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The current percentages at Duke are 27% frat membership and 42% sorority membership. Those are pretty high numbers when viewed against similarly elite universities.
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Considering MIT has a whopping 48% in frats, I don't think that's particularly high. </p>
<p>theoneredhead, Davidson and Wake Forest sound like great matches for you. Check out their curriculum requirements before applying, however- Wake in particular has fairly strict requirements. I live 10 minutes from Davidson, and I can personally vouch for the campus life- it's amazing! Davidson is an awesome small town (very walkable), and college-town relations are great. Sometimes the women in the town make Davidson students cookies during exam week. :D Music and community service are very popular at Davidson. </p>
<p>Duke seems like a good fit, but it may be a bit big. Check out Vassar and Bard.</p>
<p>Might want to look at Holy Cross-near Boston- and Trinity in the safe school category beneath Williams and Amherst. Colgate in same category as HC and Trinity but Colgate's location is very rural.</p>
<p>I wouldn't call Wesleyan rural. It may <em>look</em> rural, but, two major highways intersect within a three block radius of campus and the traffic around campus almost never stops. </p>
<p>And yes, I agree with lolabelle. Both Wesleyan and Tufts have very manageable Greek scenes.</p>
<p>I mean there is a big difference between the greek scene at places like Dartmouth and other schools. The dartmouth scene is much more inclusive, all parties are open, and there isn't really any hazing. Its much less pervasive than the scenes at other, particularly southern, schools.</p>
<p>I didn't want a school with a large greek presence, but I am very very happy at Dartmouth. I do go out to frats, but mostly for dance parties, not just to hang out in a random basement. This fall (my sophomore year), I did join a sorority, because I found one that was the opposite of the sorority stereotype - the girls are really chill, theres no pressure to drink, it's very welcoming, etc.</p>
<p>Even though the percentage of greeks here is higher than at some other schools, the fact that you don't join until sophomore fall means that you have friends in various houses as well as friends who don't rush. </p>
<p>Definitely take a look. My list was pretty similar to yours, and I couldn't be more pleased with my choice.</p>
<p>My version of the perfect college. A University nesr a large city, comprhensive course offerings, graat faculty and facilities, with no tuition or fees.</p>
<p>Patriot League Schools-Holy Cross, Colgate and Bucknell. All have solid academics, admissions below Ivies and Amherst, Williams, but have great school spirit Div1 sports and in the case of Holy Cross and Colgate strong alumni networks-giving rates of 50%.</p>
<p>An observation on the "leaning Southeast" interest - it may be impossible to combine Southeast + not Greek-dominated + diversity. Davidson's a nice fit other than diversity and a tremendous place overall. If your interest in the Southeast is based more on weather than culture, Duke, Emory, and Miami are in the South but not necessarily of the South.</p>
<p>Redhead, My son looked at Yale, Wesleyan and Swarthmore and ended up at Williams. Other schools that Id suggest in the same ambience are Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Hamilton and Kenyon. </p>
<p>Since Williams is the one Im most familiar with Ill comment on your wishlist:
Size in the range
Location Northeast
Prestigious as prestigious as you can get in the LAC category
Politics reasonably middle-ground. The faculty are mainly left-leaning. The students more of a balance between conservative and liberal
Campus a New England village surrounded by profoundly beautiful scenery
Social life very extroverted, but not Greek
Diverse rural LACs are unlikely to be highly diverse but Williams has a comparatively good mix
Curriculum distribution requirements but not especially demanding. Many double major. Experimentation is encouraged
Programs of interest strong in all</p>
<p>We are looking at W&M for DS. Not too sure how prevalent frats/sororities are, since he totally doesn't care, but the campus is beautiful, the academics are solid, and EVERYONE we met there absolutely loved it. There isn't much to do outside the campus, so that might fit the "rural" criterion. And it's definitely southeast. Might be worth a look; it was the first school that came to mind when I read your list.</p>