@Itisatruth – fascinating list of types! I followed all until I got to 'basics" and FGLI. Can you elaborate?
Rice students would probably describe themselves as happy nerds. They are serious about their studies but like to have fun too. Rice does not have Greek life like Dartmouth, Penn, Vandy, Wash U, Duke and some other schools on your list. Rice has residential colleges instead.
@Itisatruth , thanks very much for your response about the students at UPenn. I’m pro-nerd too: I am a nerd 
Believe me, in the beginning I was pushing both my kids toward the nerdy schools and the hippy schools, but those cultures just don’t interest them. My daughter is the one who has to spend four years there, so I’m trying not to push my ideas on her. I think you’re right though - grindy is probably a better word for what I was trying to describe…
I’m glad to hear UPenn has a good mix of kids. We haven’t visited yet, but we’re going to get there very soon. Thanks for the info.
@AlmostThere2018, I’m not sure what @Itisatruth meant by basics, but maybe he/she will respond and tell us. I was stumped by FGLI at first too, but I looked it up and it’s First Generation Low Income.
Believe it or not. The school specific type of application and other factors may obscure exactly how hard it is to get into Georgetown. The admit profile is crazy strong and the general understanding is that it goes incredibly deep into the rejection and Wl pools before any noticeable drop off in quality. It’s a really really hard ticket.
@Houston1021 , thanks for the info on Rice. My daughter keeps wavering about Rice. I want to get her down there, because she seems to know how she feels when she actually sees a school. Of the schools on her list, it’s seems to have one of the stronger CS programs, which is what she plans to study.
I’m really curious about Rice. I’ve never been there, but it sounds amazing.
@privatebanker, I’ve witnessed first hand how hard it is to get into Georgetown. A lot of kids from our high school get rejected. We still haven’t seen it, but we plan to go soon. It’s not a natural fit for her interests, but I think it would be a great experience for her to be around those kids, at least if my impression of those kids is accurate.
The distinction between ‘grindy’ vs ‘nerdy’ is helpful- and again, it’s deeply individual. JHU has a (well deserved) reputation as being at the ‘grindy’ end of the spectrum- but all of the current / recent students that I know there say that they have plenty of fun. Heck, KKG is there, so it can’t be all grind! but there is definitely a gulf between, say Dartmouth / Duke (very social) and JHU / Cornell (work first). I’d put Vandy, Georgetown (the College, not SFS) and UPenn closer to the social end, and Rice & CW closer to the worker end. Northwestern might be smack dab in the middle.
I echo previous comments about Lafayette. Seems to be nice balance between academics, social, ECs. My son is a senior and loves it. He works hard and gets pretty good grades (now that he dropped engineering and struggled through finishing a math minor). Now a happy history major who wants to eventually teach. He describes himself as a nerd who geeks out about history and likes to play video games and Settlers of Kayan but he also spends plenty of time hanging with his bros playing beer pong. He’s also athletic but now only does intramurals. He’s in a fraternity and has been an officer for 2 years. He was abroad last semester which he also loved. His girlfriend is also in Greek life, is a science major, does research, TAs, volunteers through Landis Center. They both are pretty down to earth as have been most of their friends I have met.
I’ve never heard Northwestern described as nerdy. Quite a range from the artsy/theater group, musicians, engineers, premeds, frat/sorority groups, LGBTQ crowds, etc. I’ve lived in/near Evanston most of my adult life (NU '75) and the kids in town trend more hip/well groomed these days while being smarter and more academically focused than ever. Socially and academically aware, not nerdy. D18’s best friend currently NU student.
Oh, and still plenty of partying, drinking/smoking at NU. Some things never change!