For an extreme introvert, going away to college can be more daunting than exciting. New faces everywhere. Sweaty bodies packed into Greek houses like farm animals in the back of a Perdue chicken truck. Cheesy get-to-know-you games during orientation that force you out of your comfort zone. Sharing a shoebox-sized dorm room with one or more strangers. It can be enough to make you want to shut the door to your (private) high school bedroom and never leave.
But if you pick the right school, you can have the same memorable college experience as your extroverted peers. The best colleges for introverts are ones that offer a variety of social outlets and don’t have a singular archetype that most students conform to. Colleges with low Greek life participation or none at all are ideal for introverts. A few schools introverts should look closely at are:
- University of Chicago
- Grinnell College
- Carleton College
- St. Olaf College
- New York University
- Northeastern University
- Drexel University
The Best Colleges for Introverts: Our Top 7 Picks
There are nearly 4,000 colleges and universities in America. They cater to all kinds of students. And just because you don’t fit the campus mold at a particular school doesn’t mean you might not have an amazing college experience there. I went to a small liberal arts college that was 80% Greek. But I had classmates who shunned the frat scene, made their own fun, formed lifelong friendships, and loved their time on campus.
That said, if you want to make sure you end up somewhere it isn’t difficult for introverts to thrive, it’s a good idea to focus on schools that cater more heavily to students like you. Here are our top 7 picks for the best colleges for introverts.
University of Chicago
- Location: Chicago, IL (Hyde Park)
- Undergraduate enrollment: 7,559
- Acceptance rate: 6%
- Middle 50% SAT: 1510-1580
- Middle 50% ACT: 33-35
- Greek participation rate: 20%
- Non-Greek student organizations: 450+
- Graduation rate: 95%
- Freshman retention rate: 99%
- U.S. News ranking: #6 in National Universities
If you can get into the University of Chicago — no small feat these days — and don’t mind living in the middle of a huge city that gets bitterly cold and windy, few colleges in America are better for introverts than the University of Chicago.
It starts with the school’s intellectual vibe. University of Chicago is a “life of the mind” school, not a party, tailgate, and worship the football team school. The student body is famous for being highly introverted, and they not only do fine there but seem to love it, as UC has the highest freshman retention rate in the country at 99%.
Some kids — mostly students at big state schools with a dominant Greek scene like UIUC — refer to UC as the school “where fun goes to die.” But that characterization is unfair, not to mention highly inaccurate. Just because the school lacks a traditional party scene (think Animal House or Van Wilder) doesn’t mean the students don’t have fun. After all, they have a world-class city at their doorstep. Not to mention, the kids at UC who want to party hard can do so. The school has Greek life, and 20% of the student body participates — enough of a presence that it’s there if you want, but not nearly enough to be overwhelming or dominant.
Grinnell College
- Location: Grinnell, IA
- Undergraduate Enrollment: 1,493
- Acceptance rate: 19%
- Middle 50% SAT: 1353-1538
- Middle 50% ACT: 30-34
- Greek participation rate: 0%
- Non-Greek student organizations: 105+
- Graduation rate: 87%
- Freshman retention rate: 91%
- U.S. News ranking: #13 in National Liberal Arts Colleges
Grinnell College is a small liberal arts college in rural Iowa with about 1,500 students. In many cases, such settings can be difficult ones for introverts to thrive, as a high-school-esque social hierarchy centered around a particular student archetype often forms.
But Grinnell College is different. The students stress individualism, and being “cool” there means being unashamedly yourself and comfortable in your own skin. This is the kind of school where you can walk into the dining hall and see jocks yukking it up at a table with theatre kids. It’s a place where no one gets shamed for choosing to stay in on a Friday night with a book or a Netflix playlist. In fact, you’ll usually have a friend or two eager to join you.
Grinnell has no Greek scene, and the students like it that way. Fealty to a group identity over self-identity isn’t their thing. But the school offers more than 105 student organizations centered around various hobbies, from computer coding to drone flying to beekeeping.
Carleton College
- Location: Northfield, MN
- Undergraduate Enrollment: 2,014
- Acceptance rate: 21%
- Middle 50% SAT: 1330-1520
- Middle 50% ACT: 30-34
- Greek participation rate: 0%
- Non-Greek student organizations: 100+
- Graduation rate: 93%
- Freshman retention rate: 97%
- U.S. News ranking: #9 in National Liberal Arts Colleges
Carleton College (spelled with an “e” in the middle, not like the guy from Fresh Prince) is a peer school of Grinnell College. They get many cross-applicants. And for students fortunate (and talented) enough to get into both, it’s often a tough choice to go with one over the other.
Location is one big difference between Carleton and Grinnell. While Grinnell epitomizes rural, Carleton is nestled in a suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, giving students the chance to escape to the big city when they need to get out of the campus bubble and recharge.
Like Grinnell, Carleton has no fraternities or sororities. But it does have interest houses where students can live with others who share a particular academic or nonacademic interest, from music to writing to social justice. It also offers more than 100 clubs and student organizations.
