Hi -
My son is looking at colleges in the Northeast. Specifically, he intends to apply to Bates maybe, Bowdoin, Brandeis, Clark, Northeastern, UMass (safety), and WPI. For a host of other reasons, these may not end up being great fits for his interests - math, perhaps chem or another science. But I - the mom - mostly want my kid to be happy.
Can anyone speak to the social climate? I would like him to be at a place where he can easily find friends. He is quiet and not all that outgoing. He looks and acts like a typical teenager, with typical interests, so it's not that hard to "fit", but he tends to be drawn to nerdy and socially awkward types. I think a place where people are freely "waving their freak flags" and engaging in rather strange activities would be nice- kind of like the Big Bang Theory type thing.
My husband and I loved the feel of WPI - people were doing some pretty nerdy things on the lawn, dressed in strange attire and kind of sword fighting - and some of his friends have gone there and are very happy. But, he's not interested in robotics or engineering, so it's not a great fit academically. (They do have other majors, but we fear math/chem will be taught with an engineering slant.) Clark was good on social awkwardness, but they're pretty hippy-looking and the academic interests isn't a great fit.
Any thoughts the aforementioned schools' being a comfortable fit for nerdy introverts?
Thanks!
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