Hi all,
My daughter (GPA 3.35 overall, but a 3.6 junior year post attention medication) is looking for a college that is somewhat quirky with less of an emphasis on sports. She’s into art, manga, cosplay, science fiction, movies and books and is looking at liberal arts colleges because she might want to major in English, literature or history. She really liked Clark in Worcester because of the off beat kids and the funky vibe, plus the interesting clubs and activities and the majors. But, a safer area would be better, plus I don’t think she’ll get any merit aid there which will put it out of reach financially. She also loved Assumption for its peaceful feel and the academics. She’s worried that she won’t fit in there, however.
Does anyone have any other suggestions for schools to look at? Thanks!
Not northeast but what about Oberlin? Sounds like a perfect fit to me! My D got a merit scholarship with 3.6 and 32 ACT.
Bard? Smith? (A little edgy, though, doesn’t have a “peaceful” feel). But you might have her visit Mount Holyoke at the same time, it might appeal.
Does NY count - how about Skidmore or Vassar
More mid-Atlantic, but St. Mary’s of Maryland is full of funky, off-beat kids (a friend’s son goes there) and is in a small town on the Chesapeake. Quite isolated, but beautiful, right on the water. It’s considered the honors college of the University of Maryland. Have heard it’s the school where everyone goes barefoot. That may just be a silly stereotype, but shows the general vibe. I think it’s a tight-knit community. Don’t know about it’s arts/humanities, I think it’s strong in biological sciences.
Bard, Bennington, Sarah Lawrence
I second St. Mary’s of Maryland, your description of your daughter sounds very much like a friend’s daughter who is having a wonderful experience there. She has just returned from a semester in Japan.
Also, if you come down to Maryland, you might want to take a look at Goucher. In a nice suburb of Baltimore with a a mix of kids, incuding quirky. They let kids apply via video (at least they did at one time). It’s a CTCL school and if you read the book you’ll find a lot of schools that fit your description outside of the northeast.
My number one suggestion would be Goucher in Baltimore suburbs. They aren’t super-quirky, but very friendly and welcoming. They also gave my oldest D a big merit offer, but she ended up not going due to the dance department not being the right fit.
A few have mentioned Smith and Mt. Holyoke, but the same 5-college consortium also has Hampshire which is super-quirky. My D loved it and did get offered merit but not enough. Just be aware that they are quite “alternative”, so you’d want to dive into their website a bit. The whole 5-college consortium is very appealing (cross-registration and so forth). The other two schools are Amherst and UMass-Amherst.
Also check out Ursinus in PA. Once again, generous merit but dance dept didn’t quite make the cut at the end for D.
D and I actually found Skidmore a bit on the preppy side, but maybe that was because we visited after Sarah Lawrence (also super-quirky, but didn’t offer merit aid). D still liked Skidmore enough to apply but didn’t get in.
If your D were going into STEM like my current HS senior D, I’d say RIT or WPI. I think any SF/cosplay/books/movies quirky kid would find both appealing. So if your D changes her mind on major…
Any idea of her ACT/SAT? Her GPA is going to be really low for places like Vassar and Oberlin, although an upward trend is always good. Bard, Sarah Lawrence, and Bennington are less reachy, but I don’t know about the likelihood of aid.
Again, I don’t know about aid, but she should definitely look at Hampshire! Sounds as if it might be tailor-made for her.
Personally, I doubt that most Catholic schools are likely to be a fit. 
That said, if she is interested in them perhaps she should check out St. Michael’s in Burlington, VT.
You need to run the NPCs at all of these places.
I second the above recommendations for Bennington, Hampshire, Smith and Skidmore. I’d add Ithaca College.
Add Swat to the list, but it is tough to get into
Bennington for sure. Maybe also Marlboro, a tiny place that is definitely quirky, in a good way. Clark is great. Goucher is another one but not Northeast. Lewis and Clark on the West Coast. Hampshire, Bard, Skidmore too.
My D has a marvelously quirky friend at Bennington who absolutely LOVES it there
I don’t know if you are considering public schools but I have heard SUNY New Paltz has the vibe you are describing. It has an excellent fine arts program too. We are visiting the end of October and can let you know our opinion after that.
Hampshire College fits your description to a T. Feel free to PM if you would like, my son (definition of quirky) is a sophomore.
I have to say that St Mary’s College of MD doesn’t seem like an off beat school to me. It feels more like a summer camp – we didn’t get an off beat feel at all during a full day visit (including classes, a very long tour – riduculously long, eating in the cafeteria). Don’t get me wrong, I actually like the school a lot. I just don’t see it as quirky.
Ummm… Clark. Quirky students? Please believe me when I say I’m not trying to be snarky. I’m just saying that as a NYC resident I know a lot of quirky kids and by NYC standards, Clark kids are most definitely NOT quirky. They certainly aren’t like the kids who attend “pretty, white and Greek” schools like Depauw or Washington &Lee, but IMO Clark kids are one heck of a lot less quirky than the kids at Bard or Hampshire.
I guess quirkiness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Please don’t flame me; I’m honestly trying to help. I just think “quirky,” like ‘preppy’ means different things in different parts of the country.
The one person I know from Clark was actually super preppy. He is uber successful and is well known. He’s as main stream as they come.
In addition to suggestions above, perhaps Goucher (MD) would work and she would likely qualify for merit aid there. And second SUNY New Paltz which is reasonably priced even if you are OOS.
St Mary’s of Maryland in not part of the university of Maryland system (College Park, UM@ Baltimore for the professional schools, UM Eastern Shore, UMBC, and Univ. College). These campuses may have honors colleges of their own. St Mary’s is a smaller school, more of an LAC.