Colby/Bates/Bowdoin/Middlebury

[Anonymous]

These are four seemingly quite similar schools but they do vary notably in their enrollment strategies and selectivity.

Bates and Middlebury admit 40-50 percent of their ED applicants and their ED cohorts make up a big part of their classes (60+ percent for Bates and 70+ percent for Middlebury). Most of the students at these schools will have settled on them early in the application process.

This year Bowdoin admitted 17% of their ED applicants, and their ED cohort typically makes up about 50 percent of the class. Just based on the numbers, Bowdoin might be the hardest NESCAC to get in at this point.

Colby publishes a dauntingly low acceptance rate every year but their application numbers are probably juiced up because of no fee and no supplemental essays. Nobody really knows how they compare with the other schools because they don't choose to publish their data.

If your child is interested in NESCAC schools in this geographic region and doesn't otherwise have grounds for choosing between them, and if you don't need to look at the competing FA packages before accepting an offer, Bates and/or Middlebury in ED seems like the obvious choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And make dullards envious.

How is that possible when no one has ever heard of these schools?

No one? Really? I think it depends what circles you move in. I’ve always known/respected them but my family and friends went to top schools so these schools were in the mix (though I don’t know anyone who attended them personally).

If your group is looking for lower tier schools and can’t afford these, of course you wouldn’t be familiar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And make dullards envious.

How is that possible when no one has ever heard of these schools?

Lots of people have heard of these schools. It’s a social indicator that you haven’t.

This. Anyone who hasn’t heard of these schools is from flyover country. Or likely not college-educated, if they live on the East Coast.

The reality is people including the educated only know about research institutions. The only people who know about slacs is the people who went to slacs which is minuscule in comparison to the people going to normal universities.

Um, no. People who went to top ten universities like Yale and Princeton have definitely heard of places like Middlebury.

Perhaps not people who went to lower ranked state schools, but people from elite backgrounds have definitely heard of these small colleges.

If you have not hear of them, that shows that you are not from an elite background.

I’m not saying that’s bad, I’m just saying, people who go to top private schools and top universities on the east coast have all heard of these places.

Not just East Coast, we're West Coast based (and yes, DC attends a top private school) and have a niece at Bowdoin. We've 100% heard of these schools over this way as well.

[Anonymous]

Professor here living on West Coast, grew up in Midwest. Heard of all these schools 30+ years ago; top students have always known about them. Less "elitism" than academic prestige; had many of their graduates as my classmates in my top 3 law school, within academia, in top government positions, etc. Sorry you feel left out.

[Anonymous]

I visited 3 of these schools recently.
They all have different charm, but pretty similar in size and student body. Their academic prestige and level of students are not that different from one another nowadays.
All boasts 6-12% in acceptance rate with 42-60% yield rate.
Bates and Bowdoin’s campus is small and compacted and are in the middle of a small city. Bowdoin’s Brunswick is more pleasant.
Colby campus is huge and country club like. State of art indoor athletic center and performing art center in more rural, Waterville.
Personally, Colby was most impressive.
Coming from a big city, all of them seem pretty rural and isolated to me. No point in comparing these tiny city or town they are located. They won’t give you much at all.
You should be ready to enjoy outdoors and really like the kids there. Most of the socializing will happen in the campus.

[Anonymous]

Bates has a tiny endowment. Ad demographics shift, it's a school that will be left behind.

And with Middlebury, hey it's 2023, if foreign languages is your claim to fame, you're already academic road kill.

[Anonymous]

Ssingle mom by choice here - 120k income, but with a paid off apartment in nyc and about 800k outside retirement. (I used to make more and invested aggressively for 35 years).

I am one of those people who is well off by most any definition, but out of luck for FA and really can't afford to spend 80k a year for 8 years.

Colby was the one no-merit school that provided substantial FA. For people like me financially, Colby is worth a second look.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ssingle mom by choice here - 120k income, but with a paid off apartment in nyc and about 800k outside retirement. (I used to make more and invested aggressively for 35 years).

I am one of those people who is well off by most any definition, but out of luck for FA and really can't afford to spend 80k a year for 8 years.

Colby was the one no-merit school that provided substantial FA. For people like me financially, Colby is worth a second look.

There are other options, too. Check out the net price calculators for specific schools. We make well more than you and final tuition would have been closer to $40K for many of the selective liberal arts college our kid got into.

[Anonymous]

They are SLACs just like the rest of them. Some are more competitive than others and probably carry a bit more prestige and access to opportunities at the high end. Ultimately they deliver a very similar product: intensive education, tight friendships and small but reliable alumni network. It’s like going to Baskin Robbins, just pick your favorite flavor (but a pragmatic person would probably favor the more highly ranked ones).

