<p>Posting this on behalf of D as she doesn't have an account and says she is much too busy to make one... she is a studier! lol Anyway, she is a senior, very socialized homeschooler. I'm not going to include stats because really we have exhausted the research on where her safeties and reaches are, etc. We are basically just looking for input on "fit".
She wants to major in something that will allow her to eventually get a PhD in Pharmacognosy. So biochem, chemistry, botany, or something similar. She would also like to be someplace with a creative writing or library science degree in case she changes her mind, which she probably won't.
So she'd love a research school. She also picked some of these because the virtual tours or student videos and comments on traditions, etc seemed fun and quirky. She loves loves loves to study and learn. No parties and though she doesn't judge, she really doesn't want to be around people who would rather party than learn.
She is conservative, but more Libertarian, so very very very open-minded. Her motto is live and let live. She is very opinionated but she doesn't want to debate. She just wants to study. Did I mention she likes to study and learn? lol
So our list is long, sorry.... But anyone who wants to weigh in, we welcome information on how you think she'd like the following. </p>
<p>Hamilton College
Grinnell College
Knox College
Lawrence University
Vanderbilt
Eureka College
Centre College
Beloit College
Earlham College
Lafayette college
Hendrix College
Berea College
Rhodes College
Ursinus College
Sewanee
Franklin & Marshall
St. John's</p>
<p>No one has any input on any of these as far as 1. study/serious not drinking/partying 2. libertarian or at least not called names for being moderate/libertarian 3. chem/botany/other science ??? I hate to bump a post, but we truly would welcome input.</p>
<p>If the “St. John’s” on your list is the “Great Books” college, with branches in Annapolis and Santa Fe, then I think that conservatives and libertarians are certainly welcome. They are not known for their Science programs, however. The Catholic college in Queens, NY, is pretty apolitical, but probably not a match socially. Sewanee is known for conservatism. Earlham is Quaker, with a decidedly progressive tilt, but a moderate/libertarian shouldn’t be too uncomfortable there. I think that F & M is something of a party school (or at least people I know who went there don’t seem overly cerebral).Most of the small, liberal arts colleges on your list should be comfortable environments for your daughter. Vanderbilt is the outlier, but I’m presuming it’s her “reach” college. There is certainly an active Greek scene on campus, but it is also full of very serious students. She might get more individual attention, and have greater opportunities for independent projects, at the smaller colleges even if they lack Vanderbilt’s brand prestige. </p>
<p>As @woogzmama suggests, St. John’s College in Annapolis and Santa Fe is great for students who love to hit the books. For some reason I always think it is good for home schooled students.</p>
<p>Berea College is not especially good, and tuition is free but limited to low income students (typically from eastern Kentucky). I would scratch it off your list.</p>
<p>Well… there is a fair amount of partying at Kenyon. It is a great school for creative writing. One of my kids applied and was accepted, and I think it has the loveliest campus around. And it isn’t a super heavy party school – but it would be incorrect to say that it is THAT quiet and studious. </p>
<p>^I second Kenyon and based on your list of “fit” qualities, I thought I’d for sure see “Wooster”; Spelman may also work (women’s, HBCU, nerdy/quirky, lots of traditions).
What about Eckerd? Strong writing program (workshop led by Dennis Lehane and friends) and strong for biology.</p>
<p>Hamilton College - not really quirky, great for writing and science - check out Skidmore?
Grinnell College - intense but not sure about party scene
Knox College - good fit
Lawrence University - good fit but I’d add St Olaf for science & low partying, not quirky though (big on music)
Vanderbilt - outlier… probably too staid for a quirky/nerdy kid… how about Davidson for a moderate environment? not quirky either but superb for science.
Eureka College - ?
Centre College - partying may be a concern
Beloit College - definitely quirky and good for science
Earlham College - very open-minded, strong research
Lafayette college - a bit on the conservative side, not quirky
Hendrix College - quirky, libertarian should fit in perfectly
Berea College - nerdy but not sure about atmosphere
Rhodes College - strong for science, driven students, big city mitigates partying
Ursinus College - good fit
Sewanee - bad fit, LOTS of drinking and since it’s very isolated, at time it seems that’s all there is to do when not hiking (okay, I’m exagerating :p)
Franklin & Marshall - not really nerdy/intellectual/ or quirky.
