<p>Some people are so immature and insecure. Sorry no big words in this post.</p>
<p>Xiggi was right in his prediction that this thread would turn out badly. As OP, I apologize for having created a monster.</p>
<p>Eh, it’s still interesting. It seems pretty obvious to me that St. John’s is certainly attractive to intellectuals…whatever else it may be.
It seems to me that there are a couple of things to consider here–one is curriculum (i.e., you might want to go to Yale for DS, or to Columbia or Chicago for the core curriculum), but I really think this is more about the general tone. Specifically, what’s the most CTY-like? OP’s original list is pretty good–Chicago, Reed, Yale, Swarthmore–those are the schools that I know attract the kind of kids you’re talking about. There are plenty at many of other schools, of course.</p>
<p>^^^
I don’t think the thread has turned out badly. I like reading these types of discussions. This is not my field, and I don’t know everything, so I read through the posts and often learn things.</p>
<p>Other folks don’t share this opinion. That’s no big deal either.</p>
<p>“Some people are so immature and insecure. Sorry no big words in this post”</p>
<p>some people are. I just find it odd that in a discussion of universities, and in particular intellectual universities, people have an issue with standard terms from intellectual discourse.</p>
<p>I apologize for any words deemed too long. </p>
<p>When I was in seventh grade some dude said he would hit me if I didn’t stop using big words. I left him behind.</p>
<p>It’s a matter of knowing your audience and adjusting your vocabulary accordingly.</p>
<p>It’s the smart thing to do.</p>
<p>Am I the only person who’s sick of hearing that a school MUST be intellectual because the poster came a across a person associated with the school with whom they had a conversation about a topic deeper than the weather? Just because you meet a kid who’s smart (and you have a non-superficial conversation with them) doesn’t mean that the entire institution is teeming with intellectuality. That’s faulty logic, imo.</p>
<p>For me intellectuality means a sincere interest in ideas, their nature, expanding one’s own knowledge base, finding ways to usefully implement those ideas. I.e. not seeing the college experience as a solely means to an end (e.g. grad school, high paying job) but actually enjoying the journey and attempting to transform one’s thinking.</p>
<p>University of Chicago
Swarthmore (I’m biased but I doubt it’s out of place here)
MIT
Deep Springs
Harvard</p>
<p>Me like learn.</p>
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<p>Likewise, just because a school has a reputation for having a lot of kids who like to argue a lot and get a thrill out of using big words (and you have a pretentious conversation with one of them) doesn’t mean that the entire institution is teeming with intellectuality. That’s faulty logic, imo.</p>
<p>This thread illustrates why some intelligent people tire of intellectuals.</p>
<p>(VP): ^Thank you! (Ditto!)</p>
<p>And thank you coureur, also, for your post 109.</p>
<p>If this is intellectualism, count me out!</p>
<p>I thought it was/is an interesting thread, I too learned a new word but I got a tad lost when Tufts landed on someone’s list. Good college, smart kids but not one of the top five of intellectualism.</p>
<p>Everything in moderation!</p>
<p>
I agree, my kid chose Tufts over U of Chicago, because he saw it as having a more practical, less intellectual approach to education.</p>
<p>I actually think this thread, was more interesting than expected no need to apologize OP. (I can talk about fenestration with the best of them, but I have no patience with deconstruction as it pertains to architecture.)</p>
<p>Unfortunately, “most intellectual schools” tend to be defined as not having much else to offer. Thus Swarthmore over Williams. University of Chicago over Harvard, Princeton and Yale, etc.<br>
It would be nice for our purposes if University of Chicago students were more curious about the world than Harvard students. But they aren’t.</p>
<p>deconstruction as it pertains to architecture.</p>
<p>we remodeled our bathroom & deconstruction was my favorite part!</p>
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<p>That’s a lovely, glib phrase, danas, but I have no idea what you mean, and I wonder whether you do, either.</p>
<p>Trying to shove some sense into it, I would agree that, on average (not universally) Harvard students are more likely to be engaged in trying to fathom and to solve problems in the real world, be they social problems or problems about the biochemistry of muscle response. On the other hand, on average (not universally) Harvard students are also far more likely to believe that they know everything worth knowing already, and thus have no particular reason to question their beliefs – and that’s a variety of profound lack of curiosity about the world. One of the nice aspects of Chicago is that the boot-camp style of the Core makes it practically impossible to make it through one’s first couple years without becoming more skeptical of any belief system, and more respectful of actual, messy phenomena.</p>
<p>^^yes and I think it’s easy to confuse “smart” with “intellectual” and I think both, one or the other can occur in people. Some of the most intellectual people I know lack the discipline to be “smart” and some of the smartest people I know are intellectuals but there’s a middle ground of people who are smart but not intellectual and those that are intellectual but not terribly smart. But the thinking “I’m smart ergo I’m an intellectual” is a false assumption in my opinion. So yes there are colleges for smart kids and colleges that appeal to intellectuals and every shade in between.</p>
<p>To JHS’ point, the nice thing is that one is not necessarily better than the other. The world needs both the sit-back-in-the-ivory-tower types and the let’s-go-ahead-and-take-action types. </p>
<p>A student who tends towards the overly intellectual may also be not well served by going to a place that indulges that all the time – it can also make them pedantic and self-absorbed. Depending on the student, the colleges with the largest reputation for being academic may either be heaven on earth where they finally blossom, or the place that seals their fate for forever being boring and navel-gazing. I know that it’s a good thing U of Chicago was never on my radar screen as a student. I would have gone there and become a major nerd. I, myself, was better served by going to a place that <em>wasn’t</em> all discussions-about-Great-Things all the time. It helped me come out of my shell. Of course, everyone’s individual mileage may, can and will vary on this.</p>