<p>I'm really trying to finish up my college list and my problem is that I don't think my list is long enough or very balanced.
Needs: First and foremost, I'm looking for a college with strong academics, with academics being what it is known for. Also, the student body has to be diverse and accepting of all lifestyles and cultures. I'm not looking for a sports school with 5,000 identical white frat boys who drink themselves dead every night. Other wants, but not needs, are:
-Urban/suburban location
-Small/no greek life
-Little or no core curriculum
-At least 50% liberal student body (if that makes sense)
-Guaranteed housing all four years
-Laid back, non-stuffy environment. Can be professional, but not condescending. To avoid inevitable conflict, I'm not going to list school names here, but you all know what I mean.
-Good humanities/social science departments (where my major will be)
Right now, these are the colleges that I am for sure going to apply to (I realize that some of these contradict with some of my wants listed above, but it's all about compromise):
*Brown
*Washington University in St. Louis
*Vassar
*Northwestern
*St. Louis University
What I need are more matches/safeties, I think. I'm considering Loyola in Chicago and UIUC, so if anyone could give insight into either of those I would be very grateful. Also, if anyone could please give some schools that match some or all of the criteria above, I would really appreciate it. I REALLY don't want to post my stats, as I'm not looking for "What my chances are?" at any of these schools, I'm just looking for other schools to, well, look into.
Thank you so much for anyone who reads this and replies. Any help would be great.
ParisKM</p>
<p>U of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, Case Western, Wesleyan, Oberlin, Grinnell, Bard</p>
<p>Throw in Rice as well.</p>
<p>Wesleyan, Grinnell. If you are a female, Smith.<br>
For slightly easier selectivity: Macalester, Skidmore.
Even easier selectivity: Goucher.</p>
<p>Paris, I am not sure Northwestern fits your criteria.</p>
<p>collegehelp, I would not call Carnegie Mellon, UChicago, or JHU "laid back." Agree with Oberlin & Bard.</p>
<p>I'm sorry, but it's hard to even estimate match schools without more information about your student profile. For a safety...look at your own instate public universities.</p>
<p>If you're female, Smith. Rochester also has no real core curriculum, but there is some (limited) Greek life there.</p>
<p>Amherst-- No Greek life as far as I know
Dartmouth-- Greek life is there, but they're not the preppy party school of the 90s anymore
Colgate-- but be wary of homogeny</p>
<p>Wash U has a lot of greek life. I spent my freshman year (last year) there before transferring. I was not a member of a sorority, but my roommate was, and about half of the kids in my dorm were affiliated with the greek system. What really suprised/annoyed me was that even being in the art school within Wash U, about half the kids in my art classes went greek too. That was not the kind of art school I was hoping for.</p>
<p>I think you should add Sarah Lawrence College to your list (that is where I am transferring to, and I am sooo excited!)</p>
<p>I'm not clear if you're interested in smaller schools, but Haverford, Swarthmore, Reed, Oberlin Earlham, Beloit, Carleton, Macalester, Grinnell, and Lewis & Clark match much of your description. The only one with Greeks on campus is Beloit and there they are a very, very small presence. Depending on your stats, Earlham, Beloit, and Lewis & Clark could be good safeties, some of the others matches.</p>
<p>Thank you for all of the feedback. I keep hearing Wesleyan, not just on this board but from others, so I really need to check it out. Any other suggestions or info on Loyola or UIUC?</p>
<p>
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The only one with Greeks on campus is Beloit and there they are a very, very small presence.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Swarthmore has two small fraternities. However, you would hard-pressed to find a school that is less "frat-boy" overall.</p>