Top 10 HIPSTER Schools

Looking to up your coolness quotient? Maybe a hipster school is for you. Though definitions of the modern-day hipster are often debated, we'll go with Urban Dictionary's:

Hipsters are a subculture of men and women typically in their 20s and 30s that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence and witty banter.

We looked at which schools the witty-independent-artist-intellectuals most often float to -- places where the pants are tight, the hearts are bleeding, the conversation is postmodern and gender is nothing more than a social construct.

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Hampshire College

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At Hampshire, anything goes. The alma mater of Ken Burns, Jon Krakauer and Elliott Smith is famous for its laissez-faire approach to education -- students are not bound to a core curriculum; their main requirement for graduation is a year-long in-depth project on a subject of their choice. Popular campus activities include Students for Justice in Palestine and the radio station, which is housed in a building called "The Yurt." Above, Hampshire assistant professor Sarah Partan demonstrates her robotic squirrel on campus.

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At Hampshire, anything goes. The alma mater of Ken Burns, Jon Krakauer and Elliott Smith is famous for its laissez-faire approach to education -- students are not bound to a core curriculum; their main requirement for graduation is a year-long in-depth project on a subject of their choice. Popular campus activities include Students for Justice in Palestine and the radio station, which is housed in a building called "The Yurt." Above, Hampshire assistant professor Sarah Partan demonstrates her robotic squirrel on campus.

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Comments

[pabloarbolayjr]

04:14 AM on 05/31/2010

um, where is Eugene Lang on this list? take a 5 minute walk on its section of The New School campus and you will loose count of the clove-smoking bearded tofu-eating PBR-drinking hipsters on their bikes. And yes, I went to Lang...and went through all of these periods.

[btmom]

03:50 PM on 05/13/2010

Vassar, hipster? I beg to differ. What makes Vassar great is you can be whoever you want, as long as you are committed to learning while you do it. Recluse nerd? Lots of them. BP (Beautiful Person)? Lots of them. Science geek, jock, politically correct, gay out, gay in, sleeping with everything that moves, tormented artist, you name it, Vassar's got it. There were parties when I was there, but now that the drinking age is 21, I dunno where that stands. I'm sure people still have fun. It was the first place I felt good about being me. The one thing it isn't, is a big school - if you are looking for the "university experience" where you get lost in the crowd, this isn't your school. This is the school where you and your professor can discuss your research paper over coffee. If you need help, you will get it. It is an amazing place and I would totally recommend it to anyone.

[mostclair]

12:35 PM on 05/23/2010

No ones arguing about the quality or diversity of Vassar. But ask just about any current student and they could tell you about the large hipster presence and atmosphere on campus. No worries - we still have the recluse nerds. geeks, jocks, gays, artists, and lots of beautiful people.

[Paige Marie]

01:27 PM on 05/09/2010

Um... what about PDX University? Did they even bother thinking about the West Coast? Or about about UT in Austin??? That's probably the most diverse campus I've ever been to.

[Wapiskiwiyas]

01:27 PM on 05/09/2010

What? No Reed college, who includes Steve Jobs as an alumn? No Evergreen college? This list didn't include even one northwestern school, and we're knee-deep in hipsters here.

[tomseattle]

12:08 PM on 05/09/2010

No Prescott College? This is way too East Coast a list...

[rsheeran]

02:12 PM on 05/07/2010

Well if I'm a "Hipster" RISD Grad - them there's hope for every nerd out there.

[Patrick Morrison]

08:46 AM on 05/07/2010

The hipster test: ask a person if they are a hipster.
if they say yes, they are a hipster.
if they say no, they are a hipster.
if they say, "what's a hipster?" they are not a hipster.

[ChiProgressive]

07:30 PM on 05/31/2010

No true hipster would admit to being a hipster.

After hounding a coworker for months about being a hipster, she finally admitted, while drunk, that she had some hipster "tendencies"

[Tim Scholl]

07:05 AM on 04/25/2010

Word!

[mikeypeters]

03:14 PM on 04/23/2010

No Reed or Evergreen State? Fail!

[Paige Marie]

01:26 PM on 05/09/2010

Exactly!

[slaxx]

10:48 PM on 04/23/2010

damn, i missed it!

[Josh Seipp]

08:40 PM on 04/22/2010

Oh boy, my alma mater! Eesh.

[cbvani]

03:50 PM on 04/21/2010

People are proud of being hipster? WHY?

[jthor]

07:03 PM on 04/23/2010

"hipster" is a word that doesn't really mean anything. people are proud of being intelligent and culturally aware.

[ChiProgressive]

07:31 PM on 05/31/2010

I know, right?

fanned

[LindaInAus]

10:50 AM on 04/21/2010

I'm just curious about the University of Texas at Austin.
Yes I know it's a public university, but it's the largest
university in the country; it was more liberal than
Berkeley back in the 60s...course I know that liberal
is not hipster.

So where does University of Texas at Austin stand
all you ppl who know?

[cbvani]

03:48 PM on 04/21/2010

UT is probably the most diverse campus in the country, in terms of student body politics, interests, and everything else too.

[LindaInAus]

04:01 PM on 04/21/2010

yep Love U.T.Austin, graduated there. I'm 7th generation Austinite...but I'm getting old.

Not sure who is a hipster, and who is not.

Why are some people proud of being a hipster?

[desertdweller]

01:20 PM on 04/20/2010

Students that feel as if they don't fit in at traditional schools may feel particularly marginallized at so-called "hip" schools. The old saying, "there is no greater conformist than a non-conformist" applies perfectly in this instance.

[ChiProgressive]

07:34 PM on 05/31/2010

Yes!

[bonniebud123]

02:55 AM on 04/16/2010

what is laughable about the oberlin post is that the two people pictured are about the farthest thing from "hipster" at oberlin right now.

[LindaInAus]

10:45 AM on 04/21/2010

I'm over 65 and am wondering exactly what DOES a hipster
look like? I'm just curious.
What keeps the two people pictured from being hipsters
at oberlin right now?

[kkkkekeke]

06:48 PM on 04/28/2010

you can see what hipsters look like here
http://www.latfh.com/

have fun