<p>maybe Bucknell? Good School - Engineering and Humanities. Involved professors - small classes. Beautiful Campus. Goes through the seasons. More conservative students than many East Coast LACs. Known for parties (lots of frats). Not really "save the world" types. Bigger than you want (3000?) but has small grad school.</p>
<p>"Rice is close, but doesn't have the snow season"</p>
<p>"I believe it's called 'Winter'.."</p>
<p>Actually, we DO have winter in Houston, it just doesn't snow.... ;)</p>
<p>
[quote]
CalTech....
[/quote]
The OP is looking for a LAC-like school with well-rounded students. Mudd fits the bill, but Caltech does not.</p>
<p>Students not only work hard, but also know how to have fun.
There isn't much time for fun and I've heard there aren't really many raging Caltech parties.</p>
<p>Strong in Engineering and Humanities.
The humanities aren't very strong.</p>
<p>Diverse community of students (academically speaking).
Most students are nerds. That is not academic diversity.</p>
<p>Sounds to me, your ideal college would be a very neutral school with no distinct characterization.</p>
<p>Perhaps small like an LAC,</p>
<p>but no specialized strength in a particular area (as engineering and humanities together cover just about everything), no particular structure in course requirments for a major, academic yet partying, intellectual yet preprofessional, both smart and not-so-smart students (academic diversity?), and no particular political preference of the student body.</p>
<p>I'm drawing a blank.</p>
<p>Wow, I never accepted so many answers. Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>
[quote]
both smart and not-so-smart students (academic diversity?), and no particular political preference of the student body.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Just to clarify when I meant academic diversity, I meant people with a wide variety of majors. Well I'd like to go to a school without an active liberal or conservative tilt.</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd comes closest. Swarthmore is also plausible, because unlike most small LAC's it has an Engineering Department. Can't think of anything else that's close. I'm afraid Swarthmore fails your political test. At Mudd you will get your wide variety of majors from the other Claremont Colleges.</p>
<p>Yeah, Mudd is definitely the best fit. You should visit.</p>
<p>I also thought Olin but it's a tad small.</p>
<p>You might want to take a look at the Colleges that Change Lives. You're going to take some considerable steps down in name recognition with some of these schools, but it seems like Loren Pope wrote his book with students like you in mind.</p>
<p><a href="http://ctcl.com/%5B/url%5D">http://ctcl.com/</a></p>
<p>
[quote]
I also thought Olin but it's a tad small.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No no no, small is good :D</p>
<p>
[quote]
You might want to take a look at the Colleges that Change Lives. You're going to take some considerable steps down in name recognition with some of these schools, but it seems like Loren Pope wrote his book with students like you in mind.</p>
<p><a href="http://ctcl.com/%5B/url%5D%5B/quote%5D">http://ctcl.com/
[/quote]
</a></p>
<p>Thanks unalove!</p>
<p>Rose-Hulman meets most of your criteria.</p>
<p>WOW! your list or preferences is almost exactly like mine...except I would prefer a bigger school in a more urban area :)</p>
<p>Prob in the south you'd find the politics more like that - in the Northeast its most 70% Liberal and 30% Conservative/Communist/Whatever</p>
<p>^ Well my issue is I don't an overly conservative or an overly liberal population as I'm not ideologically partisan.</p>
<p>
[quote]
WOW! your list or preferences is almost exactly like mine...except I would prefer a bigger school in a more urban area
[/quote]
</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>From the criteria you have drafted, Harvey Mudd is your school. The other citations do not reflect your list. </p>
<p>Having said this, most prospective applicants project desirable features without considering their personal strengths, weaknesses, character and personality traits, forseability, fit, and financial considerations. </p>
<p>Reassess yourself, compare the available data, and visit the campuses that most approach your profile. Student reviews and opinions may not necessarily be reflective of your specific interests and needs.</p>
<p>
[quote]
From the criteria you have drafted, Harvey Mudd is your school. The other citations do not reflect your list. </p>
<p>Having said this, most prospective applicants project desirable features without considering their personal strengths, weaknesses, character and personality traits, forseability, fit, and financial considerations. </p>
<p>Reassess yourself, compare the available data, and visit the campuses that most approach your profile. Student reviews and opinions may not necessarily be reflective of your specific interests and needs.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd must be doing something right! Thanks :)</p>
<p>You will like Harvey Mudd if you can get in. You might also think about which of your criteria you might be willing to give up in order to widen your net (in case you don't get into Mudd). For example, Dartmouth and Bucknell both meet the location criteria (rural, seasons) and breadth of academic strengths (including engineering), but don't have much research. Cornell meets the same criteria, has research, but is larger than you want and farther away from a major city. Rice meets the academic criteria and has some research, but is urban and has warmer weather. However, it's smaller than Bucknell. Lehigh and Lafayette both have engineering and 4 seasons, but are in small towns rather than rural. However, they are both closer to major cities than the others.</p>