<p>Not sure why no one has mentioned Univ of Rochester. They also have an open curriculum called a cluster curriculum, about 5 K students, smart but not so competitive and ranked in the top 30’s.</p>
<p>In addition to strong academics, the Eastman school of music is part of the Univ and students can also take classes in both.</p>
<p>Check Bennington out. In some circles it is “legendary.” Very free curriculum, independent, student-driven studies, artsy and literary by reputation but science and social/political science also, field work term in January/Feb. with internships anywhere in the world. Beautiful campus in Vermont, with “dorms to die for” as one review put it.</p>
<p>Some of the schools on your list have extensive distribution requirements (Tufts, Yale, BU, others) and so are very different from Brown, as others have said. Sarah Lawrence and Amherst have flexible curricula like Brown (those are the ones I know about so some of the other schools on the list may also.)</p>
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Happy to hear it! 
But not on their website. I have to admit when my son said it, I did know what he meant by the look of the kids there. He had plenty of colleges on his list so no harm done in getting rid of a school.</p>
<p>Rochester might well be a good choice. I always think of it as a more sciency school, but it’s not really.</p>
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<p>Had one close high school buddy and an older cousin attend URochester as undergrad STEM majors and several college classmates go there for grad school at Eastman. From their accounts, the campus culture tends to be much more pre-professional, apolitical/non-political, and non-artsy on the main campus. Laid-backness may also be a problem if you happen to be stuck in classes heavily populated with pre-med students or highly competitive STEM majors. </p>
<p>That suited the cousin and HS classmate fine as they were engineering/CS majors. Granted, the cousin’s grades really suffered from the killer STEM curves and competitiveness of fellow majors in his first year there. </p>
<p>The college classmates really missed the more artsy vibe from Oberlin with some wanting to get their degree program over with so they could get out ASAP.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone, I’m currently looking at all the schools you told me about, I will post my new list when I’m done, hope you’ll take the time to give me some feedback.</p>
<p>Ok. This is harder than I thought. Isn’t there a few colleges on which you all agree ?</p>
<p>Georgetown or American University may be worth considering. There’s also Reed College in Portland, Oregon.</p>
<p>Didn’t like Georgetown, at all. And I know it’s a great school for Political Science, but no, not the kind of school i’m looking for…</p>
<p>I’m going to throw Rice in the ring. My best friend was deferred from Brown ED, visited Rice’s campus, and fell in love. She’s convinced it was a sign that she’s meant to attended Rice’s residential Brown College. (:</p>
<p>Brown and Columbia seem to be polar opposites, unless Columbia’s core courses are exactly what a student would want to take at Brown. Unusual, but it does happen.</p>
<p>OP, one gut check: make sure that your family is OK with paying what it would cost to attend these schools. If there are any budget issues, better to deal with that early.</p>
<p>I did give up on Columbia, though I might reconsider it for grad school… But no one cares. </p>
<p>My top 6 is now Brown, Tufts, Yale, Vassar, Wesleyan and Amherst (in that order). I would like other suggestions though.</p>
<p>Money is not an issue.</p>
<p>POMONA!!! I know someone who chose Pomona over Brown because she wanted small classes and first-rate mentoring from professors. She loves it there. Says it has much of the same ethos as Brown, with extremely bright students who try to help one another succeed.</p>
<p>Emory is similar to Brown in many respects. It is laid back, top 20 (prestigious), in the suburbs of a big city, culturally diverse, liberal and an outstanding academic experience.</p>
<p>if you definitely want to go to school in the US, you need some schools on your list with higher acceptance rates. If you are content going somewhere back home where you know you will get in, then you should feel free to only shoot for the stars in your US applications.</p>
<p>^^^The schools I listed are reaches, I’m also interested in BU and Sarah Lawrence, and I believe they both have a 58% acceptance rate…</p>
<p>Not on the level of Brown, but you might look into Bard. Someone already said Vassar. They might fit your bill well.</p>
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Whoa!! That is SO <em>not</em> my experience or consistent with current Vassar trends. Don’t know who the alums are or when they went, but that is not at all consistent with my experience or with current trends. I spent most of my years in jeans, a danskin leotard with a man-tailored shirt over it, and hiking boots (or wallabees, or earth shoes). Did not come from any trendy womens stores, I guarantee you that.</p>
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<p>They mostly graduated from the late '90s till the early-mid-'00s. One who graduated in the early '00s was particularly critical about that aspect of her social experience there. </p>
<p>This was underscored when I mentioned I had a younger cousin who just started at Vassar (current sophomore) and mentioned her fashion choices, attitudes, socio-economic background, and graduating from a well-known NYC area prep school…she said “Oh she’ll have no problems fitting in, then.” </p>
<p>Considering that cousin’s a bit of a fashion snob and made snarky remarks about public school kids in the past…makes me wonder.</p>
<p>Just wanted to sound a note of caution re Sarah Lawrence - GC warned that admissions there is ‘quirky’, therefore though stats-wise it can appear a match, it is impossible to predict.</p>
<p>OP, what ASPECTS of Brown do you like? size, location, atmosphere, student body, curriculum, other things…
Once we know specifically what is attractive to you, it is then easier to recommend other colleges that share these traits.</p>
<p>p.s. Cobrat, the Vassar of today is not all all snobby!
It shares commonalities with today’s Wesleyan, Yale, Brown, Bard, Oberlin, Sarah Lawrence, Bennington, Hampshire, Reed, and for more urban options, NYU and the New School. There are other hipster-ish strong in the arts atmosphere flex curriculum smaller colleges on the West Coast, too.
But I am waiting for the OP to state what is the attraction to Brown…</p>