Oberlin. Any college that has a dorm where the students can speak Klingon at the dinner table qualifies as quirky IMO.
In Ohio, Oberlin is the one that comes to mind. Someone said Denison, and while a nice school, it is a bit more conservative than Vassar or Brown (I guess most are); just doesn’t seem to be a good fit; perhaps not liberal or quirky enough; great school though. Kenyon College and the College of Wooster in Ohio would also be other good choices.
I know CO wasn’t one of your states, but someone said Colorado College, and I would agree there…also they give very good aid based on need. I would consider that a great safety school if your daughter’s target is Brown or Vassar…still not easy, but easier to get into than Brown or Vassar. Colorado College is the very definition of “hip”.
Elizabethtown College in PA might fit the bill, especially as an easier one to get into.
Warren Wilson College in NC would be another one that comes to mind as being “hip”.
Other good colleges that I would consider to be a step down from Brown/Vassar but aren’t all in the states you mentioned:
Connecticut College
Gettysburg College
Davidson College (perhaps on par with Vassar as far as difficulty getting in)
Dickinson College
Centre College
Rhodes College
Sarah Lawrence College
Good luck!
@greeninohio, I think she has to see Oberlin. I thought Denison might be worth seeing because it is that much bigger, so maybe more opportunities come graduation. I admit that all the small LACs worry me a little, do the kids get jobs when they graduate? I myself am from the West coast, not much LAC tradition there, and I ended up moving abroad for half my life, so as a parent delving back into this world, I feel out of touch in some ways. @stepay, thanks, she will investigate some you mentioned. Connecticut College is off her list, it didn’t interest her at all. Nothing she could put her finger on. Sarah Lwrence is 30 minutes from us, so she has nixed that, plus too many girls. How about any universities that are maybe smaller and not too preppy/sporty? Tough one. Thanks all, any ideas welcome.
@Lindagaf - As long as your daughter doesn’t get a degree in something that typically doesn’t equal job offers, an LAC is in no way a hindrance. I went to an LAC and have been employed since day 1! My wife went to an LAC (same one as me) and she’s a college professor. My brother went to an LAC and he went on to get a Ph.D. and a law degree, and he’s a drug patent attorney making gobs of money, and my sister went to…Oberlin! She loved it there and then got a Masters in Neurobiology and worked until she had children and now is a stay-at-home-mom. Every single person I went to college with that I know well either has a job (I’m 48) or is staying home with children for a short while and DID have a job before that. A few doctors, some nurses, teachers, business people, a professional piano player, couple of professors, some business owners, computer people, journalists, sports medicine. Have to apply yourself in college and then do well in job interviews, but and LAC won’t hold her back.
I understand your daughter’s reason to not want to go to school so close to home. If Denison is of interest, you should look at it. It’s a beautiful HILLY campus in a very nice little town. LOTS of jocks there though…if that matters to you (you mentioned wanting ones that aren’t so sporty).
Denison is not bigger than any of these other LACs - only has 2,200 students I believe. Oberlin in fact may be bigger.
In terms of jobs upon graduation my feeling is it will depend a lot on the student - someone who has had internships and takes advantage of career office and networking can do fine from a LAC just the same as an arts and sciences major from a larger university. If she isn’t going to major in something like business or engineering or STEM, the career path may not be as straightforward no matter what size university she attend.
Mid-size universities - University of Rochester, Emory University, Washington University in St. Louis, American University, Case Western Reserve University (known for eng and STEM but actually strong in other fields as well), Ithaca College, Carnegie Mellon University, Vanderbilt, Lehigh, Wake Forest.
Some of these may be more STEM focused that you want and probably as or nearly as selective as Tufts. And perhaps not the right quirky vibe.
What about DePaul in Chicago - it’s Jesuit but I don’t believe the religious requirements, etc. shouldn’t be too onerous. She would probably get good merit there if her stats are as you say.
I think many of these have been mentioned, but I’d take a look at Oberlin, Grinnell, Colorado, and Whitman.
Good suggestions @momofzag - WASHU is definitely very hard to get into; Vanderbilt too. The other ones a bit easier.
It’s the “hip” factor that is a little tough to define. Although we were impressed by Denison, I’m not sure it is hip, and it is at the very bottom of your 2k to 6k size range. Maybe CMU is up there (Andy Warhol went there, and they have those cool buggy races through Schenley Park). Vanderbilt, because Nashville is a great city. Lived in Cleveland for 3 years and really liked the University Circle area around CWRU. I guess those are 3 that might come close to hip.
If she’s open to traveling a little further afield, look at New College of Florida, also. I didn’t check to see whether you had already included Hampshire. Considering the colleges on her list, your daughter could include Guilford or Eckerd as safeties if she’s willing to go south. I’ve heard good things about St. Mary’s on Eastern Shore of Maryland, also.
Many thanks to all of you. We will check out more of these suggestions. My husband is British, they have no concept of a Lib Arts education there, and he needs a lot of convincing that LACs are as good or better than many universities. I am going to have him read this.
Off topic, but the reason she is not choosing the route of UK study ( except thinking a little about Scotland, which has some flexibility) is that their system is very restrictive. You declare your major immediately, and if you change, tough luck, start over. Great if you know, at age 17, what you want to do with your life, but pretty poor for the kids who are still finding their path.
Is CMU Carnegie Mellon?
S liked Muhlenberg and Gettysburg, but decided they were too small for him. But they might fit your criteria (though they are probably more safeties for your D as they are less selective than the likes of Vanderbilt or Oberlin).
CMU is indeed Carnegie Mellon. Great school in a great city.
You can tell your husband that Emma Watson went to Brown, and David Bowie’s son Duncan Jones, the film director, graduated from the College of Wooster. They’ve both done well!