St. Olaf College
- Location: Northfield, MN
- Undergraduate Enrollment: 3,126
- Acceptance rate: 51%
- Middle 50% SAT: 1150-1390
- Middle 50% ACT: 25-32
- Greek participation rate: 0%
- Non-Greek student organizations: 250+
- Graduation rate: 86%
- Freshman retention rate: 91%
- U.S. News ranking: #62 in National Liberal Arts Colleges
St. Olaf College is Carleton’s neighbor. Since the two campuses share a relatively small suburb, there is plenty of interaction between them. And while St. Olaf is much easier to get into than Carleton, they have similar student bodies and campus vibes. In fact, many Carleton hopefuls apply to St. Olaf as a safety school.
A few other differences between St. Olaf and Carleton: St. Olaf is notably larger, with about 3,100 undergraduates compared to 2,000. It’s also affiliated with the Lutheran church, but it’s not a religious school and there is no required church or chapel attendance. However, it does have a relatively high number of students who identify as Lutheran.
St. Olaf has no Greek life, and sports aren’t big on campus. These two factors tend to align well with an introvert-friendly environment. With 250-plus clubs and student organizations on campus, it’s easy to meet friends who share your interests.
New York University
- Location: New York, NY
- Undergraduate Enrollment: 27,444
- Acceptance rate: 21%
- Middle 50% SAT: 1370-1540
- Middle 50% ACT: 31-34
- Greek participation rate: 3%
- Non-Greek student organizations: 300+
- Graduation rate: 86%
- Freshman retention rate: 94%
- U.S. News ranking: #28 in National Universities
This one probably threw you for a loop. NYU, the school with the most urban campus in the country, burrowed into the middle of a loud, frenetic city that never sleeps, a school for introverts? Hell, NYU doesn’t really even have a campus, right? It’s just a bunch of buildings in the middle of Manhattan. And there are 27,000 undergrads! How overwhelming!
But many introverts thrive in this type of environment. You might be one of them. For an introvert, the benefit of going to a school like NYU over one with a traditional college campus is that it’s easy to disappear into the city and be anonymous when you feel the need to. Within 10 blocks of NYU in any direction are dozens of coffee shops, used bookstores, acoustic music venues, and other places introverts feel at home.
As for the massive student body, remember that you can make a big school small but you can’t make a small school big. With more than 300 student organizations to choose from, you can find your tribe even amid the craziness of New York City.
Northeastern University
- Location: Boston, MA
- Undergraduate Enrollment: 15,156
- Acceptance rate: 20%
- Middle 50% SAT: 1410-1540
- Middle 50% ACT: 33-35
- Greek participation rate: 9%
- Non-Greek student organizations: 400+
- Graduation rate: 89%
- Freshman retention rate: 97%
- U.S. News ranking: #49 in National Universities
Located in the heart of Boston, Northeastern University is another big-city school that offers several benefits to introverts. The biggest is its co-op program. It’s no secret that job interviews can be stressful, even terrifying, for introverts. You might have the top grades and the best skills in your field coming out of college, but if you clam up in the interview process, you might lose out on job opportunities to your more gregarious peers.
Northeastern’s co-op program takes that worry off the table. The school lines you up with internships in your major, and you work these internships as part of your course of study during your time on campus. During certain semesters, you might strictly work and have no classes. This can result in a five-year graduation path rather than four years. But it gets your foot in the door and often leads to a lucrative job offer at graduation without having to attend job fairs (another introvert-unfriendly task) or send out hundreds of resumes.
A few other things put Northeastern squarely in the introverts corner: It has a low Greek participation rate under 10%. It offers more than 400 non-Greek student organizations. And its freshman retention rate of 97% means students of all personality types are happy there and want to stay.
Drexel University
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
- Undergraduate Enrollment: 15,346
- Acceptance rate: 77%
- Middle 50% SAT: 1180-1380
- Middle 50% ACT: 25-31
- Greek participation rate: 10%
- Non-Greek student organizations: 300+
- Graduation rate: 71%
- Freshman retention rate: 89%
- U.S. News ranking: #103 in National Universities
Drexel is in many ways like Northeastern. It’s a co-op school, so you get the same jumpstart to your career. It’s in the middle of a bustling metro area and offers access to all of the city’s amenities. It has a low Greek participation rate, a diverse student body, and hundreds of student clubs centered around unique hobbies. And its freshman retention rate indicates a high level of student satisfaction.
The biggest difference between Drexel and Northeastern, other than one being in Philadelphia and the other being in Boston, is that Drexel is far easier to get into. Northeastern, give them credit, has gamed the U.S. News rankings to perfection. A few decades ago it was ranked around #200 and basically had an open-admissions policy. Then it got a new president who figured out the algorithm and started making tweaks to send the school rising in the rankings. As a result, applications increased, and success begot success. Now, it’s brutally selective, with a 20% acceptance rate and a median ACT score of 34.
Drexel has far more manageable admissions — it accepts 77% of its applicants — but still a stellar reputation among employers, particularly in tech and engineering. It makes a great safety school for Northeastern hopefuls, as well as a great first-choice school, particularly if you like Philly.
