sunshower212

I was just wondering which universities you guys would consider to have a positive environment with cool, smart students (and faculty too I guess). To narrow this down I am specifically trying to find places that are science-and-math-oriented rather than humanities-oriented, but please include schools that are strong in both!

pierre0913

Clemson University!

Senior0991

uh Stanford

LakeWashington

Well, what kind of science? Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Engineering? What...what?

Regarding large public campuses, think about U of Wisconsin-Madison, Michigan State University and Purdue University. But there are literally dozens of others.

ELY

Johns Hopkins.

IBclass06

You have many options. Stanford, Rice, Duke, Emory, Michigan, WUStL, and others among universities. Carleton, Davidson, Haverford, Wesleyan, Pomona, and others among LACs.

Unfortunately, nobody can be more precise with knowing more information, including what your stats are. You need to be more specific. Perhaps the following criteria could help:

- Which part of the country (Midwest, Southeast, etc.)?
- Public or private?
- Rural, suburban, or urban?
- Small (< 2000), medium (2000-10000), or large (10000+)?
- Is cost a concern?
- How selective do you want?
- Do you want certain extracurricular activities, like a fencing team?

mom2collegekids

IB is right...we need answers to...

- Which part of the country (Midwest, Southeast, etc.)?
- Public or private?
- Rural, suburban, or urban?
- Small (< 2000), medium (2000-10000), or large (10000+)?
- Is cost a concern?
- How selective does you want?
- Do you want certain extracurricular activities, like a fencing team?

also, do you like a "rah rah" spirited school with big name sports teams?

OneMom

Rice, Rochester, Cornell.

mom2collegekids

When you say "cool"....do you mean a school that is a good school, but isn't some "pressure cooker" environment where everyone is super competitive and high-strung?

slik nik

If you are looking for a university with strong sciences, laid back atmosphere, and quirky/interesting students, I suggest the following:
- Rice
- Duke
- Stanford
- WashU
- Carnegie Mellon
- CalTech
- Harvey Mudd

sunshower212

Thanks guys! I know I didn't give a lot of info, but I'm just trying to get some basic ideas of where to start in my search... at this stage I'm not discriminating by the specific location, activities, or sports, cost isn't a problem, etc, and I'm trying not to really think of selectivity yet. I tried to use the search tool on collegeboard to get ideas, but I just wasn't picky enough! So I figured I'd try to get a more subjective view here. I'm specifically considering physical sciences, but again, I figured I'd be general in this post. Also, for "cool" I would agree with mom2collegekids's definition.

blackeyedsusan

I'd say Rice fits what you're looking for.

noimagination

College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics

Enter your interests/stats and see what comes up.

mom2collegekids

>>>>>
When you say "cool"....do you mean a school that is a good school, but isn't some "pressure cooker" environment where everyone is super competitive and high-strung?
<<<<<


Ok, so you agree with the above definition.

We still need to know your stats.

SAT
M ____ CR ______ W_____

ACT

GPA weighted and unweighted.


We now know $$ is not an issue.

par72

Duke, Hopkins, Dartmouth, Tufts, Holy Cross, F&M.