UVM also know as “Groovy Uvie.” (although UVM would depend on your major) The rest of Vermont. Clark for sure. Elmira College.
Midwest: Grinnell, Earlham, St Olaf, Beloit,
Schools from your original post such as Haverford, Bates and Oberlin seem to fit the stated criteria.
I second St Olaf and Grinnell!
As a humanities college, Kenyon is tough to equal.
First ones that came to mind have mostly been said. In order, I would say: Earlham, Berea, Grinnell, Guilford, Oberlin, MacAlester.
I would also say Bowdoin, Bates, Haverford, Swarthmore… but… somehow, they are different. They definitely put an emphasis on service, but it seems like the students see it as more like “something to do” than a lifestyle and seems more “separate” rather an integral and integrated part of the education as it is at the first set of schools. Also, this latter set (along with Tufts which you mentioned, but I am more familiar with academics and sports at Tufts and don’t know much about the service aspects there…) are more stress-y and (to varying degrees) more competitive environments.
College of the Holy Cross definitely. Service is in their DNA and academics are very strong with a collaborative student body. The biggest student program is SPUD ( Student Program for Urban Development) comprising of over 500 student volunteers working in the Worcester community (refugee assistance, playground improvements, food pantry service, visiting nursing homes, tutoring etc). There are many other volunteer opportunities on campus as well. My D is a student at HC and says just about everyone is involved in some aspect of volunteerism on campus.
I agree @BB assesment about Bates and Bowdoin and would add Clark to that list as well ( I know these schools well). There are schools that “talk the talk” and then there are those that “walk the walk”. Subtle but significant difference.
I agree weith Holy Cross.
Just confirming, you’d think Grinnell is more collaborative than competitive? Or is that an alignment to Midwest values generally?
To OP, I’d add Pitzer College to that list, in particular, if helping the world is related to social justice, environment, etc.
@bigfandave DS is a senior at Grinnell, it is definitely more collaborative than completive. Everyone is Iowa nice, even though the students are incredibly diverse and from all over the world. Son spent one summer in Grinnell working for Americorps teaching reading, lots of Grinnellians applied.
@bigfandave Yes, my perception after 4 visits to campus, including 2 kids doing overnights, was that community is very collaborative. Very similar vibe to Haverford College, in that it feels like intelligent kids genuinely interested in their classes, they are not pushing in order to be competitive for the best job etc. And of course, I defer to @mom24boys, who has a current Grinnell student there.
I was also going to recommend the Washington Monthly rankings…with the caveat that you need to sort through them carefully to identify the characteristics you actually care about.
Washington Monthly defines “doing the most for the country” on three axes: Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and Service (encouraging students to give something back to their country). I’d argue that the ‘research’ part isn’t really relevant to the vast majority of undergraduates, and very wealthy colleges that traditionally do well in USNWR also will do well in the ‘social mobility’ and ‘research’ categories. Actually, if you look at the list, by the numerical rankings schools that are highly ranked by Washington Monthly are also pretty highly ranked by everyone else, since the common factor there is money.
Here are the top 15 overall:
- Harvard (ranked #31 for service)
- Stanford (ranked #109 for service)
- MIT (ranked #219 for service)
- Princeton (ranked #178 for service)
- Yale (ranked #182 for service)
- Duke (ranked #56 for service)
- UCSD (ranked #49 for service)
- Georgetown (ranked #52 for service)
- UCLA (ranked #48 for service)
- UC-Davis (ranked #16 for service)
- Texas A&M (ranked #3 for service)
- Utah State University (ranked #41 for service)
- Penn (ranked #177 for service)
- Columbia (ranked #144 for service)
- UW-Seattle (ranked #23 for service)
Most of these are the same universities that rank highly on pretty much any other list, and aren’t places I’d recommend for a student who wants to avoid a stressful, competitive, or highly ambitious atmosphere.
