<p>I'm a UK student interested in the top American universities for undergraduate study and have some quite specific requirements on the type of institution I'd like to attend. I've researched fairly thoroughly but the things I'm looking for aren't really hard facts so I concluded it was best to ask on here.</p>
<p>I would like my college to be:</p>
<p>Non-religious but not a place where religious people feel excluded
Chilled out about gay people but not obsessed with "queer" events and "queer" societies
Prestigious and academically challenging
Mainly strong in humanities but reputable for sciences too
Somewhere where students are well cultured about the rest of the world, interested in foreign foods, films, art
Somewhere where students are not nationalistic
Somewhere where political beliefs of all variations can co-exist (but liberal ones prevail)
A place where students are genuine, not cheesy or overly energetic, but pleasant and contented
A place where people are witty, humorous, perhaps sometimes discreetly sarcastic (not dramatically so) but still friendly
An open, accepting, welcoming place that has no cliques or pathetic attitudes
Somewhere where students are treated like full adults…one thing that would drive me insane is being treated like a child, or a "college kid." - This is definitely one of the most important factors! </p>
<p>Many thanks for having the enormous amount of patience that was required to read through my list. Any thoughts, ideas or other suggestions will be thoroughly embraced! :)</p>
<p>Your criteria put me in mind of Yale (although it has a divinity school); it is a place where you can probably find what you are looking for in your listed criteria – well, maybe not necessarily “pleasant and contented”; and you’re going to find cliques and “pathetic attitudes” wherever you go. But Yale probably has most of what you’re looking for. </p>
<p>Getting admitted there, of course, is not going to be an easy thing.</p>
<p>@gandfalf78 I feel happy that you’ve recommended Yale because it’s my top choice at the moment! I just read somewhere that Yale students are “happy all the time.” I don’t want to make myself out to be a miserable young man here, by the way, I am cheerful and happy nearly all of the time, I just dislike disingenuous, superficial people. In other words, I like people to be happy if they are happy, sad if they are sad, emotional if they are emotional. I just like people to be themselves and not feel like they have to put on a front for others </p>
<p>Oh, and Yale’s Divinity School doesn’t bother me at all, I am a practising Catholic after all! (I just want to attend somewhere liberal and non-extreme). </p>
<p>My D did study abroad at Edinburgh - and loved it. So, in the interest of turnabout and fair play and all that, you should look at Northwestern, in Evanston IL, just outside Chicago, which checks all your boxes, IMHO. And yes, there is a nice lunch shop/deli @ 1/2 mile from North Campus serving up IrnBrew and Haggis. And if you play rugby at all, you would get a huge welcome from the local NU rugby club team. And the All Blacks vs USA Rugby just sold out the local NFL football team stadium over the weekend. Good luck. PM me if you have any specific questions.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean about “college kid”. That’s how adults call people between the ages of 18 and 23, roughly who are in college. It doesn’t mean “child”.
Yale and Vassar would probably fit you best, based on your description, plus Bowdoin and Middlebury perhaps depending on what your emphasize.</p>
<p>@nugraddad Sounds great - I’ll look into it! My school is really into rugby and I’ve always thought it looked fun but unfortunately I don’t have the build for it! :)</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 Well, the meaning of the word “kid” is the same as “child,” and regardless, the word “kid” has connotations of being child-like, immature, needing looked after, not being an adult. People between the ages of 18 and 23 are definitely adults. I wouldn’t want to be referred to in any other way! Yale and Vassar sound great - both are on my list already!</p>
<p>@keesh17 Thank you so much! This has been my top choice and your advice has only confirmed it further :D</p>
<p>Maybe in the UK? The word “kid” does connote youth, but here in the States, kids vote, start million-dollar companies, and volunteer to fight for (and do die for) their country.</p>
<p>So @Scottishbritish I’m British too, but English, so actually completely different…! </p>
<p>I think what you might find helpful is to research and evaluate the American Liberal Arts Colleges or LAC’s. </p>
<p>College/University here is completely different from the UK and from what you outline, and others have noted the Liberal Arts Colleges likely would fit your idea for college well, add in Yale, et al, so also look at Swarthmore, Williams, Bowdoin and Amherst first off and see if they fit your idea for college, they are very accepting of Intl students and some including Yale and Amherst do provide full financial aid need met for Intl students and a real plus and only a few others do that making it very affordable…</p>
<p>To my mind they do also check off your criteria rather well…good luck</p>
<p>You might want to check out the top Canadian universities too…Toronto and McGill both seem to fit your requirements, and unlike the others being mentioned here, you actually have a good chance of getting accepted at them.</p>
<p>@PurpleTitan Thanks for the insight into the use of the word! I imagined there was the same intent in saying “college kids” as “college children”!</p>
<p>@Englishman I visited some LACs (Colby and Trinity), but really preferred the atmosphere of bigger universities. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see any of the universities I wanted because I was on a trip with a strict itinerary, but Dartmouth and Harvard felt nicer to me although Dartmouth didn’t feel a great fit, I think because of the rural campus. Harvard was nice and I loved the suburb of Cambridge, but I don’t think I’ll apply because of their poor UG education.</p>
<p>@TopTier Interesting! Could you explain why? I was considering Duke at one point, but I heard that baseball games can really take over the campus sometimes. I also have some logistical issues with getting there from Scotland as it’d be quite a long journey so I probably wouldn’t be able to visit home as frequently as if I was at somewhere on the East Coast. Still open to information though! :)</p>
<p>@moooop Do McGill and Toronto use the common app, ACT, SAT subject tests and offer financial aid for UK applicants? Thank you! (Montreal seems a lovely city).</p>
<p>@Kualakoala Columbia was on my list, it seems very cultured, I just don’t know if I’d want to live in NYC, not that I’ve been before.</p>
<p>@Woandering Good intuition, I don’t want anywhere extreme on any side of the political spectrum. If there were loads of fiery activists, I wouldn’t like it that much! :P</p>
<p>@scottishbritish: You may understandably have some misinformation, including:
a) It’s basketball, not baseball, and it’s tremendously unifying and inspiriting – and great fun – for the broad Duke constituency (not just in residence on campus, but globally and of all ages).
b) Duke is on the East Coast, only about 150 miles from the Atlantic, which is about as close to the coast as Dartmouth and considerably closer than Cornell. In addition, and more relevant, there are many daily flights (American and British Air) from RDU (approximately a twenty minute drive from campus) to Heathrow and then to Edinburgh.</p>
<p>As to why, time does not permit me to reply fully, although I would be happy to respond to any specific questions. However, I respectfully suggest you consider the convergence of the superior academics of a top-ten National Research University, with a relentless pursuit of excellence in all arenas and things – Terry Sanford called this “outrageous ambition” – that has created a university with ascendancy matched by very few others throughout the last half-century. </p>
<p>I’m not sure where you heard that Harvard UG has poor education. Sure, their UG is overrated, but that doesn’t mean it’s poor or bad. It’s just not as good as everyone makes it out to be, but it’s still on the level of all the other Ivies and better than many other universities.</p>
<p>@Woandering I just think I’d prefer somewhere that’s better focused for undergraduate education! I understand Yale and Princeton would be better in this regard? </p>
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