Intellectual Colleges without Snobby, Rich Kids

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Hello CCers! I’m a junior in HS and am searching for my perfect college. I have visited quite a few and from those I’ve visited I rank them:</p>

<p>1) Northwestern University
2) University of Chicago
3) Stanford University
4) UW-Madison
5) Grinnell College
6) UC-Berkeley
7/8) Reed College/Pepperdine University</p>

<p>I’ve basically ruled out #'s 6-8. UW-Madison is in-state and I’d be a legacy. It used to be my dream school; however, it’s reputation as a big-time party school has turned me off. Also, I think I’d prefer a school of less than 15,000 students. Still, UW-Madison is a good safety/match. I liked Northwestern because it’s a little more academic then Madison, yet still has Big 10 Athletics. What I like about UChicago is the intellectual-ness and the friendliness of the admissions staff when I toured there. My main concern is that is TOO academic. Stanford I thought was beautiful, but I think the West Coast is too far away for me to go to college. At Grinnell, I liked the buildings and overall feel of the campus and the intellectual-ness; however, I think I’d find Iowa to be boring after a while.</p>

<p>My List of Schools I’m Interested in Attending/Applying to are in order:

  1. Brown University
  2. Northwestern University
  3. Yale University
  4. Swarthmore College
  5. Columbia University
  6. Amherst College
  7. University of Oxford
  8. University of Chicago
  9. Macalester College
  10. Tufts University
  11. Washington University in St. Louis
  12. Wesleyan University
  13. Bowdoin College
  14. Stanford University
  15. UW-Madison (Honors Program)
  16. Beloit College
  17. Butler University</p>

<p>Things I want in a school:

  1. Intellectual Atmosphere where students collaborate and aren’t super competitive with each other
  2. Small/Medium Sized School (about 2,000-15,000 students)
  3. Close Proximity to a Major City (Chicago, New York, Boston, etc.)
  4. Variety of Vegan Dining Options
  5. Good Departments in the Fields I’m Considering (Education, Political Science, Journalism, Creative Writing)
  6. Appreciation for Athletics (at least a little bit of school spirit, I’m interested in competing in Soccer and Cycling)
  7. Good Study Abroad Options (preferably something associated with Oxford/University of London/Cambridge)
  8. Good Acapella Groups on Campus (I LOVE singing)
  9. Fun, happy atmosphere
  10. Offer good financial aid and good job placement following graduation</p>

<p>One reason I need to get this consolidated is because my family is planning an East Coast trip this summer where I will visit about 5-10 schools and I need to decide which ones I’m most interested in.</p>

<p>As for my stats, I have a 3.96 UW (toughest course load in my grade), ranked around 10-15 in class of about 110, and 2010 SAT (hoping to improve to 2200, got an 800 Math).</p>

<p>I’ve taken/self-studied AP Human Geography (5), AP World History (3), and AP Biology (took through local college). Right now, I’m taking AP Calculus BC and self-studying at least three of the following: AP US History, AP Psychology, AP Environmental Science, AP Macroeconomics, and AP Microeconomics.</p>

<p>I’m also a 3 sport athlete and will presumably be a 4-time letter winner in each sport. I’m also heavily involved in theater and music.</p>

<p>What schools do you think will be good fits for me? Also, what do you think would be a few good safety schools/my chances at the schools on my list. Sorry if I’ve been rambling on a bit and THANKS SO MUCH in advance for your help!!!</p>

2

<p>I don’t have an answer for you bbarty, but do you happen to know of any intellectual colleges without pitiful poor kids?</p>

3

<p>Sorry Bay, I was afraid that a reaction like this would happen. I didn’t mean to be offensive or anything by the title of my thread; it was meant to get people’s attention. What I am looking for is a college where students attend for the love of learning and not just because they can afford it or because they like to party. Hopefully, you don’t take the title of my thread too seriously and instead read what I actually posted in the thread.</p>

4

<p>Sorry I’m being petty but:</p>

<p>“however, it’s reputation as a big-time party school has turned me off. Also, I think I’d prefer a school of less than 15,000 students.”</p>

<p>Should be its and fewer.</p>

<p>Anyway, you don’t usually see intellectualism and a great sports culture at the same school. They often have an inverse relationship–more intellectual schools, such as UChicago and Swarthmore, care far less about sports than schools with good academics, but less intellectualism–Northwestern and Madison, for example. Try to decide which is more important to you.</p>

5

<p>The only school with decent sports/ school spirit on your list is Stanford. But you said WC is too far and youll prob need higher than a 2200 to get in.</p>

