Basically what the title says! I’m looking for schools similar in vibe to Rice, Tufts, WashU etc.
By “vibes” I mean:
collaborative, friendly atmosphere
kinda quirky people for lack of a better word
pretty campus
fostering of strong friendships
fairly academic atmosphere but still not a dead social life
similar size: not huge but not too small either
I love these schools but they’re obviously super hard to get into, I was hoping to find more schools that fit the vibe but are easier to get into (maybe like 45%+ acceptance rates?)
Look into The Colleges That Change Lives. They’re all interesting. Start with Juniata, Beloit College, Reed and Whitman, some of my faves. Remember, selectivity represents one thing, popularity. That’s it. There are LOTS of “top” schools I wouldn’t send a student near. Good luck!
A lot of the midwestern liberal arts colleges come to mind (e.g. Earlham, Beloit, Knox, Lawrence, Wooster), but they may be a little on the small side for you.
Some of the COPLAC schools like Truman State are larger and would be worth a look, especially if you’re in-state or live in a state that gives tuition discounts at out-of-state public schools through programs like MSEP and WUE.
Rochester and Case Western come to mind. Emory? Wesleyan (tough admit too.)?
If you are a bit less into vibe and okay with more mainstream and party culture but looking for schools with an engineering and liberal arts overlap, I would suggest Union, Bucknell, Lafayette, and Lehigh.
Agree that the CTCL schools will likely have this vibe although most are smaller.
This is a myth that just won’t die. Because of the ABET framework, students get no more liberal arts at these schools than any other ABET school. I’ve been to them all because my son was interested in that angle before we realized it didn’t really exist in practice.
True. However, on an otherwise Liberal Arts campus I like to think the Engineering students will be enhanced by the Liberal Arts philosophy via osmosis if not in actual classrooms.
Also, I like the idea that non-tech students get a well-rounded student body by having diversity of STEM/LiberalArts majors. Those schools (Lehigh, Union, etc) and some of the Catholic schools that offer engineering (Marquette, Dayton, St Louis, SCU, etc) have a welcome niche IMO, filling a void between small LAC campuses with no engineering, 20K+ enrollments with engineering, and similarly sized w/LAC-leaning but insanely low-admit rate schools (Rice, Columbia, Stanford etc.)
I think it changes the mix of the student body. At many, it also creates an easier path out of engineering if a student realizes they want that.
At many larger schools, especially where you enroll in a major or specialized school, it’s harder to mix with other students who are doing something quite different from you. It is also often harder to enroll in classes outside your major.
At the smaller schools, there are usually fewer courses. Pros and cons. But for someone seeking the smaller, more mingled community, there are options.
I think this depends completely on the school, and can’t be generalized as “liberal arts engineering schools.” My son for example went to Cal Poly. As a Polytechnic institute it can be pigeonholed, but 3/4 of the student body are not in the CENG. A large number of his friends that he keeps up with to this day were not engineers. I’m just suggesting we not paint with broad strokes as often they are inaccurate.
@eyemgh I might be mistaken but I don’t think anyone was criticizing TECH/STEM universities and/or large research unis as being somehow inherently detrimental to all students.
But the CalPoly example gets at something I was talking about. CalPoly is a fantastic university, but its size (enrollment and physical) creates a different environment than the schools I highlighted. CalPoly has 21K+ students on 6000+acres - typical enrollment for large research unis. In stark contrast, St Louis University has 7K students on 290 acres. A student can get a good ME degree at either.
The size of SLU creates a different sort of community than that of CalPoly. Neither is inherently bad or good, but they are definitely different. While many students could be successful and find happiness at both types, many other students might have a preferences for one type of campus over the other.
NCSU spreads across 2100+ acres. Purdue sits on almost 2500 acres. UMichigan takes up 3200 acres. U of OK has 3300 acres. It’s possible some students might strongly prefer the 150 acres of Tufts to those behometh campuses. And vice versa.
EDIT: I’ve seen three different numbers for CalPoly’s campus ranging from 6K to 9K, so I’ll defer to anyone who knows for certain. But we can agree it’s a huge campus.
Absolutely agreed! Experiences are different, one neither better than the other.
The myth I was pushing back on is the idea that one can get a full liberal arts education AND and ABET engineering degree at the schools mentioned. There’s really only one place that happens, Dartmouth. To accomplish that, the ABET program is 5 years.
As for the CP campus size, geographically it’s huge. The total campus is 9178 acres! Nearly all of that is rolling hills, canyons and three ranches behind a well integrated, fairly compact campus. The actual campus is 1300 acres, 155 of which are considered the core.
Adding my voice to those who suggested checking into the University of Rochester and Case Western. Those two tend to be very loved by those who have similar preferences to yours.
Hard to compare admit rates since the applicant pools are different, but I agree - given my limited knowledge - that Case Western, Wake and Lehigh might be good choices. Another school I liked a lot on my quick walks through the campus was Trinity University. Perhaps a little smaller than you envisioned, but that’s a plus for me. Pretty campus near/in an interesting city, and the kids there seemed nice and smart.
I hate to be a jerk but I am not really a fan of the suggestions already given in this thread. most of those schools do not have the same size or vibe as Rice, Tufts, Wash U, or are not much easier to get into (Emory, Case Western, Rochester for example).
Here are some that came to my mind that might fit the bill:
Skidmore
Dickinson
UNC Asheville (it’s like a public LAC, which is rare)
