I’m an engineering/science student and aside from college rankings and programs I was wondering which colleges I would actually be HAPPY at. I do enjoy community service, working and meeting new people. I plan to involve myself in clubs, club sports, research, and perhaps student government. In college, I am looking for a relationship rather than hook ups. I also dislike drugs and alcohol, and not a huge party person. More so looking to hang out with a close group of friends. I’m also not a fan of the whole liberal movement, and if anything I am more conservative in my beliefs. I hate hot weather and would probably prefer a suburban environment with a city within driving distance. I do like to see diversity on campus, but I’d be okay with a school that has a certain race as a majority as long as it isn’t 90% of the population or something.
NVM, misread.
Still might be useful to give your home state as a starting point. Also budget.
I’m a California resident and cost isn’t a factor due to generous financial aid and Questbridge providing full 4-year tuition for various private institutions.
Yeah, I’d totally be for answering this, but do you have a list of colleges that interest you? I don’t want to recommend you schools that are reaches or school that are super safeties.
Anyway some known-by-name schools that come to mind for this would be these two:
Brandeis University (Massachusetts) (29% acceptance rate)
…#6 in community service engagement
…Clubs are prominent
…No real party culture
…About 3,600 undergrads
Lafayette College (Pennsylvania) (28.2% acceptance rate)
…No real party culture
…Politically moderate campus
…About 2,500 undergrads
@lexilexi3 I considering all of the UC’s, with UCLA/UCSD being target schools. I am also interested in Caltech, Stanford, Occidental College, Pomona College, Harvey Mudd, Cal State Obispo. I would consider schools like UCR and UC Santa Cruz to be safety. Stanford would be a reach and Caltech a super reach. For out of state, I am looking at Ivy league for reach, as well as schools like Georgia Tech, Michigan, NYU, Vanderbilt. All of these schools are for consideration in terms of academics only, like say UC Berkeley has great academics but is very liberal and I’m not too sure if I would fit in. Thanks for the help.
Purdue perhaps? It’s about an hours drive away from Indianapolis and two and a half from Chicago. It’s an excellent engineering school which while having a fairly diverse population is not overtly political. All schools will have people who party and so does Purdue but it’s not something I would consider part of its culture. As a school with around 30k undergrads it will have just about anything you could imagine as far as clubs, organizations and groups. You might consider Purdue a tier below some the other schools you’ve mentioned but it’s not for engineering and the sciences. It is world class.
You should definitely check out Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). If you are not from the Northeast, you probably are not familiar with it, or how highly ranked it is. It’s a science/engineering school. It has a unique hands-on, project-based curriculum. Students take 3 classes at a time. Many credit hours are earned doing projects. There are about 5000 undergrads and a moderate number of grad students. Starting salaries are almost as high as any school in the country.
WPI has a beautiful campus in a nice, tree-filled part of Worcester. Downtown Worcester has been undergoing significant redevelopment. Boston is about an hour or so away by commuter train. We loved the campus vibe. I’m not sure about the culture, but I tend to think of engineering types as somewhat more long-term oriented than the average.
You might also check out Case Western, Virginia Tech, and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). But I think WPI sounds right up your alley. Good luck!
Also Univ of Rochester might be a nice fit. Also, RPI
@lexilexi3 What makes you say that Lafayette doesn’t have a party culture? I thought Greek life was fairly big there.
Try RPI.
For a Californian, I should add Worcester is pronounced Wus-ter (or Wus-ta by locals). It’s actually the third or fourth largest city in New England, behind Boston and/or Providence and Hartford.
Wash U (reach), Case Western (show interest!), and Rochester.
Perhaps look at Rice
@TTG Worcester is actually the 2nd largest city in terms of population in New England
@citymama9 My D recently graduated from Lafayette. There is Greek Life at Lafayette but it is not overwhelming – people who choose not to participate in Greek Life easily can maintain a full and happy social life.
Offhand I’d say the suggestions above are all good.
“I’m a California resident and cost isn’t a factor due to generous financial aid and Questbridge providing full 4-year tuition for various private institutions.”
You need to become a Finalist (not easy) and then match with a school (definitely not easy) before you can count on Questbridge funds. If you are looking at schools in the Ivy League but live in California, can you afford the travel?
ETA: I think your list is a bit unrealistic, given the following that I saw on a different thread:
UW GPA 3.95 W GPA 4.65
SAT 1320 Math 710 English 610
Math Subject 2 600 Physics Subject 570 ( I know terrible, however, I didn’t prepare or take the tests seriously and I do believe I can get my target scores)
@suzy100 Due to my financial situation I would still get very generous aid, but yes I could afford the travel. My older brother is literally paying nothing for college. I was a prep scholar for Questbridge, which I know is not the same thing, but shows that I am competitive for the Questbridge College Match. It seems that a lot of people think you need a 1500 SAT to go to schools like UCLA when students from my school go there with lower SAT scores and a much lower GPA. I do believe my extracurriculars are very good, and my profile in general in local context. I do understand that Ivy league is a reach. As I said, my target schools would be UCSD/UCLA. I am not really expecting to get into Ivy school but I still do have a chance. If I become a finalist all of the applications with partnered schools will be free, even if I don’t get matched so it is work a shot.I am applying to all of the UC’s and I’m pretty sure that I can get into UCR and UC Merced and I wouldn’t mind attending them (academically). I don’t mean to come off as a big fish in a small pond, but given my local context I stand out against the peers at my school within the past 10 years. So if some schools take that into consideration (which I know not all will) then that could greatly improve my chances.
@citymama9 RPI did offer me a candidates choice application which would be a lot faster than the common application, so I will definitely apply.
@citymama9 I mean yeah greek life is more prominent, but a lot of students who attend say their social scene is average with normal social gatherings. Parties exist, yes, but there doesn’t seem to be a huge culture around it
@happy1 In your opinion would you say there isn’t much of a “party culture” at Lafayette? Are the weekends quiet or would you say things are hopping on a Saturday night? Thanks:)
@citymama9 My D seemed to be engaged, busy, happy etc. during weekends at Lafayette. I a person wants a “party culture” or Greek Life that is there, if a person prefers quieter parties with friends that is available as we… So one student could become immersed in Greek life while another might choose to live in a wellness dorm and find other outlets to become engaged with and I believe that both could find a full social life.
If you have any other questions about Lafayette that a parent can help you with feel free to PM me.