlin mentioned in this thread. Is he also looking at Kenyon? </p>
<p>btw–If your son ends up interested in Skidmore, they offer a number of Filene’s Music scholarships (merit aid, no need). It requires an audition and is competitive for sure, but since many of the top musicians may end up accepting offers at conservatories and see Skidmore as a safety, I was told by the administrator of the award that the award is at times ultimately given to students who may not have originally come in as # 1 or #2. So if $ does become a concern, it is one of the few merit awards at the school.</p>
<p>“I’ve seen Oberlin mentioned in this thread. Is he also looking at Kenyon?”</p>
<p>I just brought up Kenyon in regards to being in a very tiny town. But - would be another good school for OP’s S to look at - though I don’t know anything about their music dept.</p>
<p>Skidmore a good one too - and Saratoga is lovely. </p>
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<p>My concerns with Kenyon would be that unless things have drastically changed, their campus culture may not be conducive to the OP’s S desire to be socially/politically involved in the activist sense. </p>
<p>While he’ll have great intellectual discussions there, my impression is the campus culture there’s more conventional, conservative, and apathetic in those areas than what he may be looking for. </p>
<p>I know lots of kids who have gone to Kenyon and I beg to differ. </p>
<p>This is a campus where the kids waited in line to vote for for over 10 hours in 2004. My niece was one of them. </p>
<p><a href=“Ohio campus recalls impact of poll lines - USATODAY.com”>http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/2007-12-29-1406312063_x.htm</a></p>
<p>Sample size of one but my older S’s best friend attends Kenyon and loves it. He’s always been politically active and really enjoys the political environment there. </p>
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<p>So this kid should go to a college where he doesn’t find friends who share his values and passion because you find it depressing? Sorry… I think that is ridiculous. I know many people who are quite happy with their lives, but have a deep concern about social justice and/or animal rights. </p>
<p>“So this kid should go to a college where he doesn’t find friends who share his values and passion because you find it depressing? Sorry… I think that is ridiculous. I know many people who are quite happy with their lives, but have a deep concern about social justice and/or animal rights.”</p>
<p>No, of course not. But maybe the question of whether this is depression or mental disease needs to be asked, instead of what is the perfect school for my kid. Some of the things the OP has said in this thread and others make me wonder about missing the big picture here. I hope this is merely expressing passion and values, but if causes misery and unhappiness in his life, this is no blessing. So I’m asking the question.</p>
<p>Sorry, I think your conservative bias is showing. This DOES tend to be a liberal cause (especially the social justice interest). This kid is not mentally ill.</p>