more traditional schools -- not "woke" but not "fratty"?

[Anonymous]

Sophomore daughter has a lot of leadership qualities (elected president of class at magnet school), rows crew, popular at school, engaged in clubs, and well liked by teachers. High GPA (so far) in challenging curriculum. No SAT score yet.

Wants a school that is intellectual, but with school spirit. And, not "super woke," but instead a liberal arts-type education in the classic sense in that it teaches you how to think, not what to think. Is worried about schools that are only "snobby rich kids" (this is the public magnet school kid in her.)

We wanted to casually visit schools this summer, but not sure which ones have this vibe. Any suggestions?

[Anonymous]

Definitely Boston College

[Anonymous]

St John’s?

[Anonymous]

Why are parents always so worried about their college kids being exposed to "woke" or "lefty" idealogy? If youre strong in your convictions it dont matter. Goodness, what shrinking violets we have.

[Anonymous]

BYU
BC
ND
Villanova
Rice

[Anonymous]

“Not woke, but no rich kids” eliminates 95 percent of colleges. Perhaps a state school in the Midwest would be sufficiently poor and conservative for op’s child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BYU
BC
ND
Villanova
Rice

You missed the “no rich kids” part of the list, which eliminates all the top private schools, including these.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sophomore daughter has a lot of leadership qualities (elected president of class at magnet school), rows crew, popular at school, engaged in clubs, and well liked by teachers. High GPA (so far) in challenging curriculum. No SAT score yet.

Wants a school that is intellectual, but with school spirit. And, not "super woke," but instead a liberal arts-type education in the classic sense in that it teaches you how to think, not what to think. Is worried about schools that are only "snobby rich kids" (this is the public magnet school kid in her.)

We wanted to casually visit schools this summer, but not sure which ones have this vibe. Any suggestions?

Is she or you not bright enough to know that there are very few top schools now that are only “snobby rich kids”? The schools that would fit this characterization tend to be second-tier SLACs and are easily avoided.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Not woke, but no rich kids” eliminates 95 percent of colleges. Perhaps a state school in the Midwest would be sufficiently poor and conservative for op’s child.

Well, she rows crew. If she wants to continue, that alone will eliminate many colleges and geographic areas.

[Anonymous]

William & Mary
Wake Forest

[Anonymous]

Sounds like whatever your state flagship is is probably your best bet.

[Anonymous]

OP here…I put some of those ideas in quotes because they were the initial musings of a 15 year old.

To be clearer, I’m asking for liberal arts colleges or smaller universities that have some notable ideological and economic diversity.

[Anonymous]

Davidson College

[Anonymous]

OP again: and thanks for the suggestions so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sophomore daughter has a lot of leadership qualities (elected president of class at magnet school), rows crew, popular at school, engaged in clubs, and well liked by teachers. High GPA (so far) in challenging curriculum. No SAT score yet.

Wants a school that is intellectual, but with school spirit. And, not "super woke," but instead a liberal arts-type education in the classic sense in that it teaches you how to think, not what to think. Is worried about schools that are only "snobby rich kids" (this is the public magnet school kid in her.)

We wanted to casually visit schools this summer, but not sure which ones have this vibe. Any suggestions?

Is she or you not bright enough to know that there are very few top schools now that are only “snobby rich kids”? The schools that would fit this characterization tend to be second-tier SLACs and are easily avoided.

Disagree, any top private college is going to have a ton of wealthy families. It’s that’s really an issue for op’s kids, her options are limited to public colleges. Unless, of course, they are too fratty. I’ve never seen such a ridiculous combination of criteria.