LACs with the WORST locations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whoah.... not really. Macalaster and Grinnell are peer schools, Clark is less selective but excellent as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grinnell has become super selective despite what many consider to be a highly undesirable location. Just imagine if it were somewhere else?

I have a child there and while they would prefer that it were closer to home, the location doesn’t bother them at all. The town is cute and close to campus and they are pretty academically focused so are happy with what’s offered on campus.

They did not like the location of Macalester though because they preferred a small town environment. And they wouldn’t even consider Clark. It’s all pretty subjective.

+1. Yes, all subjective. My son won't even look at Grinnell because of its location and he loves both Macalester and Clark. This does not change that they are great schools for the right student.

Well, that's too bad because Grinnell is leaps and bounds better than both of those schools.

No, Grinnell and Carleton are peer schools, Macalaster is a step behind, and Clark isn't even on the same page.

Carleton (#8) and Macalester (#14) both do extremely well on this ranking based on student happiness, diversity, classes, and quality of professors. This is including universities!

https://lesshighschoolstress.com/blog/6/

Not sure why Grinnell isn't on the list--probably doesn't make their data available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You cannot possibly do worse than Knox College in Illinois. It's midway between Peoria and the Quad Cities, and 3 hours to the closest major airport (O'Hare).

I think Texas Tech, which is not a LAC, has to be mentioned in any discussion of "worst location."

I went there and agree the location (and weather) was terrible! However, the complete lack of anything else to do, combined with a very small student body, made for very close bonding and "make your own fun" activities. Also, nothing/nowhere to spend money, zero social pressure to have all the nice things or dress a certain way. So many academic opportunities, clubs, rec sports teams, etc. and because it was so small you could do almost anything without having to try out or make a major time commitment. I got research grants and did summer research, which helped me get into grad school. We socialized with our professors, they would have students over for dinner and stuff. Just really down to earth and chill people. The best tradition was "flunk day" where they canceled classes for the day (by waking everyone up in the dorms at dawn) and had a huge party day with music, games, etc. I had a blast there!

DP. This sounds so fun! I looked it up and it has a beautiful campus.

PP who brought up Knox, and as someone who went to a very tight LAC I fully agree that being isolated/etc can create a totally different and awesome experience.

But, the question was about the location, and... the location is really bad.

[Anonymous]

Any in
Misouri
Mississippi
OHIO
South Dakota
Oklahoma
Alabama
Arkansaw
Texas and Florida

Easy,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does LAC stand for?

LAC = liberal arts college. Small schools of typically 2,000 students or less. A few have about 2,400 students. And a very few are in the 2,800 to 3,600 student range.

SLAC = selective liberal arts college.

LACs focus on undergraduate students. Tend to have very small--if any-grad students.

Officially, it is "small liberal arts college." Over the years, some have swapped in "selective" - largely when thinking of schools in the NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) as they are small and selective.

Every liberal arts college is small, that’s why the S is for selective.

It is used both ways.

But we know which one you prefer.

Still, neither of you are "right," so let it go.

[Anonymous]

Yeah I’m Black and I won’t let my kid go to Lexington, either. The issues at VMI aren’t helping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Williams, Bowdoin, Colby, Bates, Middlebury, Hamilton and Colgate

Mostly correct but with following comments:

Bowdoin is in Brunswick, Maine - which is: 1) a nice town with good restaurants and very close to campus. 2) within a few miles of the beautiful Maine coast, and 3) 20 minutes to Portland, a fun small city with a great food scene, a very attractive waterfront and downtown area, and 3) on a per-capita basis, one of the best food cities in the US

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

No one said that. And you make the institution look bad with your name calling. Personally, I would not attend the school given the board’s handling of the name issue.

Well then, I guess you would also cross Georgetown, GW, Yale and many others off your list? And don’t visit Leesburg! This level of cancel culture is just ridiculous. You can acknowledge that people had both good and bad qualities and can educate about and learn from both without pretending they never existed.

Lee was a traitor of the worst kind. And as far as I know, there's no requirement to have a college named in one's honor to be remembered in the historical record.

Lee did nothing that Washington didn't do. They'd better cancel his name from the college too.

Is the subject of this thread "which college has the worst name"? No, and the name of the college is irrelevant to the location.

Ok what??? Lee led the Confederate Army that was rebelling against the US Govt.

Yeah, and Washington led the rebellion against the British government - he was a traitor.

True, but he was a successful one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williams, Bowdoin, Colby, Bates, Middlebury, Hamilton and Colgate

Yes, they are the worst locations if you want to live in a city but the best location if you want to be somewhere rural. Why do people assume everyone prefers a city?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williams, Bowdoin, Colby, Bates, Middlebury, Hamilton and Colgate

Mostly correct but with following comments:

Bowdoin is in Brunswick, Maine - which is: 1) a nice town with good restaurants and very close to campus. 2) within a few miles of the beautiful Maine coast, and 3) 20 minutes to Portland, a fun small city with a great food scene, a very attractive waterfront and downtown area, and 3) on a per-capita basis, one of the best food cities in the US

Appears they like to eat in Maine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does LAC stand for?

LAC = liberal arts college. Small schools of typically 2,000 students or less. A few have about 2,400 students. And a very few are in the 2,800 to 3,600 student range.

SLAC = selective liberal arts college.

LACs focus on undergraduate students. Tend to have very small--if any-grad students.

Officially, it is "small liberal arts college." Over the years, some have swapped in "selective" - largely when thinking of schools in the NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) as they are small and selective.

Sorry, but I had to LOL at the use of the word "officially".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of the NESCAC schools are in rundown, or fairly scary, towns. Trinity, Conn, Bates at top of the list.

+1

Trinity College is in a bad section of the city, but Bates is close to Lewiston which is horrible !

[Anonymous]

Colgate!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of the NESCAC schools are in rundown, or fairly scary, towns. Trinity, Conn, Bates at top of the list.

+1

Trinity College is in a bad section of the city, but Bates is close to Lewiston which is horrible !

My kid goes to Bates and doesn't find Lewiston to be horrible at all. Go figure. The school has a deep commitment to the community and that is reflected in partnerships and volunteer opportunities. There are bars and restaurants that they go to and there is even a nice little ski mountain that the students get to ski at for free. There's lots of outdoor activities available close to campus. Plus Freeport and Portland aren't far and my kid and friends visit those places when they aren't going the opposite direction to the mountains. The town of Lewiston may not be pretty (it definitely isn't) but the Lewiston-Auburn area is the second largest metro area in Maine and offers a lot of opportunities - many more than some of the really rural SLACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Opinions will vary, but isolation & extreme cold weather are probably factors that make a small school's location undesirable. Also, those located near cold, dilapidated industrial towns might be viewed as undesirable locations by many.

I've only seen Amherst. It felt cold, secluded and boring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Opinions will vary, but isolation & extreme cold weather are probably factors that make a small school's location undesirable. Also, those located near cold, dilapidated industrial towns might be viewed as undesirable locations by many.

I've only seen Amherst. It felt cold, secluded and boring.

Interesting. I can see how one may see Amherst as cold, possibly boring, but not secluded.