<p>I definitely agree with the above people who have mentioned Johns Hopkins, especially for English. It's very laid-back, medium-sized (1200 per class) and in an urban center with a self-enclosed campus.</p>
<p>brown... the academics in a casual, freethinking environment.</p>
<p>i know cornell and brown pretty well. they are almost complete opposites but both great choices. for me, brown won out because of its personality, its location, and the option to craft your undergrad experience in a way that few schools allow you to. (plus its a nice size, so there is no loss of intimacy)</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the helpful advice, and if possible, keep it coming :)</p>
<p>I'm going to visit Brown in three weeks, and hopefully JHU along hte way!
And I've started to rethink Chicago (great advice unalova), but am still a little worried about the distance away from home :/</p>
<p>Social life in Cornell is wild? Cornell University? You sure you're not confusing it with Cornell college?</p>
<p>Lol JHU is hardly "laid back." Also Cornell's party scene isn't that strong. How about Rice? Residential colleges, strong LACy curriculum, more quiet party scene. Haverford, Brown, Columbia, and WashU are also worth considering.</p>
<p>For English, Hopkins is pretty laid back. That's a pretty far-out department.</p>
<p>Check out Penn: English department that's generally ranked in the top 10 nationally; one of the most beautiful urban campuses in the country; a great social scene; and a terrific city with lots of world-class culture, history, museums, parks, restaurants (e.g., over 200 sidewalk cafes within 1-2 miles of campus), and nightlife that are easily accessible.</p>
<p>And don't let anyone tell you that Penn is too "preprofessional"--the vast majority of undergrads are in the College of Arts and Sciences, which has several highly ranked liberal arts departments (including, as I said, English).</p>
<p>^ And also, Penn is just a few blocks away from Philly's 30th Street Station and Amtrak's Northeast rail system!</p>
<p>I don't know if Penn's location is the best for somebody who considers Ithaca "idyllic." One of my friends visited Penn (with it being his first choice) and promptly decided not to apply after one look at the surrounding area.</p>
<p>^ Perhaps, but thousands of others visit and DO apply (and attend!). True, it's nothing like Ithaca, but the OP also mentioned Yale and Chicago, whose settings are much more comparable to Penn's.</p>
<p>Hopkins writing program is ranked #2 nationally. Very interesting department and approach to teaching writing. As in every other department, students are held to a very high standard.</p>
<p>Tufts, Georgetown, Rice , William & Mary could be nice options for you.</p>
<p>With the exception of having to fly (or drive for a long time), Rice is just about right. The drinking/party scene is probably close to that of Cornell, but we don't have frats, so that whole culture is out. We're also in a huge "city" but with a very idyllic campus; the students are intellectual, but there isn't a core so you don't have to read Marx if you don't want to. Also, a great English department.
For a Northeastern version of Rice University, see the University of Rochester (which might act as a near safety for you).</p>
<p>I went to the University of Rochester and my child goes to the University of Chicago. Both are great schools. In fact, the dean at the U of Chicago had two of his children go to the U of Rochester. The University of Rochester has no core curriculum, so you can study pretty much whatever you want. The campus is really nice, with great facilities and academics, but Rochester is not much of a city. Nonetheless, I think Rochester is greatly underated. Chicago on the other hand is a fantastic city and the campus,academics and activities are fantastic, and the school is definitely not as intimidating as many have made it sound. In fact my child found it to be much less demanding than she expected in general. Also, there is a core curriculum at Chicago, but there are a lot of choices among the core courses and any reading of Marx, etc is not really that extensive if you don't want it to be. Take another look at both of these schools and see if in reality they would be good fits for you.</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>this is more or less true, from my experience. I have friends who are Yalies and start quivering when I mention I'm at Chicago.... "ISN'T THE WORKLOAD INTENSE???!!!!!???"</p>
<p>umm... maybe if you're used to slacking off all the time, it's intense, but you're at YALE. I'm sure our workloads are comparable!</p>
<p>Where I think the real intensity at Chicago lies is not in the classroom, but out of it. If I go to party, half the time I'll end up taking about "nerd stuff." There are kids who, having the choice to take a class reading Nietzsche or do something else (the academic equivalent of floating bath toys in Lake Michigan), will opt to take the Nietzsche course. In other words, the students themselves are pretty intense about what they do, but in a low-key, GPA-ignorant kind of way.</p>
<p>Have you looked at Colgate? Or Vassar? You don't really say where in the NE is close to home. But it's the NE.....swing a cat and you'll hit a great college with a wonderful English department.</p>
<p>Dreamer, Take a look at Williams. Idyllic rural campus like Cornell, excellent academics like Chicago (notably excellent in English), no Frats but plenty of socializing, politically balanced and three hours from NYC. I'd also suggest Hamilton, Middlebury and Bowdoin.</p>
<p>If this person does not enjoy the frat scene at Cornell, why on earth would they be interested in Colgate??? Williams may have a similar problem to a much lesser degree.</p>
<p>^^ Really? Williams? Does that apply to Amherst also?</p>
<p>Neither Williams nor Amherst has fraternities/sororties. At Williams just about everyone lives on campus all four years. I believe the same is true for Amherst, but I'm not sure.</p>