Could a kid who would feel truly at home socially at Reed or Oberlin ever feel that way at WashU in St. Louis? Bowdoin? Middlebury? Amherst? Thanks. Think humble, intellectual, cute, geeky, a little awkward but socially successful among nice and free-thinking kids, creative, passionate but not very planful, not competitive, not into drugs, more likely to enjoy a sci-fi convention than a football game. Not pre-professional, preppy, wealthy or athletic. Would never join Greek system. Not an alpha. Thanks a lot.
Well, one thing to do would be to go to this thread:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1852759-colleges-with-a-similar-preppy-feel-to-harvard-and-princeton.html#latest
…and avoid the schools that get mentioned a lot! That being said, I don’t think being geeky/quirky would rule out any of the schools that you listed (even though someone was touting Amherst as being very preppy). Every one of the schools you mentioned will have its geeky crowd, and none of them are over-the-top conservative or preppy or Greek dominated, though I’m sure you’ll encounter plenty of wealth at them. Many of the adjectives you listed would apply to my daughter, and she liked Middlebury and Bowdoin enough that she applied to both of them. The thing is, you don’t need to have practically everyone be your personality type, you just need to be able to find your crowd, and I’ll bet your kid could at all of those places.
If you’re looking for schools that have a distinctly non-conformist vibe and very liberal student bodies, there are a number of recent threads that have explored that topic. Here’s one, for instance:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1832412-what-colleges-are-super-liberal-artistic-social-justice-focused-and-not-preppy-p1.html
I think the vast majority of LACs would be fine for quirky, but I’d probably keep away from Colgate, Colby, or Williams.
Think Macalester, Carleton, WashU, UChicago, the Claremonts (especially Pitzer, but not CMC; Harvey Mudd would be great if math/science is a main area of interest), Grinnell, or any for the schools in the CTCL group.
Stats?
Thanks very much for the thoughtful and detailed replies. Stats are high but hasn’t founded any charities, won national awards, etc…
[quote] Could a kid who would feel truly at home socially at Reed or Oberlin ever feel that way at WashU in St. Louis? Bowdoin? Middlebury? Amherst?
someone was touting Amherst as being very preppy
[/quote]
I don’t think liking one means you wouldn’t like the other. My kid really liked Oberlin AND Amherst.
Carleton, Rhodes, UChicago, Grinnell, Reed all definite fits for profile. Academics would also need to fit for admission.
I don’t know much about Colgate and Colby right now, but there are plenty of kids like the OP at Williams.
Techies and entrepreneurs seem to outnumber humanities geeks on the West Coast. After all even Reed can claim Steve Jobs. If you want Portlandia but not Reed look at Lewis & Clark. If you love coffee, wine, and the Cascades minus Portlandia consider Whitman and U of Puget Sound. Kids at these schools are down to earth and unpretentious.
From my research, you might want to look into Earlham, College of Wooster, Grinnell, maybe Kenyon, Hampshire, Bennington, Kalamazoo, Macalester, Bard and Beloit.
These are great suggestions. I think I’m asking where to avoid rather than where to consider, though the suggestions of good fits are also very helpful. Down to earth and (relatively) unpretentious, as Oregon 2016 put it, really matters.
If you consider yourself a free-thinking, creative person, then why wouldn’t you want to mix it up with many different kinds of people? If a liberal arts college has good academics, generous financial aid, and national market reach, then it ought to be able to attract a variety of tribes (including yours). As far as I know, admission committees aren’t screening kids for their political beliefs or taste in music.
However, if you really want to avoid the kind of students you seem to be describing, look at the percentage who join Greek societies. Although … this probably isn’t a perfect indicator (for instance, I suspect MIT frat culture is different from W&L frat culture).
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/most-frats
@tk21769, my kid will be most comfortable and make the smoothest transition if they don"t feel like an outsider.
But variety is good.
Among the NESCAC schools, he/she could probably “fit in” anywhere, but would probably be most at home at Bates or Tufts. Schools have a dominant culture, but they all seek diversity. Being a “cultural diversity admit” may not result in the optimum situation.
Generally the “Most Liberal Students” section on Princeton Review will be the schools the geeky/quirky students will fit in at.
Thanks for all the great replies! Anyone have a quirky kid who felt out of place at chosen LAC?
Not me personally, but I had a long conversation with someone I met on a college trip whose daughter was very unhappy at Bucknell. She was in her first semester there, though, and many a kid struggles in their first semester at college and later goes on to settle in nicely.
Since you asked about it, the quirky shy kid in our extended family loved Middlebury.
I’ve got two sons who are like the way you describe your child. First one graduated from brown and loved it. His second but very close top choice was Uchicago. Second son is at tufts where he’s very happy. His other top choices were brown ( deferred and then withdrew app bc he applied ed2 to tufts) and Wash U (where he also got in early bc he was a finalist for one of the merit awards). He would have probably been just as happy at either of those 2 schools. His best friend from high school, who is similar to your child in temperament, is an engineering major at WashU and is content there. So, I’d suggest tufts, brown, uchicago and WashU as good options.
I’m so glad to hear these endorsements of schools that we were inclined to avoid, as well as some that always sounded hospitable.