Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the Boston area colleges? Tufts or Wellesley or BC or Brandeis?

Definitely not Tufts!

Care to elaborate on tufts?

I know two people who went there fairly recently. Both transfered to other schools primarily due to how cut throat the environment was & how many of their classmates/dorm mates seemed to just be out for themselves to the point where they were unwilling to help other students & would go out of their way to bring others down.

Good to know. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the Boston area colleges? Tufts or Wellesley or BC or Brandeis?

Definitely not Tufts!

Care to elaborate on tufts?

I know two people who went there fairly recently. Both transfered to other schools primarily due to how cut throat the environment was & how many of their classmates/dorm mates seemed to just be out for themselves to the point where they were unwilling to help other students & would go out of their way to bring others down.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about the Boston area colleges? Tufts or Wellesley or BC or Brandeis?

Definitely not Tufts!

Care to elaborate on tufts?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a fascinating thread. Please keep the suggestions coming. Also have a sweet kid who is also a very good student (science Magnet student). Looking at mostly SLACs in the Philadelphia and Boston area but concerned about the social atmosphere in these places.
Some of the all women’s colleges are intriguing Want to look at brynnmawr Wellesley andsmith

Smith will have a large cohort of very in your face and aggressive "social justice warriors." Bryn Mawr is more laid back and relaxed and much quieter.

Speaking of Pennsylvania, Franklin & Marshall and Dickinson could be great choices.

Any more suggestions for Massachusetts or Pennsylvania for a high achieving but sweet kid who would not thrive in a very competitive or highly charged atmosphere?

Assumption, St. Anselms, St. Michael’s, Stonehill, Merrimack, Clark, Elms, Salve Regina, Holy Cross . . .

I have some homework to do. I don't recognize any of the above names except for maybe Clark and College of the Holy Cross. Are they really good fits for a high achieving kid?
A couple of people have mentioned Mount Holyoke. That is a great suggestion and will move to the top of the list of colleges to visit since dd is interested in science.

Look at their Honors Programs. Smaller schools have great opportunities for high achievers to get special projects with faculty. Some have reciprocal relationships or consortiums with larger colleges. While “average” students chug along, a go-getter can use these to their advantage and really shine.

Carleton, Davidson, Rhodes.

Carleton & Davidson are both routinely ranked among the top LAC in the country & are very hard to get into.

Rhodes isn't as highly ranked or as competitive as Carleton or Davidson but is still a very solid school that is very far from easy to get into.

All 3 are strong in STEM & seem to attract very hard working, kind students.

Anonymous wrote:What about the Boston area colleges? Tufts or Wellesley or BC or Brandeis?

Definitely not Tufts!

Anonymous wrote:OP here-how refreshing that it took this many posts until a DCUM reader felt the need to lecture me!

Putting aside the person who has appointed him/herself as the arbiter of what constitutes a valid (vs ridiculous) concern....my thanks go out to those of you who "got" my reason for asking this question and made constructive comments in response.

Just adding that I attended a large college with a large greek culture and had many sweet friends. We've all found our way in life and maybe even found it easier because of the variety of people in college. One of us went into psychiatry dealing with people like the Parkland shooter and being around a variety of people definitely has helped her in that role. She was a very good listener.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a fascinating thread. Please keep the suggestions coming. Also have a sweet kid who is also a very good student (science Magnet student). Looking at mostly SLACs in the Philadelphia and Boston area but concerned about the social atmosphere in these places.
Some of the all women’s colleges are intriguing Want to look at brynnmawr Wellesley andsmith

Smith will have a large cohort of very in your face and aggressive "social justice warriors." Bryn Mawr is more laid back and relaxed and much quieter.

Speaking of Pennsylvania, Franklin & Marshall and Dickinson could be great choices.

Any more suggestions for Massachusetts or Pennsylvania for a high achieving but sweet kid who would not thrive in a very competitive or highly charged atmosphere?

Assumption, St. Anselms, St. Michael’s, Stonehill, Merrimack, Clark, Elms, Salve Regina, Holy Cross . . .

I have some homework to do. I don't recognize any of the above names except for maybe Clark and College of the Holy Cross. Are they really good fits for a high achieving kid?
A couple of people have mentioned Mount Holyoke. That is a great suggestion and will move to the top of the list of colleges to visit since dd is interested in science.

Juniata, Ohio Wesleyan, and Allegheny.

St Mikes in VT

Mary Washington in VA

Hood in MD

St Anselms in NH

Whitman ... smart and sincere kids. Bonus for you would be wine-tasting the Walla Walla valley for parents' weekend.

University of Dallas.

If you are looking for LACs that are strong in the sciences, I would suggest looking here: http://www.thecollegesolution.com/the-colleges-where-phds-get-their-start/

What about the Boston area colleges? Tufts or Wellesley or BC or Brandeis?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a fascinating thread. Please keep the suggestions coming. Also have a sweet kid who is also a very good student (science Magnet student). Looking at mostly SLACs in the Philadelphia and Boston area but concerned about the social atmosphere in these places.
Some of the all women’s colleges are intriguing Want to look at brynnmawr Wellesley andsmith

Smith will have a large cohort of very in your face and aggressive "social justice warriors." Bryn Mawr is more laid back and relaxed and much quieter.

Speaking of Pennsylvania, Franklin & Marshall and Dickinson could be great choices.

Any more suggestions for Massachusetts or Pennsylvania for a high achieving but sweet kid who would not thrive in a very competitive or highly charged atmosphere?

Assumption, St. Anselms, St. Michael’s, Stonehill, Merrimack, Clark, Elms, Salve Regina, Holy Cross . . .

I have some homework to do. I don't recognize any of the above names except for maybe Clark and College of the Holy Cross. Are they really good fits for a high achieving kid?
A couple of people have mentioned Mount Holyoke. That is a great suggestion and will move to the top of the list of colleges to visit since dd is interested in science.

Macalester!