Looking for a semi small, semi dorky college?

<p>Hi, so I was wondering if anyone has a few college suggestions for me; I'm about to go on college visits, but I'm having trouble finding schools that I really like.</p>

<p>Here is what I'm looking for:
I'm looking for a small-medium college preferably not in the middle of nowhere. I would love to live in a city, but small urban areas or great college towns are okay too. I want it to be co-ed and preferably not huge with sororities. Sororities are okay and all, but I'd like them not to be super distinguished.
My dream school would be athletic, but not overwhelmingly athletic. I also don't want there to be a huge party scene. I am more of a dorky, hardworking person who occasionally goes to parties but not frequently. I don't want a super jocky, sorority-type, super party and drinking school, but I want the option to still be there. I want the students to be laidback but hardworking and nice. I don't want a super religious school, but mildly religious is fine.</p>

<p>My ACT right now is a 30, and my GPA is about a 3.8</p>

<p>some of the schools i'm looking at are:</p>

<p>rice
pomona
brandeis
boston college
tufts
georgetown
colgate
university of rochester
william and mary
middlebury
NYU
USC
williams
johns hopkins
pitzer
occidental
pitzer</p>

<p>I know I was super specific and I obviously am not going to find exactly what I'm looking for but if anyone has any suggestions or thinks that one on my list fits me well or just has something to add, please do! All help is appreciated
Thank you so much!</p>

<p>I was going to suggest Occidental, and see that it is on your list. Pitzer too. You didn’t mention your major. I think of Pitzer more for humanities and Pomona more for sciences but you should check them both out. They fit. Students at all three of these are very happy, bright, and laid back.</p>

<p>Take bc off your list. Big sports scene, heavy drinking, very prepy vibe</p>

<p>Preppy* :P</p>

<p>I’m surprised Wesleyan is not on your list. It’s host town is bigger than Williamstown or Middlebury and Joss Whedon’ s commencement address created a lot Buzz among certain circles last month:
[Whedon?s</a> Wesleyan University 2013 Commencement Address « Spinoff Online ? TV, Film, and Entertainment News Daily](<a href=“http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2013/05/28/joss-whedons-wesleyan-university-2013-commencement-address/]Whedon?s”>http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2013/05/28/joss-whedons-wesleyan-university-2013-commencement-address/)</p>

<p>Keep in mind your list is reach-heavy! Some of those schools are near impossible to gain admission…</p>

<p>Check out Hamline University in St Paul. Quirky, dorky, in a great city and might be a good match school for you. Nice theater scene as well.</p>

<p>Two schools to consider:</p>

<p>Macalester - A really neat school. Cool area. There are athletic teams but not a huge athletic culture. No greek life.</p>

<p>Tulane - not small but it is in a GREAT city. There is some greek life but it is not overwhelming. Division 1 sports but again not overwhelming.</p>

<p>I think Davidson College hits alot of what you are looking for.</p>

<p>Out of your list, I’d say William and Mary and URochester also have alot of your wants.</p>

<p>Boston College, Colgate, and USC have fairly large party scenes and aren’t “dorky”.</p>

<p>You really, really need some match schools in there. Except for Rochester, those are all reaches, many are reaches from almost everybody. 30 ACT/3.8 is good but it won’t get you noticed at any of these places. It’s great to aim high, but you should lay a foundation, also.</p>

<p>Yeah, I’d add a few places like Bard, Skidmore, Grinnell and Macalester to my list of matches or high matches and lower reaches. And try to get that score up to at least a 32.</p>

<p>I know plenty of ultra nerds that attend USC and love it. </p>

<p>By athletic do you mean DI sports or do you mean that intramurals are quite popular among the student body? Because that’s a huge difference.</p>

<p>If you’re looking for safety schools for admissions (not sure how much financial aid you need), many of the more prominent Pacific Northwest LACs like Willamette, Lewis & Clark, and University of Puget Sound fit your criteria. Though they all have very different vibes from one another, students frequently apply to all three. Other schools in the region you might want to consider include Gonzaga (no greek life but D1 sports) and Reed (don’t think there’s greek life but it’s certainly a dorky school). </p>

<p>Trinity (Tx) and Macalaster may also be matches.</p>

<p>Sorry but I have no experience since I’m looking for colleges too. you mentioned that you are hard working and still like athletics … I was going to suggest Davidson as well. I may be wrong but I think a lot of High GPA/SAT type schools are going to be dorky in their own special way. I’m planning on engineering as tmy foundation for a liberal arts education… but if I wasn’t trying to develop technicly, I would consider Davidson.</p>

<p>As a side note, Although I’m not a partier… I’ve been reading alot about different college communities and I’m finding out that Fraternitiess & Sororities at the elite schools are not 100% about the parties. it seems a lot of them are communities to pursue charity work and maintain a tighter network that may extend beyond the people that you meet in class. I don’t know if I’m the fraternity type… but after reading a lot of college background info…I’m not going to have bad thoughts towards them.
and of course some of them are purely social…but not all.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I was going to say the exact same thing.</p>

<p>I am sorry to say this but you need to extremely modify your list.</p>

<p>Research which schools match your stats.</p>

<p>Maybe St. Olaf? It is a bit less reachy than Carleton and is in the same town, so one visit to Northfield could cover them both. It is affliated with the Lutheran Church, but from all accounts I’ve read it should fit in the “mildly religious” category, not “super religious.”</p>

<p>Very reachy list. Nothing wrong with applying to a few reaches, but you need to add some schools with higher admit rates where your stats put you in the top half or top quartile of the entering class. Look at schools like Wheaton College (MA), College of Wooster, Willamette, Kalamazoo College, Lewis & Clark.</p>

<p>Also, I don’t think you’ve said anything about your financial situation. You need to find schools that are affordable as well. Check each school’s Net Price Calculator to get an idea of what you can expect your total cost of attendance to be, net of financial aid.</p>

<p>Lindenwood University in St. Louis area has a pretty heavy sports scene and almost no sororities. Every school has a party scene and not - That is just too hard to avoid.</p>

<p>Bard, Grinnell, and and especially Macalester aren’t necessarily match schools for this applicant, either. I’m mostly thinking about the ACT score. I’ve been looking at a lot of scattergrams recently . . . I recommend the OP doing that as well.</p>

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<p>Hamline would be a safety for this student. The OP has what I would consider some matches on the original list: Brandeis, Pitzer, Occidental, Colgate, U of Rochester. So applying to all of those plus a couple of reaches would probably be okay.</p>

<p>My son was interested in some of the same schools you are. He decided to attend Trinity University. His experience has been overwhelmingly positive. I think Carleton and Colby could interest you. What is your intended major?</p>