<p>I will be college-visiting this summer with Younger Son. He gave me a list of his possible majors:
1. History
2. Creative Writing
3. Theater
4. Film?
5. Literature</p>
<p>S is a very good student and works hard. Princeton is his dream school at this point, we haven't visited Yale and I had a bad impression of Harvard. We would like to visit East Coast schools that would have the same historical flavor of Princeton.</p>
<p>I should also say he's very talented in singing (baritone) and musical theater (sorry for the shameless brag, but hey, I'm his mom).</p>
<p>I would suggest Williams, Amherst, Dartmouth, and Georgetown. These are similar high quality schools I considered when I applied to Princeton. Good luck to your son :).</p>
<p>I would also suggest taking a look at Brown. At a slightly less competitive level, you might want to look at Vassar, Skidmore, Wesleyan and Connecticut College.</p>
<p>Duke and Dartmouth are similar to Pton in quality and selectivity but with higher acceptance rates and a less selective overall student body, Williams and Amherst also awesome choices though a bit smaller</p>
<p>Roughly similar to Princeton in selectivity and ambiance: Dartmouth, Williams, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Claremont McKenna, Hamilton, Duke and Wake Forest. All preppy, jock schools with strong Greek presence and a a very selective student body.</p>
<p>
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Roughly similar to Princeton in selectivity and ambiance: Dartmouth, Williams, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Claremont McKenna, Hamilton, Duke and Wake Forest. All preppy, jock schools with strong Greek presence and a a very selective student body.
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There is no "strong Greek presence" at Williams, Bowdoin, or Middlebury. All have banned traditional frats; in the case of Williams, some 40 years ago.</p>
<p>Thanks again, and keep 'em coming! Just yesterday my sister was singing praises of William & Mary, and U Chicago really rings the (cynical/intellectual/traditionalist) chimes of Son. Their site is really fun to read, and the CC threads are outstanding.</p>
<p>@BLY -- Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment, although my kids might use a different adjective!
Visited Harvard 2 years ago for Older Son. Everyone we met was arrogant and surprisingly vapid. The admissions officer who talked to the group (several hundred of us crammed into a basement room) was rude and dismissive when I asked a question about the core curriculum. Our tour guide didn't want to talk about anything substantive, and when I asked about the undergrad-to-professor ratio he waved his hands in the air and said "I don't know anything about math". (Huh?) Facilities and dorms were crummy, and we learned nothing about academics.</p>
<p>Older Son did not apply to Harvard, but Younger didn't think it was that bad and is considering applying. Which prompted AnudduhMom to say "Yeah, you'd go to Harvard just to spite me."</p>
<p>Our take-home message was "We're Harvard, so we don't have to try at all."</p>
<p>Definitely not Tufts...
They to be used as a safety to the ivies, and have started the "Tufts syndrome", where they reject highly qualified applicants that might be using tufts as a safety school.</p>
<p>Hamilton College is a lot like Princeton in terms of atmosphere with a countrified setting. Ranked #15 in US News, it's not a safety for anyone but it is less selective than Princeton.</p>
<p>I want to add University of Virginia to your list. </p>
<p>Huge school spirit
Preppy
Strong Greek presence.
"the no. 1 fittest school" (almost everyone is in a good physical shape and does all kinds of sports)</p>