I don't know about now, but I went to Wake and didn't think it was overly difficult/stressful. That said, I wasn't pre-med or an accounting major. I enjoyed my 4 years and graduated with honors.

Anonymous wrote:Rice and Vanderbilt always top happiest campus list.

Princeton Review has Tulane as #1 happiest students this year, but it is ranked in the 40s so I guess it is off the table for OP.

Anonymous wrote:Rice and Vanderbilt always top happiest campus list.

William and Mary does as well

Rice and Vanderbilt always top happiest campus list.

Anonymous wrote:Is top 30 the new top 20?

Oh FFS. Splitting hairs on rankings that are meaningless to begin with is beyond stupid. Any tiny amount of critical thought could point you to several fatal flaws in the USNWR ranking methodology.

1. 20% is based on peer assessment. Basically a popularity contest. How many college presidents know anything about 99% of the colleges they are “assessing” other than where they’ve been in prior years’ rankings? Hint: not many. It would be like ranking restaurants by asking restaurant managers what they think of restaurants they’ve never been to. And this is by far the single biggest factor. So if College A rates College B highly because College A’s president sent them a nice Harry & David’s at the holidays, that alone moves them up several spots, without having ANYTHING to do with academic excellence.
2. Weighting of graduation rates. The biggest factor in graduation rates is not the academics at the school, but non-academic factors of the students. Students from non-upper classes struggle to stay in college for predominantly financial, non intellectual, reasons. The rankings basically punish schools for not filling up with UMC and wealthy applicants.
3. Endowment. So much of today’s endowment dollars go to “amenities”. To attract UMC and wealthy students (see #2 above), you need to built swanky dorms with luxury amenities. Again, this may enhance a student’s “experience”, but has no bearing on academic excellence.

There are, what, 3000+ colleges in the US? There is no methodology that could possibly accurately rank them, not even taking composites of USNWR, WSJ, Forbes, etc. They basically measure the same things with different weights. Any attempt to do this is folly. Trying to rank order, e.g., Dartmouth and UChicago and Duke based on what USNWR says about them is asinine. They are different institutions with different strengths and weaknesses that appeal to different candidates. I don’t know why we can’t just leave it at that and stop obsessing over which one is “better” or “best”.

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?

You realize there’s something self-contradictory about saying you/he wants to avoid an ‘ultra-competitive environment’ but then saying you want to limit your school search to those 30 that are characterized by hyper-competitive admissions and students who have worked hard to successfully navigate that competitive process, right?.

Suggest you consider some of the stronger state flagships. A ‘very smart’ undergraduate can get an equally fine (or mediocre) education at virtually any of the top 100 colleges and universities in the US, and if your kid is seeking to avoid an ultra-competitive environment, a large ‘top-notch’ but non-elite university is probably where it’s easiest to do so. That outcome might generate fewer bragging rights for parents, but in theory this is about what’s best for the kid.

Anonymous wrote:Is top 30 the new top 20?

Is the old top 20 the older top 10?

Is top 30 the new top 20?

Anonymous wrote:I was just coming to say the opposite for W&M. I don't hear about the couple suicides so much as the students are nerdy, competitive and unfun. This from a handful of current students.

My kid has had an experience similar to the first poster- collaborative and supportive

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is currently at Brown and raves about the supportive environment and how much fun she is having.

Also have a daughter there. She loves it and is not stressed. She says a bunch of her friends are stressed- but again, likely would be stressed in any environment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Can you stop saying "tippy top"? it sounds so juvenile

+ a million

It’s a null set.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Can you stop saying "tippy top"? it sounds so juvenile

Anonymous wrote: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.

True, but you might not want to be around primarily the other type for four years.

Vanderbilt.

Well-respected Econ program and the kids who attend seem to be looking for a great education, but not at the expense of other students.