I was wondering if anyone could comment on the social atmosphere of the following schools. Are the students collaborative or competitive? Is there a tight knit community, or are there cliques? Are there parties? What are the parties like? What is the housing system like? Does the school have any old or quirky traditions? If I were to pull aside one typical UPenn student, what would he/she be like?
Williams
Wesleyan
UPenn
William & Mary
Skidmore
Swarthmore
Princeton
NYU
Hamilton
Dartmouth
Cornell
Harvard
Brown
Bowdoin
Georgetown
Middlebury
Columbia
UChicago
Wow you are asking for a lot of work to be done researching for you. Keep in mind, most people here are HS students with no experience of these colleges. Also, if they go to a college they can only answer for their own experience at that one. Did you pick up a Fiske Guide which does a pretty good job with an overview and tries to address the culture, the housing and such. Wikipedia lists traditions, quirky or not. And don’t think there really is a typical student and all student bodies are just the same type with no major variations. And of course there are parties, all colleges have parties.
First of all there is no “typical student”. Every college on your list will have a wide cross-section of students and every student will have a different take on a school. .
With a list this big try to look at books like Fiske, Princeton Review, Insiders Guide to get some ideas. Then I’d try to visit schools you are interested in to get a first hand view. You need to figure out what you are looking for in a college. The schools you listed all have the common denominator of being fine colleges, but other than that you are all over the map…LAC/mid-size university/large university… urban/suburban/rural…non-sectarian/Jesuit.
As @happy1 said, these are all fine schools. However, where social is concerned, size does matter. You have to decide for yourself whether you like being recognized by someone at every event you go to,or whether you prefer the anonymity of a large student body. Some large schools like Harvard will compensate for their bigger size by assigning you to the same dormitory for all four years. Others, like Princeton, will give private, student-run, eating clubs huge leeway in running campus events.
You should also be aware that the smaller the college, the higher the likelihood that sports teams will be the primary force behind organizing parties, although most of them will be open to the entire student body. Look particularly hard at small colleges with football, soccer, and lacrosse all of which require large rosters of male students.
^^^^My D is at a small school (with a football team) and she does not find that sports teams dominate the school’s social scene. Maybe it depends on the school. That is why it is important to visit colleges Her college also has some Greek Life (not overwhelming) and she finds that all kinds of groups including friends, theater people, club sports, dorms, frats/sororities, as ell as sports teams. sponsor official and unofficial parties all the time. Her friends at school range from football players to students involved in theater and music.
Nonetheless, the point that the OP has to figure out what he/she wants in a college is the main jist of the response.
I have visited most of these schools, and I am not gearing this question towards high school students. I would like current/past students of these schools to provide me with some personal experiences. No book or brochure can give me the personal accounts that I’m looking for.
@happy1 Lafayette College may be the exception that proves the rule. It seems to have fewer varsity sports teams than some of the small colleges on the OP’s list. Twenty-three teams would equal the varsity roster at Swarthmore which is almost a thousand students smaller. For comparison, most NESCAC colleges ()Williams, Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Middlebury and Hamilton) average 32 varsity sports each which may explain why there are so many more athletes per capita than say,at Penn, Princeton or Columbia which have the same number of sports teams spread out among much larger student bodies.
Hi dornob! I am a current student at William and Mary, one of the schools you listed. I’d be happy to answer some of your questions. Feel free to post your questions in the question and answer thread I am starting.