<p>Any suggestions for colleges/universities with the following characteristics?
Thank you in advance for your thoughts.</p>
<p>Eastern half of the country (approx.)</p>
<p>Not tiny, not huge</p>
<p>Unpretentious, friendly, with school spirit</p>
<p>Broad range of majors</p>
<p>Sporty, or sporty and artsy</p>
<hr>
<p>Stats are good but student is easy-going and happy and does not want an overly intense or stressed out atmosphere. </p>
<p>Thank you very much!</p>
<p>This really isn't intended to be rude--it's hard to get "tone" across on-line. "Good" stats are in the eye of the beholder. So is the meaning of the phrase "not tiny, not huge." </p>
<p>Give a rough idea of her stats and the size of college you are looking for to get better responses. </p>
<p>Would Williams, which is very sporty, qualify---it has about 2,000 students--or would that be "tiny" to you? Does your D have stats good enough to qualify for Williams?</p>
<p>jonri, sorry, I was not specific enough.</p>
<p>She might qualify for Williams (not sure) but fears that the highest ranked schools might be like high school with so many stressed out, worried students. She is very easy going, but with a lot of interests. She has straight A's, all advanced courses, 4 APs jr yr, 2100 (once), arts, athletics, awards, community involvement.
We have liberal arts colleges near us that are too small at about 1200-1500. UMass is too big. Penn State is too big. Medium with a good sense of community would be good. She seems most concerned with atmosphere, and not sure of major.
Hope this helps. Thank you!</p>
<p>Hamilton, Skidmore and Ct. College might be worth a look.</p>
<p>St. Olaf, on the outer edge of the georgraphic area you specify. A large LAC (3000) with a pretty wide ranging curriculum, artsy-musical with solid-but-not-intense academic reputation and a community noted for its friendliness.</p>
<p>Very generally speaking, most schools in the Midwest seem to me to have student bodies that are friendly, and less intense than many northeastern student bodies. I second St. Olaf.</p>
<p>Brown University might be a fit. Not as intense academically as one might expect from such a highly selective school due, in large part, to the availability of unlimited pass/fail graded courses. It would help to know your daughter's intended major or academic areas of interest. Also,specific sports and other EC interests.</p>
<p>I still think would love Penn State University Park, but I know the huge school isn't for everyone. Have you looked at Villanova? It seems like it would be a really good fit for what you are describing.</p>
<p>I second the recommendation for Skidmore</p>
<p>Have you looked at Muhlenberg or Dickinson?</p>
<p>Boston College
Colby College
Colgate University
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Denison University
Duke University
Georgetown University
Northwestern University
Pennsylvania State University-University Park
St. Olaf College
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
University of Notre Dame
University of Pennsylvania
University of Virginia
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Villanova University
Williams College</p>
<p>I don't know how big Boston College is, but it seems to match everything else.</p>
<p>As someone has listed above, Hamilton and Skidmore immediately came to mind.</p>
<p>Thanks everybody!</p>
<p>Some followup questions:</p>
<p>1) How religious are the religious schools like Boston College, Villanova, St Olaf? If student is not the same denomination, does that matter? </p>
<p>2) Colgate and Hamilton have both been suggested. Have heard they are very different, though in close proximity location wise. What is the difference between the campus atmospheres at these? </p>
<p>3) Cornell is said to be very intense. Is this a misperception? (Alexandre)</p>
<p>4)Williams has been suggested a lot, here and from others. Also Dartmouth, Northwestern, Brown, UMich. So even though these are very hard to get into, do you think these are not pressure-cooker sorts of places for the students who go there?</p>
<p>5) Is Skidmore more athletic or artsy?</p>
<p>Visiting is not so easy but we have been to a couple suggested above and plan to keep trying, or my d will apply and then visit if accepted to the ones far away. Thanks for helping to narrow down from among a lot of good schools, and also for adding new ones to check out!</p>
<p>Any other suggestions are welcome!</p>
<p>I am not sure on these but I beleive that Hamilton is more liberal than Colgate and also less preppy. Skidmore is probably a little more artsy.</p>
<p>i would reccommend colgate, skidmore, hamilton, and connecticut college.</p>
<p>colgate and connecticut are particularly ideal as both have strong athletics with decent arts, and lots of school spirit.</p>
<p>colgate has about 2800-3000 kids, so it's not as small as other LACs, and it has a university feel to it. i think colgate could be a good match.</p>
<p>IMO, there is little correlation between the selectivity of a college and the degree of stress. For example, Harvard is more selective than Johns Hopkins, but I think almost anyone with some familiarity with both schools would say there is more stress at Hopkins. </p>
<p>It's a bit out of date now, but I'd recommend that you take a look at the charts in a book by Howard Greene entitled (depending upon edition) "The Select" or "Inside the Top Colleges." One of his survey questions was "Do you consider your classmates cutthroat?" Nobody at Wesleyan--another large LAC--said yes. One-half of one-per cent of Brown students did. Forty per cent of Hopkins students said yes. </p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind---schools in rural areas USUALLY have more drinking. That may not be an issue for your D, but if it is, consider it.</p>
<p>Has Wake Forest been mentioned? I think it would be a fairly good fit. Mid-sized, spirited, fun.</p>
<p>Then maybe UMiami. Syracuse. Lehigh.</p>
<p>Great suggestions, Wake Forest is a good thought and Conn College keeps coming up too, we are not so familiar with these, so will add them to the list to check out!</p>
<p>jonri, I see what you mean about the intensity. I will recommend the bks to my d, maybe they will help. Her classmates are so frazzled about colleges and their grades, and she is not and does not like that focus. So I thought if she looked down a tier ?(not sure exactly how much a tier is) maybe it would help. But maybe not.
The drinking has been an issue, interesting you mention it. It is not so easy to find a sporty friendly place without an abundance of drinking. Maybe you can suggest some to check out?</p>
<p>Thank you all very much!</p>
<p>I second Brown. It's a reach (isn't it for everyone?) and it is much more laid-back than most Ivies. I'm a very easygoing student who hates pressure cookers and Brown is the only Ivy I'd consider going to. </p>
<p>Boston College sounds like a good size but it's very pretentious. Otherwise, it meets everything you're looking for and because of the size, I think she'd be able to find other unpretentious people easily.</p>
<p>Definitely check out the College of William and Mary. She sounds like a perfect candidate for the place. When I visited, I really got a sense that students were a lot less grade-concious and genuninely loved learning for the sake of learning. It's a little isolated and there isn't much of a community beyond the campus but that can be a good or bad thing depending on what she wants.</p>
<p>I think some of those others have suggested are too small. </p>
<p>To check out: </p>
<p>Princeton--definitely a reach, but it's the right size and it's fairly sporty. </p>
<p>Duke--definitely a reach, also right size, very sporty in the spectator sense.</p>
<p>Williams--about 2,000, definitely sporty.</p>
<p>Macalester--about 1900. Not as sporty, but it's in a city. Friendly rep. May be good "high match" school.</p>
<p>Hobart & Smith--less of a reach, maybe even a safety. </p>
<p>Colgate--right size, more rural location.sporty</p>
<p>Bowdoin--a bit smaller than she wants, otherwise sounds like a good fit.</p>