<p>^^I think people are recommending schools that are more individualistic based on OP’s title of “quirky,” but it sounds as though s/he really means “nerdy” or “geeky,” which is a whole different set of schools.</p>
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<p>I can’t speak to the transportation issue, but this kid is way up in their top 25% and they seem to accept about 50%. It has to be considered a safety for him. I think that Oberlin looks like a definite match.</p>
<p>I would strongly consider the University of Rochester. They only have about 4,000 undergrads, and it would fit him well academically and musically.</p>
<p>so glad Grinnell is on the list! Perfect fit and a match for him as well! (my S goes there) </p>
<p>I am surprised he felt Macalester was too white bread. </p>
<p>Oberlin and Wesleyan would be good additions, but not as safeties, as someone pegged them! Carleton is a good addition, too, but again, not as a safety.</p>
<p>He might take a look at Bard College. Not a safety, but definitely a match. If it’s not too late, he should do the IDP which notifies immediately and has a higher admission rate. He would have to attend a day on campus. They simulate a class. My son didn’t love the school when we first visited, but after he attended the IDP seminar, Bard stayed on his list right up to the end.</p>
<p>Soph14…but not techie schools :-)</p>
<p>There’s a big overlap on quirky and geeky schools.</p>
<p>Adding William and Mary in Virginia to your list. Not generally a safety school, but otherwise seems to fit exactly.</p>
<p>I don’t think Vassar is nearly as hipster as people think. My B+/A- kid got in, for a boy with very high stats, it might be close to a safety. I don’t think a safety has to only be one that accepts only by numbers or that accepts anyone that breathes. The OP’s son has very high stats and should be a very desirable candidate provided he has good recommendations and writes good essays.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine Bard not being a safety - though I think it’s more hipster than Vassar.</p>
<p>I agree with mathmom that Vassar is not as hipster as people think. S1 has seen a shift toward more athletic students so presently there is a nice mix of artsy, intellectual, and a bit more athletic types on campus. Vassar is building their new science building in 2013 - there has been more emphasis on science. </p>
<p>Bard has a newer science building and is very unique. S1 liked it also but liked Vassar more. I hope you have time to visit some of these suggestions - as you probably know visiting really helps to focus the search.</p>
<p>Oh I forgot to mention it, if you like Bard, definitely do the IDP program (Immediate Decision Program) if they still have it. It is great to have a decision early!</p>
<p>I think I was the parent who first suggested Whitman. My D2 closely fits the description of the OP’s son, and we live in Minnesota. Whitman is one of her safeties (she is also above their 75% range, so it is a reasonable safety for her – obviously not for everyone).</p>
<p>My D1 went to school on the east coast. I found that D1 flew every time she went to college anyway except our first dropoff, and she went to a “two hop” school (no direct flights from our major airport). Walla Walla would be pretty much the same for us, I think. So honestly, I believe the West Coast is not that much of a difference from the east coast if you live in Wisconsin except that first time. The OP had not said why they were considering only midwest and east coast schools, and the list of colleges that fit their intellectual criteria are small. Plus, if he wants to be a hipster, the Northwest might be a great fit. 
I did say that I knew it was outside the OP’s original parameters.</p>
<p>^^I think Whitman would be a perfect place for this kind of kid if the location wasn’t an issue, and agree completely that the Pacific Northwest is “hipster central.” I do know people who have considered Whitman and ruled it out because of the difficulty of getting there. Apparently Walla Walla only has two flights in–from Seattle–six days a week (one on Saturdays). And again, it IS harder (and longer, AND more expensive) to get to the west coast than it is to get out east. Maybe it’s better if you can fly out of Minneapolis. Where I live, that in itself is a connection.</p>
<p>In fairness, not all schools on the east coast are that easy to get to either. I have a friend with a son at Bard and it can be a royal pain to get there too. Some of the New England schools that might also fit the criteria (Colby, Bates, Bennington) are also fairly remote. And you are right that it only has to be done a couple of times a year, unless you have a kid who expects to come home for every possible break.</p>
<p>Now we are getting a little off topic. But D1 had to fly Harrisburg to Minneapolis. There were always “2 hop” options, but never direct flights. So for D2 we have built a scoring model (OP, “intellectual reputation” is one of our criteria, which is separate from SAT range, to get further off track!). Anyway, we ranked schools as 3/2/1, 3=easy driving distance (<6 hours), 2=direct flights available and not too far from airport, and 1=other (two hops, or one hop with a considerable bus/shuttle ride). And Whitman was a “1” for ease of access. But so were Mt. Holyoke (obviously not a choice for OP’s son), Williams, and even Michigan (gotta fly to Detroit or Lansing and shuttle/bus it, quite a hassle).</p>
<p>Also… there is (1) the hassle factor of longer travel days/more opportunities for broken connections, and (2) the higher cost of the less traveled air routes. I was unpleasantly surprised at this for D1, and we are taking that into account when comparing the cost of D2’s choices.</p>
<p>Of course, OP still may want to stick to the original geography specified.</p>
