Help with school list for quirky, artsy high achiever [MI resident, 4.0 UW, 36 ACT, humanities major]

College Search & Lists
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Child is rising senior. 36 ACT, 4.0 unweighted, fluent in a foreign language - studying it since 6th grade, and a serious creator who participated in a highly selective and well known summer camp for the creative activity (plus a less selective camp last summer). Spends 30-40 hours a week in their creative activity during the summer and 10-20 hours a week during the school year.

No hooks except maybe the creative activity. Sorry, can’t be more specific without risking doxxing them.

Serious student. Quirky/artsy - prefers being around other high achieving, smart, talkative, unique/different, accepting students. Wants to be inspired by others doing interesting things. Prefers friendly and intellectual culture over pre-professional or highly competitive.

They want a mid-sized or larger school, so no LACs. They want Midwest or Northeast - cold weather climates only. Their intended major in the humanities is available at every university.

Cost and financial aid are not considerations.

Welcome all ideas, but they will veto any school with fewer than ~4000 students or in warm climate.

Their current list:

Reach: University of Chicago (#1), Yale, Harvard, U Penn

Maybe Reaches: Dartmouth, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Cornell - unsure on town size for Dartmouth/Notre Dame/Cornell; unsure on student culture at all four

Target: Michigan (in state)

Definite admit: Michigan State (in state)

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William and Mary has the campus culture you describe.

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That’s a great add and not on their radar - thanks!

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Just filling out the list but am afraid some are obvious—

Any reason Columbia and Brown are left off? (You have every other cold-weather Ivy+.) RISD down the hill from Brown is a nice connection for the arts. And NYC is NYC.

For targets, Wisconsin and University of Minnesota/Twin Cities have arty, intellectual, bohemian atmospheres (at least sectors of their student bodies).

A bit more admissions-friendly for safeties might include University of Vermont and Pitt. The latter has outstanding Art History and Philosophy departments. Burlington and Pittsburgh are great cities, with strong bohemian and creative scenes.

William and Mary is a cool place—but it’s not cold!

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Awesome additions, thanks!

Brown was on the initial list but fell off for some reason - maybe not cold enough in Providence, which probably applies to W&M too.

For Columbia, they feel New York might be too much/too big compared to Boston, Chicago or Philadelphia.

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Ithaca is an OK college town but we found the culture at Cornell to be odd when we visited. I’m sure there are plenty of counter examples, but the general feel we got was that the students did not study together. It was odd and noticeable.

What about CMU? Has combination of tech and creatives/art students. Pittsburgh is great.

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CMU is a great add - thanks. We have the same feelings about Cornell.

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The Brown/RISD dual degree sounds like it might be a fit for this student. Also, Tufts would be good to explore too. 6800 undergrads, cold weather, quirky, liberal, with an art school.

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Of course, Tufts! Nice add, thanks

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UPenn is pretty pre-professional imo—might want to visit if you haven’t?

Boston University might be interesting, too.

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I’ve heard those who say Penn humanities is less pre-professional than Wharton and engineering.

IMO, Dartmouth and northwestern are pre-professional. NU also quite competitive. I know others may feel differently.

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Thanks - Penn would need to be ED for a good chance at getting in, so we’d need to visit when school is in session. Haven’t done that yet.

BU was ruled out due to the lack of a campus feel - too interconnected with the surrounding city.

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Appreciate your perspectives. We’ve heard that about Northwestern. Have not visited Dartmouth, but concerned the culture might be preppy pre-professional vs. quirky intellectual.

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My D22 was keen on Penn for a while and we did a good amount of research on the Kelley Writer’s House and their humanities and arts colleges—she was looking for a more humanities/social sciences vibe and was not interested in business per se. But the more we talked to folks with students there or alumni, it seems that Wharton can influence the culture so it feels more competitive and “where’s your next internship” vs. learning for learning’s sake. That said, it’s a big enough school that I’m sure people can find all kinds! This was just our experience with our research.

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What about University of Rochester? Another schools with a large music/arts program plus liberal arts and STEM.

Well rounded super-smart achievers. 7,000 UG plus 5,000 grad students so very medium sized. Definitely intellectual kids doing interesting things. Definitely not warm :slight_smile:

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Not sure what you define as humanities - but Iowa might make a better safety than Michigan State - especially if writing/literature related.

I think you have plenty of a list already. I mean WUSTL is another “big name” that’s cold - but maybe not cold enough. And depending on the student’s overall interests - MIT could be a fit - very strong in the humanities (and social sciences) although limited majors. And since you have Notre Dame, BC might be a tad less “reachy” fit.

Good luck.

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All the humanities and arts stuff is pretty vague, so it is hard to get a great feel on what type of program he wants, but since you are in state, if he wants to be around techy smart people and in a cold weather environment, how about Michigan Tech? Too remote?

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This goes back to the point about “what do you prefer to compromise on”… At my house size and location will go way before fit/vibe.

If this is what they are in search of, I find Penn and the “maybe reaches” (there is nothing maybe about it IMO) sort of odd choices. Even Harvard… Princeton is the more “quirky and intellectual” of the two.

To those points… Schools like Wesleyan, Grinnell, Swarthmore have a lot to offer in the “quirky and intellectual” front.

In any case, I think your student has an excellent shot at UChicago if they ED.

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New Haven is definitely warmer than Providence and Brown, while a reach for anyone, is less of a reach than Yale, plus it has real ED, which neither Harvard nor Yale does. I think they ought to reconsider Brown, seriously.

Also, how about Boston University and NYU?

It’s hard to go away if they like UMich to be honest…

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Iowa is a great idea too - thanks.