This question has been posed on CC in the past but most of those threads are pretty old. Can anyone suggest small to mid-sized universities and smaller LACs that are highly ranked but have a reputation for down to earth students? I’ve heard Carleton, Wash U, Rochester fit these criteria and I’m sure there are many more out there.
We are in the Midwest and haven’t started looking seriously for our S19 yet, but we do know that he would like a place where students are bright but not cut-throat or too spoiled. His grades and scores should be very competitive. All honors and AP classes (probably 10 APs by the end). He’s a good test taker but hasn’t taken SAT/ACT yet. I would say he’d be looking at universities and LACs in the top 50 of each category. We will be full pay but schools that give merit would certainly be a plus. If the fit is right, though, would be willing to pay.
St. Olaf better defines those Midwest values than Carleton. We have in the Pac Northwest schools that value collaboration and the kids are earthy if your son wants to travel.
IMO Carleton, Haverford and Whitman fit that description well.
In the Northeast (where there is a high concentration of wealthy, “type-A” personalities, Bates - originally founded by Free-Will Baptists and Tufts - originally founded by Universalists (not to be confused with Unitarians) stand out.
The culture at Tufts tends to be a little more pragmatic so you will find some applied majors and minors such as engineering, computer science, clinical psychology, finance and media studies. It also has an Experimental College that allows outsiders to teach courses and supervised internships for academic credit.
In general, there is a pretty strong inverse correlation between endowment and the attributes you are looking for, so you can use that as a sanity check.
I second Tufts and will add Brown. I have a rising junior at Tufts and a class of 2015 at Brown, and that was one of their criteria; they haven’t been disappointed. I’ve met many of their friends because we live in New York and since their friends are from all over the country…west coast, Midwest as well as east coast…they have spent time with us over breaks. Everyone loves visiting NYC, so it’s been a pleasure getting to know their college friends, all of whom have impressed my husband and me as bright, curious, well-spoken, intellectually-minded but salt-of-the-earth types.
Will also add that both my kids also applied to URochester and WUSTL because both those schools seem to attract a similar student body. Visited Carleton with youngest and while he loved it, he decided he preferred a bigger, more urban school.
I’d also add Macalaster to your list, if your kid likes LACs.
@Mastadon thanks for your input. Do you mean that schools with big endowments have more pretentious students? I know Grinnell has one of the largest endowments but have also heard that the kids are pretty friendly.
You would find the methodolgy used by Washington Monthly to rank schools useful, especially the community service rankings.
I’ll second this. My D was looking for a LAC that didn’t feel pretentious and she liked both Haverford and Whitman (didn’t visit Carleton).
@2inSchool2 Thanks! Took a quick peek. Love it. Makes sense to use community service as a benchmark.
Love all of these choices! I’ve been checking out the websites as suggestions come in. Most are highly selective, which is terrific. Would love to hear some input, though, on any schools that might give merit aid. If S19 ends up above the 75th percentile for the college in question, it would be great if he received some merit.
I know Rochester does and Whitman and Kenyon. Any further suggestions would be terrific!
Look at St. Lawrence, Lawrence University and St. Olaf for schools that are less pretentious and give merit aid. They are less selective than others listed here but still provide a top notch education and could help flush out safeties/matches.
Bigger than a LAC, consider University of Vermont. Generous merit aid , laid back students, great location in Burlington.
Are there certain majors your son is leaning towards?
My D and I visited Rochester last week. We were very impressed with the ways the university facilitates collaboration, such as employing upperclassmen to be tutors for newer students. Group projects are commonplace as well.
My D made the point that students who enroll at Rochester are there because they are focused on their education. They usually aren’t drawn to Rochester for the weather, or the beach, or the glitzy city scene. It really does seem to be a fantastic learning environment.
@doschicos not sure what he would study yet. Definitely not business. He’s still at the stage where he loves any class with an awesome teacher. Loved English class and loved writing in middle school and had very close relationships with the teachers. Freshman year, he loved algebra 2 trig and biology because those were the teachers he connected with the best. He also is interested in art. Got the art genes from both sides of the family and will take both AP studio and and AP portfolio before graduation. Don’t see an art major in his future but may like to have a studio on campus. Will likely submit a portfolio with his applications if allowed but only to show his prowess and commitment.
Your son sounds like my kids.
Kenyon is pretty unpretentious and it offers a Studio Art scholarship. Might be worth looking into. A studio art major is not required: http://www.kenyon.edu/admissions-aid/financial-aid/types-of-aid/scholarships-and-grants/academic-scholarships/studio-art-scholarship/
Also, look into Grinnell. I remember nice art facilities there. Also unpretentious, some merit aid.
Bates, Kenyon, Carleton, Whitman, Clark University, U Rochester, Dickinson. Which was pretty much my daughter’s app list:-) FWIW, Whitman routinely makes the Happiest Students list on Princeton Review.
There was some interest in these schools too, but they never they made the list for various reasons. I certainly get the feeling none are pretentious: Lewis and Clark, Macalester, Wesleyan, Skidmore, College Of Wooster.
Can’t help with big universities really, as my kid didn’t apply to any. However, Northeastern probably fits that description.
@Lindagaf I was wondering if Dickinson would show up on list like this!
As you mentioned your son is a little preppy, also consider Franklin & Marshall. Good school, not pretentious, but not sure how arty it is. Sports are big. D also applied there, has no idea why now:-) I can see Dickinson as a good match for your son, too. A little more preppy than the others I listed, and good merit aid. Very nice campus, nice small town, and very good art facilities. Plus, the coolest of all mascots, a cute red devil!
@Lindagaf our high school’s mascot is the Red Devil!
Take a look at the Claremont Consortium. I’m not sure what you have in mind when you say “not pretentious” but Pomona has a strong commitment to diversity, including socioeconomic diversity. Nobody cares what you wear, where you went to high school, what your parents do for a living or how many homes they own, etc. My kid was a HS debater and she got a very negative opinion of northeast prep school kids from going to national tournaments. She got snobby feedback about being a public school kid from the southwest. That really had a huge impact on turning her off of going to school in the northeast. She realizes now that she shouldn’t judge an entire geographic area on the basis of a few individuals, but she is quite happy with the laid back vibe at Pomona. Academics at Pomona are definitely challenging but the atmosphere is not cutthroat. Maybe it’s the California sunshine. Pomona doesn’t have any merit aid, but I think CMC/Scripps/HMC do. Not sure about Pitzer.
@Corinthian your description of unpretentious is exactly what I mean. I don’t want either of our kids to feel like they have to have a certain family name or a large amount in their checking account to fit in. I understand that there will be kids like that at most schools, but if that’s the overall feeling of the school then it’s not for him. We have a bit of the keeping up with Jones’ spirit in our town with kids one upping each other with their latest vacations or fancy cars. He has already told us that he wants a college where the atmosphere is more collaborative than his high school with kids constantly comparing grades. He’s happy to work hard and he’s a very curious student but doesn’t like when kids are braggy about grades.
CA may be too far away for him but our younger daughter is bent on going to the west coast for school so your advice is still helpful to our family!