How would you do differently if DC is only interested in SLACs?

[Anonymous]

First, LACs are very small. Applying to five LACs is roughly equivalent to applying to one large national university: our school sends about ten students a year to Cornell, but typically only one to Williams. Additionally, the school limits how many applications each student can submit. I am not sure if it's wise to apply to LACs exclusively. Second, most SLACs do not offer an ED advantage—Middlebury is one notable exception. At the moment, Middlebury is not DC's dream school. So there is no ED strategy. I am also wondering if there is any consultant specialized in LACs.

[Anonymous]

I mean, you still need a range of schools (safety, target, and reach). I don’t think the analysis changes that much because the school is smaller since there will be smaller applicant pools. SLACs also tend to take a more holistic approach to admissions, which can be beneficial.

[Anonymous]

Please encourage your child to apply to different types of schools. Acceptances to small SLACs is basically a crap shoot. After athletic admits (30-40%) there just aren't very many spots to fill.

[Anonymous]

How many applications do they limit you to? If you push back on it, they may likely make an exception. Our school used to limit apps but parents said no way as college admissions became more of a crap shoot - and it is unconscionable for a high school to limit applications these days. It literally takes no extra work from the HS college office if a kid applies to 20 schools instead of 10. I have a child at a SLAC and you are right about no ED advantage at Williams for example, but if your child has an absolute first choice, whether SLAC or university, I would ED anyway because why not? If they get in, they can be done. Otherwise, I would have them do any EA schools they are interested in (probably not many SLACs offer that), ED a top choice if they have it, ED2 only if they are sure that school is their next time, and RD widely if necessary. One of my dd's closest friends simply did not apply to enough schools, and as a result ended up at a school she does not love - but did not apply to some she would have. She was pressured by her college office to only apply to a couple of reaches, but then fill out the rest of her list with targets and safeties. She 100% would have gotten in, either RD or off WL, to a reach SLAC if she had just applied to enough of them.

[Anonymous]

Fit matters a lot more, so visit— and start early to get an informed list. Many SLAC are excellent at a few areas, but not all areas.

Demonstrated interest can matter more, because they know that fit is important.

IDK what your 5 applications for every one state U thing is about. They have a smaller applicant pool and take fewer kids and end up with an admit rate on par with larger privates. Smaller numerator AND denominator. Same admit rate.

ED can matter a lot. Some SLACs take as much as 80% of their class ED. Bates was on DD’s list so it comes to mind. The year before she applied, they took 80% of the class ED and had a 50%+ ED admit rate. And then like 10% RD admit rate (or lower) for the other 20% of the class— which totaled like 80 seats. They are not the only SLAC that does this.

Figure out what a SLAC is and is not. Smaller environment, small classes, campus centric (kids often stay on campus all 4 years), many are rural. May require a more broad based classic liberal arts set of classes no matter what you major in.

Figure out of you are chasing merit/ need merit or not and whether you kid is more comfortable in a midwestern SLAC environment or a NESAC environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please encourage your child to apply to different types of schools. Acceptances to small SLACs is basically a crap shoot. After athletic admits (30-40%) there just aren't very many spots to fill.

At the very top of the rankings this is true, but it’s true of Ivies and other super selective universities too. You can and should find a few pretty safe target SLACs to go along with WASP if that’s what you’re into. No need to diversify into bigger schools if they’re all super selective too.

[Anonymous]

Agreed that they should apply to national schools as well. Our DC is interested in SLACs also and we have looked at the list carefully thinking of which schools will hold their value 20 or 30 years from now. Skidmore, ranked 36 is still accepting transfer applications as is Sewanee. I personally wouldn’t go much lower than 35 on the list. We have a sibling who attended a SLAC that has fallen precipitously in the rankings and is in danger of closing so we are very aware of this risk.

[Anonymous]

Plenty of other small LAC’s acknowledge an ED advantage.

If your kid wants one…then limit your search to them. Seems obvious. It is what my kid did and she had to choose from 7!

(Just make sure you include a range of selectivity. )

[Anonymous]

Our kid got lucky applying to a WASP ED but their whole list was LACs. They were perfectly prepared to go down the list depending on acceptances.

[Anonymous]

Due to the smsll size, Slac have a large percentage of recruited athletes within each class. After you add in other institutional priorities, and gender balance, the likelihood of admission can be impacted. So you need to apply strategically. Showing fit is key. Find out which schools take more of your hs, and get insight from your counselor as to who else is applying. For ex, several kids from our private school committed to slacs via athletics. You have that data before ed/ea deadlines... Also investigate potential impact of intended major.

[Anonymous]

Most LACs outside of the top ones have big boosts for ED, even after counting athletes. There’s not many spots left after this. ED I to somewhere at the level of Bowdoin and then ED II to somewhere at the level of Kenyon.
Apply to safety LACs EA.

[Anonymous]

Respectfully, OP, you have no idea what you’re talking about. Many, many liberal arts colleges offer a significant advantage for ED. And you’re being equally ridiculous comparing Cornell to William. Cornell is less selective than William not because it’s bigger but because it’s just less selective. Are you saying that Harvard is less selective than William just because it’s bigger? Get a grip OP.

[Anonymous]

This analysis includes selectivity ranks for colleges and universities nationally:

https://wallethub.com/edu/e/college-rankings/40750

As an example scenario, Vassar places 48th by selectivity. A student interested in, and qualified for, Vassar may benefit from including several schools with higher selectivity ranks than Vassar. An ED application provides an advantage, sometimes large, at most LACs. Your strategy need not be more complex than that suggested here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Respectfully, OP, you have no idea what you’re talking about. Many, many liberal arts colleges offer a significant advantage for ED. And you’re being equally ridiculous comparing Cornell to William. Cornell is less selective than William not because it’s bigger but because it’s just less selective. Are you saying that Harvard is less selective than William just because it’s bigger? Get a grip OP.

Agreed. OP is clueless.

— parent of kid at highly-selective LAC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please encourage your child to apply to different types of schools. Acceptances to small SLACs is basically a crap shoot. After athletic admits (30-40%) there just aren't very many spots to fill.

Most LACs are in the 20-30% range, not 30-40%.