<p>With the caveat that I certainly would not consider myself an expert on Hamilton in any way, shape, or form, and that you really ought to ask people who actually know the school intimately, I will respond. </p>
<p>My impression of Hamilton, based on who seems to go there and what one generally hears, is that it is <em>somewhat</em> like Colgate, but perhaps less so: solid students, hard-partying, significant jockish element, significant preppy element. Not a place that is an obvious natural fit for the Dostoievsky-reading intellectual or the world-peace-seeking crunchy granola vegetarian. Just as one would not see the kid committed to being an I-banker as gravitating to Bard, for example. :)</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean that the kids aren’t friendly, the administration isn’t accessible, and there aren’t hipsters, intellectuals, and granolas on campus and that all of those kids could not find their people.</p>
<p>It just means that it doesn’t spring to MY mind when one talks about “earnest” student bodies. (Nor does Carleton, for that matter, because Carleton prides itself on a certain quirky humor.)</p>
<p>On the other hand, since the OP has expanded on what she’s looking for, Hamilton might suit just fine.</p>
<p>Oh, dear. OP popping in again. For sure, Consolation, “quirky humor” (a term you used to characterize Carleton) is in. Our family culture embraces the quirky–but not the snarky. As I’ve been thinking about my original post, it’s occurring to me how much of my own “stuff” I’m working through as part of this college search (and we’ve barely begun!). I don’t want my sweet, innocent D to go somewhere she’ll be eaten alive by world-weary sophisticates. It’s okay if she’s toughened up a bit after four years … I’d be disappointed if she wasn’t. I just want the process to be gentle. You know? I mean, assuming she’s going to lose her virginity sometime during those years, I’d like her to have a fair chance of that happening with a nice, well-meaning, smart dork after an all-night discussion of the Enlightenment philosophes. (And, meanwhile, all you world-weary CC sophisticates are probably thinking, “Boy does the OP have a lot to learn about what she can and can’t control.”)</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr. My daughter loved it even though she originally did not want to look at womens college. In the end she decided against it because it did not have the major she wanted. But even just a few weeks ago she talked about how Bryn Marw would have been her first choice except for not having engineering. My daughter was also looking for a place with ‘earnest’ and nice students.</p>
<p>Oh, absweetmarie, I don’t even know how to respond to that, lol. I guess I’d just say it strikes me as being very natural to feel that way. It’s a process, and we go through the stages. We try to make decisions and choices with our kids that help us sleep a little better at night. Yeah, I’ve been there. </p>
<p>It all works itself out though. And after those 4 years you will find that you’ve toughened up too, right along with your daughter. :)</p>
<p>LOL absweetmarie! FWIW, we just dropped our thoughtful but quirky D at Oberlin. My H made a comment that the dork quotient was pretty high among the boys, so there are ways to up the odds on that one!</p>
<p>I am also a Midwesterner, and my D is earnest. She was accepted to lots of schools on both coasts as well as the Midwest. Carleton and St. Olaf were in her final group, but in the end she chose Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. No winter!! Unfortunately, there are no other schools like it nearby, so it would be a one place visit, unless you go the 3+ hours to Houston to see Rice.</p>
<p>She went to an uber competetive bs for hs, and has still found the place to be challenging, and there are wonderful things going on there. I had never heard of it when she told me she wanted to apply. It was actually one of her earliest apps., but as other better known schools’ acceptances arrived, TU never came off the list.</p>
<p>I go to visit her a lot, as San Antonio is great! I’m sad that she will graduate in May.</p>
<p>Consolation’s description sounded exactly like what a parent whose son goes there said to me. Nice school, great kids, but for my S would have been a repeat of high school. Didn’t want that!</p>
<p>I know you said your D is not in love with the idea of a women’s college but I think either Smith or Bryn Mawr would be perfect fits for her. As for co-ed school I agree that Earlham is a good idea and maybe Haverford?</p>