<p>I want a school where I will not only have my mind blown by amazing professors, and a thinking student body, but also a school with a pretty campus and a fun social life. </p>
<p>Almost like a liberal arts school with traditional college experience. (Parties, Sports, and Thinkers)</p>
<p>Any Ideas? I only have a 3.76W GPA and a 2070SAT as of now (hope to get 2100+, and Varsity Lax and other ECs)</p>
<p>As of right now I'm thinking</p>
<p>USC and UMIAMI, but those can't be it...</p>
<p>Size, location, cost.</p>
<p>West, South but not DEEP South, or possibly NE.</p>
<p>Preferably below 10,000 students, and cost doesn’t really matter.</p>
<p>Any suggestions would really be appreciated. Oh and I’m thinking to Major in Psychology, and then minor in either Film or Philosophy if that helps at all.</p>
<p>USC has way more than 10,000 students.</p>
<p>American University in DC would be a match school for you. Students are motivated and the social life is superb (my son’s word).</p>
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<p>Furman; maybe Davidson if your SATs come through.</p>
<p>dpc,
I post on this topic often and feel passionately about it. I applaud that you are looking for colleges that offer a great balance as I feel strongly that a college experience is about so much more than what takes place in the classroom. Good luck with your search and I’m confident that you will find a good spot as there are many terrific places that will meet your desire for a great blend of academics and social life.</p>
<p>IMO, the best schools for great academics, great social life, great athletic life are below. You can investigate further and see how they slot into your geographic/size parameters and whether they should be classified as Reach/Match/Likely.</p>
<p>Privates: Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Rice, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Georgetown, USC, Wake Forest </p>
<p>Honorable Mention: Boston College, Tulane, U Miami</p>
<p>Publics: UC Berkeley, U Virginia, UCLA, U North Carolina, U Wisconsin </p>
<p>Honorable Mention: U Michigan, W&M, Ga Tech, U lllinois, U Washington, Penn State, U Florida, U Texas</p>
<p>Hawkette, Michigan and Texas belong in the top group. How can you put UCLA and Wisconsin above Michigan and Texas? Academically, Michigan is generally considered #2 or #3 among publics and socially, it is also considered among the top. Texas is very similar to Wisconsin. </p>
<p>Furthermore, GT does not belong in the honorable mention section. There is no balance at GT.</p>
<p>I would add the following schools as honorable mentions among publics:</p>
<p>Indiana University-Bloomington
University of California-San Diego
University of Colorado-Boulder
University of New Hampshire
University of Vermont</p>
<p>“Hawkette, Michigan and Texas belong in the top group. How can you put UCLA and Wisconsin above Michigan and Texas? Academically, Michigan is generally considered #2 or #3 among publics and socially, it is also considered among the top. Texas is very similar to Wisconsin.”</p>
<p>You had to even ask Alexandre?</p>
<p>Alex, in the interest of fairness, Hawkette hedged her list with an “IMO”.</p>
<p>How does Berkeley have a great social or athletic life…lol</p>
<p>alex,
I intentionally limited the top public honors to the Top 5 (as I probably should have also done with the privates that IMO are Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, and Notre Dame).</p>
<p>The reason that I placed U Wisconsin over U Michigan is that I look at all three categories of great academic life, great social life and great athletic life. Here is how I see the comparison between U Wisconsin and U Michigan:</p>
<p>Academic Life: A wash between U Wisconsin and U Michigan</p>
<p>Social Life: Lots of sources out there that tout the social life at U Wisconsin and very few (any?) which do the same for U Michigan. Not that social life bad at U Michigan, but U Wisconsin might be the best in the country. </p>
<p>Athletic Life: A wash between U Wisconsin and U Michigan</p>
<p>Are the differences huge? No, but they probably are largest in the social life category. </p>
<p>As for U Texas not being in the Top 5, I agree that its social life and athletic life are outstanding. IMO, however, its academic life slightly lags the others that I placed ahead of it. Again, the differences aren’t huge.</p>
<p>This is an interesting exercise, but the OP asked for suggestions “like a liberal arts school with traditional college experience” and “below 10,000 students.”</p>
<p>
Why not? Interacting with the cast of characters on Telegraph Avenue and commiserating with fellow fans of the woeful “Gummi Bears” makes for a great social/athletic life.</p>
<p>Yeah thanks for the suggestions, but the schools listed here are too large for me…</p>
<p>As I stated originally “like a liberal arts school with traditional college experience” and “below 10,000 students.”</p>
<p>^^^ Are you referring to “below 10,000” students at the undergraduate level or the entire campus as a whole?</p>
<p>William and Mary, under 10,000 students, great location, fantastic professors and much more of a social life than many realize. Definately not all work!</p>
<p>"Publics: UC Berkeley, U Virginia, UCLA, U North Carolina, U Wisconsin </p>
<p>Honorable Mention: U Michigan, W&M, Ga Tech, U lllinois, U Washington, Penn State, U Florida, U Texas"</p>
<p>I’d replace UC Berkeley with Michigan.</p>
<p>Hawkette,</p>
<p>For your information, if you are listing the schools in order of USNWR rankings, Rice is ranked at the same spot as Vandy and above Notre Dame. We also received the Best Quality of Life award from Princeton Review this year.</p>