2026 USNWR LACs

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It's always been weird to me that people say WASP with the exclusion of Bowdoin, when Bowdoin is every bit as good as those

Bowdoin bounces around. I believe it’s been in the top 4 before, but then bumped up around in the 6-7 range. USNews didn’t change the methodology much this year after Morse retired. Wait until a year when they mix things up again.

No, it hasn't. It wouldn't surprise me if that changes in the coming years, but that's why it's never been WASP-B before. Now I think it's up for debate!

Bowdoin was 5 last year. No change. Others moved up or down quite significantly.

Pomona was tied with Bowdoin last year but it moved down to the group tied at 7 this year. These are very small meaningless changes.

Why is Pomona dropping? It is more competitive than ever, endowment is performing on par with everyone else, financial aid is as generous as ever…is it simply just a quirk of USNEWs this year?

+1, there’s something going on at the school. Maybe financial?

Lollll. It isn’t “dropping.” It’s in top 5, not including service academies, same as last year. The idea there’s a meaningful difference in its tying for 5th (with Bowdoin last year) and tying for 7th (after a service academy at 6th this year) is ludicrous. What IS notable is that 3 of the 5 Claremont colleges are now in the top 10. When you go to any of these schools (Pomona, Harvey Mudd, Claremont McKenna), you have the benefit of single social world that is significantly larger (and thus more fun, with more connections) than any of the other top LACs by themselves. The consortium is really doing well and offers a really unique, attractive experience.

[b]

1000% this-beats the NESCAC’s by a mile in this respect with the benefit of much better weather too! IYKYK!

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t trade my time at my freezing cold NESCAC for an LAC in California. Different strokes for different folks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pomona is slipping on every ranking. CMC is the new number 1 in the Claremont system

this ranking methodology is flawed. but even so, they are tied. can't you read? pomona is a full-service east-coast style liberal arts college. cmc is a directed curriculum (govt, econ) that doesn't have a full-service science dept. it's great for what it does, but it doesn't do it all. it doesn't have strong languages, music, or many other majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t trade my time at my freezing cold NESCAC for an LAC in California. Different strokes for different folks.

But most DDs or DSs do not agree.

[Anonymous]

The reality is that the tippy top LAC will always be Williams.

But the top 3 LACs that compete with the top 20 will only be WAS - not WASP or SWAB or whatever 4th LAC folks are trying to shoehorn in there.

Williams, Amherst and Swarthmore are strongest and then a big drop and then Bowdoin and perhaps Wellesley and then another drop and then the next group (Pomona, Carleton, etc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t trade my time at my freezing cold NESCAC for an LAC in California. Different strokes for different folks.

But most DDs or DSs do not agree.

Looking at application numbers most kids do agree. Pretty strong level of agreement actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t trade my time at my freezing cold NESCAC for an LAC in California. Different strokes for different folks.

same girl, same. NESCAC just hits different!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pomona is slipping on every ranking. CMC is the new number 1 in the Claremont system

this ranking methodology is flawed. but even so, they are tied. can't you read? pomona is a full-service east-coast style liberal arts college. cmc is a directed curriculum (govt, econ) that doesn't have a full-service science dept. it's great for what it does, but it doesn't do it all. it doesn't have strong languages, music, or many other majors.

Think of it like this. Pomona is the wise old parents. CMC is Alex Keaton. Mudd is the nerdy science kid. Scripps is the feminist. And Pitzer is the artsy hipster kid who underachieves. But all of the kids there know who Mom and Dad are — at that the Pomona parents have the final say; not US News.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pomona is slipping on every ranking. CMC is the new number 1 in the Claremont system

this ranking methodology is flawed. but even so, they are tied. can't you read? pomona is a full-service east-coast style liberal arts college. cmc is a directed curriculum (govt, econ) that doesn't have a full-service science dept. it's great for what it does, but it doesn't do it all. it doesn't have strong languages, music, or many other majors.

it doesn't matter that pomona is comprehensive, what matters is the outcomes and trajectory and on that regard cmc is leagues ahead

cmc is higher ranked on forbes, niche, wsj, linkedin, and wallethub this year. this was not the case in previous years. it's the first year ever that the two schools are tied on usnews. pomona is only ahead because of its reputation score- the moment cmc is perceived as the same league by the survey takers, it'll be ahead of pomona.

pomona is a great school and attracts top faculty/students, but it largely coasts on its historic reputation. it hasn't really done anything to improve. cmc is making enormous strides to expand, develop science/AI/data facilties, and faciliate a strong alumni network. all pomona gets attention for these days is being attracting obnoxiously pc students who disrupt the classroom and inhibit free speech. meanwhile, its next door neighbor actually cares about bringing the benefits of a LAC experience to the new era.

it's nice to be in a consortium setting with 3 top ten LACs and 2 top 40 LACs all within close proximity, but there's no real point to attend pomona. a pomona tier student could feasibly get into williams or cmc or a top 20 university, and all of them offer much better value today. sorry but it's the harsh truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reality is that the tippy top LAC will always be Williams.

