So I’m looking for a school that’s not socially competitive, and is intellectual, but has at least 2,000 students and has good recruitment for jobs. Any suggestions?
Home state? How much can you pay? Stats?
hendrix college is 100% what you are looking for…if you are limited by a closed mind and can only attend school in NYC or LA…this is not your school but, if you are willing to go beyond certain boundaries set by some on CC this could very well be your school!
Hendrix (1,339 full time students) is outside the OP’s size preference.
What do you mean by not “socially competitive”? Are you saying no Greek life, very casual attire for classes, etc? What is your proposed major?
I would say Reed, but it’s a tad under 1500.
And Reed probably isn’t a recruiting hotbed, to be fair. Smart students, but one reason my kid didn’t apply there is because it seemed like great preparation for grad school, less so for the working world.
GPA, test scores, financial need? Help us help you.
Description is very vague, what do you mean by not socially competitive?
If you have good stats, Brown could be a good fit. Of course, you have to get in first
Bowdoin is around 1800 students, but is intellectual and laid back. Lots of students go on to good jobs.
Carleton is intellectual and laid back, slightly above 2,000, nice college town 45mn from Minneapolis-St Paul.
2000 is a common specified cut-off, but comes in just above some excellent colleges that have both breadth in academics and full sports programs.
@ErinsDad 2330 SAT, 4.0 UW/4.8 Weighted, IB Diploma candidate, decent extra curricular, home state of California but i would REALLY like to get out of state. I would need merit money at basically every school (middle class but don’t qualify for need-based: ran a shit ton of calculators and can’t go anywhere besides Harvard without at least 50k in debt). I’m national merit if that helps
@collegebobollege Brown was actually my exact perfect fit, that’s what inspired this question! I was considering going there on athletics but I couldn’t afford tuition, so I’m now looking for alternates with a similar social climate
By not socially competitive I mean that there isn’t some clear-cut hierarchy of fraternities and sorities that run the school, and that there isn’t a huge sense of who has money or whatever. I would prefer a collaborative rather than competitive environment and I don’t mind Greek life so long as it’s not snobbish and exclusive–more low-key
“I’m national merit if that helps”
That will make a big difference.
start your search here:
This is a list of colleges, complied by CC members, that offer merit $$ to NMSF’s.
I suggest you repost this thread on the financial aid / national merit board and the parents board with a new title- National Merit Semi Finalist looking for merit $ at schools with laid back but intellectual vibe.
Haverford is not socially competitive and is intellectual, although at 1,200 it’s under 2,000. However, the close knit relationship with Bryn Mawr makes Haverford functionally close to 2,000.
Look at Boston University. It fits what you want–you’ll find smart, nerdy kids and strong academic classes, but there’s no real Greek life or weird social hierarchies. You can find your people there. Your stats would also make you competitive for merit. That said, you will find lots of rich kids at BU–but you’re going to find that at ANY elite school because of how insanely expensive they are. You’d find it at Brown, too, so just bear that in mind.
I was gonna say Brown, but you mentioned that the tuition was too high. If you’re willing to overlook staying in California, I’ve heard that UCLA and Cal are pretty laid back, and employment opportunities are terrific. You could also look into Rice or even Northwestern. It’s all up to you, man. I would suggest visiting some campuses that you’re interested in, if possible. That way you can tell if you would be happy spending the next 4+ years there.
Since you’re part of the “CC middle class” * that basically can’t get financial aid anywhere, you need to forget all need-based schools.
As a NMSF, definitely apply to USC and UAlabama in addition to the UCs (UCB and UCSC may be your best fits there and UCSC is a safety).Neither’s a very good fit, but they’re very good.
Now, how much have your parents said they could afford?
- please realize that it means your parents earn at least three times what the median household does in the US. Lots of situations, like taking care of a depending child or elder, high cost of living, previous debt, periods of unemployment, can affect how much your parents can afford.