Off-beat, quirky, even "hippy" colleges?

College Search & Selection
21

Yep, Hampshire for sure.

Evergreen in WA.

Um…super selective, but Deep Springs?

22

If you want to expand your parameters for distance, look at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. Two hour plane ride from LGA, farm to fork program, garden and greenhouse on campus. Use their own reclaimed water for watering and cooling, very environmentally conscious, hippie vibe, socially aware, stress community involvement and service trips and service to surrounding community. Very strong in marine science and environmental studies.

23

If you would consider Eckerd, take a look at New College of Florida, too.

24

We knew a family who were just like the vibe you described OP. Oldest D went to Naropa University in Boulder Colorado. They were all very happy with what the school offered, both curriculum and financial aid

25

Seconding Qwerty- NCF would be a great pick. Amazing tropical climate, beautiful campus, interesting studies- laidback but also caring about world issues.

I added them to my list after working at a ‘hippy’ camp :stuck_out_tongue:

26

If we’re throwing out colleges outside of the OP’s requested geographical area, I nominate Hendrix for this list.

27

Oberlin & Reed

28

Bard

29

Green Mountain College in Poultney Vermont would be a great fit for you. My daughter is in their Killington School of Resort Management, a 3 year program for a BS - includes a winter co-op each year. The main campus is amazing- you should check it out. They are a test optional school with great financial aid!
Good luck!

30

What about Goddard College, in Vermont? I haven’t heard much buzz about it on CC or via my kids, but it was a hippie destination college with a solid reputation.

31

If your willing to go farther, a lot of kids who like Warren Wilson also seem to like Earlham.

32

Sewanee

33

SUNY New Paltz

34

Thanks everyone for their answers! If you still have colleges that haven’t been mentioned yet, add them in. One other question: is there any way to see a school’s personality without visiting? I would of course love to visit all of these, but time is certainly not on my side, and the websites seem generic… Any particular part of their website I should go to? Is there another website to look at?

35

I would reccmend asking students on CC, using the site uniggo, or getting the book “the insiders guide to colleges”

36

Maybe call the admissions office and ask if it’s possible to get in touch with a student or two at the school. Read online editions of student newspapers. Take a deep dive into the college website (doing this, I found previous articles on Hendrix’s decision to recently add a football team. Many students were against this at first because they thought it would change the quirky culture at the school.)

37

Thanks, shawnspencer and dadof1. I’ll take a look at that book, and try to find school newspapers. As for my original question, I think I would like to clarify two things:

  1. I think I over exaggerated the farm piece of this. I’m looking for a hippy college, not looking for a farm college.
  2. The other piece of criteria that is really important to me is that the college should have a strong Jewish community. I don’t know about any of the schools mentioned, except for Sarah Lawrence which is in Hillel’s top 60 colleges, but if anyone knows about hippy colleges that have strong Jewish communities, that would be great. Honestly, I just created a new thread for the new criteria, so post on either one; I’ll check both.

So, to review, my new criteria is:
1a) Hippy college (peace-loving, environmentalist, tree-hugging)
1b) Vegan-friendly (it fits with the hippy piece, so not too stressed about this one)
2) Strong (and open-minded) Jewish community. Doesn’t need to have a Hillel,as long as there is something active in place. I suspect this of Hampshire.
3) Near me. 275mi.

38

Here’s the new thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1804751-help-me-with-my-college-search-off-beat-quirky-even-hippy-colleges.html

39

I agree that you may get a better “feel” for a college from the student newspaper as well as any articles written in the local papers. See if there are representatives from these colleges at any nearby college fairs this fall. Contact the alumni organization at those that you are interested in, they may have someone who you can talk with or meet with in your area. There is a thread on CC about schools for Jewish students, the parents are very helpful. Too bad that you will not extend your distance from home.

40

ECmotherx2, is there a particular school that you think fits, even though it is far?