<p>I'm looking for schools that balance academics with social life, and mainly attract a laid-back student body - basically schools similar to Stanford and Duke. Anyone have any suggestions?</p>
<p>You might have to be a little more specific, and by a little I mean a lot.</p>
<p>I don't want it to be a school larger than 15,000 students. Furthermore, I don't want there to be a cut-throat competition between the students, i.e. students caring only about their grades. I don't want the school to be totally isolated, yet I don't want it to be smack-dab in the middle of a bustling metropolis - ideally it would be located in a suburb close to a city, or even a college town that offers a lot of off-campus activities. I don't mind cold weather, and Greek life should not dominate the on-campus social life, in that non-Greeks feel excluded from parties and events. I also want it preferably close to a mass of water as I enjoy rowing and I also like soccer. I also want accessible and friendly faculty who are interested in teaching and not just in their research.</p>
<p>best well rounded schools are the big states schools such as CAL, UVA, Michigan, UNC, UCLA. Combining academics and sports.</p>
<p>I agree with superstar, youre going to want to find a state school that isnt too big, probably in the midwest or northeast (for rowing). What state do you live in? That makes a big difference in terms of whether or not you want to pay OOS or IS tuition.</p>
<p>Northwestern University: literally on Lake Michigan, in the suburbs, close to Chicago, great academics, Div I school. and you don't mind cold weather :) so it's perfect.</p>
<p>^^ I second this response. ;)</p>
<p>I'm an international student. Also, I'm worried about the size of the state schools. The only state school that fits my size criteria is UVA and William & Mary. Northwestern I heard is really big on Greek life. I don't know if you can confirm this.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention that I plan on majoring in Economics or Comp Science.</p>
<p>If you don't want to be involved in Greek life you definitely do not have to.</p>
<p>Rankings</a> - Economics - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report</p>
<p>Northwestern Economics Dept. is consistently ranked top ten by US News.</p>
<p>That's interesting information about NU's greek life. I was under the impression that it dominated the social life of students. I will look into NU deeper now. Thanks. Any other suggestions?</p>
<p>If you can get over the fact that it has a large greek scene, Dartmouth would be a great place to look. Ivy frats are not like your average state school frats. Penn would work if you're willing to have students who are a little less laid back.</p>
<p>Penn is actually one of the schools I have been looking at. Dartmouth has an isolated location which does not bode well with me.</p>
<p>Wake Forest University.
4,000~ undergraduates.
top-notch academics, but not particularly cutthroat
great social life
gorgeous campus in North Carolina
ACC Athletics</p>
<p>PM me if you have more questions.</p>
<p>It sounds like W&M and UVA would be good too. Although I'm not sure how far UVA rowing has to travel to practice...</p>
<p>
[quote]
The only state school that fits my size criteria is UVA and William & Mary.
[/quote]
You might want to check out UNC anyway. It only has 2600 more undergrads than UVA, and both computer science and economics are very strong. It's also about $5K cheaper than UVA OOS.</p>
<p>I would add Vanderbilt and Rice to the other suggestions. All three have crew teams.</p>
<p>If you're willing to go smaller, then Davidson would possibly be a good fit. Very laidback, DI sports, and a campus on Lake Norman for water sports.</p>
<p>posted this earlier today in another thread:</p>
<p>Princeton Review "Best Quality Of Life" list 2010</p>
<p>Based on responses from students to several questions covering food on and off-campus, dorm comfort, campus beauty, ease of getting around campus, relationship with the local community, campus safety, the surrounding area, interaction between students, friendliness and happiness of the student body and smoothness with which the school is administered.</p>
<ol>
<li>Rice University</li>
<li>Bowdoin College</li>
<li>Claremont McKenna College</li>
<li>Washington University In St. Louis</li>
<li>Virginia Tech</li>
<li>Middlebury College</li>
<li>Smith College</li>
<li>Barnard College</li>
<li>Saint Michael's College</li>
<li>Clemson University</li>
<li>Bryn Mawr College</li>
<li>Westminster College (UT)</li>
<li>Franklin W. Olin College Of Engineering</li>
<li>St. Olaf College</li>
<li>Brown University</li>
<li>Davidson College</li>
<li>Furman University</li>
<li>Stanford University</li>
<li>Pomona College</li>
<li>Whitman College</li>
</ol>
<p>^
Pampered students do not necessarily equate with well-rounded schools. I certainly wouldn't classify Olin or Barnard as well-rounded, for example. I don't doubt the "ease of getting around campus" at the former -- it has a grand total of 10 buildings, of which half are dorms. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>well you can find the academically good schools on that list and there you go haha</p>
<p>IBclass, aren't Davidson students the studious kind? I was under the impression they weren't so laid-back as they have a heavy course load.</p>
<p>UCLA
UNC-Chapel Hill
Boston College
Wake Forest
Georgetown
Vanderbilt
Uva</p>