Colby/Bates/Bowdoin/Middlebury

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The bottom line is that very few people outside of Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic upper middle class areas have heard of these schools. There are so many other options that people are interested in—higher ranked slacs and, of course, big state universities. It’s great that attendance at one of these places seems to have helped get some folks here where they wanted to be in life—wealthy or whatever. But it is what it is in terms of name recognition and prestige. Not much of either.

Why are you so obsessed with prestige? SLACs like these give a great college education and are a completely different experience than huge state colleges. I went to a similar college and basically knew everyone on campus. The head of the math department added a class because a handful of us expressed interest. That's not the kind of college many people like, but there's no argument that it can result in an excellent education and career opportunities.

[Anonymous]

They are all good schools but my kids private school counselor definitely pushed him to pick Colby. Her reason was it will be an easy transition as it will feel just like an extension of private prep school. This is not what he wanted to hear and he ended up choosing a state school instead

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are all good schools but my kids private school counselor definitely pushed him to pick Colby. Her reason was it will be an easy transition as it will feel just like an extension of private prep school. This is not what he wanted to hear and he ended up choosing a state school instead

Great. Hope your son will be happy at his choice of school. And, I'm sure you hope the same for my daughter, who chose Middlebury because it offers all the qualities she loved in her small independent school -- a sense of community, an opportunity to work closely with faculty, small class sizes, etc. Aren't we fortunate that our children have different educational options? Have a nice day!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are all good schools but my kids private school counselor definitely pushed him to pick Colby. Her reason was it will be an easy transition as it will feel just like an extension of private prep school. This is not what he wanted to hear and he ended up choosing a state school instead

Really? Private school counselor pushed kids to pick up a particular school? I am not sure if I trust you. The counselor may have recommended Colby, but why he/she pushed your kid to pick it? Do you know why?

[Anonymous]

My child is at Bates and loves it. They are all great schools. The SLACs have some things going for them that big schools don't, and vice versa. She has very close relationships with her professors, they also would create a class or trip if the students were really interested. The small community is great, she also plays a D3 sport there which she loves and would not have been able to place at a huge school. The NESCAC is a great sports league to play in and has a great balance between academics and sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are all good schools but my kids private school counselor definitely pushed him to pick Colby. Her reason was it will be an easy transition as it will feel just like an extension of private prep school. This is not what he wanted to hear and he ended up choosing a state school instead

Really? Private school counselor pushed kids to pick up a particular school? I am not sure if I trust you. The counselor may have recommended Colby, but why he/she pushed your kid to pick it? Do you know why?

Our private school also pushes SLACs over large state schools. No one ever wants to go to UMD College Park although UVA is a bit more popular.
Kids would rather go to UMiami than UMD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are all good schools but my kids private school counselor definitely pushed him to pick Colby. Her reason was it will be an easy transition as it will feel just like an extension of private prep school. This is not what he wanted to hear and he ended up choosing a state school instead

Really? Private school counselor pushed kids to pick up a particular school? I am not sure if I trust you. The counselor may have recommended Colby, but why he/she pushed your kid to pick it? Do you know why?

Our private school also pushes SLACs over large state schools. No one ever wants to go to UMD College Park although UVA is a bit more popular.
Kids would rather go to UMiami than UMD

If no one ever wants to go to a state school and kids would rather go to a smaller school or SLACs, then why the counselors have to push kids for SLACs?

[Anonymous]

Daughter is at Bates and loves it. It has a strong academic reputation, and the thesis and class requirements exceed some of the Ivies and little Ivies, so you know the students are getting a solid education. The area is fantastic - close to Freeport, Portland, Range lake (a favorite in May!), and many hiking spots. The campus bus to Boston Logan makes it easy to fly direct to many cities. The vibe is definitely welcoming and there is always something fun happening on campus. Acceptance rate this year (2023) was 12 percent, which makes it very selective (top 30 in country). All the NESCACs are truly great choices!

[Anonymous]

We loved Bowdoin. It is a very hard admit though.

They have great resources (at least for studying the natural sciences, which was my kid's interest). Like they own an island (literally). They also fund their faculty in such a way that they are very happy, which reflects in how they interact with students.

The administration is very hands on in looking out for students (which I sought, since my kid was responsible, but on the young side in terms of maturity).

Cute town. Just all around loved the place. My DD did into get in though.

We also visited Colby and Bates. Perhaps more businessy/pre-professional? Neither made as strong as an impression on my DC, and she decided not to apply to them.

People seem to be very enthusiastic about Middlebury. I know the school is VERY strong in teaching foreign languages. One person I know who transferred out felt that the students were very wealthy and somewhat entitled.

