Other schools like these?

College Search & Lists
1

I’ve been looking a lot to try to figure out what I want in a college and which colleges would be good fits for me, and I think I’ve finally figured it out. I want to major in either education or a liberal arts subject, I’m interested in going to a mid sized (around 2000-9000 students) college with strong greek life and sports, good academics but not an overly stressful workload, a defined campus, and a collaborative student body.

Colleges that seem to match what I’m looking for really well are Washington and Lee, Boston College, Brown, and Bucknell.

What other colleges are similar to those? I haven’t found any school that would be a match or safety for me (3.7 GPA and 1370 SAT) that I think would be as good of a fit as the schools that I listed already. I also won’t have a chance to visit any schools before applying and I can’t apply to too many schools.

I would really appreciate if anyone can give me any advice on the colleges that I already listed and help me find other colleges that would be good fits for me.

2

BC doesn’t recognize Greek clubs.

That said, BC is more like W&L and Bucknell than Brown is: Brown is less preppy and more liberal than the other three.

Using your criteria – big Greek and sports scene, medium size (let’s say 2-15k to expand options a bit), good academic rep but not overly gruesome, defined campus, non-cutthroat rep – here are some suggestions:

Universities:
Dartmouth - High reach
*Brown - High reach
Vanderbilt - High reach
Wake Forest - Low reach/high match

Tulane - Low reach/high match
Lehigh - Low reach/High match
*BC - Low reach/High match
SMU - High match/match
TCU - Match
Elon - Low match

LACs:
*W&L - Reach/low reach
Colgate - Reach/low reach
U of Richmond - Low reach/high match
*Bucknell - Low reach/High match
Lafayette - Low reach/High match
Sewanee - Match
Gettysburg - Match
DePauw - Match/low match

I’m not sure about the sports scenes at some of the LACs.

  • - School you listed.
3

No Greek life at BC. Also look at Lafayette, William & Mary, Wake Forest. There are lots of others that are less selective - Union College, Skidmore, Holy Cross all come to mind. Brown and any of the ivies would be a high reach without a hook, though Dartmouth would appear to have what you are looking for.

4

These come to mind – and I think some are less reach-y.

If you can’t visit, you need to reach out to some of these colleges and show some demonstrated interest, either through asking questions and/or requesting an interview. Also, look for college fairs or reps and be sure to visit the admissions folks in your area this fall. Some colleges don’t consider your ‘demonstrated interest’ but many do.

Franklin & Marshall
Rhodes
Furman
Lehigh
Elon
Wake Forest
possibly James Madison - though I don’t know much about it.

5

St. Lawrence for a safety.

6

If you’re considering an Education major, consider staying in state. It may very well mean that you graduate with state certification, and won’t need any additional coursework to teach right away.

7

Baylor University in Texas is a bit bigger at 15,000 but with their solid education major, generous need aid and merit scholarships, greek life, sports, collaborative community, manageable workload, defined campus and great study abroad program, it should be on your list.

8

Thanks for all of the suggestions! They all look like they could be really good fits for me, especially Dartmouth and Wake Forest.

9

High but possible reach: Colgate, Washington and Lee
Reasonable reach: Bucknell, Lafayette, Lehigh, Franklin and Marshall
Match: Union, Gettysburg, Hobart and William Smith, University of Richmond, Muhlenberg
Low match: Elon

10

William and Mary, Rochester, Wake Forest, and Elon seem like good possibilities, as well as some of the other suggestions.

11

Here’s a list of schools with the most students in fraternities:
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/most-frats
(Presumably, sorority participation levels more or less mirror frat levels at many of them).

Many of them already have been mentioned above
(W&L, Dartmouth, Lehigh, Bucknell, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Gettysburg …)
Maybe add Davidson College (probably in the “reasonable reach” layer).

12

Wherever you end up, keep in mind there are some interesting programs like this out there if you don’t get enough education classes as an undergrad.

https://www.colgate.edu/academics/departments-and-programs/educational-studies/master-teaching

13

Someone already mentioned this above, but I’d also strongly suggest Texas Christian. They have about 8,000 students, strong liberal arts majors, a stunning campus (that has a clear distinction from the city of Fort Worth), and amazing Big 12 sports. TCU also has some of the best greek life in the country (as well as the cleanest Greek Row). If you are interested be sure to take the virtual tour on the TCU website. The virtual tour gives you a good look at the campus and a glimpse into some of their programs/resources. Here is the link: https://experience.tcu.edu/. The only school I have toured on your list is Wake Forest, TCU has more of a Southern vibe and a better defined campus than Wake, but other than that they are pretty similar.