This is what I think of “nerds”: it isn’t pejorative, and doesn’t have that socially awkward connotation: it is just relating to being deeply intellectually curious about one or more things, and loving learning for learning’s sake(most of the time—everyone has academic overload at times). One can definitely be a nerd about “mainstream” topics like sports, hence my example of the intensely nerdy Duke basketball camping-out-quiz. Only nerds immerse themselves in those types of details for fun, and enjoy the intense academic collaboration of it all.
Some colleges have the overwhelming vibe that it isn’t “cool” to like learning and classes—studying for weeks for fun to get into a game would never happen —to me those schools are not nerd schools.
Schools where a large % of kids enjoy learning various niche things and support each other in learning are , to me, “nerd” friendly schools. D&D has nothing to do with it. Hence, my mention of Duke and Penn and William&Mary. I stand by them being very high-nerd proportion schools compared to other schools such as UNC SMU VT where intellectual curiosity is not accepted by the majority . The fact that some students chose to dress preppy has nothing to do with nerdiness to me. And D&D is not needed to be a nerd.
OP, from your posts it seems you were seeking schools with this broader definition of nerd, not the more narrow definition that requires social awkwardness. Hopefully you have a great starting list for inspiration!
@Blue777
Favorites-
USC (SoCal, not Carolina)
UTKnoxville
UCLA
Stanford
Auburn
Miss State
Texas A&M
Least-
Pepperdine
Clemson
Vanderbilt
Indifferent-
Baylor
Alabama
Got accepted to all, chose Business Honors at Texas A&M and had ‘the best 4 years of her life’!
Couldn’t have asked for a better college experience!
Touring in person really helped get the ‘vibe’ of each school. And definitely don’t wait until senior year starts, to start making visits. Have lor, test scores, essays and applications ready to submit by the time school starts in August…then everyone can enjoy senior year.
It’s fine to think of yourself as a nerd, but nerds are everywhere and it’s about fit rather than labels and definitions. And it’s all fluid with a lot of growth and change.
My daughter was at UNC which I do not think of as a big nerd school (although there are definitely nerds). Her time was spent with her research team, biology professors, and fellow students who sat with her under a tree or in local restaurants for hours discussing biology, anthropology and genetics. I have no clue if that is nerdy or not (labels don’t matter) but that’s what they did and it was not uncommon at all. That, combined with huge basketball and clubs …defined her experience. Clubs are very, very active. Is that nerdy? I have no clue. She spent two years tutoring refugees who did not speak English, and helped them navigate the healthcare system. Is that nerdy? No idea, but she enjoyed it and met lots of people with similar interests.
High school students change a lot during their four years of college and beyond, and I caution people not to define. You can find your people at most schools. My D is in grad school at a large public that is not nerdy, but her degree is nerdy. Her roommate (another student) is a huge math nerd who attended a large public school. She is also very social.
I remember one of my daughter’s college roommates came to visit during a school break. She never struck me as a big academic nerd (although my daughter always told me how smart she was) but I was watching the news and she sat with me for over an hour discussing world events in incredible detail. This was a side that I had not previously seen.
People are multifaceted and unique. I do not like labels. Most schools have “nerds.”
This probably would have influenced me too. Curiously, DS and friends almost always srudied in empty classrooms. They found this preferable – naturally quiet – but they could talk and use whiteboards to work through problems and concepts if they wanted.
Mentioning as this optoon may be more common at some schools.
And the University of Chicago is located in a great city (current difficulties notwithstanding) with abundant culture including world class museums, abundant music and theater venues, art studios, beautiful public parks, teams in all major pro leagues and summers filled with outdoor festivals.
Another plug for Rice! My oldest is a sophomore there – she was a hardcore Latin nerd in high school, went to a summer program in Latin where the group wore togas and held a funeral for Caesar and paraded through the streets, LOL.
She likes to geek out about the structure of languages in general, thus she’s majoring in linguistics and minoring in classics (still taking Ovid classes and relishing it, plus wants to learn Greek).
She’s also a Pokemon nerd and a musical theatre nerd and will talk your ear off about both things (when she talks, that is – she’s also an extreme introvert, lol) – and the fit at Rice is absolutely 100% right for her. The “happy nerd vibe” is real!
Rice is stupidly hard to get into, mind you – my daughter applied to five top 25 schools and got into two, was waitlisted at two and rejected from one. Also applied to five other lower-ranked schools, got into three and waitlisted at two. You just never know, but in this case, Rice got it right with recognizing that she’d be a perfect fit for the school.
Love to hear this! D24 sounds so much like your Rice sophomore (including the introvert/ Pokemon parts!) - and she has decided it is a great fit for her, and is EDing there! I hope they find that she is a “fit” for them like they did for your DD.
My D loves Rice! Such a good fit for her. She is definitely an introvert but found “her people”. She loves that anything goes there - you can be as weird or not weird as you want and no one will judge.
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)- not overly intellectual, but definitely a nerd vibe going on. Plus, they do the whole right brain, left brain thing with a strong emphasis in creative and performing arts for non-majors.
If she is looking for a nerdier class, I would encourage her to look at smaller schools. My sister attended the College of Wooster in Ohio and it was a great fit for her! In terms of my experience at Michigan, as a computer science minor some of my classes can nerd heavy but the majority of the time I do not encounter students super passionate/geeked out about subjects.
