Narrowing down LACs

[Anonymous]

Rising jr is interested in small liberal arts colleges. Obviously fit is important and so we need to visit. But there are so many -- how do we begin narrowing it down to a reasonable list? His preferences: no large divide between athletes and everyone else, leaning liberal without constant emphasis on identity politics, and students leaning more toward PhD programs than finance/wall street.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rising jr is interested in small liberal arts colleges. Obviously fit is important and so we need to visit. But there are so many -- how do we begin narrowing it down to a reasonable list? His preferences: no large divide between athletes and everyone else, leaning liberal without constant emphasis on identity politics, and students leaning more toward PhD programs than finance/wall street.

Avoid NESCAC due to high athlete percentages.
Carleton sounds about right.

[Anonymous]

Pomona, Swat, Harvey Mudd

[Anonymous]

Macalester, Kenyon

[Anonymous]

To get a sense of where future Ph.D.s are highest per capita:

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs

You'll see the usual suspects as well as some less commonly discussed schools with a range of acceptance rates.

[Anonymous]

To narrow things down, have your kid really think about preferences in location and distance. He may be able to lop off a large percentage if he decides he wants to be less than a 10-hour drive away, or he DOES want to go far from home to be somewhere new, or he wants a school in the middle of lots of nature or near a medium or large town or city.

As you say, there are a ton of SLACs, and many meet the criteria you’ve already mentioned. The more criteria he can add, the fewer he has to sift through.

[Anonymous]

Davidson

[Anonymous]

You need LACs that aren’t that big on sports. Carleton, Haverford, Swat, Grinnell, Macalester. Maybe Wes just because it’s a little bigger than other NESCACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Macalester, Kenyon

LOL !!! No !

OP wants schools which "lean liberal without constant emphasis on identity politics" ; Macalester College and Kenyon College are two of the most liberal colleges in the nation as they make Haverford College's identity politics look reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Macalester, Kenyon

LOL !!! No !

OP wants schools which "lean liberal without constant emphasis on identity politics" ; Macalester College and Kenyon College are two of the most liberal colleges in the nation as they make Haverford College's identity politics look reasonable.

Well, the more “conservative” LACs have huge athlete/non-athlete divides.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like Carleton is the best fit. Maybe also Swarthmore, Kenyon, and Haverford. Avoid NESCACs and some of the southern LACs. I would say Reed, but it may be too political.

[Anonymous]

I was also thinking Carleton as the perfect fit when reading OP’s post. Building off a Carleton base, I’d also look at Grinnell and Davidson and branch out from there. Maybe Haverford, Colgate.

As a bonus for Carleton, when visiting Northfield, you should also dedicate time to tour St. Olaf, which really impressed us.

OP, get a copy of the Fiske guide (your library will have a copy, but it’s cheap and a worthwhile investment, as your kid can mark it up, add post-its, etc., if you have your own copy).

[Anonymous]

Thanks all. The list of PhD feeders was particularly helpful. It sounds like we need to plan trips to Philadelphia (easy), Minnesota, and southern California. Seeing the more isolated schools -- Grinnell and Kenyon -- would be harder, but I don't think he wants a school completely in the middle of nowhere. Being able to rule out most schools in New England is helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was also thinking Carleton as the perfect fit when reading OP’s post. Building off a Carleton base, I’d also look at Grinnell and Davidson and branch out from there. Maybe Haverford, Colgate.

As a bonus for Carleton, when visiting Northfield, you should also dedicate time to tour St. Olaf, which really impressed us.

OP, get a copy of the Fiske guide (your library will have a copy, but it’s cheap and a worthwhile investment, as your kid can mark it up, add post-its, etc., if you have your own copy).

Or make your own little list, like in excel, if they even use excel anymore !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Davidson

100%
I think the original post describes Davidson perfectly. Not too politically wound up, sports but no lacrosse bros, not dominated by Wall Street people.