<p>In our travels with my 3 sons we found especially happy and welcoming students at Lafayette and Hobart William Smith (as well as some of the schools previously mentioned).</p>
<p>Austin…dad, I was accepted at and strongly considered W&L over 30 years ago. I am shocked that it is so highly rated, because it is so “southern” and frat/sorority oriented. Seems like a school from a bygone era that would have declined in prestige rather than gained. I know it is a superb school, but you are correct that some students would feel very welcomed at some of these schools and some would not. For instance, even though they are rated very, very similarly, you wouldn’t expect there to be many overlaps in apps with W&L and say a Wesleyan, whereas as Davidson might have overlaps with both (more so with W&L).</p>
<p>^ I think you are right about the overlaps with regard to Davidson, W&L, and Wesleyan.</p>
<p>S is at Bowdoin, which usually ranks near the top for “happiest students” and “best food.” I think there might be a relationship between the two! It’s academically rigorous but not stressful or cutthroat. S is very easy going and could have been happy lots of places, but when he visited Bowdoin, it shot up to first place. His best friend, who is incredibly similar to S, is at Lafayette, which is another place S loved. He’s also very happy there.</p>
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<p>This was our experience too. The admissions people were cold and off-putting and our tour guide was terrible. He was an athlete and ONLY wanted to talk about the sports teams and partying and the rivalries between north and south campus. And he had not been given keys to enter many of the facilities, including any of the performance spaces. Coincidentally, just outside the main theater (which the tour guide described as “fantastic”) my son saw a kid he recognized from his high school who told the tour guide, “yeah…they never let people look inside the theater.”</p>
<p>One of the friendliest campuses we saw was Knox College in Galesburg, IL. While my son was meeting with an adcom several kids came up and chatted with me. They were incredibly enthusiastic about their experience.</p>
<p>Especially when talking about top 50-75 universities and LACs, I think you will find that 80% or more of students are thrilled at their ultimate school of choice and rarely look back or think they would have been happier at some other school they either didn’t get in or didn’t choose.</p>
<p>My first kid was in love with Colby for 2 years, and got in, but chose Kenyon in the end because of merit money, and he has never had a second thought about Colby because he is so happy at Kenyon.</p>
<p>Hamilton and Bowdoin</p>
<p>If she’s willing to consider a women’s college, Smith College is very academic and very friendly. Those are basically the main two criteria my daughter (also from an independent school) had in her search, and she loves it at Smith. It’s safer than the schools you list. They also have a limited number of merit scholarships that include a paid research assistant position for the first two years. These are hard to get but within the realm of possibility given the other colleges to which your daughter’s school is pointing her.</p>
<p>Agree with previous suggestions Carleton (no. 8 on the happy list last year) and CMC, which ds loved on our visit. But this is an example of YMMV.</p>
<p>Trinity University in San Antonio flies under the radar because it is only regionally ranked by USNews. We found everyone - students and staff - very welcoming. The facilities were very nice. </p>
<p>DS also visited Pomona, Pitzer and Haverford (as mentioned up thread). Of those, Pitzer was most welcoming, Haverford most “live & let live” attitude, but Haverford I wouldn’t classify as “happiest” we saw. Our impression was Haverford had a more serious student body.</p>
<p>Cost is not an issue as we have saved for this. She is open in terms of location and definitely loves California. She is not a big fan of the Northeast. Thanks!</p>
<p>So true that individual experiences vary, as does the definition of “friendly.” I wouldn’t say tours are useless, but I would say that first impression is often incomplete.</p>
<p>S spent 4 years at Grinnell and we attended parents weekend every year except senior year, when we went to graduation. Faculty, staff and students were always helpful and friendly. I was in Maine, wearing Grinnell sweatshirt, when a woman in her late twenties told me she had graduated from G and how much she loved her experience and said it was the people that made it for her. </p>
<p>To each his own. It is true that most kids love their school and I imagine would describe it as friendly by the end ofmthe first semester.</p>
<p>I think you can’t just list “happy” colleges because each one has a distinct personality. It depends on the student’s likes and dislikes. Brown is listed as having the happiest students, but of course is very, very hard to get into. But you have to want an open curriculum with little structure and a middle-sized college of about 8,000 students.</p>
<p>Oberlin is great, but you have to love the environment and be socially conscious. U of Rochester is also good, but it’s cold, and there’s no real college town, if that’s what you’re looking for. Swarthmore and Haverford are wonderful options, but not if you want something bigger or you like to party.</p>
<p>So I would have to ask the OP, what exactly is your D looking for other than “happy” students?</p>
<p>Take a look at New College Florida - cool mix of elite academics with a surfboard vibe. Everyone I know there thinks they are in heaven. It is an honors college exclusively</p>
<p>W&M tends to rank well for happy students (whatever that is worth).</p>
<p>Good school, very tough out of state. Not huge, but bigger than the small liberal arts schools.</p>
<p>University of Texas Austin. Extremely tolerant of all types of students, everyone can find a niche there. Top notch Business, Engineering and two Liberal Arts Honors Programs (Plan II and Liberal Arts Honors…our daughter is in Plan II and her Plan II classes are 25 students or smaller and most under 20). Out of State admission is difficult, but her stats are strong and I would think that would play well into her favor.</p>
<p>University of Miami - DS quote, “Everyone here is happy mom; it’s great!”</p>
<p>I would not put much faith in the Princeton Review’s lists. Most happy etc.
I have read that their ballot boxes are stuffed on Campuses with students voting more than once in order to achieve a place on PR’s lists. The results from these surveys are not accurate.</p>
<p>It’s another reach, but I can vouch for Yale as a place where students are happy.</p>
<p>Another plug for JMU. Lots of spirit, tremendously friendly campus. Both of my older kids liked it a lot.</p>