<p>Which of the ivies do you think is the most layback (students not ultra-overachivers, classes not too demanding, atmosphere not too competitive)? Is it cornell? dartmouth? upenn?</p>
<p>Well, none of them are laid back, but relative to the others I would say Brown</p>
<p>The College at Penn by far. They party almost as much as state schools. Dartmouth would be a close second.</p>
<p>lol OP do you really think cornell is a possibility?</p>
<p>Brown and Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Penn(college) and Brown.</p>
<p>Stanford or Duke.</p>
<p>Neither is an ivy, although both are of high to mid ivy quality/difficulty of admissions.</p>
<p>I don't really care for those, but out of the HPYSM, Stanford is the layed-back one, I think the only one of the big five.</p>
<p>None of them. If you want a laid-back experience (not layback, that's not a word), get out of the Ivy League, it obviously isn't the right place for you. Start looking for colleges based on what will make you happy, not which school is the most prestigious.</p>
<p>Dartmouth and Brown for sure in terms of non-competitive among students and socially friendly/ casual. I went to Columbia and Dartmouth, and Dartmouth was much more laid back in these ways. Academically people are hardworking at all Ivies.</p>
<p>Dartmouth.</p>
<p>I really cant comment on Cornell from personal experience, I've never been there, but I've spent some time at the others and I can assure you that the most pastoral and natural college atmosphere to be in is Dartmouth's.</p>
<p>This was also a major concern of mine, I wanted to attend a college that didn't take itself overly-seriously and lent itself to study, reflection and having a good time with friends and, I assure you, Dartmouth is tailor-made for just these things and a great education at a school that is completely undergrad focused in the bargain.</p>
<p>After Dartmouth, I would see Brown as a distant second in this regard. Penn, though not known as an intellectual pressure cooker still seemed rather intense in its urban setting and large size.</p>
<p>I would scratch Princeton, Columbia and Harvard right of the list if you are looking for a more relaxed atmosphereas I did.</p>
<p>You may want to consider a few of the top LACs; in such a category as this, you might like Williams.</p>
<p>I have spent time at Cornell and I know a few people who went/ go there and it is much more intense than Dartmouth and Brown. It doenst seem to have the cohesive community environment those other two have, probably because of its size and the number of schools there.</p>
<p>Dartmouth and Brown, huh.....Looks like those are on the top of my list now :D</p>
<p>I was looking for laidback places too. The days-on-campus at Dartmouth Brown and Columbia showed me that Columbia was a bit on the stressful side. Dartmouth and Brown were pretty peaceful - perhaps parallel to the peaceful surroundings, with Columbia lacked. Cornell was kind of depressing to me (stress was in the air).
Of course, why limit yourself to Ivies? Stanford and Duke (mentioned above) are both relatively laid back places with the academics that you seem to be looking for (also with lots of green, like Dartmouth).
But if you are only looking in the Ivies, I stick to Brown and Dartmouth, and in the Northeast, also look at Williams.</p>
<p>Part of the reason I loved Dartmouth so much was how laidback it was, people are smart AND cool. At dartmouth I often felt like it was comedy hour at lunch, and the whole experience just felt like that. At Columbia it was like people looked at you funny for smiling.</p>
<p>Stanford has the CA laid back lifestyle going for it but Brown and Dartmouth are the least cut throat and more cooperative vs competitive.</p>
<p>I have to disagree with slipper on this one. No offense, but Slipper, you had a terrible first year of undergrad at Columbia and your views are in .01% of kids who don't enjoy it.</p>
<p>From what I see on campus, everyone is very friendly and while there is a good amount of competitiveness, it is healthy competition.</p>
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<p>Perhaps check out Pomona in the LAC field</p>
<p>Um Jaug,</p>
<p>I really liked Columbia the first year, and I still have about 20 friends who went there that I keep in touch with. In fact, most people were shocked I wanted to leave. I liked it but knew college would be better elsewhere in the long run and Columbia would be a great place to be after College. In fact, Columbia is the only grad school I applied to. Columbia is fun the first year, then people clique off into groups and start going into the city. This means a less friendly campus overall, not even close to Dartmouth or Brown. Also, the student body is helpful but not overly so, and not close to those other schools. Columbia is not "laid back" by any stretch, and NYC by nature is not a laid back place. I think in fact this is a huge draw to many Columbia students, many love the intensity of the city.</p>
<p>An example until two years ago Dartmouth dorms weren't even locked and 1/2 of the students don't lock their dorm doors. At Columbia you practically need a retinal scan to get in your own dorm. Dartmouth parties people are ****ing in the bushes (sorry) and going to off campus houses, Columbia most of the social life is at the bars. Not bad - just different.</p>