In terms of what it says about you that you have never heard of these schools- I would say it’s not just an indicator of social class- it’s really an indicator that you are not a well read knowledgeable person. You should have stumbled across these schools at some point. And anyone with any intellectual curiosity should have a sense of what the American academic landscape looks like. It doesn’t take much. US News has been publishing its lists for decades. What kind of person hasn’t at least just glanced at the list at some point? I will answer that. A person who doesn’t read. A person who lacks basic curiosity. It’s not even about colleges- it’s just a basic gap in your cultural knowledge. A person who never heard of Middlebury probably also never heard of Thomas Mann. This is a generally ignorant person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bates has a tiny endowment. Ad demographics shift, it's a school that will be left behind.

And with Middlebury, hey it's 2023, if foreign languages is your claim to fame, you're already academic road kill.

You don’t think their ability to teach adults complex foreign languages to a high standard, in a short time, is impressive?

You sound very ignorant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ssingle mom by choice here - 120k income, but with a paid off apartment in nyc and about 800k outside retirement. (I used to make more and invested aggressively for 35 years).

I am one of those people who is well off by most any definition, but out of luck for FA and really can't afford to spend 80k a year for 8 years.

Colby was the one no-merit school that provided substantial FA. For people like me financially, Colby is worth a second look.

There are other options, too. Check out the net price calculators for specific schools. We make well more than you and final tuition would have been closer to $40K for many of the selective liberal arts college our kid got into.

Good to know. Obviously didn't apply to a million schools - did run what felt like a million NPCs. Kid had 14 acceptances, mostly top 40 privates and Colby was the only no-merit school that gave us FA. There were others with merit, publics, etc. Can you give me an example of another top private that gives FA to families with substantial assets outside retirement. I have a second kid about to start the process. I realize it's the assets not the income. FA-wise, I'd be better off with 200k income and no assets. But I prefer my situation 99% of the time (the 1% was when paying for college). FWIW, Kid 1 didn't go to Colby so I can't comment on the schools, except that they made me happy for a moment!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And make dullards envious.

How is that possible when no one has ever heard of these schools?

Lots of people have heard of these schools. It’s a social indicator that you haven’t.

This. Anyone who hasn’t heard of these schools is from flyover country. Or likely not college-educated, if they live on the East Coast.

The reality is people including the educated only know about research institutions. The only people who know about slacs is the people who went to slacs which is minuscule in comparison to the people going to normal universities.

Um, no. People who went to top ten universities like Yale and Princeton have definitely heard of places like Middlebury.

Perhaps not people who went to lower ranked state schools, but people from elite backgrounds have definitely heard of these small colleges.

If you have not hear of them, that shows that you are not from an elite background.

I’m not saying that’s bad, I’m just saying, people who go to top private schools and top universities on the east coast have all heard of these places.

Ok that’s your opinion I guess. Actually you’re right people really care that someone has a degree from “bates” lol

Lol! So true!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bates has a tiny endowment. Ad demographics shift, it's a school that will be left behind.

And with Middlebury, hey it's 2023, if foreign languages is your claim to fame, you're already academic road kill.

You don’t think their ability to teach adults complex foreign languages to a high standard, in a short time, is impressive?

You sound very ignorant.

Between English being the universal language over the past half century and certainly into the future, along with translation being one of the easiest jobs for AI, foreign languages at Middlebury is quaint, but not at all forward thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bates has a tiny endowment. Ad demographics shift, it's a school that will be left behind.

And with Middlebury, hey it's 2023, if foreign languages is your claim to fame, you're already academic road kill.

You don’t think their ability to teach adults complex foreign languages to a high standard, in a short time, is impressive?

You sound very ignorant.

Between English being the universal language over the past half century and certainly into the future, along with translation being one of the easiest jobs for AI, foreign languages at Middlebury is quaint, but not at all forward thinking.

I agree with what you say. But you don’t have to study foreign languages at Middlebury.
It is a fine SLAC like it’s peers and probably most of them will study finance, medical or law related majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bates has a tiny endowment. Ad demographics shift, it's a school that will be left behind.

And with Middlebury, hey it's 2023, if foreign languages is your claim to fame, you're already academic road kill.

You don’t think their ability to teach adults complex foreign languages to a high standard, in a short time, is impressive?

You sound very ignorant.

Between English being the universal language over the past half century and certainly into the future, along with translation being one of the easiest jobs for AI, foreign languages at Middlebury is quaint, but not at all forward thinking.

I agree with what you say. But you don’t have to study foreign languages at Middlebury.
It is a fine SLAC like it’s peers and probably most of them will study finance, medical or law related majors.

Most people don’t go to Middlebury for the languages. Having gone there, I can tell you that many people studied them in order to go abroad junior year as the school had pretty stringent requirements for proficiency before they would allow you to study at a Middlebury school abroad. But, languages were very secondary to other majors.