St. John’s - intellectual kids, conservative/open minded, but relatively poor for science</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! Definitely helps us narrow things down. I had no idea about Centre, so I’ll have to check that out more. And I was afraid about that for St. John’s, but we may still keep them on the list for now. It’s so hard to narrow when we aren’t going to be able to visit much of anywhere. Stuck in southwest Georgia. grrrr. This child definitely belongs elsewhere! lol
Thanks everybody!</p>
<p>I’m trying to fill in some spaces MYOS left. the admin at Lafayette has been trying to reduce the frat scene for decades, with some success, I might add. But the athletics teams are springing up to take the place of the frats. It is at least a moderate party school. So is Rhodes despite the big city it’s in. F&M is of the same party rank, and not at all open-minded. Of schools where students love to learn, I wouldn’t pick any of these. Most of these are schools where students are grades-driven. Vandy, Hamilton, Grinnell, and Lawrence might be your best bet for finding a critical mass of kids who love to learn. I would add College of Wooster to your list for students who love to learn, but I’m sure there’s partiers there, too. You just can’t avoid these kids who go to college and end up partying two to three nights each week. I suggest you find out just how many liberals your child can tolerate, forget the fear of partiers, and search for schools where there is a critical mass of students who love to learn such as those i mentioned and Reed, Mount Holyoke, New College of Florida, etc.</p>
<p>Hamilton College has a curriculum with a strong focus on writing. Kenyon College is pretty well known for it’s creative writing programs (John Green himself was an alumnus),</p>
<p>I wouldn’t describe either Lafayette or Hamilton as super quirky though.</p>
<p>Based on visits with my son, I would agree with above posters that F&M isn’t quirky-there are a lot of business majors, athletes, and frat boys. I found Lawrence to be very intellectual and open minded with a variety of students and Appleton is a fun small city. My son’s first choice is Wooster for the research opportunities, the school spirit, and the fact that everyone has to dig deep into their subject in order to finish the required senior project. If he could go right now, he would. I noticed that there were lots of different “types” at Wooster-preppies, nerds, jocks, Goths, music geeks, hippies,artists-everyone seemed to be comfortable being themselves which I thought was really great. The school we had visited the day before seemed to be populated by only hippies and hipsters which didn’t allow for a lot of growth, in my opinion. We also visited Beloit and found it very worthwhile but not as interesting or spirited as Lawrence and Wooster. I think a student who really loves to learn could really thrive there though. </p>
<p>@MYOS1634 - I find it ironic that you would recommend Kenyon but say that Sewanee is a bad fit because it’s rural and isolated. My D loved both schools, and we found them very similar in many ways, including their isolation. If anything, Kenyon is actually more rural and isolated than Sewanee. </p>
<p>Well, Sewanee is about one hour to a town; the college basically owns a mountains, hence a wonderful experience for students who love the outdoors, with oftentimes the perfect weather for it. Sewanee is a hamlet though. You have to take a car to be in a small town.
Gambier is very close to Kenyon. Sure, it’s not a metropolis, but it’s not a forest either, and it does a good job offering things that are interesting to students. It’s about 5 times bigger than Sewanee (small town vs. hamlet) and can be reached on foot (2 miles?)
I agree both are rural.</p>
<p>Gambier pretty much is Kenyon. There is a convenience store and a handful of eateries right as you walk off Kenyon’s campus. Sewanee has a similar situation with a few eateries, bike shop, gift shop etc right as you walk off campus. But there is also a CVS, full grocery store, a few fast food places, Dollar General and some stores and restaurants within a few miles of campus in the Sewanee/Monteagle area. A lot closer actually than the nearest comparable places to Kenyon. One is a mountain, the other a corn field. I love both, but I still think Kenyon is more isolated. It definitely helps at both schools to have a car, or friends that have a car:). At 2010 census population of Gambier was 2391; population of Sewanee was 2311.</p>
<p>^yup but the Gambier pop is without the college, whereas Sewanee’s pop includes the students
Overall, they’re both colleges in rural, bucolic locations.
I guess it depends on preferences in rurality </p>
<p>Since Hamilton is on your list, I’ll put in a good word. Politically, they’re pretty apolitical, there is the usual far left contingent on campus, but looking around, you’ll also find quite a conservative/libertarian camp. The Alexander Hamilton Institute is located down the hill in Clinton after they wouldn’t let it locate on campus and if you look on the website, they do acknowledge that the place is named after Alexander Hamilton and do have a Constitution Day lecture. They’re also famous/infamous for running Ward Churchill off campus in one of the rare instances of students objecting to a far left speaker in the years immediately after 9/11.</p>
<p>As far a quirky goes, that’s more the Kirkland/Dark Side of campus where all the humanities are located. Nothing outlandish, often just super nerdy with things like Doctor Who fans, goths, whatever. Great science center on the Hamilton/Light Side, among the best you’ll find at a LAC. Research is available to freshman and writing is incorporated in all classes at Hamilton - whether that is formal papers, posters, oral presentations, etc. It’s certainly worth a look for a student like yours and my daughter loves it.</p>
<p>I think Lafayette and Ursinus would both be very good fits, with Lafayette probably being less political and Ursinus being less party. But neither school is very political. I have heard that Grinnell is very overtly lefty. I honestly don’t know much about any of the others.</p>
<p>As far as Lafayette being quirky, I can’t really say. My daughter very much had the impression that it is a somewhat quirky school filled with lots of Big Bang Theory type engineering students.</p>
</p>