<p>Not to hijack my own thread, but to attempt to better answer the question, I wonder what school or schools is close to the model collaborative school, and what school or schools is close to the model competitive school. Sort of the Platonic form of each. :)</p>
<p>btw, words that are kin to competitive/collaborative are: mean, thoughtless, ‘won’t give you the time of day’/ nice, thoughtful, helpful.</p>
<p>Recall that a school is mostly the student body and only in smaller measure teachers, administrators and facilities, with all due respect to the latter three. The students that are let be in will give the college the competitive or collaborative vibe. Yes, admissions IS the gatekeeper and might look for certain characteristics. But methinks the biggest characteristics admissions looks for are things that USNews likes, and USNews does not have a ‘nice factor’ to help make up its rankings.</p>
<p>As with many things, competitiveness and collaboration can admit to degrees. NU is not as competitive as the east coast elites, but there are other colleges from my little lookseeing that I have heard are ‘nice’ (kenyon, Lawrence , eg, I have heard and read).</p>
<p>Bala has trotted out Brown as the least competitive of the elites.</p>
<p>It has been pointed out that different programs at the same school might have varying degrees of competitiveness.</p>