Most laid-back public schools

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm looking for public colleges that attract a laid-back student body - i.e. students are not overly-obsessed with grades and participate in intramural sports and other clubs. Also, I want public schools with a good economics department. I'm looking to apply to about 2-3 public schools (I'm an international student) that are also accommodating to internationals and are not commuter schools. The public schools I'm considering are:</p>

<p>UNC-Chapel Hill
UVa
UCLA
UCSB
UT - Austin</p>

<p>I also have a few questions about public colleges.
-How easy is it for an international to gain admission to a public college? Would they favor students from under-represented nations?
-Does it feel like Grade 13 given the amount of in-state students who might possibly already have a group of friends there?
-How accessible are the professors, given the size of some of the above state schools (e.g. UT-Austin)</p>

<p>Apart from these public schools I will also be applying to:</p>

<p>Claremont McKenna College
Rice University
Stanford University
Vanderbilt University
Wake Forest University (possibly)</p>

2

<p>UCSB is a great choice.</p>

3

<p>University of Michigan - Ann Arbor</p>

4

<p>CU-Boulder?</p>

5

<p>Wisconsin-Madison. UVa has a crap econ dept.</p>

6

<p>

Wow, really? I thought their undergraduate econ dept. was great.</p>

7

<p>Seriously? Is UVa’s econ dept bad?</p>

8

<p>A few years ago they lost most of their top people and they were not replaced with similar quality. There was an article about but I don’t have a copy anymore. Currently US News has it 28th which is OK but not good.</p>

9

<p>Northern Virginia Community College</p>

10

<p>I wouldn’t describe UNC and UVA as laid back.</p>

11

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<p>I would, at least for UNC (can’t speak for UVA). Students at UNC certainly know how to have a good time.</p>

12

<p>Miami University in Ohio or even Ohio University–relaxed campuses with very good academics available for those who want them</p>

13

<p>I agree with Cuse; UNC is about as laidback as it gets. It also has an excellent business program, should you decide that’s a better program for your needs.</p>

<p>Since you have Wake, UVA, and UNC tentatively on your list, I would strongly recommend Duke as well. It has a larger international population (10%) than Rice (6.4%) or Vandy (3.4%) and is much stronger than both in economics.</p>

14

<p>Okay, U.Va can definitely not be considered. It actually annoys me seeing it on the list.
Look at list article that has so many post. It may be the most popular post in the U.Va forum.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/685562-fourth-year-student-found-guilty-lying-uva.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/685562-fourth-year-student-found-guilty-lying-uva.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

15

<p>it’s not on the OP’s list, but I think Penn State is the most laid back.<br>
almost too much so.
grades and academics come FARR behind partying.</p>

16

<p>Students at Clemson are very laid-back</p>