Small colleges with artistic, quirky, friendly student bodies??

<p>As of now, I'm trying to decide between Wesleyan and Rice ED. Rice has the friendly student body and Wesleyan has the artistic student body, with a bit of an overlap. Both are quirky in their own ways.</p>

<p>I'd like to find a place that is open minded, friendly, liberal, passionate, artistic, and a little bit quirky. By quirky, I am referring to Duckie Dale of Pretty in Pink or Ferris Bueller of Ferris Bueller's Day Off (yes, I like John Hughes movies hahaha). I also do not want to drink or do drugs in college and I'd be upset if I was bombarded by substances and substance abuse. I'd also like a nice Psychology/Cognitive Science, Graphic Design, and foreign language program. Another important thing for me would be love for the student's school and a close, tight-knit, small community of unique individuals. It'd be cool if the students were all this and socially capable, because a lot of kids in my school are either super preppy or socially awkward.</p>

<p>Feel free to comment on which school would be the best fit for me and other schools I should consider.</p>

<p>I would suggest Bard or Skidmore, both have “creativity” as a fundamental part of their school spirit. I have not visited though, but they might be worth looking into.</p>

<p>Thanks for the tip. I have visited Bard and was really turned off by it, but I know its a great school. I’ve been considering Skidmore! I have a friend who goes there.</p>

<p>Look at Carleton–quirky, creative, bright, and super friendly students, and you can’t get more friendly than the Midwest for atmosphere!</p>

<p>Just a visit can tell!
Well, you could also look at the Princeton review student body rankings, and at the college ******* most artsy guys/girls ranking, those can give you an idea where people are that way. Also, many of the mid-western colleges are supposed to be very welcoming. Oberlin comes to my mind as well.</p>

<p>Lewis & Clark College
University of Puget Sound
Possibly Kenyon
Macalester
Brandeis
Coe College
New College of Florida (?)
Occidental College
Pitzer
Whitman</p>

<p>Check out Swarthmore.</p>

<p>Grinnell
Oberlin
Kenyon
Macalester
College of Wooster
Beloit
Kalamazoo
New College of Florida</p>

<p>if female – Bryn Mawr if male Haverford</p>

<p>Reed, Oberlin, WUSTL, Chicago, Macalester, Carleton, Grinnell. As between Wesleyan and Rice with those areas of academic interest, Wes and Rice are both good in psych and cog science (with Rice stronger on the research side). Rice also has a school of architecture and so is probably better for graphic design. Wes though probably beats Rice for quirkiness and is strong in languages. Either school is probably a good choice for you assuming you do not care if you are in Houston Texas or NE (pretty different cultures).</p>

1 Like

<p>Vassar should be on this list too. Some prep but very artsy. If prep makes you cringe, then go with the midwestern LACs listed above or Reed.</p>

<p>You can find artistic, quirky, friendly students at most small LACs.
It might help narrow the possibilities if you’d provide information about your qualifications and your budget. If you’ve realistically assessed your chances at Wesleyan and Rice, but still decided to apply, then few if any schools should be completely out-of-reach. However, more info might help set some boundaries.</p>

<p>What is your Expected Family Contribution? ([FinAid</a> | Calculators | Quick EFC Calculator Results](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid))
How much is your family actually able and willing to pay per year?</p>

<p>What are your unweighted GPA, class rank, and SAT (M & CR) scores?
How rigorous are your classes? (How many IB/AP courses have you taken?)</p>

<p>In what state do you reside? Are you male or female? If female, would you consider a women’s college? Are you willing to go anywhere in the country? Do you have a strong geographic preferences (urban v. rural; North, South, East or West)?</p>

<p>Meanwhile,here are a couple others you might want to consider:</p>

<p>Middlebury (for some of the best foreign language programs in the country, and apparently a strong neuroscience program)</p>

<p>St. Mary’s College of MD (Maryland’s public honors college; less expensive even at OOS rates than schools mentioned above; seems to have strong psychology and art departments; beautiful waterfront campus and setting.)
[Art</a> & Art History Department: St. Mary’s College of Maryland](<a href=“http://www.smcm.edu/art/artisthouse/0304artists.html]Art”>http://www.smcm.edu/art/artisthouse/0304artists.html)
[Environmental</a> Studies Program: St. Mary’s College of Maryland](<a href=“http://www.smcm.edu/environmentalstudies/index.html]Environmental”>http://www.smcm.edu/environmentalstudies/index.html)
<a href=“http://www.smcm.edu/rivergazette/_assets/PDF/sept07/07-7-4-16.pdf[/url]”>http://www.smcm.edu/rivergazette/_assets/PDF/sept07/07-7-4-16.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>SUNY Purchase. They’re not great with academics, unless your into the arts… But I visited and felt right at home.</p>

<p>I can all but guarantee that if get on a plane and visit hendrix college you will fall in love with it! hendrix is the best hidden gem in the entire world hands down (no bias from me)
my other schools for you to look at would be college of wooster, muhlenberg college, and maybe kenyon college (however it may be somewhat to preppy for you…I can not make that call for you)</p>

<p>FYI, Brandeis, already mentioned, has one of the top neuroscience programs.</p>

<p>b77 …brandeis is a great school, not sure about a fit for the OP !
and they triple freshman, it is hard enough with one roommate let alone two crammed into one room( something to think about)</p>

<p>Hi Aerobug</p>

<p>If you like Wesleyan, take a look at Vassar. Definitely artistic and quirky. Not too much prep. Vassar does not have freshman dorms and the campus traditions create a tight knit community. Everyone attends the music and theater productions - a great supportive atmosphere.</p>

<p>I also second the suggestion of Swarthmore and would like to add in Hamilton.</p>

<p>Zobroward, agree that Brandeis is a great school. Understand very few triples this year, and plan is to control entering class size to limit the need. Other top schools have that issue but don’t discuss openly like Deis.</p>

<p>A I was reading your post, it sounded to me like you were describing Clark University specifically! That’s exactly what it is like here! Everyone is super friendly an tight-knit, you can really get that vibe by visiting, there are a lot of artsy students, and everyone has those funny/cool little quirks. Clark is also very well known for its psychology department, one of the top in the country.</p>

<p>Check it out!</p>

<p>I would second Lewis & Clark :)</p>