Haverford, Carleton, Grinnell, Colorado College, Whitman are some that come to mind with academic rigor but cooperative, friendly student bodies.
I don’t think of CMC as that laid back. Pretty pre-professional.
Thanks everyone! I’ll definitely look into many of these.
Rice would fit the bill. My daughter just finished her sophomore year there, and she finds the vibe to be very open and friendly. The residential college system provides a focus for social activities, while at the same time avoiding the elements of exclusiveness and status-hoarding that can mark Greek life.
Wash U is another school that combines top academics, a collaborative atmosphere, and a social life that does not revolve exclusively around fraternities and sororities.
One note: I think you would be well advised to fine-tune your conception of “laid back.” In the current cultural and political climate, campus activism–and the associated tendency to demand a degree of ideological conformity in the campus community–can become a source of stress, particularly for students who tend to be more conservative or who prefer a dialogic approach to exploring issues.
For example, the excellent Claremont Colleges (a consortium that includes CMC and Pomona, both of which have been recommended to you) are facing a brouhaha as a result of activist students’ complaints against a statement by the president of Pomona in which he mentioned in passing that a central goal of higher education should be to encourage pursuit of the truth; the students objected that the very notion of “truth” was an ideological ploy that serves to buttress the interests of “hegemonic forces,” etc., etc. Some students find such dogmatic certitude (more common, ironically, on the part of those who regard truth as a “social construct” and all values as relative) wearying and a source of anxiety. If you are such a person, then you should definitely factor in the ideological climate of a school into your equation for assessing its degree of “laid-backness.”
Hi @perspectivestude! A couple of years ago my daughter was on similar quest–to find an academically challenging school that was collaborative in nature and did not have a big Greek presence. We researched then visited a lot of schools, and she revisited several. The short list of the two most collaborative/academic schools: Brown and Pomona.
Best of luck on your college search.
Thanks!