Looking for the right LAC/small university

<p>I've gained some interest in LACs and small universities in general, and I've been looking at them through the Collegeboard website. But I'd also love to hear some recommendations/insight from our CC experts :)</p>

<p>My stats: 4.6 weighted, 2200 SAT, 5's on AP tests
California public school, Asian female</p>

<p>Very important to me:
- Great humanities department (specifically English, foreign language, and the arts)
- A lot of diversity and race/class interaction
- Near the West coast or East coast.. no middle region
- Friendly and quirky people
- More on the liberal side
- Good collegetown
- Coed</p>

<p>Important, but not necessary:
- Decent science department
- Greek system/good social scene
- Good dorms</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

<p>well, I'm only a junior in high school, but I'm looking for a college with many of the same features that you are. Some of the more promising ones I've come across are Bennington, Bard, and Marlboro. I know for a fact that Bennington and Bard are both really good with regards to humanities, and Bennington has a plan system that let's you design your studies. I've heard Bard is more academically rigorous, so if you're looking for science in particular, that might be something you'd want to look into. Reed is another school that might pique your interest; I probably won't go there, but it might be exactly what you're looking for. I've heard that Reed has strengths in science that you don't typically find at your average LAC. I don't know about their humanities, though.</p>

<p>With regards to location, Bard is in a small town in New York State, a few hours outside of New York City, I believe. Marlboro and Bennington are both in Vermont; Bennington is in a town called Bennington, and Marlboro is right outside of Brattleboro. Reed is in Portland, Oregon. I know Oregon is a wonderful town to live near, but I don't know about the other cities: they're all pretty small, but I'm sure they have their charm. It depends on what you prefer. </p>

<p>They're all very liberal politically, and they're all quite quirky; however, they're all liberal and quirky in different ways, so be sure to do your research so you know what to expect from each college. None of them have Greek, I don't think, but their social scenes are all pretty active. Bennington has themed parties, and Reed and Bard have a lot of organizations and groups. (I'm sorry to say that I don't know that much about Marlboro's student life.) They're all coed as well. With regards to dorms, Bennington has a house system, so you'd essentially live in a house with about 30 other students, and there's 18 houses. I also heard the campus is unbelievable beautiful, in case that's important to you.</p>

<p>They're all pretty small (Marlboro only has about 300 people), so if you want a large student population, these probably aren't what you want. Also, because they're on the small side, they're less likely to have a racially diverse population than, say, a larger state school. However, that doesn't mean these colleges don't welcome racial diversity; by going there, you would actually help increase the diversity. With your grades, you shouldn't have a problem getting into any of them.</p>

<p>All of this information is pretty scant; I would definitely follow up with information from other websites and people. I hope this helped get you started, though! Good luck with your college search.</p>

<p>If you want quirky and a good college town, sounds like Tufts (outside Boston) would be a good fit.</p>

<p>Barnard would be perfect.</p>

<p>lol barnard isn't coed</p>

<p>Thanks. Missed that.</p>

<p>For a woman, it sort of is. There is so much cross attendance between Columbia and Barnard the classroom experience is usually coed. The dorm experience isn't.</p>

<p>Wesleyan (CT) comes to mind.</p>

<p>Thank you, everyone!</p>

<p>Oh, I forgot about Hampshire College. It's in Massachusetts, and it's part of a consortium of five colleges with Smith, Mt. Holyoke, UMass, and Amherst, so you have the resources of five colleges available while only paying for one. It's very, very quirky and liberal, and I believe you get to design your own course of study there. It's also larger than some of the other colleges I suggested. I'd definitely look into Hampshire.</p>

<p>Hampshire is ranked much lower (104) than Amherst (1) or Williams (1) on US News & World Reports. With a 4.6 weighted, 2200 SAT you should be able to get in the top ten LACs.</p>

<p>Barnard might not technically be co-ed but the way the campus is sited across the street from Columbia, I would think you would feel like you are at a co-ed school in a single sex dorm so I wouldn't rule it out if you wouldn't mind being in a single sex dorm. If you've been there you would know if feels and looks like one big campus.</p>