Reed has much more socioeconomic diversity than most elite East Coast schools. The NYTimes, for example, recently ranked the schools with the greatest orientation towards wealthy students. Reed ranked 109, which was lower than all Ivies and all NESCACs, as well as other prominent northeastern schools like Johns Hopkins, Swarthmore, Haverford, Lafayette, Lehigh, Colgate, and Bucknell.
@Corbett If you read my post in its entirety I said it was just one perspective but I wanted to mention it. The student we met with was Hispanic from California and ended up at Reed because they gave him the best financial aid package. He was extremely candid. He mentioned he often felt like an outsider being a minority from a low income family. He wasn’t the assigned tour guide. We met him in the library and he was willing to sit and chat with us. I value his “live” perspective more than a newspaper article and apparently so did my D. Reed though is an excellent school.
From the perspective of a Hispanic student from California, Reed might seem to have a lot of preppy, wealthy Northeasterners. I just don’t think that perspective would be shared by people who have experience with schools like (for example) Middlebury, Colby, or Colgate.
Yes definitely possible.
While the CTCL consortium is a good place to start, there are many schools that aren’t members that maybe fits as well. Simply looking at the comparison schools on each school’s USNWR profile will probably provide you more ideas.
Clark, Hampshire, Lewis and Clark, New College of Florida
While the CTCL consortium is a good place to start, there are many schools that aren’t members that may be fits as well. Simply looking at the comparison schools on each school’s USNWR profile will probably provide you more ideas.
Sounds like that student was exaggerating for effect. I view the kids who go to Reed as the type that would reject going to an Ivy League school because the Ivys (or is it Ivies?) are too conformist.
Not a CTCL school but one that changed my daughter’s life and definitely has a hippie vibe: the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies, part of the University of Redlands in Redlands, California.
NCF would best fit the bill
However, Reed student demographics (52% paying list price of $65-68k, 17% Pell grant, 59% white) may seem to be quite “preppy” in comparison to the environment a financial-aid-seeking student from California likely grew up in.
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?id=209922
Note that many of the Ivy League schools have similar SES demographics, but a smaller percentage of white students.
@ucbalumnus What about UCB? I have heard from a few people that went there that it has a hippy/activist vibe
You have a lot of good suggestions but I’d throw in Kalamazoo which has strong sciences and the kind of student body and campus life that you may be looking for.
Since it is a big school, there will be hippies and activists there, but they are not anything close to the majority of the students (even if the activists may be noisy at times).
Most big schools will have various subcultures among the student population.
OP, some people have mentioned this, but it bears repeating: don’t forget to look at the cost! Depending on your family contribution, some of these schools that don’t offer merit aid may well be financially unobtainable, like Reed.
Also, UCB is most definitely NOT a CTCL school. For those who don’t know the consortium, look at the website 
I know a young man who majored in Physics at Wheaton (MA, NOT IL), and seemed happy with the college. Goucher is another option. I strongly concur with NCF as a suggestion, unless you’re committed to a Northern, woodsy setting.
Earlham sounds like CTCL school you might like. Very friendly place with good academics. Bard might interest you as well. We saw several of the same kids at both for accepted student days. I don’t know if hippie is exactly the vibe, but non-conformist would fit!
Smith
I’d suggest Haverford and Swarthmore; of the ivy, Brown.