Students at Rhodes College are in an ideal location for experiential learning and extracurricular fun. Located in Memphis, Tennessee, the Rhodes campus is close to a multitude of internship opportunities at powerhouse institutions, including St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and multiple Fortune 500 companies. For fun, students can venture into downtown Memphis to experience the city's famed music scene, dining, professional sporting events and museums. Freshmen and sophomores must live on campus, which puts them close to annual school events like the weekend-long music festival called Rites of Spring. Greek life is a huge outlet at Rhodes, as nearly half of all students are involved in the school's 15 or so fraternities and sororities. There are more than 100 other student organizations to check out, too. About 25% of students play on the varsity Lynx sports teams, which mainly compete in the NCAA Division III Southern Athletic Association. More students about 65% will spend at least one semester off campus, studying in a foreign country or at American University through Rhodes' Washington (D.C.) Semester program. For students on campus, finals weeks are a little less painful with the help of an evening feast of unlimited blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes, served by deans and professors to hungry students in need of a study break.For students interested in community and civic service, Rhodes College is brimming with options. Rhodes CARES, short for the Center for Academic Research and Education through Service, gives students hands-on learning opportunities around Memphis. Center programs include the Rhodes/UT Neuroscience Research Fellowship, a yearlong project at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, and the Summer Service Fellowship program, which assigns students to nine-week projects. Year round, students can give back to the community through the Kinney Program, which matches a student's interests to one of more than 100 service programs around Memphis. The student body is about 60% female. Famous alumni of Rhodes College include John H. Bryan, former CEO of sweet treat manufacturer Sara Lee Corp.; North Carolina state Rep. Chuck McGrady, former president of the Sierra Club; Abe Fortas, former U.S. Supreme Court justice; and Charlaine Harris Schulz, author of "The Southern Vampire Mysteries," the series HBO's "True Blood" is based on.

Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman College is the oldest historically black college for women in America. Located just five minutes outside of downtown Atlanta, Spelman is part of the Atlanta University Center Consortium, the largest association of historically black institutions of higher learning in the world. First- and second-year students are required to live on campus. There are more than 60 organizations for students to choose from, including Greek life, which constitutes the largest group of students on campus. Spelman College does not compete in intercollegiate athletics; instead, it offers a wellness program for all students.As part of the Atlanta University Center Consortium, Spelman partners with Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College and Morehouse School of Medicine. The consortium is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide quality education for African-Americans and other students of diversity. Spelman's Women's Research and Resource Center is the first of its kind on a black college campus devoted to a women's studies curriculum. Stepping, which is a series of movements involving beats, rhythms, calls and chants, is performed by the Greek organizations on campus, and step shows are a popular occurrence among the Atlanta University Center colleges. Notable alumni of Spelman include Audrey F. Manley, the former surgeon general of the United States, and Maj. Gen. Marcelite J. Harris, the first African-American female general of the U.S. Air Force. Alice Walker, author of "The Color Purple," attended Spelman College as well.