<p>I know some colleges have the reputation of being 'quirkier' or more..liberal, I guess. So which colleges out of the below would be considered quirky, you think? Or any other ones not on the list that you guys think would qualify?
oh and which would be REALLY conservative/totally opposed to writing a riskier type of essay?</p>
<p>-Stanford
-UC Berkeley
-UCLA
-WashU
-Cornell
-Carnegie Mellon
-UMich
-Tufts</p>
<p>Among the best "quirky" colleges---Reed, Oberlin, UCSanta Cruz, U of Chicago--all GREAT schools--gives me hope for the future!</p>
<p>when I think "liberal", out of your list, UC Berkeley pops out...its heritage of flower power & protest in some ways lives on today.</p>
<p>But when I think "quirky" I don't so much think "liberal" but more intellectualism.....rcefn is right on here. None on your list strike me as quirky. Of the top nationals U's (by your list, you seem to prefer the non-LACs), Chicago, and perhaps Brown as a decidely more liberal school, standout from your base list IMO. Many many more LACs to choose from, as rcefn mentioned, Reed & Oberlin would certainly be on the list, perhaps Wesleyan & Bard, and possibly Swarthmore, Grinnell, and Skidmore.</p>
<p>A few more candidates for "quirky": Kalamazoo, Hampshire, Marlboro. Possibly Vassar as well.</p>
<p>I agree with Papa Chicken, none of those schools, except Berkeley, says "quirky" to me</p>
<p>along with the others mentioned:</p>
<p>Oberlin, Sarah Lawrence, Bennington, Goucher, Eugene Lang, Evergreen.</p>
<p>Oh dear. Neither Carnegie nor Cornell struck me as even remotely quirky.</p>
<p>NOT Tufts, says my nephew, an IR-turned-art major who graduated from Tufts in 2005 (with a double degree--other degree from School of the Museum of Fine Arts). Nothing quirky at all except for Jumbo, the school mascot.</p>
<p>The Leland Junior Stanford University Marching Band is "quirky"...</p>
<p>Neumes, I'll agree to disagree with your nephew. Tufts has a very quirky side to it. It's extremely academic, but I've met some of the strangest (i.e. most interesting) people in my life while I was there.</p>
<p>lolabelle, I must admit, this is hearsay from nephew, who did not connect (his GF, also a Tufts graduate, agrees with you!). He may have been one of the quirky people you met, if you were there in his era!</p>
<p>This is a great example of the blind men and the elephant--one person's perspective may be different from another's. Example: I went to Centre College undergraduate MANY years ago. If you look at Centre today, you'd say it tends toward non-quirky--conservative, mostly Greek (no Sororities in my day), but take a closer look and you'll see they have a world-class glass-blowing facility and a fabulous arts center--definitely an artsy/quirky side.</p>
<p>All the schools mentioned by others so far are ones that come to mind when I hear quirky, and all of the ones you've listed except maybe UCB and Tufts definitely do NOT (and UCB and Tufs aren’t the quirkiest schools out there). </p>
<p>Since you seem to be looking at California schools, I'd also suggest looking at Pomona if you're ok with LACs (and because of the consortium it certainly seems bigger than most LACs) which is quirkier than the schools you listed and on the same academic level. </p>
<p>If you want to stick to unis, def. check out Brown and UChicago. Also, of all the Ivies but Brown, Yale is the one that I've noticed Wesleyan (a decidedly quirky school) students like most. I'm not sure if that's a proximity thing or what, but I think it might speak to Yale at least seemign quirkier than Cornell or Stanford.</p>
<p>Grinnell, Carleton, Haverford, Pitzer, St. John's, Bard, Macalester, Lewis & Clark, Antioch (if it survives), Beloit, Sarah Lawrence are some others.</p>
<p>The town of Berkeley is quirky (with a capital Q) but the University is not these days. That goes in spades for Stanford or UCLA. There may be a few quirky folks at each of the schools, but the overall tone is decidedly not. Of the UC's look at UC Santa Cruz. I don't have the impression that Pomona is quirky -- perhaps Pitzer of the Claremont schools.</p>
<p>The schools you've listed are all great in their own right, but certainly are not what comes to mind when thinking of "quirky." I'll define quirky here as individualistic, free-thinking, fun loving, unafraid of the unconventional.</p>
<p>Among LACs:</p>
<p>Carleton (probably the poster child of quirky LAC)
Wesleyan
Swarthmore
Haverford
Grinnell
Reed
Bard
Oberlin
Bates
Macalester</p>
<p>Among Uni's:</p>
<p>UChicago (probably the poster child of quirky uni's)
Brown
Rochester
Rice
Yale</p>
<p>Where are Williams and Amherst on the stuffy --> quirky continuum?</p>
<p>Going back to the OP's question--the second part--does quirky always mean more accepting of a risky essay? Thinking of the book about Wesleyan--The Gatekeepers--where the girl who wrote about eating a pot brownie got into Cornell (deferred admission) but not Wesleyan, where the adcoms were a bit worried about her essay. (Correct me if I am wrong.) So are we looking at quirky as a college experience or in terms of admissions? Or can they be equated?</p>
<p>Neumes—I think there’s a difference between a “risky” essay and a controversial one. Writing a fun essay about tying your shoe is risky, because adcoms might think you’re being flippant. Writing about pot is controversial. The common opinion (whether this is right or not, IDK) is that quirkier schools are more likely to find value in a “risky” essay; a controversial one is a whole different issue.</p>
<p>(Also note that about the one example you sight, it wasn't just Cornell vs. Wesleyan. Every top school EXCEPT Cornell rejected or waitlisted the applicant, and from comments of her GC, we gather that it is in part because of the essay. So in that case Cornell was the exception, which I think had more to do with specific admissions officers, and can't really be linked to the quirkiness of the schools or even their general admissions policies).</p>
<p>Good point, Weskid--all schools except Cornell, which deferred admission until January, I think.</p>
<p>Maybe OP could explain what he/she meant by risky? Could be stylistic risk--free verse or something outside of the typical narrative, but couldn't it also be a risky topic, which could make it controversial? I've seen CC posters using the term "risky" for topics they worry about, topics that may appear controversial.</p>
<p>Why write a "risky" essay? Write an interesting essay that has a strong, interesting "voice" and is revealing about your strengths, and pick strengths that the school is likely to find appealing, i.e., things you would bring to the community of students that would make the school a great place to be. Use good judgment. Writing about doing something illegal was bad judgment. Writing about tying your shoe is probably going to seem cutesy and irritating to an admissions counselor reading the 50th application that day.
Having visited Amherst and Williams -- so no expert -- my impression is that they are great schools with lots of really smart kids, but the environment is not "quirky" -- though there may be quirky kids and there are lots of interesting students and things to do. Quirky means different things to different people -- I think of artsy. Those schools have talented musicians, etc., but the tone doesn't seem "artsy." Maybe it is because of all the athletics? Smith, part of the same consortium as Amherst, seems more artsy. Wesleyan and moreso Oberlin, also excellent schools academically, seem more quirky and artsy by comparison, but there could be much overlap. But these are generalizations.</p>