Nerdy schools

College Search & Selection
101

I did know a lot of students who would fit your description of your daughter at a flagship. Was every single class full of nerds? No but should they be? I wouldn’t want to have a college experience where everyone was just like me. I wanted to meet people with different interests, with different viewpoints. I even wanted them to introduce me to different games and activities.

I don’t think many college kids are taking Latin or Shakespeare or Mythology for an easy A One daughter was in STEM and while there were a lot (a LOT) of nerds at her school, she wasn’t one of them and didn’t hang out with many (unless studying). The other D went to a bigger school but was in theater and that was a whole group of a different type of nerds but she wasn’t in that group really either. She had a boyfriend who got her into video games, and I thought she wasted much too much time on those.

I think there are a lot of schools that will work for the social life she wants.

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102

Hi! I feel like I’ve said all these things several times already in this thread, but I’ll repeat…

  • We know that nerds can be found at every school.

  • My daughter will be open to a lot of different types of schools when she actually makes a college list, including large flagship type schools.

  • We’re not making a practical college list at this point, she’s only a 10th grader.

  • She just wanted to learn about some schools, ideally smaller schools, that have a rep of being packed with tons of nerds happily enjoying their nerdy things.

  • Perhaps these schools will make it onto her college list, but in any case it’s inspirational to her to think about this type of school being out there. (and maybe other people might like hearing about nerdy schools as well)

  • The other students don’t have to be exactly like her, in fact she specifically told me that she’d like to be around people with different interests.

It’s been great hearing the stories about specific schools. I appreciate your viewpoint too, but please don’t think my daughter is looking for a college experience where everyone is exactly like her, etc. She was just talking to me about nerdy schools and I thought it would make an interesting thread. Thanks!

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103

@tamagotchi i suggest start taking college tours NOW! We started touring summer after freshman year. We drove-and flew-to California, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina, stopping at many colleges. Schools we were ‘certain’ would be a fit, ended up not making her Top List-and Vis Versa-once we visited them in person.
Visit as many as you can…we had a blast!

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104

Sometimes it is fun and even empowering to be at a mostly-nerd school, especially if you have been in the tiny minority throughout high school.

Some students thrive in that environment. That’s why it is awesome there are small “nerd” schools, huge flagships, and everything in between — something for everyone! And there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to make a list of one type to check out!

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105

Yeah, I know 1 nerd who attended Stanford, and about 2 dozen who were clones of Alex P. Keaton.

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106

Sounds like my oldest. She was the book reading champion in school - 365 books a year. She was so nerdy that she could not keep conversation with people who were not nerdy enough. She could turn around and disappear without saying a word. To my question, why she did it, the response was “There was nothing to talk about with that person…”

107

Early in this thread, my response suggested the University of Chicago and Rice University. I would like to add a few schools to that list:

Chicago
Rice
Princeton
Grinnell College (Iowa)
Carleton College (Minnesota)
William & Mary
Vassar College

Also, the Claremont Consortium schools (Pomona, Harvey Mudd, Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, & Scripps) will provide a healthy mix of nerds & non-nerds with no fear of being placed in a locker by jocks.

Schools to avoid (in the sense that there are too many better matches to consider) might include those similar to Colgate University, SMU, TCU, U Richmond, Notre Dame, Boston College, and Wake Forest University.

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108

Although I complete agree Wake should not be on the OP’s list, I just want to briefly note it is a very interesting school to me in that on the one hand it is quite preppy, but it is also super into the quality of its undergraduate teaching, small classes, personal relationships with professors, and so on.

Now, they actually make a point of NOT being the sort of college where people are expected to be in the library at all hours outside of exam weeks (on our tour they were quite proud of the fact the library had more limited opening hours than most university libraries during regular weeks). But the idea is that the learning will really be happening in classes, and they take that very seriously.

So yes, for now at least, not what the OP wants. And maybe not in the long run either, but it is an interesting mix.

109

My s’s roommate was in the MOB at Rice. Definitely a great fit for nerds :slight_smile:

110

This is a helpful distinction. I see Wake come up frequently on lists alongside W&M, but it was never in my (or my kids’) circles of consideration, so hadn’t dug into it, and just figured the vibe was similar between the two schools. It’s helpful to know/remember that every school contains multitudes, and sometimes two schools will align on certain axes (like undergrad teaching) but not others (sports, or Greek life, or cultural norms, or whatever).

111

You just reminded me that Greek life at Wake is also interesting in that women rush a lot more than men.

Probably also not what the OP’s kid would want at all, but a very good illustration of your point that before actually finalizing a college list it really pays to dig into these details.

