GPA, scores, and especially college rankings aside, I am trying to figure out what is the best “type” of school for my personality. This might seem like a weird question-but I am deciding which schools I would like to visit this fall. I guess the best thing to do is to list out some options, and see how people view the social scene at each school. My top choices are Northwestern, UMichigan, UNC-CH and Duke. I am intending to be pre-med, but my major would be in the humanities. My main extracurricular is theater, and while I do not play sports, that does not mean I do not enjoy watching them. I would describe my personality as generally optimistic, uncompetitive, very sensitive, caring, both an introvert and an extrovert, serious about school, and I enjoy spending time with intelligent and kind people. I am aware that all of these schools have varying personality types, and you cannot truly capture the spirit of a school on a college confidential forum, but I am still curious. Thank you! 
also, I am not quite sure how i feel about greek life. Honestly, it depends on the school for me, but i might not be the type to join a sorority if they live up to their stereotype of ditzy, beach blonde, party girls. HOWEVER, I am aware that not all chapters are like this! None of my family has ever been in greek life, so I would like the perspective from someone else who is familiar with duke, UNC-CH, etc. greek life. thanks-bee
Schools like the ones you mentioned have all types of students and groups of students. You need to visit and see how they feel in person.
You sound like a person that might like the smaller liberal arts colleges.
Thank you, BatesParents2019. I used to want to go to Middlebury or Williams, but I decided I needed a bigger school so I could have access to a big medical center with lots of research.
Access how? You aren’t being realistic as an undergraduate.
honeybee - I have 1 kid that is alum, and one current NU student - neither went Greek. The Alum made friends with her other majors, her dormies, and club teams and still visits them annually. Current student doing the same. Both kid’s friends groups were collaborative - one of the things they like. But make no mistake - all the people at NU are competitive - and want to be the best - because they have ALWAYS been among the best, or the best at their HS…and you said you are not. Something to consider.
NU tends to attract the kind of kid that can be varsity player or HS theater star - and also be a mathlete.
Example - when son told us about his girlfriend, he described her as “the most brilliant person I know”. (We had to meet her to see she could also win a beauty contest - to go with her future Nobel.) Summing up - NU’s been fun for both my kids, and I like to think of it as the B1G Ten’s LAC - which should make BatesParents happy!
Good luck - you have some great choices - and I am sure you can be happy at all of them. I think you call that a win-win when all your choices are good!
Sorority girls at these schools generally do not fall under the category of ‘ditzy’. Remember, they got into highly competive universities. They’re all very smart. At Northwestern, you don’t have to follow the Greek crowd, but the frats generally host the parties and about half of NU girls join sororities.
I’m never quite sure what is meant by “generally host the parties.” I see that phrase in a lot of descriptions of a lot of schools-- “the frats host the parties.” I tend to think (wrongly or not) that it’s more meaningful in terms of smaller schools. Northwestern is big, and while my NU experience was way back in the dark ages, frat parties weren’t “the parties” beyond freshman week when everyone was curious. The frats did have houses at which parties visibly occurred on weekends, so I guess they “hosted” parties in the sense of “big visible ones.” But it’s not as if everyone was going to frat parties, or even noticing them much, except that if you walked by a frat there was a party happening. People who weren’t in the Greek world had parties in their dorm rooms or off-campus apartments. Not official ones with flyers, but it’s not as if all parties were Greek. I’m surprised to read that half of all girls join sororities – is that a new stat? Well, half of 4800 undergrad women is a whole lot of people.
I will say that all the Greek houses had different reps that were widely known and pretty varied. Some were seen as “they only take blonde girls,” others seemed more down to earth, whatever. I did know some girls who were in sororities and enjoyed it and weren’t stereotypical. (I also knew others who, to me, definitely fit the “ditzy” stereotype, although I’m sure they were smart. Ditzy is relative. So are stereotypes. They undoubtedly had stereotypes of me, too, LOL. What you see depends on where you stand.) If you’re curious, I’d say it’s worth it to go through rush. Why not? You don’t have to pledge. Just see what it’s like. At least the first events. Then you get a sense of whether it’s for you. But even at schools with “a lot” of Greek life, it doesn’t necessarily feel pervasive or as if you miss anything by not participating.
- Up to 40% of girls join sororities while about 30% of guys are in frats. Either way, you won't be judged.
- It's going to be difficult to find ditzy blondes at NU. People range from fairly smart to very bright. Also, the student body is racially diverse. The 2014 freshmen class were 20% Asians, 14% Latinos, 9% Blacks, and 9% internationals. This is not Alabama or Ole Miss.
@honeybee97 You may want to also think about the Univ of Chicago or Univ of Rochester. Both offer great opportunities for undergrad research, some theatre, and less emphasis on Greek Life. I have a student at UChicago who has had 2 summer fellowships for research and works in a cancer research lab during the year. URoc also offered her a research scholarship.