So, that is one family's subjective summary. Hope it is helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are all good schools but my kids private school counselor definitely pushed him to pick Colby. Her reason was it will be an easy transition as it will feel just like an extension of private prep school. This is not what he wanted to hear and he ended up choosing a state school instead

There is a lot of truth in the above quoted post.

All of Bowdoin, Colby, Bates, and Middlebury offer excellent academics.

All are similar in many ways to elite prep schools and especially to elite prep boarding schools located in the Northeast US. Agree that the transition to any of these four colleges would be an easy adjustment from one with a prep school background.

Bowdoin, Bates, and Colby are small schools in fairly remote locations.

Middlebury College has a large enrollment for a liberal arts college (over 2,700 if I recall correctly). Gorgeous location. Significant social divide between athletes & non-athletes, however.

Bowdoin College seems like an elite prep boarding school. Lots of positives, but small. Strong academics. Nice small town environment. Very close to the ocean.

Bates College also offers strong academics, but the location leaves much to be desired.

Colby College is fine. New athletic facility designed in part to cut down on campus drinking--which was excessive.

Bowdoin College enjoys the most prestigious reputation among the four schools.

Visiting LACs is a joy. Easy to feel comfortable for a few days in Autumn on a small college campus located in New England. More difficult to spend 3 or 4 years there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Daughter is at Bates and loves it. It has a strong academic reputation, and the thesis and class requirements exceed some of the Ivies and little Ivies, so you know the students are getting a solid education. The area is fantastic - close to Freeport, Portland, Range lake (a favorite in May!), and many hiking spots. The campus bus to Boston Logan makes it easy to fly direct to many cities. The vibe is definitely welcoming and there is always something fun happening on campus. Acceptance rate this year (2023) was 12 percent, which makes it very selective (top 30 in country). All the NESCACs are truly great choices!

This. We're pushing our kid toward a NESCAC school for sports, small school, great alumni network, etc. He has been lightly recruited for D1, but our experience is that D1 feels too much like a job. Kid will most likely go to grad school so no need to go to a hypercompetitive environment for undergrad. Williams and Middlebury are top choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The bottom line is that very few people outside of Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic upper middle class areas have heard of these schools. There are so many other options that people are interested in—higher ranked slacs and, of course, big state universities. It’s great that attendance at one of these places seems to have helped get some folks here where they wanted to be in life—wealthy or whatever. But it is what it is in terms of name recognition and prestige. Not much of either.

I’ve never even thought of applying to a school like Colby, and my son didn’t apply to any school like that, but I think it’s a mistake to evaluate a SLAC education solely in terms of financial ROI based on the full list price.

One obvious reason to go to a place like Colby is that the quality of a bachelor’s degree from there is obviously on par with the quality of a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia. for most families, the net cash cost of attendance for those schools will probably be similar to, or lower than, the full out-of-state cost of attendance for a state flagship. That means that, for students in states with a weak state flagship, the quality-adjusted ROI for a Colby class college might be a pretty good.

A second reason is that, for a student who’d love a Colby-class college and feel lost at a University of Alabama-class school, maybe going to a Colby type college would increase the likelihood of the student ending up with a bachelor’s degree by, say, 10 percent. If the value of a bachelor’s degree is about an average of $25,000 per year over 40 years, or $1 million over the course of a career, the 10 percent increase in the likelihood of a kid actually graduating could easily be worth $100,000, or paying $25,000 in extra tuition money per year.

Thank you for your thoughtful and reasonable post. Unfortunately, you are clearly too sane, rational and fair-minded to continue to be allowed to post on this thread. Farewell and godspeed to you.

The above post is silly, condescending, and unhelpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Daughter is at Bates and loves it. It has a strong academic reputation, and the thesis and class requirements exceed some of the Ivies and little Ivies, so you know the students are getting a solid education. The area is fantastic - close to Freeport, Portland, Range lake (a favorite in May!), and many hiking spots. The campus bus to Boston Logan makes it easy to fly direct to many cities. The vibe is definitely welcoming and there is always something fun happening on campus. Acceptance rate this year (2023) was 12 percent, which makes it very selective (top 30 in country). All the NESCACs are truly great choices!

This. We're pushing our kid toward a NESCAC school for sports, small school, great alumni network, etc. He has been lightly recruited for D1, but our experience is that D1 feels too much like a job. Kid will most likely go to grad school so no need to go to a hypercompetitive environment for undergrad. Williams and Middlebury are top choices.

Nescac is better than ivies

You have way too many weirdos at ivies these days

Both left and right (desantis types aren’t in Nescac)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many students don’t apply because they find these schools too small and isolated

Agree.

[Anonymous]

Acceptance rates for these schools are artificially manipulated (lowered) by use of two binding ED rounds.