<p>My son is a junior and just starting his college search. He is a bit of a nerd, socially awkward, very bright, "absent-minded professor" type. Outstanding writer, also loves science. Wants to continue to play violin in a college orchestra. Places like Brown, Oberlin, Carleton, Haverford, Kenyon seem like potential good matches. I know there are lots of fine schools. I'm wondering where he'll feel most comfortable socially and come into his own. Would he feel too out of place on the East coast, say at places like Vassar, Bard, Bowdoin?</p>
<p>you never know.
The East Coast is not some kind of monlith, where only one personality type can thrive.
On the other hand, particular LACs, whether on the East Coast or elsewhere, tend to differentiate themselves in part by appealing to different personailty types. To an extent.
Even in such cases though, it’s hard to say who your kid will become once he is there.</p>
<p>Offhand though, the midwest options don’'t sound too bad, I imagine you’ll check them all out. IIRC, Grinnell is about 4 hours from Overland Park, Carleton and Macalester 8 hours, Oberlin 13 hours. Then of course there’s Wash U (4 hours), the Chicago schools (10 hours) and all the state schools. Maybe Colorado College, we didn’t think of that one. Other than these, you’re not driving. Good luck getting to Maine from there by plane. Southwest used to have direct flights to Providence from KCI, that’s not bad as far as Brown is concerned, I’d consider some situation like that too. But when getting to the place becomes an ordeal, one has to ask whether this place is obviously so much better than the more local options. IMO.</p>
<p>Ps As Oberlin has a conservatory, he’d have to check out his chances with the non-majors orchestra. He might like it there regardless, music is all over the place there, and it seems to fit well in other respects.</p>
<p>My son sounds similar to yours. He is looking at Eckerd and Lewis and Clark because he loves the outdoors and big cities. Know any pros or cons to those?</p>
<p>Our daughter went to Carleton and loved it. Very quirky. A nerd or not would fit in. Very rural, cold and expensive, though.</p>
<p>I don’t know about other LACs, but I suspect many are like Rhodes where “nerdy chic” is certainly a fashion option if not a sub culture. Plus, if he comes to Memphis, we can disabuse him of any fantastic notions that Kansas City is the center of the barbeque universe. ;-)</p>
<p>Forgot about TN schools, there’s also Vanderbilt (8 hrs), but that’s pretty social, as a stereotype anyway.</p>
<p>We never considered Rhodes, but you must visit there though, so you can go to The Rendezvous and settle this barbeque issue once and for all.</p>
<p>If you’re from the Western side of the state though, the ease of driving to all these places will look a lot different.</p>
<p>SUNY Geneseo is a school to consider. It is a small public liberal arts college in NY with oustanding faculty, students and academic programs. Geneseo excels in the sciences! The price also helps…</p>
<p>[State</a> University of New York at Geneseo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_University_of_New_York_at_Geneseo]State”>State University of New York at Geneseo - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>The Today Show at Geneseo</p>
<p>[Today</a> Show Video Player](<a href=“http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/33043592#33043592]Today”>http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/33043592#33043592)</p>
<p>If you are looking at Oberlin and Kenyon I would add Denison and Wooster. Last summer these schools, along with OWU and Wittenberg, designed an “Ohio Six” tour where prospective students can visit any combination of the campuses within three days, they are doing it again in 2010 since it was so successful - GOOD LUCK!</p>
<p>Ohio Six
The Ohio Six College Tour
August 4th, 5th, & 6th, 2010
The Ohio Six College Tour offers prospective students and their families the opportunity to visit as many of these six schools in a convenient three day period. Each college or university will host programs beginning at 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Registration for this program will be available in the Spring of 2010. We look forward to having you on our campuses.</p>
<p>Lawrence in Appleton, Wisconsin. Very accepting and intellectual student body, beautiful little campus, like Oberlin has a conservatory and great musical opportunities for students, and excellent science programs. A Lawrence grad just won the Nobel prize for Chemistry. </p>
<p>Beloit, also in Wisconsin, would be another great match. No conservatory but they do have an orchestra, and their new science building is fantastic.</p>
<p>You might want to look into Swarthmore College, Bryn Mawr and Haverford. All are located in suburban Philadelphia area and share shuttle bus services with easy access to Philly Airport. Not sure whether you have same types of consortium choices like the Claremont McKenna/Pomona/Harvey Mudd schools, but your could research that part. Of the three, Swarthmore might be one to consider. Very good grad school placement rates. Music facilities and faculty looked worth a consideration.</p>
