Unique college experiences like Deep Springs and Merchant Marine Academy?

<p>I ordered Don Asher's Cool Colleges book from Amazon a few weeks ago, and fell in love with Deep Springs. I also thought the profile on the Merchant Marine Academy was interesting where kids spend their summers on sea. So, I'll be applying to go to school on a ranch and on the ocean this fall. Do any other out-of-the-box programs come to mind that are life-changing? Do you guys have any suggestions for back-up schools, because I understand admissions to both schools are extremely competitive. So far I have Swarthmore because I like the intellectual atmosphere, University of Chicago, because I like the Great Books program, and RPI, because I received a medal for math and science achievement for $15,000 per year. My parents want me to apply to all of the Ivys, and MIT as well, so that makes a total of 14 schools. Thanks for any help. If you need information about my academics/activities, let me know.</p>

<p>Although it will be a safety, Warren Wilson College offers a unique experience in that I believe you must complete community service. Maybe look at New College of Florida where they don’t give out grades and you must do a senior thesis which determines if you graduate.</p>

<p>One of my personal favorites is the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, ME. It’s especially good for the life sciences, but it has decent offerings in other areas. It’s rather small (~300 students) and has only one major (Human Ecology) that is molded to fit each student’s personal interests. It has a higher percentage of international students than virtually any other LAC and is exceptionally socially and environmentally conscious.</p>

<p>Cornell College and Colorado College are fairly unique in their “one course at a time” policy; most colleges require students to juggle 4 or 5 courses at once.</p>

<p>surfwakesnow165: I know Davidson requires a senior thesis which determines if you graduate. Is that comparable to New College of Florida? Do you know of any other schools that place on emphasis on community service? I know John Carroll has a really cool course in which you pretend to be homeless and have to find a way back to the University without any money (basically begging). Anything else come to mind? Thanks.</p>

<p>warblersrule86: Do you know of any other schools that partition their schedules well? I know some schools have innovative trimester systems that allow internships during winter-break, but their names are escaping my mind. College of the Atlantic seems known for ecology. Are there any other liberal arts schools known for anything, like Davidson, Amherst, Williams, etc. Thanks!</p>

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<p>Why? The Ivies all have very different looks / feels. Dartmouth and Brown don’t resemble Columbia and Cornell. Which particular atmosphere do you like / prefer? Core curriculum or open curriculum? Small rural town or big city bustle? Applying to all of the Ivies – and pulling them out as the only top schools worth applying to – is silly.</p>

<p>If you like U of Chicago, you should like Columbia IMO.</p>

<p>Bennington College (VT), the students have their Field Work Term, going from January into February. So the school year ends later, in June. It is like an internship, and the school does help you find these positions for all 4 years. You do graduate with a resume.</p>

<p>Pizzagirl: I never thought about Columbia resembling U of C. I’ll add that to the list. Do you know any information about what makes each Ivy distinctive? E.g. Brown’s open curriculum, Princeton and Yale’s residential system, etc.? Thanks.
Slumom: I read in the Princeton Review students help the professors in “big, exciting projects”. Do any other schools come to mind with a Field Work Term? Thanks again.</p>

<p>I can’t quite see a theme to what you are looking for other than “different”. Here are a few.</p>

<p>Global College at the Long Island U - study in a different country every year
[Global</a> College World Program](<a href=“http://www2.brooklyn.liu.edu/globalcollege/academic/at_a_glance.htm]Global”>http://www2.brooklyn.liu.edu/globalcollege/academic/at_a_glance.htm)</p>

<p>Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University - Oxford-style one-on-ones with faculty
[Ohio</a> University: Honors Tutorial College](<a href=“Honors at OHIO | Ohio University”>http://www.honors.ohio.edu/)</p>

<p>[St</a>. Johns College<a href=“campuses%20in%20Annapolis%20and%20Santa%20Fe”>/url</a> is entirely a Great Books curriculum, right down to using Euclid for math. Tiny [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.shimer.edu/]Shimer”&gt;http://www.shimer.edu/]Shimer</a> College<a href=“now%20on%20the%20IIT%20campus%20in%20the%20Chicago%20suburbs”>/url</a> is similarly focused.</p>

<p>[url=&lt;a href=“Academics | Kalamazoo College”&gt;Academics | Kalamazoo College]Kalamazoo</a> College](<a href=“Concrete CMS Is An Open Source Content Management System For Teams”>http://www.sjca.edu/) in Kalamazoo, MI is an LAC that features highly indvidualized study which integrates study-abroad (over 80% of students do it) and community service.</p>

<p>A list of colleges with unique majors.
[Colleges</a> with Unique or Highly Specialized Majors](<a href=“The Best College Rankings and Lists | Inside College | CollegeXpress”>The Best College Rankings and Lists | Inside College | CollegeXpress)</p>

<p>If you read Cool Colleges you’ll know Reed College is similar to Swarthmore in its intellectual intensity, although different in other ways. </p>

<p>Many LAC’s require senior theses.</p>

<p>Applying to all the Ivies is premised on the notion that the pursuit of “brand” trumps all other concerns (location, curriculum, student life, campus feel, and everything else). I suggest you try to winnow out a smaller set based on what appeals to you at particular schools.</p>