But if you dig into the “service” ranking, you get some more interesting results. Service is influenced by things like Peace Corps graduates, ROTC graduates, % of work-study funds spent on service, matching Americorps service grants, and student voting engagement. If you rank the schools that way (scroll all the way horizontally and then click the header for service), here are the top 15 schools:
- University of San Diego (ranked #126 overall)
- George Washington University (ranked #50 overall)
- Texas A&M University (ranked #11 overall)*
- American University (ranked #166 overall)
- Michigan Technological University (ranked #36 overall)
- University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (ranked #16 overall)
- North Carolina State University (ranked #67 overall)
- Colorado State University (ranked #91 overall)
- Purdue University (ranked #37 overall)
- University of Maryland (ranked #49 overall)
- Montana State University (ranked #164 overall)
- Baylor University (ranked #275 overall)
- Iowa State University (ranked #74 overall)
- University of Wisconsin-Madison (ranked #22 overall)
- Syracuse University (ranked #41 overall)
Sigh.
I disagree with dismissing Bates engagement as “something to do.”
Nor should this be about hours. Rather, quality. That’s not holding a prominent position post college. It’s the now.
It seems responses have veered off OP’s original, 3-part question:
“Help the World”, and “Non-STEM”, Colleges that are “Not Hyper-Competitive”, for an overall and all around nice, thoughtful and altruistic kid.
Maybe folks here can help or refocus. I’d be personally interested to learn how folks dissect and report out the competitive vs non-competitive dynamic for our S.
It’s going to be different opinions based on our experiences, @bigfandave. My kids were very engaged at Bates, weekly and some other work, committed through the Bonner Leader program (which many colleges now have. If you look into that, it’s not Bonner Scholars. ) Then there’s the opp to work in the community or its structures in the thesis process. (One of mine did.) The community has both typical and specific needs. The college cares. The opp yo continue setvice was an important criteria to D1. When we visited the community partnership center, they pulled out a binder thick with opportunities.
Our experience was it’s an academically collaborative environment. My comment about grade deflation is based on needing to work hard for A grades. Other parents may see this differently.
@bigfandave , I have a son who who sounds like that. I kind of feel that going for less-competitive admission rates, you are naturally screening out a super-competitive student body. I mean, the Ivys, for example, are not only competitive to get into, but competitive once you are there right? So I’m assuming the inverse is somewhat true too. Now, my son’s stats don’t put him in the reality of applying in that category anyway, so there’s that. But anyway, we are looking at places like: Elon, Furman, Loyola of Chicago, Loyola of MD (I already posted that I think Jesuit schools fit the bill, with their “Cura Personalis” (Care of the whole person) philosophy).
Thanks @TS0104 - when I was at Jesuit school we called it “a man for others”…it was all-boys, so I hope no one gets any ideas. That said, many kids today are naturally anti-establishment, and that could include religious entities. No doubt though that many Jesuit, or Quaker, or whatever religious entities it is affords both a faculty (brothers, nuns, community leaders, etc.), and a self-selective student body that generally cares. How it carries out it’s mission is the key. Many on the lists are simply the well-endowed, vs. those that prioritize service and community. I’d still be interested in hearing about selective schools that don’t promulgate competition once enrolled.
A little more info on Eckerd, has a prep Peace Corps program: www.eckerd.edu/peacecorps/ The majority of winter term study abroad courses are service oriented as well as the Spring break service learning trips. Eckerd is noted for a collaborative learning environment and from their website: WE THINK OUTSIDE
Eckerd will change your life so you can change the world
We inspire and empower individuals to improve the world through mastery of self and a lifetime of learning. Our students are guided on a four-year journey of discovery, with small classes, professor-mentors and a commitment to community service.
You may also want to look at best colleges for making an impact https://www.businessinsider.com/princeton-review-top-colleges-for-making-an-impact-2016-2.
The “Colleges that Change Lives” link (provided by @gandalf78 )is definitely a good idea to look at for more info about schools that meet your search parameters.
I had an older copy of their book, and often loan it to students with similar interests to yours, who are starting their college searches. Actually, I loaned it to a student last year and never got it back. So… I just got a copy of the newest edition of the book they put out. It is a useful resource for kids, and gives them a good place to start.