Anonymous
05/14/2026 20:50
Subject: which is the best fit for a social, mainstream applicant: Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth?
Brown was never as quirky as its reputation. Like it might, at one point, have been a Grateful Dead/Phish type school, but it was always the prep school Dead crowd, not the hard druggies or activist types. These days I don't believe it's even that, just normal smart kids with an ever so slight air of non-conformism thanks to the open curriculum.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 20:46
Subject: which is the best fit for a social, mainstream applicant: Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So different, you need to visit. I would say you named the top 3 quirky schools for intellectual kids
We went to Cornell’s admitted students day recently, and it did not feel quirky at all. Intellectual yes.
Can you elaborate on this?
Anonymous
05/14/2026 20:41
Subject: which is the best fit for a social, mainstream applicant: Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth?
Anonymous wrote:So different, you need to visit. I would say you named the top 3 quirky schools for intellectual kids
We went to Cornell’s admitted students day recently, and it did not feel quirky at all. Intellectual yes.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 19:10
Subject: which is the best fit for a social, mainstream applicant: Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth?
Brown is roughly 40% LGBTQ, so that is part of the quirky reputation.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 19:09
Subject: which is the best fit for a social, mainstream applicant: Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth?
Brown (PLME? Would be best). Sure it can skew pretty quirky, but the athletes and the social crowd aren’t really part of that
Anonymous
05/14/2026 19:03
Subject: which is the best fit for a social, mainstream applicant: Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth?
So different, you need to visit. I would say you named the top 3 quirky schools for intellectual kids
Anonymous
05/14/2026 17:22
Subject: which is the best fit for a social, mainstream applicant: Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth?
Anonymous wrote:The main distinction on the social side of things is that Brown has no real Greek scene, whereas both Cornell and esp Dartmouth do.
My DC is at Brown and the kids themselves are more or less the same as everywhere else: more liberal, politically, than Dartmouth of course but otherwise the campus is full of pre-med, CS and pre-finance kids (at Brown that means APMA + econ double concentrators).
I would wager Dartmouth is the "quirkier" of the 3, in the paradoxical sense of a student body that departs from the elite college norm. But even Dartmouth has, from what I gather, changed considerably since the 1980s (when all of these schools seemed to have acquired their respective "reputations").
Have you been to Dartmouth recently? So far from that party scene - the social kids are bored to death.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 17:21
Subject: which is the best fit for a social, mainstream applicant: Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth?
Anonymous wrote:The main distinction on the social side of things is that Brown has no real Greek scene, whereas both Cornell and esp Dartmouth do.
My DC is at Brown and the kids themselves are more or less the same as everywhere else: more liberal, politically, than Dartmouth of course but otherwise the campus is full of pre-med, CS and pre-finance kids (at Brown that means APMA + econ double concentrators).
Have you been to Dartmouth recently? So far from that party scene - the social kids are bored to death.
I would wager Dartmouth is the "quirkier" of the 3, in the paradoxical sense of a student body that departs from the elite college norm. But even Dartmouth has, from what I gather, changed considerably since the 1980s (when all of these schools seemed to have acquired their respective "reputations").
Anonymous
05/14/2026 17:18
Subject: which is the best fit for a social, mainstream applicant: Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth?
The main distinction on the social side of things is that Brown has no real Greek scene, whereas both Cornell and esp Dartmouth do.
My DC is at Brown and the kids themselves are more or less the same as everywhere else: more liberal, politically, than Dartmouth of course but otherwise the campus is full of pre-med, CS and pre-finance kids (at Brown that means APMA + econ double concentrators).
I would wager Dartmouth is the "quirkier" of the 3, in the paradoxical sense of a student body that departs from the elite college norm. But even Dartmouth has, from what I gather, changed considerably since the 1980s (when all of these schools seemed to have acquired their respective "reputations").
My DC is at Brown and the kids themselves are more or less the same as everywhere else: more liberal, politically, than Dartmouth of course but otherwise the campus is full of pre-med, CS and pre-finance kids (at Brown that means APMA + econ double concentrators).
I would wager Dartmouth is the "quirkier" of the 3, in the paradoxical sense of a student body that departs from the elite college norm. But even Dartmouth has, from what I gather, changed considerably since the 1980s (when all of these schools seemed to have acquired their respective "reputations").
Anonymous
05/14/2026 17:18
Subject: which is the best fit for a social, mainstream applicant: Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Cornell is huge and has something for everyone. Brown isn't nearly as quirky as it used to be.
Is it hard to find close community at Cornell due to the size?
My kid in Greek life and found it. Very social - sometimes too social imo
Anonymous
05/14/2026 17:15
Subject: which is the best fit for a social, mainstream applicant: Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I hate questions like this. There are social kids and geeky kids at all top schools. Unlesss your kid is currently being recruited, I would worry more about being admitted.
If you hate questions like this then don't read the post! Move right along and read what you agree with.
I think posts like this are really helpful/interesting because you get a sampling of personal antidotes. Tours can only help so much and none of us know more than a tiny handful of current students at any one school. My kid is not going to make the decision based on one data point or one DCUM post but I love hearing about anyone's experience or opinion.
You like getting totally useless info. Really can't make this shit up.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 17:14
Subject: which is the best fit for a social, mainstream applicant: Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth?
Anonymous wrote:Cornell is huge and has something for everyone. Brown isn't nearly as quirky as it used to be.
Is it hard to find close community at Cornell due to the size?
Anonymous
05/14/2026 17:13
Subject: which is the best fit for a social, mainstream applicant: Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth?
Cornell is huge and has something for everyone. Brown isn't nearly as quirky as it used to be.
Anonymous
05/14/2026 17:07
Subject: which is the best fit for a social, mainstream applicant: Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth?
Mainstream doesn't go Ivy
Anonymous
05/14/2026 17:06
Subject: which is the best fit for a social, mainstream applicant: Brown, Cornell or Dartmouth?
Anonymous wrote:If social means way into the frat scene, Dartmouth.
I think that’s Cornell based on % of the population