<p>Descartesz: Kalamazoo’s experiential education seems interesting, especially the study abroad aspect. Do you know anything about other schools with co-op programs like Northeastern and Kettering? Secondly, do other schools like Long Island University have stellar study abroad programs? And what are “Oxford-style one-on-ones”? Thanks for any help :)</p>

<p>LIU’s is unique, insofar as I know, because the bulk of the four years is spent abroad. However there are many schools that emphasize study abroad for a semester or a year. Here are some leaders:
[2008-09</a> | Institutions by Undergraduate Participation | U.S. Study Abroad | Open Doors Data](<a href=“http://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/US-Study-Abroad/Institutions-by-Undergraduate-Participation/2008-09.aspx]2008-09”>http://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/US-Study-Abroad/Institutions-by-Undergraduate-Participation/2008-09.aspx)</p>

<p>About co-op programs. See the examples section here: [Cooperative</a> education - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_education]Cooperative”>Cooperative education - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>“Oxford style one-on-ones” refers to the primary teaching tool of the top UK schools like Oxford and Cambridge in which a student meets either alone (or in very small groups of two or three )directly with a faculty member for instruction and discussion on a regularly scheduled basis. These meetings are usually supplemented by lecture but are mostly about directed reading. The Ohio U Honors Tutorial Progam is the only one I know of that emphasizes it to the degree that it does (although I imagine some classes at Deep Springs are probably conducted in a similar fashion). This is atypical in the U.S., which prefers the lecture and/or larger discussion group as the primary teaching method.</p>

<p>If sea-going appeals to you, you might be interested in <a href=“http://www.semesteratsea.org/[/url]”>A 180¬∞ Turn for the Better – Semester at Sea, in which many schools participate.</p>

<p>I was going to suggest Sea Education Association, a similar program that focuses on field studies:</p>

<p>[Study</a> Abroad with SEA Semester: Ocean Science & Sailing Program - Nautical, Maritime, & Oceanography Studies](<a href=“http://www.sea.edu/home/index.aspx]Study”>http://www.sea.edu/home/index.aspx)</p>

<p>Might I be so bold to suggest that you’re going about the college application process in the wrong way? Firstly, most would agree that 15+ applications is in the vast majority of cases too many to put in the requisite work for each. Why all the Ivies? They’re all very different, as the student whose perfect fit is Dartmouth might not get along so well at Yale, for example; besides, more than a handful Ivy League schools don’t exactly embrace Chicago’s and Swat’s academic atmosphere. </p>

<p>And what’s wrong with your average first-tier college? Why must it have either a recognizable name or an alternative curriculum? I just want to make clear to the OP that he may be passing up a great opportunity by focusing on prestige, uniqueness, and the presence of a stereotypically “academic” student body rather than any of the other more personal factors which go into selecting a college.</p>

<p>Ghosst: Is Sea Education Association affiliated with a particular institution?
Descartesz: Thanks for the links. University of Virginia is the main academic sponsor of Semester at Sea. Do you apply to this program instead of UVA, or do you apply to this program once you’re accepted into UVA? Thanks!</p>

<p>OxalisWombo: I have worked hard to distinguish myself. I believe I deserve to get into a top-notch college. While education is what you make of it, and you can succeed no matter where you go, I want to find out about all of the opportunities out there. Thanks for your input!</p>

<p>(*the field study of various environments, damn you stupid edit function)</p>

<p>SEA is affiliated with a very diverse group of schools, from Cornell and BU to Barnard and Carleton. The number of participating schools (not official affiliates, but still schools that have established ties with the program) is even longer:</p>

<p>[Study</a> Abroad with SEA Semester: Ocean Science & Sailing Program - Nautical, Maritime, & Oceanography Studies: Academics Affiliates](<a href=“http://www.sea.edu/academics/academiccredituniv.aspx]Study”>http://www.sea.edu/academics/academiccredituniv.aspx)</p>

<p>I believe OxalisWombo was implying that the criteria you’re using to narrow your search betray a certain naivety about the process that might prevent you from building a coherent list of schools, not that you don’t deserve a good education.</p>

<p>“I believe OxalisWombo was implying that the criteria you’re using to narrow your search betray a certain naivety about the process that might prevent you from building a coherent list of schools, not that you don’t deserve a good education.”</p>

<p>Exactly this. If your GPA and standardized test scores are as good as the prodigious awards you mentioned would indicate they are, then I’m sure you deserve a good education. But the processes you seem to be using to build your list of potential colleges is, at the very least, far from ideal, not to mention that the list itself is far too large.</p>

<p>Ghostt: Another reason to apply to Cornell!
OxalisWombo: You’re right. I definitely need to narrow down my list of schools and be a little more realistic. Thanks for the advice</p>

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r4g – UVA is the “base” for the program but you apply to the program while attending a college or university (not just UVA). But you are now at the point where you can research the answers to many of the follow-up questions you are posting.</p>

<p>McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where Problem Based Learning was invented.</p>