I was interested in the same thing when I was applying to schools. Given what you mentioned, I would suggest you check out the College of William and Mary, not that far away if you are also considering virginia schools. The students I would describe as quirky, smart, down to earth, and friendly. A simple look at the website or admissions material suggests that the administration is much the same way. It’s self-described as a “liberal arts university” which basically means it is a medium sized school that believes in liberal arts exploration and interdisciplinary learning with the research and resources of a larger university.
Most students don’t declare majors until their second year and class sizes are very small. The largest intro classes are around 100 students, the smallest intro classes around 20. Most of my classes as a first year student next semester are under 35 students. I definitely recommend visiting. I disagree with MidwestDad3 that comparing famous alumni is necessarily an indicator of the quality of the school, as they rarely represent the average student, but W&M has it’s own (Jefferson, John Marshall, John Stewart, ect)
Good luck with your search. I recommend doing your own research on some of these schools as some of these, William and Mary included, aren’t necessarily true safeties but they may be worth checking out depending on your daughter’s interests.
Maryland
Goucher
St. Mary’s College of MD (public honors college, much lower sticker price than the others)
St. John’s College (a “Great Books” college with < 500 undergraduates)
Pennsylvania
Bryn Mawr (women only)
Gettysburg
Dickinson
Juniata
Muhlenberg
(maybe F&M, Bucknell, Lehigh, and Lafayette too)
Virginia
University of Richmond
Ohio
Oberlin
Kenyon
College of Wooster
Denison
(Nothing in DE or DC AFAIK)
In my opinion, the ones that best meet the OP’s criteria include Goucher, St. Mary’s College MD, Kenyon, Bryn Mawr, and Oberlin. Oberlin may be the best fit of all, although it is more selective than most of the others. If you don’t qualify for much FA but may need a lower sticker price, check out St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
Oberlin seems to be a gateway to working for NPR. My son is more of a STEM person, so Oberlin didn’t really move the needle when we visited. The prospect of not showering for a week during spring in northern Ohio so the dorm could win some sort of water conservation competition was probably the last straw. I told him he could study engineering and go to school with a bunch of snooty East Coast liberals easily enough by attending Michigan (just kidding).
To be fair, Emma Watson was doing well before she ever stepped onto the Brown campus… I don’t really think Brown gets the credit there. And while I personally think St. Mary’s College of MD is hidden gem, I just don’t see it as having a hipster vibe. More “summer campy” and a bit “jockish”, although also full of good students as Maryland’s honor college.
But regarding jobs, my D1 graduated from Dickinson right into the teeth of the recession. She AND all of her classmates/friends have jobs (and all but one that I can think of had jobs reasonably quickly, and that one wanted to work in an industry that is very difficult to break into – which she eventually did). My D had very good internship and study abroad experiences, and got a great job that really used her writing and research skills in the city she wanted to live in. She has moved up rapidly at her company (now managing 25 people at the age of 25). Her boyfriend from college works for one of the big consulting firms. She also has friends from Dickinson who have jobs with publishing companies, non-profits, teaching, politics, and some that have gone on to grad school after working for a couple of years.
@Lindagaf: That’s hilarious, because the Oxbridge tutorial system is more approximated by some LACs than by any regular American research university (besides Ohio University’s Honors Tutorial College).
I have a son at brown and another at tufts, both of whom were looking for a vibe similar to what your daughter seeks. First kid loved uchicago. Even though it has a core, he loves the humanities as much as STEM. He felt the student bodies were similar. Had a hard time turning it down for brown. Both boys applied to jhu, tho neither were really crazy about vibe, but they both liked the size & location. Second son loved Carleton but not as crazy about Mac…I liked them both a lot. Definitely worth checking out. Also, both really liked the residential college at umichigan. You can make a large uni small but not the other way round, unless the school is part of a consortium. Amherst also has an open curriculum, but it was too remote for my kids. Both really liked washu. Their safety school was UPitt, which we all think is a gem of a school. So underrated here. Beautiful urban campus, great research opportunities. Wonderful honors college. And if she has the stats for brown, she’ll probably get some merit $. Second son applied to USC, which I know is larger than your daughter is seeking, but if she has strong stats, she may win significant merit $. Second son also liked skidmore, but didn’t apply bc decided he wanted more urban schools. I think it’s lovely & the kids we heard speak were impressive. So many excellent choices! Good luck!
@purpletitan, my husband was not so fortunate as to go to Oxbridge. I know about the tutorial system at Oxbridge. I am talking about the fact that at about age 15, studetns effectively decide what they will study in college, then spend their remaining secondary school years studying for A levels in a couple of subjects, which if they don’t do well on, means they can almost kiss all their hard work goodbye. Not so hilarious then. If you switch majors, you almost have to start from scratch. My comment has nothing to do with British teaching styles, but rwther the restrictive system that ropes kids into declaring a major at a very young age. I lived in the UK for 20 years and know a little something about how their system works. They don’t give two,hoots about ECs, unless relevant to your major, and you only study components of your major. Example, my husband studied maths. However, he knows absolutely nothing about biology or literature, for example, because he had no opportunity to study those subjects except at a rudimentary level, before he was 15 or so. The benefit of the British system is that you finish your degree in three years. In fact, many UK universities are reluctant to take US students, as often they are not prepared for,the more intense level at which a first year college student is expected to be prepared in the UK. the Scottish uni’s are a little different.
Very off topic now, again thanks to all for helpful suggestions.
Major and internships are far more important to getting that first job post college than the size of the school–to say nothing of of the job the kid wants to get. One nice thing about Oberlin is the January term which allows you to go out and explore the “real world.” Smith also has a January term and I’m sure others do to.