<p>Our son, a junior, is just beginning to think about college. Haven't visited Michigan yet, but it's at the top of his list because he wants strong academics and extreme rah-rah spirit. Will take SAT's in spring - So far has an excellent GPA, many honors classes and good ecs. He's an althlete, but would only qualify to play at a D3 school and wants the D1 sports experience. Strong in math, but still has no idea what he wants to study or whether he wants a rural or urban environment. Unconcerned about weather. Interested in politics, currently working for a very liberal candidate. Although Michigan does seem to be ideal for our son, my husband and I both attended huge public schools and are concerned about large classes and other shortcomings. We'd like our son to at least take a look at a few mid-sized colleges as well as a smaller LAC, especially because we're OOS and would pay the same tuition at Michigan as we would at a private university. Vanderbilt seems to fit the bill for academics and school spirit, but we're concerned it might be too conservative for our son. Any other suggestions?</p>
<p>Duke? Georgetown? neither are terribly liberal, but no worse than Vanderbilt. Rice's school spirit is more about school than sports (notable exception: baseball) but might be worth a look.</p>
<p>I'd visit Vanderbilt before I decided against it on the basis of a reputation that might be a little out of date. My son is a freshman there, and he seems to think the feel is pretty moderate. The school is a good medium size, does have a lot of school spirit, excellent faculty, administration very committed to the undergraduate experience. </p>
<p>I'm not saying it won't be too conservative for someone who is intolerant of other's opinions. My impression, though, is that most students will find a group they like, and learn from those with different ideas.</p>
<p>How about Northwestern or Boston College. When you say liberal are you talking about student body or the administration or both. BC doesn't have a particularly liberal administration but the student body is not atypical of Boston.</p>
<p>Does he actually want a liberal school, or a school of political junkies? His liberalism doesn't mean he wouldn't rather go to a school where people care about issues and will discuss them with him (even if they don't always agree with him). But then, he might not. Can you clarify?</p>
<p>Dartmouth is the place for him. Very liberal -- very politically active, actually -- and very jocky and very good in math. Relatively small class sizes, and the focus is very much on undergrads.</p>
<p>If Amherst or Williams appeal, add Wesleyan (in Connecticut) to the list. They are all Div3, I believe. </p>
<p>My D didn't want Wesleyan because she's so un-sports. Her complaint was that every college green between every building was occupied by a sports game and she didn't want her head hit on the way between classes.</p>
<p>So perhaps Wes might exactly be right fit for your S's sports enthusiasm.
Just be sure to duck between Calculus and French Colonial History...</p>
<p>S has a friend at Vandy (NY native) that sounds alot like your S.Now a junior, he loves it there even though it may be a bit more conservative than he originally thought he wanted.Lots of spirit and SEC athletics, though a little less rah rah.Loves being in Nashville..its a very different city than it used to be (my first cousin lives there Ive visited many times over a 20 year period).
My S ,very liberal, jocky but not competively so, landed at U of South CArolina due to major and fabulous scholarship offer.I was real worried at first about conservative atmosphere but hes thriving there,loves providing the liberal Yankee big city point of view. Has made friends from all over, even kids from small SC towns who have a decidely differeent world view,and cultural exposure from him.Lots of rah rah spirit,especially surrounding football, which he adores,tailgating is his new EC!!.
Don't contain your search only to the Northeast thinking only those schools will fit the bill.Besides South,you might want to consider Northwest colleges, and even the Southwest.</p>
<p>He needs to visit Vandy. It may be more conservative than any other school he eventually applies to, but it fits the bill for him in other ways - particularly the sports while keeping the smaller classes. I also second Wisconsin. What about USC? How is it for politics?</p>
<p>Thanks so much for all the excellent suggestions. Would love to hear more ideas about LACs.</p>
<p>One of you asked if S wants to be surrounded by political junkies. I wouldn't say he cares about how political his classmates are. But he probably would have a tough time if most of the student body was ultra-right wing. A conservative administration probably would be off-putting as well.</p>
<p>Yeah, Williams is not a right-wing campus, and my son, who is not all preppy is very comfortable there.</p>
<p>He just performed in a choral cantata. This was a modern piece whose lyrics were all taken from actual testimony from South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.</p>
<p>This has been a perfect match for my son because he is a closet leftist; he is not an activist and recoils from political correctness but his views are quite left of center. He found the perfect environment at Williams.</p>
<p>I am surprised to see Wes described as rah rah. It's about the least rah rah of any of the Nescac schools--the football game I went to at homecoming was all about everything but the game (the Queer Leaders drew much more attention.)
OTOH, four and a half years ago, when looking for schools, I described my S in identical terms as the OP's. Up until near the end, his number one school was Michigan, which I think would be perfect for this kind of kid, but his numbe one changed to a school that was intellectually more perfect for him, with lousy spectator sports, and his number three choice became Wes.</p>
<p>He turned down Michigan for the number one school (an Ivy), but sometimes i have wondered if it might have been the better choice. (Full disclosure, my H and I are Mich alum.)</p>