But the top 3 LACs that compete with the top 20 will only be WAS - not WASP or SWAB or whatever 4th LAC folks are trying to shoehorn in there.

Williams, Amherst and Swarthmore are strongest and then a big drop and then Bowdoin and perhaps Wellesley and then another drop and then the next group (Pomona, Carleton, etc.)

There is no actual difference between SWAT along with Bowdoin and Wellesley and the next 10 schools in the list except the size of their endowments. The rankings for the top group of schools perfectly illustrates that the rankings are heavily endowment driven for the very top schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reality is that the tippy top LAC will always be Williams.

But the top 3 LACs that compete with the top 20 will only be WAS - not WASP or SWAB or whatever 4th LAC folks are trying to shoehorn in there.

Williams, Amherst and Swarthmore are strongest and then a big drop and then Bowdoin and perhaps Wellesley and then another drop and then the next group (Pomona, Carleton, etc.)

If you look at the raw numbers according to the CDS, then no, such a "big" drop really does not manifest in any way. Graduation rates, student selectivity, financial aid, retention rate, etc. tell me what you think makes Williams leagues ahead compared to any of the others.

US News is a historical ranking and peer assessment heavily plays a role. The top schools always remain the top schools, just shuffled around. Williams and Amherst have ranked top 2 for eternity so it's not surprising they're here again.

It's like the national university ranking- Princeton might rank #1 but many of the others in the top 10 have similar selectivity and resources. #4 Stanford largely wins cross-admits over Princeton. You're delusional for thinking there's a huge gap between any of the top 10, even 20 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t trade my time at my freezing cold NESCAC for an LAC in California. Different strokes for different folks.

But most DDs or DSs do not agree.

Looking at application numbers most kids do agree. Pretty strong level of agreement actually.

Yield. Think yield. Pomona wins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pomona is slipping on every ranking. CMC is the new number 1 in the Claremont system

this ranking methodology is flawed. but even so, they are tied. can't you read? pomona is a full-service east-coast style liberal arts college. cmc is a directed curriculum (govt, econ) that doesn't have a full-service science dept. it's great for what it does, but it doesn't do it all. it doesn't have strong languages, music, or many other majors.

it doesn't matter that pomona is comprehensive, what matters is the outcomes and trajectory and on that regard cmc is leagues ahead

cmc is higher ranked on forbes, niche, wsj, linkedin, and wallethub this year. this was not the case in previous years. it's the first year ever that the two schools are tied on usnews. pomona is only ahead because of its reputation score- the moment cmc is perceived as the same league by the survey takers, it'll be ahead of pomona.

pomona is a great school and attracts top faculty/students, but it largely coasts on its historic reputation. it hasn't really done anything to improve. cmc is making enormous strides to expand, develop science/AI/data facilties, and faciliate a strong alumni network. all pomona gets attention for these days is being attracting obnoxiously pc students who disrupt the classroom and inhibit free speech. meanwhile, its next door neighbor actually cares about bringing the benefits of a LAC experience to the new era.

it's nice to be in a consortium setting with 3 top ten LACs and 2 top 40 LACs all within close proximity, but there's no real point to attend pomona. a pomona tier student could feasibly get into williams or cmc or a top 20 university, and all of them offer much better value today. sorry but it's the harsh truth.

Dear Alex Keaton,

You might say this here; but you won’t say it to your Pomona parents’ face. You’ll get grounded. Please go to your room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t trade my time at my freezing cold NESCAC for an LAC in California. Different strokes for different folks.

But most DDs or DSs do not agree.

Looking at application numbers most kids do agree. Pretty strong level of agreement actually.

Yield. Think yield. Pomona wins.

because it has 2 ED pools and takes 50% of its class ED. Take that away and it's not a significant difference.

RD yields:
Bowdoin- 35%
Pomona- 33%
Williams- 29%
Swarthmore- 27%
Amherst- 26%

[Anonymous]

Williams is a phenomenal LAC. I think if grouped with the national unis, it may make the top ten.

Amherst is right on it's heels.

Swat is also fantastic and benefits from being in the Quaker consortium with UPenn & Bryn Mawr/Haverford.

Bowdoin has been super strong for a long time. Pomona still is too. Carleton is right up there too. Wellesley is the top tier women only college. Mudd/CMC are great niche schools (science/social science).

Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Pomona are the top 5 LACs that are co-ed and full-service subjects. Nothing has really changed with this ranking.