<p>Although not considered an LAC, I think you should look at Carnegie Mellon. My son sounds like yours. He was accepted at CMU. Although he did not attend, and attended another top LAC, I often think he would have fit better at CMU.</p>
<p>Seems like we’ve covered most of the map. Except the west coast (Claremont colleges, Reed, Whitman) and the Southeast (Davidson, William and Mary). Highest concentration of LACs is in New England & the mid-Atlantic; all the top schools there attract students from all over the country and beyond, including Midwestern nerds. Though it’s not really necessary to leave the Midwest to find a good LAC.</p>
<p>I was a Midwestern JOCK whose family moved to a Boston suburb in the middle of my sophomore year. So I had 2.5 years of exposure to the Northeast by the time I got to college (Boston College), and it was still brutal. I would STRONGLY STRONGLY recommend against your son going east of Western Pennsylvania. The New York/New Jersey crowd that infests just about every college in the northeast will eat your son for breakfast. I’d recommend Kenyon, Wittenburg, Lawrence (Wisconsin), Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan, Illinois Wesleyan, Kalamazoo, Hillsdale, Albion, Knox, Grinnell. NOT Macalaster, Oberlin, Bard, Vassar, or Carlton. Personal message me if you need more info. I know what I’m talking about.</p>
<p>Yeah, there’s a cultural difference, but speaking as a former midwestern nerd who attended one Big Ten and two Ivies in my day, it’s really not that big of a deal. Part of the fun for me was to get out of the cornfields and see something different. And what I found was that those big, bad, rude, pushy northeasterners really weren’t so bad after all. Likewise, I knew plenty of kids from the east who attended my Big Ten school and were pleasantly surprised that we midwesterners weren’t all a bunch of bumpkins and rubes.</p>
<p>Funny that you would recommend Grinnell for a midwestern nerd, but not Carleton. I’ve had extended visits to both and found their student bodies to be strikingly similar in just about every demographic you can think of. Both have a core of midwestern kids complimented by students from both coasts and beyond. Both draw considerably more students from public schools than from privates. Smart, engaged kids at both places. About the same balance of math/science vs. humanities. Lots of cross-applicants and cross-admits. If anything, I found the kids at Grinnell to be a bit edgier (a trait many associate with the NE) than the Carls, but not by much.</p>
<p>Nephew goes to Haverford…nerdy and socially awkward…feels right at home.</p>
<p>If the OP’s son is a violin-playing intellectual attracted to eastern LACs such as Haverford, Vassar, or Bowdoin, then selective Midwestern schools ought to be worth a look too. I’m not sure why someone would say to avoid Carleton, Oberlin and Macalester, which are three of the top 5 midwestern LACs in the USNWR hit parade (along with Grinnell and Colorado College).</p>
<p>While the NE is not monolithic, I would say that there is a large dose of preppiness there that your kid will have to cope with. And the bigger crowd of wealthy private school kids, who think vacationing in is Europe is the norm, may be more than your kid wants to deal with. And yes, the culture on the east coast is more aggressive and self-promoting, so possibly not the best fit. Haverford is probaby the best a match on the east coast, as WaitingDad suggested. Grinnell would be a close fit in the midwest, with excellent sciences and a very accepting student body when it comes to the quirky student whose social skills may not be as polished.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There are a lot of kind and friendly kids at the eastern LACs. I’m not sure what common factor that you see among Vassar, Bard and Bowdoin – the first two are similar, Bowdoin is quite different – but I see no reason that a quiet kid from the midwest wouldn’t do just fine at any of them. </p>
<p>I’d also take a look at Williams which has topnotch academics including the sciences and also one of the best non-conservatory music programs among LACs. The firstyear entry system by which a students live in group of 15-20 is also a plus for kids who are not socially outgoing.</p>
<p>I like the midwest schools – a lot – and Kenyon was high on my son’s list, but before your son eliminates a whole geographic area do some visiting; he may want to experience a different part of the country.</p>
<p>S sounds like a clone of yours except we are east coasters. He’s at Vassar and loves it. I also second looking at Swat, Haverford and Bard.</p>
<p>Lawrence, Oberlin, Illinois Wesleyan for the music. Knox, Denison for the writing.</p>