<p>Sorry to derail, back to your regularly scheduled programming.</p>
<p>As I live in WI, and had a S at Pitt, and another at UPS in Tacoma, they both worked well regarding out of state, distance travel without breaking the bank. Bus to a Chicago area airport, and direct flight, to Pittsburgh, or Seatac. Or occasionally, the rare 2 stop flight directly home. As U of Puget Sound was 45 minutes from Seatac, felt very do able. There was some interest in other West Coast schools, but they seemed far more expensive and time consuming in terms of winter break travel. </p>
<p>BTW, U of Puget Sound might fit that quirky criteria, and they have a scholarship for Midwestern students.</p>
<p>I’ve found it isn’t so much which coast but which city. Some cities on both coasts are just impossible to get to in a reasonable amount of time because of flight schedules, etc. Unless you can easily fly out of O’Hare, flights just are not that easy to come by sometimes. Our kids were looking at schools in Montana for a while and fights were not fun–long layovers usually. Also, flying from our larger airport cost twice what it would cost to drive 4 hours to a smaller, regional airport for whatever reason.</p>
<p>intparent–we just flew into Harrisburg. I love that airport. Flying out, dropped off our rental car, walked across the street to security, walked right up to the security agent, NO LINE. I can’t remember the last time I had a direct flight anywhere so that doesn’t matter much. One school we looked at has a smaller, regional airport right outside of town but no flights from our area to that airport that we could book even with a layover somewhere. We would have to fly on a completely different airline to a city that has flights to this airport. If she goes there it’s probably worth doing that but still, not easy.</p>
<p>I have to agree that a lot of the suggestions here are for the hipster quirky student and the OP has stated her son is NOT that at all.</p>
<p>^Yes unfortunately a lot of people equate hipster and quirky. I wish people wouldn’t use the word quirky so freely, since everyone seems to have a different vision for what it means. For some people it can mean on the spectrum, for some it just seems to be nerdy, for others it means hipster. I always thought my younger son was pretty quirky - he was the one walking to high school in a Fedora and jeans, hair past his shoulders, folding origami and in both Science Olympiad and on the literary magazine. Now that he’s in the Arab world he’s playing at being more straight-laced.</p>
<p>If that kind of quirky appeals - he loved American, Tufts and Chicago. Liked Vassar. Didn’t like Brandeis either (which looks like an office park and was empty the day we were there.)</p>
<p>Sally305 – You asked why I recommended Harvey Mudd. I think the strength of this forum is that it draws so many people who have different experience, expertise, knowledge and even bias and prejudice. In my case, I’m from the west and when I read the OP and saw 4.0, 34 ACT, Computer Science or Chemistry, creative, accepting, unpretentious, smart, no Greek, small LAC, I immediately thought of a Mudder. I also stated in the first sentence that it wasn’t the location or safety school the OP asked for. </p>
<p>I think searching for a college is a process for both students and their parents. What they think in the fall often changes by spring. In the fall of last year, my youngest said he would not go anywhere that had winter weather; in the spring he happily accepted admission to a school that definitely has winter. With my oldest son (and first child to leave home), in the fall I was worried about the logistics of even getting him to a neighboring state; by spring I accepted he wanted to attend a school in a distant state that was a 2-3 hop plane ride away. Two years later when my youngest was searching for schools, distance was no longer a big worry for me. </p>
<p>I don’t have a personal agenda (my kids both attend large oos research universities – not Harvey Mudd) and I certainly didn’t mean to insult the OP. I just made a suggestion that the OP can chose to ignore or not. I think Harvey Mudd is worth a look if the OP’s son is the kind of quirky I’m imagining. But like mathmom just pointed out, quirky is tough to define.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the feedback. My son is NOT ‘hipster’ quirky, but rather ‘geeky’ quirky–and he loves a good intellectual discussion. Of the places he has seen that I listed in the original post, he has eliminated all but Williams, Carelton, Grinnell and U of Chicago (he entertains the thought of Amherst, but it seemed preppier to him). You have all given me great input and food for thought. Seriously I would prefer he NOT go to Williams because it is difficult to get to! Right now he is thinking of applying ED to Williams, but that might change as he is going back to spend a night in the dorms. Can one apply ED to one school and EA to others, and then withdraw the applications if accepted to the ED college? Thanks!</p>
<p>We have a family friend who goes to Sarthmore and she sees herself as a bit nerdy, a bit geeky and a bit quirky and loves intellectual discussions. So check out Swarthmore one more time if you haven’t already. It is not a safety though. </p>
<p>One other thought - maybe WPI as a safety or University of Vermont as a safety - yes two totally different schools but I know people who attend and are very happy.</p>
<p>Apologies if I’ve missed a mention of this, but the U of Rochester admissions folks love to see love, especially in the form of visits.</p>
<p>Jamdds, you’ll have to check with Williams if your son can apply EA at the same time as ED. I don’t think that’s normally allowed (it’s also not mentioned on the Williams web site).</p>