6

<p>Are you female? </p>

<p>Smith College has a non-competitive intellectual atmosphere
There are about 3,000 students
It is a longer drive to Boston, though there is NoHo
Tons of vegan options
Very good Education program and I think a pretty good PoliSci
Little appreciation for athletics honestly but if you want to get involved, some friends on sports teams say that within the teams there’s a lot of comradery and such
University of Cambridge specifically singles out Smith students
Amazing acapella groups, and there are quite a few
My friends that attend say that people are generally pretty happy, and that’s the feeling that I got while there, but I can’t say for sure.
Amazing financial aid, the Praxis program is great, and I’m pretty sure the whole alumni bond thing is strong.</p>

<p>I’m completely plugging, but I wouldn’t unless I thought that it would be a good school for you to consider. Also, you seem to be looking at some really selective colleges. If you have good grades and are a competitive student, you can get accepted into the STRIDE program, which gives you tons of merit aid and the opportunity to do research in your first and sophomore year with a professor of your choice.</p>

<p>You also mentioned not wanting to be around a massive amount of rich people. Something like 26% of students at Smith get Pell grants.</p>

<p>Blah, sorry if you aren’t female. In any case I’m sure that some other girl in a situation similar to yours will eventually stumble upon this thread and maybe this post will be helpful then.</p>

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<p>Quomodo: Thanks for the grammar corrections. I agree with you that intellectualism and a great sports culture don’t usually coexist at a college. I’d say intellectualism is more important to me; however, I still don’t want to attend a school that is 100% academics, which is the impression I got from visiting Reed College. Nothing against Reed, I like the intellectualism and overall good academics; however, it seemed that all students did was study. I want to attend a school where students talk about academics outside of class, yet don’t devote 24 hours a day to that.</p>

<p>Do you think Brown seems to match my interests or any other East Coast schools?</p>

<p>Jcold: I agree that Stanford is a reach and it’s not really in my top 10 schools right now, although it’s up there. Do you know of any East Coast schools similar to Stanford?</p>

<p>Thanks so much for the help!</p>

8

<p>Thanks for all that you wrote Wanton! Unfortunately, I am a guy; however, I really do appreciate all that you wrote. Smith seems like a great school! Any colleges similar to Smith that are coed? Thanks so much!</p>

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<p>Haha, sorry that doesn’t apply to you then. From what I know about Reed, I definitely think that college should be higher up on your list. I dunno, you said you ruled it out, but from what I understand people are more concerned about learning that each other’s grades, it has an amazing journalism program, Portland’s a great city, and I know that Reed’s well respected after graduation. Just again has the problem that it doesn’t really have the whole sports thing going on.</p>

<p>Why’d you rule it out?</p>

<p>Have you looked at Bates? I think it would fit into your list really well, and it’s a well recognized name, plenty of options after graduation.</p>

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<p>I visited Reed last summer. Prior to visiting, it was high on my list; however, after I visited, my dad and I both thought it was a good school, but it was too “academic”. By “academic”, I mean that most people wouldn’t be talking about or attending sports related events, which is something I’m interested in. As far as journalism, I’m interested in sports journalism, so I want to attend a school that has at least a little bit of a sports culture. At Reed, there are no varsity athletic teams. Also, our tour guide mentioned how much time she spent on school work (I can’t remember the number of hours per day) and it was staggering. I realize college is about academics and I care a lot about attending a school that is academically challenging, but I also want to be a well-rounded person.</p>

<p>I’ve heard of Bates, but I don’t know too much about the school. I know that Bates is rivals with Bowdoin and what not. Is partying big there? I’m not much for partying, so I’d prefer a school that doesn’t seem centered around partying. I will definitely do some more research on Bates though.</p>

<p>Thanks so much!</p>

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<p>I can assure you that there are many writers, musicians, and even athletes and sports enthusiasts at Reed. Yes, we do study more than most students, on average more than students at every school in the United States except for MIT. However, that is not all we do. I’m a saxophonist and practice throughout the week; we have fun (but not overwhelmingly large or crazy) parties most weekends; we take trips downtown and see the city pretty often; I went to three shows downtown the week before my finals. It’s definitely a place for those devoted to academics, but most of us could care less about our grades. Unless you request to see your grades, you won’t actually know them.</p>

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<p>Out of the schools on your list, I’d argue that Northwestern seems like a good match for you. It’s a bit on the larger side, but it’ll have bigger sports and it’s definitely an intellectual school. I’d also recommend that you look at UVa (although it’s a bit bigger), maybe William and Mary or Georgetown - all have good D1 sports programs that get plenty of interest, as well as a great intellectual atmosphere.</p>

<p>If you’re trying to plan an East Coast trip, then I’d suggest hitting Tufts, Bowdoin, Amherst, and Wesleyan, among others. I’d recommend Williams as well, but you did say you wanted to be closer to a city, and Williams is pretty far from urban, so that might be a potential reservation (it’s absolutely gorgeous, though!). Also might want to consider University of Pennsylvania, Brown and Cornell.</p>

