<p>Hello. I'm currently a freshman biochemistry major at penn state-UP. I hate it and am thinking about transfering, but I have no idea where to. Heres a little bit about me... My intended major is biochemistry, I like the sciences and I plan on going to medical school or becoming a chemist. I HATE greek life, and I don't drink or smoke. I'm looking for a school with a very good science department, has minimal greek life, a FRIENDLY and non partying student body, probably in a location where theres stuff to do other than party, nice facilities, and good professors.
At the moment, the only school that I think may fit that criteria is Northeastern University in Boston... But I'm not sure. I need more suggestions and i'd GREATLY appreciate it if you guys could help me out. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>The CUNY schools are fairly non partying, in part because there’s little campus life. Check out Dickinson, Muhlenberg, Juniata, Allegheny, Earlham, St Olaf - all quite good for the sciences and less hard-partying than Penn State. Depending on your grades, you could look into Harverford, Grinnell, Macalester, Emory.
Now, if your main problem is that many classmates party/drink, there are enough clubs and activities at Penn state that you should be able to find students who share the same values and have similar interests to yours. Join academic clubs, see if there are free movies on weekends, etc.
Are you in Shreyer’s honors college? If not, can you apply and see if you’d get in?</p>
<p>Interesting suggestion. I joined quite a few academic clubs but they don’t do much. I also just simply don’t like the kind of people that go here to be honest. It’s possible that i’m just generalizing. I’m not in schreyers honors college and I’m not sure i’d be able to get in. I finished my first semester here with a 3.33, granted I took extremely hard weed out classes. Hopefully i’ll do better this semester (I have a feeling i will). I was thinking about emory as well. Is the greek scene big there?</p>
<p>The Greek scene at Emory is fairly large, yes but you could apply to the Oxford College where it’s less so - look for Whenhen who was a student at Oxford college of Emory and knew the Atlanta campus well. If you want to avoid the Greek scene, check out the colleges I listed above, as well as Hendrix (they have “anti-rush week” :p)
What classes did you take last semester and what classes are you taking this semester?</p>
<p>Last semester i took chemistry, calc w/ analytic geometry, chemistry lab, and psych. This semester i have chem part 2, calc part 2, microbio, microbio lab, and english.</p>
<p>Oxford doesn’t allow transfers, and it does have a form of Greek life known as social clubs (however, these are very different than traditional fraternities and sororities). Also, many Oxford students drink, and they drink a lot.</p>
<p>Yes, but the greek scene at Emory seems to manifest itself differently than at most big state schools. For starters, students aren’t allowed to join GLOs until their second semester which means that all students spend a semester bonding with those in and out of the greek system. Additionally, most parties are open rather than closed which means its relatively easy for anyone to attend (though it helps to be accompanied by at least a couple women).</p>
<p>That being said, frat parties tend to be much more popular among freshmen than upperclassmen at almost every school. Often this is because frat parties are the only places where freshmen (who are isolated from the rest of the student body) can get alcohol so greek life seems to have an outsized influence. By the time most students are sophomores or above, they start getting invited to non greek house parties or other social events. I’ve heard a few students who started at Emory’s Main campus say that as a freshman they thought that greek life was everything to Emory’s social scene, but now they’re more relaxed about it and hang out with plenty of people outside their houses. It’s certainly something that I’ve noticed as an upperclassman at a school with a large and traditional GLO scene. </p>
<p>Remember, over 80% of Penn State students are not in a fraternity or sorority (and I’m sure once you subtract things organizations like APO and ΒΥΧ the percentage further decreases), and I suspect many are doing things other than getting wasted.</p>
<p>Here are some possible schools with low percentages of Greek life and in suburban/urban envrionments:
Lewis & Clark College
Brandeis
Boston University
Some of the women’s colleges, if you’re eligible
University of Pittsburgh (especially if you’re a PA resident)
Creighton University (holds strong to its Jesuit identity, and Omaha is not one of the most exciting places in the US)
University of Puget Sound (greek life there is very different than at PSU)</p>
<p>If finances are not a concern, Muhlenberg might work for you. Very strong science program, little Greek life, very accepting campus community. Not in a big city, but there are things to do in Allentown and the there is transportation to NYC and Philly if you need big city attractions. Expensive, but a serious school. Goodl luck to you! </p>
<p>IMO, colleges located in or near cities are good places for non-partiers because there are other things to do. You might consider a school like Fordham (or other similar Jesuit schools) for its city location and the fact that there is no Greek life. Whatever school you go to, there will be partiers so you have to work to find your crowd if you stay put of if you transfer. Get involved with activities that interest you and more than likely you will find people you like.</p>
<p>Penn State has 40,000 students, so I think it’s pretty safe to say you’re generalizing. Even if 75% of the students partied, that still leaves 10,000 who don’t, which is larger than the student bodies of many small and medium-sized colleges.</p>
<p>Also, if you’re a freshman, you won’t want to transfer to Oxford College at Emory - Oxford is a two-year division, so you’d only be there for one year and then would have to transfer again.</p>
<p>Are you a woman? Many women’s colleges meet your criteria - I immediately thought of Smith, but Bryn Mawr also comes to mind and perhaps Mount Holyoke. They also tend to have more transfer-friendly policies. Fordham University in NYC is not really a big hard-partying kind of school and there are tons of things to do in NYC besides party. I also thought of Vassar and Skidmore Colleges (both in New York) and the tons of small LACs in PA - Lafayette, Gettysberg, Allegheny, Juniata, Franklin & Marshall, Dickinson, & Muhlenberg. Lafayette, Gettyberg, and Dickinson are probably the better of those. I also agree with the suggestion of St. Olaf. You may also want to look into Lawrence University, a small LAC in Wisconsin.</p>
<p>Be careful with looking into the more selective schools suggested, though - like Haverford, Grinnell, and Macalester. These places don’t let in too many transfer students because their retention rates are so high. With a 3.33 you wouldn’t be very competitive there.</p>