<p>Not sure, but do most of those schools have a true business major (lots of LACs don’t). Although Econ can work as well if he seeks internships along the way. </p>
<p>Yeah, the business requirement is at odds with a small and quirky school. Does she have any special EC/talent? Anything related to business to demonstrate? </p>
<p>Her gpa is on the low side compared to SAT and taking 5 AP without doing strongerl in class seems strange, is her class rank good?</p>
<p>look at College of Redlands. They have some interesting programs and they have business. They have a lot of abroad opportunities semester and mini sessions, and DC opportunities and school The Johnston Center is a live/work community “school within a school” where you make your own interdisciplinary major, which is supposed to be pretty special and attracts quirky interesting students. Should be a match for her.</p>
<p>Sounds like she has a good list but the gpa thing. New College of Florida, College of the Atlantic, Univ of Puget Sound.</p>
<p>College of the Atlantic has <em>sustainable</em> business, if that interests her. The focus of the school is human ecology.</p>
<p>But to me an interest in studying undergraduate business is completely at odds with everything else you describe. Does she really want that, or does someone else…or has she been told she will be flipping burgers if she doesn’t major in something that is supposedly “practical”?</p>
<p>Agree about the business major being somewhat at odds with the type of school you are looking at. If she is interested in business she can get an undergrad in econ or some other field and apply to MBA programs when she is done (or not–lots of people in business don’t have MBAs).</p>
<p>Writing seems to be her strongest suit, and Knox has a fantastic writing program. I would also look into Earlham, Hendrix, Beloit…there are lots of great small colleges out there, many of which might fit her interests and personality. </p>
<p>Most small, quirky schools would be LAC. Davidson has an Econ major, and the school is located right outside of Charlotte, meaning there are plenty of internship opportunities. You could get in touch with the specific department for more information. Anyway, about the quirkiness, every freshman class has a cake race the first week of school and people from around the community bake cakes to give to the them so that’s sort of a quirky tradition. They also bring in goats to control plant growth on the cross country track haha. They also have undergrad research available, including the summer months. Have you visited any of the schools on your list? I’m sure most have little traditions that you would learn about on any tour! </p>
<p>Syracuse and Vermont are neither small nor particularly quirky.
I think he/she might have an outside shot at Oberlin with those solid test scores and with showing a lot of interest (like maybe applying ED).</p>
<p>We visited Goucher with our son this spring. Not sure what part of the country you are looking for but it is small and quirky and we liked it. It was a very friendly campus. Can’t comment on Econ but it is not too competitive.</p>
<p>@Elizabeth1315 As much as I love Davidson, I wouldn’t necessarily call the student body “quirky”. They wouldn’t be hostile to those who are but as a whole, it’s, in my opinion, much more “mainstream” and “traditional”, not that those are bad things. I believe that if someone wants quirky but on an academic level like Davidson, they should look at schools like Carleton and Grinnell. It’s definitely a great school academically, though it is a reach/high reach with the OP’s son’s GPA. </p>
<p>Now for OP, I think New College of Florida might be a good match, though it may tread “hippie” more than “quirky”. It’s also fairly affordable, one of the best deals in higher education. </p>
<p>If finances aren’t an issue, Eugene Lang/New School is worth looking at, although it has grown more selective recently. It’s very traditional, in some respects, and might be a bit of a reach for her GPA, but Fordham-Lincoln Center is an unusual college worth looking at if she’s exploring urban schools. Emerson is good for writing, also.</p>
<p>What about Pitzer? It doesn’t have a true business major, but student can take classes at CMC (campus is right adjacent, they are in the Claremont Consortium) where they have a strong business major. Pitzer offers Econ, International Political Economy, and Organizational Studies as majors as well. Test scores are in range, too. Here is the Fiske Guide lead-in for Pitzer:</p>
<p>“Offers a haven for the otherwise-minded without the hard edge of non-conformity at places like Evergreen and Bard.”</p>
<p>thanks for all the ideas! to answer some questions:</p>
<ul>
<li>the student is a boy</li>
<li>we have read colleges that change lives and have visited/considered a lot of those schools including many of the schools mentioned here.</li>
<li>He likes business, but prefers quirky. Mostly we want to get him to a happy place that has lots of support for kids and focuses on teaching.</li>
<li>We know syracuse and vermont don’t really fit but he liked the vibe of those schools. In the end, he probably won’t choose those schools.</li>
<li>He took AP classes in his strengths and did very well in those classes. He took one last year, two this year and will take another two next year.</li>
<li>Having been through this with our first son, we don’t believe he has a chance at davidson or carleton, grinell and oberlin would be far reaches. We’re also thinking about kenyon as a reach. We’re aware of knox from ctcl book, we’ll take a closer look. his brother, with a much stronger gpa, received merit at oberlin (decided not to attend) so we’re a little concerned about the “My brother got a scholarship, I didn’t get in” blues.</li>
</ul>
<p>Well, Columbia College Chicago is very quirky and has a Business major with various concentrations. It also has English and writing majors. Just FYI. </p>