Wisconsin
Brown
UNC

I have never seen anyone unhappy about

Boston College

James Madison (except that they didn't get into a more competitive VA State School)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My personal, completely unbiased, extremely scientific list of schools that seem to have inexplicably-happy-to-weirdly-enthusiastic students, parents, and alumni:

Syracuse
Notre Dame
Vandy
Tulane
Emory
Wash U
Auburn
MIT
Bowdoin
UTampa
Eckerd (before it as under water)

And in the past I would have said Northeastern but I feel like the bloom is a bit off that rose?

Nothing says happy like Syracuse in February

OK, I went to Syracuse. The only kids I knew who were unhappy were the ones who had come from Florida. Everyone else just keeps partying.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My personal, completely unbiased, extremely scientific list of schools that seem to have inexplicably-happy-to-weirdly-enthusiastic students, parents, and alumni:

Syracuse
Notre Dame
Vandy
Tulane
Emory
Wash U
Auburn
MIT
Bowdoin
UTampa
Eckerd (before it as under water)

And in the past I would have said Northeastern but I feel like the bloom is a bit off that rose?

Nothing says happy like Syracuse in February

OK, I went to Syracuse. The only kids I knew who were unhappy were the ones who had come from Florida. Everyone else just keeps partying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown, the cool/fun Ivy.

Might be, but annoying parents/boosters.

I didn't even know my friend's kid is at Brown this year until I ran into her yesterday. I think you have a beef with a person. The Brown families from our HS tend to be the low-key ones, not the tigers.

Anonymous wrote:My personal, completely unbiased, extremely scientific list of schools that seem to have inexplicably-happy-to-weirdly-enthusiastic students, parents, and alumni:

Syracuse
Notre Dame
Vandy
Tulane
Emory
Wash U
Auburn
MIT
Bowdoin
UTampa
Eckerd (before it as under water)

And in the past I would have said Northeastern but I feel like the bloom is a bit off that rose?

UTampa has a massive transfer-out rate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the academically good football schools get a lot of love - Michigan, Notre Dame. And this year Vanderbilt for beating Alabama. Also West Point and Annapolis are getting a lot of attention because they're having great seasons. College sports - particularly football - is what gets people caring about a school that they have no connection to. Outside of very rarefied circles, absolutely no one cares about Swarthmore or Yale and the like.

The people that count care about the academically elite schools

DP. “The people that count”??

to be fair, it’s true

No, it's really not.

Anonymous wrote:My personal, completely unbiased, extremely scientific list of schools that seem to have inexplicably-happy-to-weirdly-enthusiastic students, parents, and alumni:

Syracuse
Notre Dame
Vandy
Tulane
Emory
Wash U
Auburn
MIT
Bowdoin
UTampa
Eckerd (before it as under water)

And in the past I would have said Northeastern but I feel like the bloom is a bit off that rose?

Nothing says happy like Syracuse in February

Anonymous wrote:Brown, the cool/fun Ivy.

Might be, but annoying parents/boosters.

Brown, the cool/fun Ivy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the academically good football schools get a lot of love - Michigan, Notre Dame. And this year Vanderbilt for beating Alabama. Also West Point and Annapolis are getting a lot of attention because they're having great seasons. College sports - particularly football - is what gets people caring about a school that they have no connection to. Outside of very rarefied circles, absolutely no one cares about Swarthmore or Yale and the like.

The people that count care about the academically elite schools

DP. “The people that count”??

to be fair, it’s true

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stanford?
Syracuse?
Princeton?

Princeton is where fun goes to die!

Eh so is stanford and all the other Ivies and UChicago. The best schools are hard. Deal with it or don’t apply

Anonymous wrote:Stanford?
Syracuse?
Princeton?

Princeton is where fun goes to die!

Anonymous wrote:Rice. Everyone loves it.

Social life sucks!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Penn is not universally loved

exactly. penn is not beloved by penn students. current students describe the culture as toxic grinders and wharton obsessed wannabes. my daughter (a legacy and humanities kid) spoke to many current penn students before decided (her dad went there too). she chose another well regarded school instead of penn because she was shook by her convos with current students. they talked about the competitive culture being very toxic to their mental health.

mmkay. I know my own two (2024&2027)and their friends have loved the challenge, the city close by, the ability to continue music and pursue engineering and premed. All their friends would pick it again too, despite how hard the classes are. Covid closure for our elder son was the only negative. It is quite collaborative, and social opportunities on or off campus. They had less :toxic culture" than their friends at other T25s who reported much worse club culture. Top-5 med school is a breeze so far for the elder: he and the other ivy kids are finding it a repeat. His other Penn friends who are also in top schools are doing very well. You get what you pay for and preparation for professional school and life is what we paid for.