WASP? Is this a real thing, or recent construction?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never heard the term wasp. Or Bowdin.

The only one of these colleges I'm familiar with is Williams.

Lots of small colleges on this thread that few care about. Small fish small pond who cares.

Your comment says far more about you than any of the schools mentioned. Not a good look mom, probably should have kept quiet.

[Anonymous]

I graduated from Williams in the late 90s and only recently heard WASP used in this context. While at Williams, I often heard the little 3 (Amherst, williams & wesleyan).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These schools are too small to be that relevant for most families. They aren't responsible for educating that many people.

Not sure why these little lacs get so many threads on here. I guess some kids/parents just want to learn in a small tiny bubble in a sleepy town or suburb - nowhere near a big city. Seems like a very artificial and unrealistic way to learn TBH!

IYKYK, and like many you demonstrated that your knowledge is lacking.

Just a guess but I’d say the reason that they get so much attention is because not only are they among the oldest, wealthy, and most prestigious schools in the country among the upper class their graduates have great results.

Williams, Middlebury, CMC, and Amherst place more kids into top banking and consulting per capita than half of the ivies and virtually every non Ivy.

The same schools sans CMC but plus Swarthmore and a couple others have med school admit rates in the 85-95% range, higher than almost any university.

Amherst places mores kids per capita into top law than virtually anyone else.

Swarthmore and others place more kids into top PhD programs per capita than the vast majority of top R1s.

These schools are spoken about by those who know because of their results. They have very low admissions rates but just imagine the admissions rates if they were well known. They are a well kept secret among those who know.

[Anonymous]

Plenty of cows in their remote locations have heard of these schools. Williams and Amherst and the others are not worth it now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These schools are too small to be that relevant for most families. They aren't responsible for educating that many people.

Not sure why these little lacs get so many threads on here. I guess some kids/parents just want to learn in a small tiny bubble in a sleepy town or suburb - nowhere near a big city. Seems like a very artificial and unrealistic way to learn TBH!

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only lac people know is Williams based on academics. If expand to sports visability lots of people have heard of Holy Cross, Bucknell, and Colgate.

Agreed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people are saying T5 LACs, they don’t say WASP anymore. It’s exactly like saying T5 universities.

And the T5 LACs are more fluid than T5 universities. Currently it’s Williams Amherst Swarthmore Bowdoin Pomona

Is it fluid? The top 3 are almost always some williams Amherst Pomona or williams Amherst Swarthmore variant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These schools are too small to be that relevant for most families. They aren't responsible for educating that many people.

Not sure why these little lacs get so many threads on here. I guess some kids/parents just want to learn in a small tiny bubble in a sleepy town or suburb - nowhere near a big city. Seems like a very artificial and unrealistic way to learn TBH!

Many colleges are in rural suburban places. It's actually not typical that they are in urban centers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only lac people know is Williams based on academics. If expand to sports visability lots of people have heard of Holy Cross, Bucknell, and Colgate.

Agreed.

This is strange boosting. If anything, the most "known" lacs are Vassar, Barnard, Wellesley, and Wesleyan for various pop cultural/size reasons.

[Anonymous]

WASPs founded these schools and still attend these schools. There is a reason. That is the irony of the name. They are happy many of you are too ignorant to see the tree in the forest. The establishment never changes. You will not find them at any of the popular colleges people are obsessed with, outside an Ivy. They don’t need to. They will quietly keep their low profile collecting an elite education, laying the groundwork to control Wall Street, have top positions in consulting/PE firms, run Boston and New York City law firms, are the top doctors at America’s best hospitals, and yes influence Washington from afar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've never heard the term wasp. Or Bowdin.

The only one of these colleges I'm familiar with is Williams.

Lots of small colleges on this thread that few care about. Small fish small pond who cares.

Your comment says far more about you than any of the schools mentioned. Not a good look mom, probably should have kept quiet.

The uneducated loved to chime in on these threads. How embarrassing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The uneducated loved to chime in on these threads. How embarrassing.

Agreed. Let them eat cake.

[Anonymous]

Top 2 LACs (#1-#2):
It will always be Williams and Amherst. Period.

Next 2 LACs (#3-#4):
Swarthmore or Wellesley

Next 3 LACs (#5-#7)
Bowdoin or Pomona

Next 3 LACs (#8-#13)
Then it's an argument for the next group with 6 different contenders. Depending on what you care about you could put in Carleton, Middlebury, Vassar, Wesleyan, Mudd (STEM only), or Claremont (social sciences).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Top 2 LACs (#1-#2):
It will always be Williams and Amherst. Period.

Next 2 LACs (#3-#4):
Swarthmore or Wellesley

Next 3 LACs (#5-#7)
Bowdoin or Pomona

Next 3 LACs (#8-#13)
Then it's an argument for the next group with 6 different contenders. Depending on what you care about you could put in Carleton, Middlebury, Vassar, Wesleyan, Mudd (STEM only), or Claremont (social sciences).

Swap tier 2 and 3 and bump Swarthmore up and Bowdoin down. Then you’re correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WASPs founded these schools and still attend these schools. There is a reason. That is the irony of the name. They are happy many of you are too ignorant to see the tree in the forest. The establishment never changes. You will not find them at any of the popular colleges people are obsessed with, outside an Ivy. They don’t need to. They will quietly keep their low profile collecting an elite education, laying the groundwork to control Wall Street, have top positions in consulting/PE firms, run Boston and New York City law firms, are the top doctors at America’s best hospitals, and yes influence Washington from afar.

Not really..especially Swarthmore and Pomona are not classically seen as WASPy colleges- frankly, there’s a ton of New England mediocre LACs who deserve that reputation (cough Colby cough)