Amherst, Rice or Columbia
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Anonymous
Don’t take parchment cross-admit data as gospel especially when comparing such dissimilar schools. There is no minimum sample size. It works best with very similar schools such as Harvard vs Columbia |
Anonymous
| Amherst is a very small fishbowl. I know several alumni. Make sure he LOVES it before he commits. Hard to get out of that once you’re there. Columbia and Rice are better sized with a lot more around them. My kid loved Rice. |
Anonymous
| I would pick Columbia personally. NYC is amazing for young people. Amherst is good too but a more sheltered experience |
Anonymous
Students who apply to SLACs and ivy pluses are often hedging their bets. Ivy pluses are lotteries, as is Amherst. Nevertheless, SLACs often - although not always - give way to ivy pluses when students have the latter option. It's similar to Yale and Vassar. Choose Vassar in case Yale is not an option. If Yale is in the picture, that changes the dynamics. |
Anonymous
| My kid refused to apply to Columbia even though has legacy. Now at Amherst and very happy there. We are from NYC and probably wanted a different college experience. |
Anonymous
For every Amherst student, I can imagine thousands of students who refuse to even consider Amherst. Let the student decide. |
Anonymous
What you say is true for EVERY school |
Anonymous
If so, this is a somewhat haphazard way of applying to college. Ivies and SLACs are very different schools. It would make more sense to apply to an Ivy and another university that may be a good fit and somewhat higher admit rate. |
Anonymous
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My DC got into both Amherst and Rice, and really liked Rice when we visited. But he's LGBTQ and didn't feel comfortable going to Texas.
DC was happy with his choice, and used the open curriculum to take classes in subjects he was casually interested in. He also went in with 2 years of post-AP math which Amherst gave him credit for, so he was able to graduate with a double major in math without having to take too many math classes (and he took a couple of grad school math classes at UMass). He went in a STEM student but came out an excellent writer - starting with the required freshman seminar, the school and profs emphasize developing writing skills. There's also an on-campus writing center which DC used. His writing skills helped him get an excellent job, at least that's what the person who hired him said. |
Anonymous
| Columbia, You do not turn down Columbia. |
Anonymous
Except you have your entire life to live in NYC. Only one chance for a traditional college experience. Amherst to NYC post college is a fairly traditional path. |
Anonymous
Yes you do. Reasons: 1. Core Curriculum 2. Wants a campus life for undergraduate |
Anonymous
Because Amherst has declined even more. Columbia isn't what it used to be mainly because of transfers and General Studies |
Anonymous
A high-stats kid can apply to all the ivies and get rejected by every one of them. SLACs are better for risk management. Apply to fewer ivies - add SLACs as fallbacks. |
Anonymous
Same with the top liberal arts colleges. They are not fall back when most have acceptance rate in single digits. |