Curious about Vanderbilt. Based on your description in post #4, I would have thought it would fit there given that it often gets high marks for “happiest students” and good quality of life.
@ucbalumnus . . . per your quote:
. . . or perhaps the self-contained on-campus stuff v. those colleges which have students who venture considerably off campus, to: Conan, Jimmy Kimmel, Ellen Show; movie premieres/viewing; social-media get-togethers; beach road-trips (non-UCSB, SD, SC, SLO-types, which have them nearby); hike; trips to the Getty replete with pictures, as well as LACMA (with those lampposts – not sure why the big deal about them); eat; Coachella/concerts; and other gatherings (catchall)… This is why UCLA, which is strongly greek, the former, also has a lot of these latter things. (edited eating, hiking to eat, hike)
I’ve enjoyed your breakdown of Fiske’s Colleges @Publisher but perhaps if you elided the numbers by your alphabetical listings, perhaps it’d help persons like myself who didn’t initially catch onto your stating listing them as such. 
@elana13:
Vanderbilt University has 4 Pens for Academics, 4 Telephones for Social Life & 4 Stars for Quality of Life.
Quote: “Vandy has a balance between great academics and a solid social life.”
(Interesting quote because I have long thought solid academics & a great social life described Vanderbilt University.)
“Strongest and most selective of schools that still manage to blend Old South gentility with modern ways.”
“One of the few major universities where both academics and athletics are top-notch.”
“Vanderbilt sits squarely among the top universities in the nation…”
Overlaps: Duke, Harvard, Yale, Penn, Cornell, Stanford, WashUStL, & Princeton.
I wasn’t able to put more effort in my post #21, so let me correct the hiking and the eating aspects which have UCLA students venturing off campus, to match the greater detail in some of the other activities I listed in my sentence above: to hike the trails of the Santa Monica mountains closer to campus in the Malibu hills, or farther inland with their spectacular city views at the Hollywood sign; to eat at some of LA’s varied ethnic restaurants – Ethiopian, Middle Eastern, Thai, VIetnamese, Korean, etc. – in the Mid City area, Fairfax, Koreatown; or on the other side of the city in in Silverlake…
Where does Ga Tech fall for social and life? I saw it was a 5 for academics.
Georgia Tech has a 5-2-2 rating.
Overlaps: UCal-Berkeley, Univ. of Florida, Univ. of Illinois, Univ. of Michigan, & the University of Texas at Austin.
I’ve been getting a curious curious double entry of words lately, not sure why why. (Purposely done here, but not in some of my previous posts.)
@publisher . . . Where would University of California, San Diego rank socially? Thanks…
And let me add my opinion of Caltech’s low ranking socially…
They have a different breed of student, of course, which everyone knows. They could have an 80% acceptance rate and they’d still have the highest board scores in the land. And their students think of fun in a diametrically different way than every other college, and all of it is undoubtedly intellectually inspired. It’s just the way they are. And the country needs them to be leaders by taking high-tier professorships in STEM.
@firmament2x : I posted a response to your question about UC-SD on the other thread dealing with the Fiske Guide To Colleges 2020 edition.
UC-San Diego received:
5 Pens for Academics
3 Telephones for Social Life
4 Stars for Quality of Life
The Fiske guide refers to UC-San Diego as a “seaside paradise”.
Lafayette college in top 15 makes no sense to me, regardless of how social life is being defined. To me it’s like that one was picked out of a hat. Know a few kids who go there.
Lafayette College:
Quote from Fiske Guide To Colleges 2020 edition:
“Attracts relatively preppy, athletic students who work hard and play hard.”
Lafayette College Overlaps: Lehigh, Bucknell, Colgate, Villanova, Franklin & Marshall, Union, Boston College, & Tufts.
@Leigh22: Seems like the Fiske Guide has mixed up the Social Life ratings of Lafayette College & Lehigh University as Lehigh was given just 3 Telephones despite:
“…students agree that a drinking and party culture does exist [at Lehigh University]”.
And that Lehigh University has “an active Greek scene (38 percent of men join fraternities and 45 percent of the women belong to sororities) that fuels the campus social life.”
Lehigh University overlaps: Wake Forest, Boston College, Tulane, William & Mary, Northeastern, Cornell, Villanova, & Bucknell. (But not Lafayette College ?)
Was Goucher listed this year?
Goucher College:
3 Pens for Academics
3 Telephones for Social Life
3 Stars for Quality of Life
Overlaps: Muhlenberg, Kenyon, Kalamazoo, Ohio Wesleyan, Lewis & Clark, Allegheny, Bard, & American University.
Interesting student quote contained in the Fiske guide To Colleges 2020 edition:
“Goucher has taught me to stop looking at professors as superior beings with infinite knowledge.”
Goucher College requires all students to spend time studying or working abroad.
@Publisher . . . Thank you. Thank you. Good work.
What are Wake Forest’s numbers?
How about Western Washington? My daughter goes there.
WFU received 4 Pens for Academics, 3 Telephones for Social life & 3 Stars for Quality of Life.
Wake Forest University is very strong academically especially in–according to the Fiske Guide To Colleges 2020–Finance, Communication, Psychology, Politics & Int’l Affairs, Business & Enterprise Mgmt., and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Unfortunately, beautiful Western Washington University (Bellingham, Washington) is not included in the Fiske Guide To Colleges.
The Fiske Guide includes 6 Washington schools: Evergreen State, Gonzaga, University of Puget Sound, Seattle University, University of Washington (Seattle), & whitman College.
Just found this thread. Can anyone summarize how Holy Cross and Tufts student life is described by Fiske?
The College of the Holy Cross has no Greek life; social life is centered on the dorms.
“Underage students caught with alcohol are put on probation and parents are notified. Still, on the weekends there are always loads of parties going on , which are generally accessible to all students from all classes.”
Tufts University:
“Drinking is a significant part of life at Tufts, but it’s not overwhelming,” according to a student.
Greek life & hazing. Greek culture is a subject of controversy after a university investigation regarding hazing.
“Partying at a frat is just as acceptable as as staying in with your roommate and watching Netflix.”
Easy access to Boston via the T metro system.
1 Like