<p><a href="http://ctcl.com/regions/south.htm%5B/url%5D">http://ctcl.com/regions/south.htm</a>
Colleges that change lives lists a bunch</p>
<p>Dartmouth, I'd say its the friendly Ivy. Lots of community, "shiny happy people", strong friendships, study abroad, etc. Dartmouth students love to love Dartmouth.</p>
<p>If I had to list the "laid back, friendly" top schools: Dartmouth, Stanford, Brown, Pomona, Duke, Northwestern, UNC</p>
<p>My experience with Emory was that its super cliquey and elitist. I didn't love it.</p>
<p>I believe that Tulane has the highest proportion of Northeasterners of any southern school. Just keep in mind that southern schools aren't all the same, and it would be wrong to think that they all have similar environments.</p>
<p>OP: I don't know if it's a "slower pace" or not, but for "friendly" along with "strong academics," I recommend WashU in St. Louis. The Midwestern vibe is warm, relaxed, fun, and relatively laid-back, but the overall culture is 'heartland' rather than Southern. There's a vibrant ex-urban area alongside the campus; it borders an urban park with ice skating, art museums, a zoo, running trails; a metro link directly to the airport makes travel home easy; and it has a beautiful well-designed campus. A real mix of students from all over the country and international. </p>
<p>Posted these elsewhere, but will post again just because.</p>
<p>My votes for private Uni's go to Rice, UMiami, Emory, and Vanderbilt (of which my D applied to one :mad:). If WashU was southern, it would be there , too. But it's not. So it's not. ;) If she's willing to go a little smaller I'd say Davidson but folks, that is pretty intense enviroment . Compared to Harvard...???...maybe it's laid back enough if you consider working your rear off with a little grade deflation to boot "laid back". </p>
<p>Now if she liked LAC's......</p>
<p>I grew up in the north but got down south as fast as I could! After 28 years in Texas (which I loved), we moved to TN. I want to be reincarnated as a Vanderbilt student. Take a good look at it, but be aware that the frat/sorority scene is HUGE and that might not be right for your daughter. Nashville is a perfect college environment.
My daughter had a wonderful 4 years at Rice, so check that out, too. It does NOT have frats/sororities, so it is a very different feel from Vandy. One thing I like about Vandy is the D1 sports atmosphere. (yes, I know Rice is D1 also, but except for baseball might as well not be). The SEC is SO much fun and Vandy puts a lot of money into athletics. I don't think Rice has as much of a southern "feel" as Vandy does. Rice seems more liberal on it's face, although Vandy is NOT conservative and gets criticized around here by some of the religious right.</p>
<p>I'll do it for you. If she liked LACs.... she should look at Rhodes College in Memphis. One of the prettiest campuses I've visited online. <a href="http://www.rhodes.edu/about/default.asp%5B/url%5D">www.rhodes.edu/about/default.asp</a></p>
<p>Agreed on Rhodes. Less selective but gorgeous is Sewanee (The University of the South). Lots of drinking, but a very bucolic setting (in which to drink or hike, whichever you choose).</p>
<p>If she likes LACs and wants to go south Davidson is an obvious place to look at first--lots of work and lots of play and really outstanding faculty and facilities within very easy distance of Charlotte (lots of nonstop flights from NE). But if she likes LACs why not also look north and midwest to Bowdoin, Williams, Middlebury, Kenyon, Carleton, Grinnell, and so on? There are so mny place that combine outstanding academics with as much recreation as students can budget their time for.</p>
<p>Haha, mattmom. Aint that the truth. My S is at Williams, and I call it camp Williams, though the academics are very rigorous as is the grading. You'd never know it from the atmosphere.</p>
<p>While I don't know the strength of your daughter's potential application nor do I know your financial situation, you may also want to investigate the merit aid available at many of these top southern colleges. In contrast to their Ivy peers, schools like Duke, Rice, Vanderbilt and others will make substantial merit offers to very top students. </p>
<p>I'm not sure how much I can add to all of the excellent suggestions. Good luck in your search and I hope your daughter finds a good match.</p>
<p>i haven't read every post, so maybe i'm being repetitious, but you can't beat UVA! we're northeast, and so obviously my d was OOS and northern, and loved every minute of the UVA experience. feel free to PM me if you like!</p>
<p>Excellent academics - good merit $$ - definitely southern and beautiful - W&L</p>
<p>And nearby to W and L, Virginia Tech. Great school spirit. Not bad academics especially in engineering and related disciplines.</p>
<p>Check out the publics in Arizona, U of Arizona, Arizona State and Northern Arizona.</p>
<p>All very laid back environments, good honors programs, sizable OOS populations and merit $$$$$</p>
<p>Haven't read all the threads here, but just want to point out a correction. UNC-CH technically takes 18% OOS. Recent NC legislation allows any merit scholar or athletic scholarship recipient to be considered in-state for tuition purposes. This was passed through for various reasons, but it has provided a back door way of easing that 18% cap. In actuality, it's about 22% now. In addition, someone mentioned the Greek scene there, so just thought I'd add that only ~14% of UNC-CH undergraduates are involved in the Greek scene-- so not a major presence, when you consider there are ~17,000 undergraduates.</p>
<p>There are several non-Southern current students who routinely post in the W&L forum. They certainly can answer any questions your or your D may have. FWIW, our kids grew up all over the US due to my H's career. My D is a sophomore General and has had a fabulous experience so far.</p>
<p>Haven't read entire thread, but my Maryland brain just kicked in. How about Johns Hopkins U? Has anyone suggested it?</p>
<p>Unless it's changed dramatically in the past 30 years, JHU may be in the South, but it's far from laid back!</p>
<p>^^That's true from what I hear; and they emphasize that a person must be well organized, able to initiate, advantage themselves of intellectual resources...no spoonfeeding nurturing, that's for sure. I'm extrapolating from just one experience, of course; that of a friend's daughter who went there accustomed to everyone in her town knowing her, admiring her family, and so forth. She suffered there from what she called "lack of attention" and transferred away. Academically a match, but not emotionally.</p>