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112

I’d add RIT to the many that have been mentioned.

Women’s colleges, which by definition have no bro culture, can be great options for women looking for life of the mind schools. They tend to be quite affirming.

And of course, the definition of nerd really varies. A Latin nerd is not a robotics nerd is not a philosophy nerd.

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113

Or a musical theater nerd or a crossword puzzle/scrabble champion nerd, or an ultimate frisbee nerd, to name a few of my kids college friends.

I don’t think the labels are helpful. Kids can be passionate about their work as a clown in a pediatric ward (circus nerd?) AND be a Latin nerd, AND be a member of a fraternity AND play D&D. Or do all those things as be as “mainstream” as any other college kid.

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114

Interesting - probably worth its own thread.

I understand the attraction of that, but also wonder how well that transitions people to life after college, where being able to learn outside of a formal classroom, by independent research, is the norm and could be a rather critical skill to already have mastered?

115

I’d say lectures least resemble most of what I do as a professional, but group discussions are pretty on point. Also independent study, but some healthy mix of individual preparation and then seminars to discuss is probably the closest I could get to how my professional life actually functions.

And to be clear, I don’t think Wake was saying people didn’t study at all, so that would likely be pretty on track.

116

I suppose when I think nerdy, I’m really thinking of someone who is a little socially awkward, perhaps on the spectrum, and their passion could also be considered a special interest. Not only do they do x, but they also read books about x, do activities related to x, and can tell you gobs of random facts about x. Many of the schools I listed earlier are places where kids like that seem to find more of their people.

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117

I agree. A student can be intellectual/talk about their subjects outside of class etc AND be very socially adept, and these people aren’t usually considered nerds. I’m with @Blossom, I don’t think labeling students, with all the baggage and assumptions that follow, is helpful.

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118

I dunno . I don’t think of “nerd” as a perjorative anymore.

I say that as a “nerd” who married a “jock.” Both of us attended highly selective schools (more selective now than they were back then) and ultimately entered the same line of work. I consider myself his equal at social events and have a conventional appearance and demeanor.

My school pops up on the “nerd” lists and his does not. We each definitely went to the right school for us.

The main difference between us comes down to curiosity. I am a voracious reader and will dive down rabbit holes on any number of subjects. Well, probably ANY subject. I enthusiastically learned all about my spouse’s sports interests after we married, too. (Some of the “nerds” I know are more deep than broad in their interests, but the unusual curiosity is the same.)

I am not saying non-nerds are never curious or don’t read. But in my view of what makes a nerd, non-nerds are often more practical in terms of willingness to devote swaths of time to learn deeply about things that are not relevant to their lives/studies/hobbies. In my family, if someone has a random question about something inconsequential, they prefer to ask me — the resident nerd — rather than research it themselves. (Chances are I have already read something on it anyway. My family groans every time I begin a sentence with “I read an article…”) But the family non-nerds are razor sharp learners and often remember pertinent things related to work or school or a shared interest better than I, thanks to me replacing important facts in my brain cells with answers to trivia questions.

Needless to say, the non-nerds I am related to do not always want to talk at length about every weirdo thing I googled 500 articles about. Nor are they inclined to race me to finish the NYT crossword; they would rather have an actual race and combine competition with getting some exercise (practical). Unlike me, debating for the sake of debate is not fun to them; they want to reach some decision or consensus or at least agree to disagree and move on.

But in college, I was surrounded by those like me and the conversations were awesome.

It’s a subtle distinction, but I think a real one.

But if the word “nerd” bothers people, you could ask the same thing by looking for a list of schools like College X, if you knew of a College X to start with.

I don’t mean to take this thread off track, but it gets back to OP’s initial question, which I think IS helpful in identifying a certain type of school when you don’t know of a sample name to toss out there.

The names already provided do create a good list of a certain type of school no matter what you want to call it.

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119

Which ones were your favorites?!

120

This is a fun thread!! I second many of the schools listed (esp. Vassar, Bard, St. Johns, Oberlin, etc. - the small schools).

Another thing to talk about with your daughter: my two children have both loved their LAC’s open curriculums. Given that every college is filled with students passionate about different subjects, the open curriculum has meant that students are never in the situation of taking a course just to fill a requirement (unless they major in the wrong subject and don’t like their major courses) . This has led to a more engaged and enthusiastic cohort of students - EVERYONE wants to be there.

Or - there are colleges like St. Johns in Annapolis and Santa Fe - ultimate nerd palaces, 10000% - where everyone who attends has signed up for a structured journey through human learning, with few choices, but oh so much fun reading and discussing and learning! In a way the opposite of an open curriculum, but one where you choose it going in.

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