I’m looking for independent hippie colleges/universities that are located in urban city like environments. Similar to The New School or NYU. Also places that have good liberal arts programs but still a good amount of students, like 3,000 to 10,000 students roughly.
I wouldn’t necessarily describe NYU as a “hippie” school (or even The New School for that matter). You need to be a tad more clear on what you mean by “hippie.” Do you mean artsy? Weed-friendly? Politically left-wing? Into an alternative or indie music scene?
You will find hippies at any school, but they may be more prevalent at LACs than at big universities.
Also, we need a bit more to go on (what are your stats?, where do you live?, etc.).
Does it have to be IN a city or is commutable distance to a city okay? (If the latter, Sarah Lawrence comes to mind…).
It’s probably smaller than you’re looking for and fairly intense academically, but Reed in Portland might be worth considering.
Also, not urban but not too far from LA with good transportation available, Pitzer. (It’s an LAC within a consortium)
Also, are you a woman? Would you consider a woman’s college?
I mostly meant artsy, free thinking, diverse, etc. I’m in Tennessee and am mostly looking for somewhere on sort of the eastern side of the US. I wanted to be in an environment that’s sort of immersed in lost of different kinds of people while still having good academics.
NYU sure doesn’t fit the bill, for me.
Reed, maybe, though it’s not that urban. Macalester, a little bit? So many LAC’s are in non urban environments.
Oberlin is in downtown Oberlin.
Again, probably smaller than you might like, but New College of Florida (a public honors college) is in Sarasota (hardly an urban metropolis, but there’s probably a decent amount going on.)
Most of the schools I can think of are either suburban (e.g., Sarah Lawrence, Bard, Skidmore) or rural (Bennington, Hamilton), or not on the east coast (Oberlin, Reed).
If you have Ivy League aspirations (and the stats to support it, Brown would probably be the hippiest pick of the lot)
Some of the women’s colleges are hippier than others.
West and a bit smaller colleges but might have the more “flexible learning paths” that you may like? University of Puget Sound? College of Idaho? Univ of Wi-Madison (big college in a liberal town). Evergreen?
Perhaps this older thread might help?
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/2007105-liberal-intellectual-hippie-colleges-that-change-lives-school.html
While not in a major urban area, Wesleyan University in Connecticut has several of the qualities that you are seeking.
Berkeley as long as we are dealing in tropes.
Macalaster? I think it’s in the Twin Cities and is a leftward LAC. I could be wrong…
Reed (Portland, OR).
Univ of Vermont is on the bigger side of what you are looking for.
UNC Asheville.
Agree that University of Vermont might be a good fit.
“Hippie schools” is not a meaningful concept. What are your academic stats? Students who are serious candidates for places like Oberlin, Wesleyan or Reed are unlikely to be seriously considering Evergreen or Warren Wilson College
Favorite hippie school is Haverford, although smaller than OP’s student population preference-but if you count Bryn Mawr, another hippie college with joint classes it’s close.
Located in the burgeoning metropolis of Haverford, short train ride to Philly, part of consortium with Swarthmore(yet another hippie college) and Penn(not so much).
Reed came to mind immediately.
SUNY New Paltz might be an affordable choice (even good rates for OOS students)
And I’ll give you a strange idea that may or may not be worth considering…Fordham - Lincoln Center. You wouldn’t think of a Jesuit school as “hippie” but that campus does house the theater and dance programs so will have a good mix of liberal minded people. The school is strong in the liberal arts but it does have a large core curriculum that you may not like.