<p>I have a pretty simple question..
Which schools keep students the most happy? I'm talking about day-to-day life on campus and within the locality of the college or university. Please no huge state schools that accept 80% of applicants. I'm aiming for more selective schools 40% acceptance or less.. Thanks!</p>
<p>The schools that I remember (that stood out to me) from the Princeton Review’s “Happiest Students” that are Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Brown, Stanford, Rice, Tufts, and Middlebury, I think.</p>
<p>This rating is going to be pretty subjective. Of course, students would be pretty happy at the college they selected…except for the ones who choose to transfer. What makes one student “happy” could completely make the next miserable…</p>
<p>Freshman retention would be a useful statistic to look at for this question.</p>
<p>It depends on what makes YOU happy.</p>
<p>Some kids are happy when they’re at a rah rah school.</p>
<p>Some are happy when they’re at a quiet school.</p>
<p>Some are happy when at a largely engineering school.</p>
<p>Some are happy at a more artsy school…or a more quirky school.</p>
<p>siliconvalleymom^^ Excellent point!</p>
<p>William & Mary always does well in these types of surveys. Kids are very happy there!!</p>
<p>Pomona’s freshman retention rate is amongst the highest in the nation, which correlates with its position on the PR list.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>[The</a> 100 Happiest Colleges - The Daily Beast](<a href=“The 100 Happiest Colleges”>The 100 Happiest Colleges)</p>
<p>The Daily Beast has an interesting survey. After reading the happiest schools, read the least happy- there are some overlapping schools. Which would support momofcollegekids is saying- it depends on what makes an individual happy. </p>
<p>Fun to read and it includes number of sunny days as well as freshman retention rates.</p>
<p>School is what you make of it. For private selective schools around the 40% range, I’d say Chapman University. Chapman keeps students quite happy. Think about it, the location, weather, size, facilities, faculties, academics, merit-aids, a friendly community, etc., are factored in. The parents I’ve spoken to who have kids there, all have said that their kids are very happy. As an example, to see how satisfy some of their students are, here’s a slideshow of one of their graduated programs this year.
[Chapman</a> University DPT Program: Class of 2011 Graduation Slideshow on Vimeo](<a href=“http://vimeo.com/24039953]Chapman”>Chapman University DPT Program: Class of 2011 Graduation Slideshow on Vimeo)</p>
<p>LAC’S like Holy Cross, Colgate, Bowdoin have high retention rates and great alumni networks. HC has nice campus 1 hour from Boston.</p>
<p>A nod to Carleton.</p>
<p>Voted most “Fun-Loving” school by Newsweek (let’s talk about rankings that matter) :)</p>
<p>Highest alumni giving rate of any school in the country, highest number of frisbees per capita, possibly highest number of pranks per capita. A place committed to educating students intent on learning how to morph a full size observatory into a mobile, talking R2D2.
[R2-D2</a> at Carleton College - YouTube](<a href=“R2-D2 at Carleton College - YouTube”>R2-D2 at Carleton College - YouTube)</p>
<p>Berkeley!! Berkeley!!! More Berkeley!!! Happiest hears of my life. Go Cal…</p>