<p>Sweet! Thanks so much for the list; there are a lot of schools on there I haven’t researched yet, and I’ll definitely look into them. But…no Hollins on your list? ;_; :p</p>
<p>Also, for anyone else with suggestions for me, the top things I’m looking for are:
1.) A small student body with a sense of community, friendship, friendliness, all that good stuff. Fun traditions, student groups, et cetera.
2.) Good financial aid available, and merit aid is of course a plus.
3.) The presence of a quirky niche at least. One of the things I love about Hollins is that they actually have a special housing hall for anime fans! I haven’t found anything like that at other colleges I’ve looked into.
4.) A city nearby is preferable, but not mandatory.
5.) Good weather! Not many months of snow and having to stay inside; I like to be outdoors. I could probably handle a little snow, and I enjoy rain, but nothing too extreme.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your help so far, guys! I really appreciate it. ^_^</p>
<p>^Haha, I know, I know! XD I’m just already becoming a Hollins fangirl and felt the need to question your exclusion of my new favorite school. ;)</p>
<p>Definitely look at Davidson, William & Mary, and Wake Forest and of the three W&M would have that “quirky” vibe you are looking for. They set the Guinness record for biggest group performing “Thriller”</p>
<p>^haha exactly that’s why I’m in engineering! (I did come 2nd in the state of Massachusetts in 7th grade for the geography bee so I’m not the best I know)</p>
<p>Personally my favorite liberal arts small school in the south is Davidson College. It’s really hard to get into but it is such a good school!</p>
<p>The schools naitou01 listed are not what the OP is looking for, those are huge public universities.</p>
<p>Emory has great liberal arts and overall academics (the liberal arts approach has even penetrated the sciences, which makes for an interesting learning experience). I go there. It’s definitely a research U though. It’s also quite liberal for the south (actually very liberal in a southern context). Has some interesting traditions also. But avoid here if you want the D-1 sports team. Near Atlanta, but not in it (It’s a little hilly, so you can see the skyline from parts of the campus). However, define small. There are roughly 7K undergrads (not that big at all) like most top 20 schools. If you want to see quirky, look how we made up “Dooley”. We’re definitely one of the typical sized top 20s w/a weirder social scene perhaps because of that lack of D-1 sports. Some people don’t like that we don’t have the stereotypical scene, but you seem as if you may be interested. Just check us out. </p>
<p>Oglethorpe is further away from us in another part of Dekalb county. They are technically further out in the suburbs than we are. However, they have pretty solid academics (even if they don’t get the recognition for it), and a nice campus.</p>
<p>^Ideally, I think I want to attend a school with 700 - maybe 2000 undergrads, but I’ll look into Emory more based on what you just said about it! What kind of quirky social scene do you guys have exactly? </p>
<p>As for Oglethorpe, do you know any info about its social scene or have any friends that go there that I could possibly ask some questions?</p>
<p>No, I don’t have any friends who go to Oglethorpe. I just went their for an event a while ago. I couldn’t tell you too much about the social scene other than it being kind of “artsy”.</p>
<p>Anyway, I don’t know about quirky in the sense that you may be thinking. I can just say that it seems to have kind of the “hippie” liberal thing going on to some extent. Some of it has to do with how deeply integrated some of our academic and civic initiatives have penetrated the social scene. While I wouldn’t call it “political” activism, there is a lot of social and humanitarian activism on campus (The Sudexho food service protests are an ongoing issue. I distinguish such things from “political” activism because it isn’t that Georgetown or Tufts type stuff where they want to say lobby on a national level, our movements are more grass roots). Also, we take the sustainability/“being green” issue very serious so you get many events that get solid participation surrounding things like that. Plus we have things such as the Friday drum circle. Most of our social scene is built around culture/multiculturalism because of the diversity. For example, we have ties to Tibet since we have strong associations with the Dalai Lama himself. This has given birth to initiatives such as the Emory-Tibet Science initiative. Given that, some instructors go over there and teach them science and some of the Monks come here and take science courses. Because of this, you’ll see several older looking students that wear red-robes roaming around campus and integrating themselves to some degree into a normal college social life. It’s really interesting. </p>
<p>I take back the quirky in the traditional sense. I think I meant that we have very interesting things going on as the academic initiatives greatly enhanced the intellectual and cultural scene since I’ve been here. I feel as if this makes us different from many peers, especially those in the south such as Vandy or Duke. We’re all great, but I think Emory has developed a more distinct social and cultural scene perhaps due in part to the diversity and the fact that we are not overwhelmed by the typical, perhaps overwhelming, sports and party culture (we of course have the parties, but it won’t be as dominant as at a D-1 school) seen at most. Not only this, but the faculty members (not just from humanities and social scientists) are heavily integrated into the social scene. You’ll see many of them either sponsor or participate in these events. I think doing things like planting new plants in the sustainability garden w/ your professor is kind of cool. You’ll also have things happen like: Your cell biology professor inviting you to the park (we have a huge forest trail/park on campus called lullwater) to have class there. It’s also kind of interesting to see these features develop at a school with a highly pre-professional student body. </p>
<p>I don’t know, Emory is just kind of interesting for a school it’s size. It’s a research university that seems to have retained a lot of its liberal arts fervor and social scene. This is possibly because we became a research university in the 90s. Emory is a place that started as an LA college and expanded outward, and you can kind of tell. </p>
<p>Admittedly, these features and the “quirkiness” you look for are probably available in a abundance at the smaller size universities you aspire to attend, but a research university with many of these qualities also has its advantages because it means you are instructed by big hitters in the field while also having abundant research opportunities even if you are say, a humanities major within the university itself. Perhaps just check it out. I really don’t know the nature of smaller liberal arts schools in the south. It honestly seems as if those up north and in the mid-Atlantic may offer more of the effect you see. I would expect more conservatism at schools down here which may somewhat prevent the propulsion of the type of social scene you seek. I’m sure there are exceptions though. Other posters here can shed light on those.
Also, Emory Advantage is a solid fin. aid program.</p>
<p>Bigger than you are looking for: College of Charleston. Maybe the Honors College can shrink the size down for you. My Son recently visited the school and it doesn’t feel like a school with 10k undergrads.</p>
<p>Nevermind, the schools I listed would all be safeties (don’t know about how many transfers they take). I would think that you might want to look at schools like Emory, Furman, Davidson, Duke, Vandy, etc. Just make sure that you will have a good chance at merit money as a transfer.</p>
<p>Well, Emory, Duke, and Vandy seem too big for me. I’m looking into Davidson though. Furman sounds good, but since I am more personally partial to Hollins and Sweet Briar when it comes to smaller Southern schools, I’m not sure if there is a particularly compelling reason to consider Furman over those besides the slightly greater prestige (which doesn’t seem to play a big role in choosing between lesser-known LAC’s in the first place).</p>
Thanks so much for the list; there are a lot of schools on there I haven’t researched yet, and I’ll definitely look into them. 
But…no Hollins on your list? ;_; :p</p>
Not many months of snow and having to stay inside; I like to be outdoors. I could probably handle a little snow, and I enjoy rain, but nothing too extreme.</p>
What kind of quirky social scene do you guys have exactly? </p>