<p>Sorry if I missed this - are you from the Midwest? Wherever you go, you’ll probably find friendly, accepting and open people. The only caution I would give, based on the thread title, is that the East Coast is overall a very different culture - I highly doubt that you’d find “snobby rich kids” to be in abundance at one of these schools, but from living there, I found that the general attitude just tends to be more preppy and conscious of wealth. New England is absolutely beautiful and I wouldn’t trade my home for anything, but I don’t want you to be surprised if you find that something just feels - different - in the attitudes there. It’s something I’ve noticed since moving to the Midwest - not necessarily a bad thing, just a difference.</p>

<p>Out of curiosity, any particular reason you aren’t interested in Carleton? It seems to match almost every criteria on your list (not a huge sports culture, but probably as big of one as you would get at a small school. As a varsity athlete, I’ve enjoyed a surprising amount of support from the student body): several study abroad programs at Oxford/Cambridge, plenty of vegan dining options (I’ve met more vegan/vegetarians in my five months here than I ever have in my entire life! Haha), great a capella groups (concerts areheavily attended and the singing Knights, Accidentals, Nightingales, and Exit 69 - to name a few - perform pretty frequently) and an intellectual, fun-loving student body that isn’t too competitive or snobby. It lacks a pretentiousness and preppiness that I sometimes felt when I was on the East Coast. </p>

<p>(end promotion here) (but seriously, PM me with any questions)</p>

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<p>^ I’m looking for a college with these criteria too! So far I’ve found Swarthmore to be a really great school.</p>

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One could say that about most LACs, lol. We have a separate vegan dessert cart with at least as many items as the non-vegan cart. There are also always multiple vegan entrees available, even with the menu changing daily. College is weird.</p>

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<p>You have a long list of schools to apply to, but it is very reach heavy. I would guess that your current SAT score is below the 25th percentile for about 10 of the schools on your list. With a rank below the Top 10%, your odds wouldn’t be good at any of those schools.</p>

<p>I suggest that you widen your search a bit for some not quite so selective schools. Some suggestions: George Washington, American, Syracuse, U. Pittsburgh. If you post your criteria on the Parents’ Forum, you would probably get a bunch more suggestions of schools to consider that you had never thought of.</p>

<p>That said, I think almost all highly selective colleges will have a lot of rich kids, although there may be differences in the snobbiness level, according to the feel of the school. Probably less rich/snobby at your instate flagship.</p>

16

<p>Wesleyan is the only LAC on your list with >2,000 students and to be perfectly frank, you would need a school with at least that many students to meet all the conditions you’ve set:

Check.</p>

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Check.</p>

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<p>New York is not out of range completely, but, more people probably visit New Haven on yearly basis.

Check.</p>

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Check, depending on how you interpret “good departments”. Wesleyan is a liberal arts college (LAC) therefore it won’t have an entire department devoted to a pre-professional program like education or journalism. But, Teach for America is a huge campus recruiter and the honor roll or journalists who’ve graduated from Wesleyan is pretty impressive. Whatever it is you want to do with a Wesleya degree can be done with the right guidance.</p>

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<p>Soccer is big. Wesleyan is a NESCAC school so there are loyal followings for most sports, but, they don’t dominate the school. People show school spirit in a variety of ways.</p>

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Check.</p>

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Double-check.</p>

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Check.</p>

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Check. Wesleyan has a pretty good career counseling center which unlike some places does not spend all of its time just on the people who want to go into i-banking.</p>

17

<p>I agree about the “reach heavy”. </p>

<p>Check out percentages of students from public schools, if this factor from the title of your thread is so important to you! But I am sure there are many “snobby rich kids” who also go to public high school! So those percentages may not be 100% accurate. </p>

<p>Best of luck in your college search! :)</p>

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<p>Somehow, you’re going to need to narrow down that list of “wants,” prioritize what’s most important. Starting with academics: I always say, check the course catalogues- they’re usually online. See what’s offered and in how much depth. At some small schools, some classes are tailored to fit the needs of several majors- sometimes, this reflects a need to fill seats; it can alter the intellectual approach. As an example, we saw one where a history class was taught by a religion professor and a gender-studies specialist and gave credit in history, religion, gender studies, etc. That approach may- or may not- work for you. You can also check the faculty bios, where they studied, what their research projects are and what connections they have in their fields.<br>
The D3 schools can have plenty of school spirit and opportunities to write about sports. Any “work hard” school can also have a “play hard” aspect. Most LACs I know, have a mix of rich kids and non-rich. So far, the ones I’ve heard are obnoxious haven’t shown up on the lists here. I’d guess most schools cover vegan options, nowadays. Most schools have access to great study abroad programs. Do go to youtube and see the a capella at Bates. Good luck.</p>

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<p>why don’t you consider the honors college of a large public school</p>

20

<p>If you are a well-rounded person, attending an intellectual school won’t change that.</p>

<p>There is a direct link between an intellectual atmosphere and the amount of studying.</p>