Anonymous wrote:Northwestern, Emory, Vanderbilt

Northwestern is definitely not laid back in the math department. I once got a 94 on a math exam that was curved to a B-.

Anonymous wrote:You go where you are accepted. You don’t realize how many smart kids are out there.

Sort of this. The closer DC gets to submitting applications the more we're pulling data into the equation and it's daunting. High stats don't guarantee admission anywhere and kids absolutely fall through the cracks because of overconfidence in the stats and ignoring the lottery nature of admissions. The best advice I've found is to find safeties (plural - schools with say 50%+ acceptance rates) where your kid could be happy, while understanding that sometimes those schools decline students because they assume they'll go elsewhere. Those schools will be found outside of T30.

Anonymous wrote:NYU. People on here with no experience will tell you otherwise, but this is the answer.

And it only costs a bazillion dollars to have the laid-back atmosphere of... Manhattan.

Bowdoin, Carleton, Pomona, Brown, Tufts, Rice, WashU, Vanderbilt, Haverford, Claremont McKenna, Grinnell, URochester

Anonymous wrote:Laidback, yet very smart, DS starting college search. Probably economic, math. Would like top-notch academics without the ultra-competitive environment. Is it even possible? Suggestions?

I think this is a fit thing. What’s relaxing to one student might not be for others. Prioritize schools your child feels they will learn well at, which isn’t necessarily the highest ranked ones they might get into. Read the longer form descriptions in Fiske and Princeton Review, then visit the top candidates if possible.

Schools aren't laid back, people are. So if you kid is laid back about academics, he'll be laid back at any school. Whereas, a hyper-stressed, type A kid will be that way anywhere.

Florida.

Top SLACs.

UVA, pretty laid back unless you are in pre-med, then it is cut throat and intense. Good balance of work hard, play hard.

UNC also comes to mind.

Northwestern, Emory, Vanderbilt

Anonymous wrote:Laidback, yet very smart, DS starting college search. Probably economic, math. Would like top-notch academics without the ultra-competitive environment. Is it even possible? Suggestions?

The only tippy top school I've consistently heard was fun is Duke - school spirit, good weather, great academics. Even with the weather Stanford has "duck syndrome," which is where everyone puts on a good face and pretends they're not struggling, even though they really are, it creates some mental health issues there. Plus it's fast paced with its quarter system like Princeton is. I've heard good things about other strong schools like Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Rice as well. Brown is supposed to be fun but more on the quirky side. Dartmouth is very tight knit but lots of drinking in dorms rooms with the cold weather up north.

Anonymous wrote:NYU. People on here with no experience will tell you otherwise, but this is the answer.

You go where you are accepted. You don’t realize how many smart kids are out there.

NYU. People on here with no experience will tell you otherwise, but this is the answer.

Laidback, yet very smart, DS starting college search. Probably economic, math. Would like top-notch academics without the ultra-competitive environment. Is it even possible? Suggestions?