LAC prestige analysis and reputation?

[Anonymous]

My husband & I both went to ivies for college and law school. So have most of our friends. Our DD is at Brown and our DS is considering a LAC which is new for our family.

Which of the following LACs have the most global and national prestige?

Williams: seems like the best one overall in terms of rep

Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan: "little three"

Williams, Amherst: I see them referred to as Ivy lite?

Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona: often grouped together as WASP?

Bowdoin, Middlebury: For my non-Ivy/Stanford friends, these seem like the net two highest in terms of prestige

Wesleyan: is this as prestigious as it used to be?

Carleton, Haverford: next most intellectually rigorous in terms of rep, but we prefer northeast to midwest

[Anonymous]

Why is this necessary? Honestly…

You are well educated and obviously have intelligent children. Do your research and find schools that are the best fit for his educational, personal, social needs.

Why do these groupings and designations matter so much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband & I both went to ivies for college and law school. So have most of our friends. Our DD is at Brown and our DS is considering a LAC which is new for our family.

Which of the following LACs have the most global and national prestige?

Williams: seems like the best one overall in terms of rep

Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan: "little three"

Williams, Amherst: I see them referred to as Ivy lite?

Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona: often grouped together as WASP?

Bowdoin, Middlebury: For my non-Ivy/Stanford friends, these seem like the net two highest in terms of prestige

Wesleyan: is this as prestigious as it used to be?

Carleton, Haverford: next most intellectually rigorous in terms of rep, but we prefer northeast to midwest

Global? Mccalister, but it is in Minneapolis MN which is considered Midwest. If you are considering Carleton, why not McC? Latter in city, Carleton not in city.

Aw: Amherst Williams

CT: Wesleyan, Conn College

PA: Swat, Haverford..doesn't Swarthmore have a dual program with Upenn?

[Anonymous]

Swarthmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr and UPenn are in a Quaker consortium together if that helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband & I both went to ivies for college and law school. So have most of our friends. Our DD is at Brown and our DS is considering a LAC which is new for our family.

Which of the following LACs have the most global and national prestige?

Williams: seems like the best one overall in terms of rep

Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan: "little three"

Williams, Amherst: I see them referred to as Ivy lite?

Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona: often grouped together as WASP?

Bowdoin, Middlebury: For my non-Ivy/Stanford friends, these seem like the net two highest in terms of prestige

Wesleyan: is this as prestigious as it used to be?

Carleton, Haverford: next most intellectually rigorous in terms of rep, but we prefer northeast to midwest

Finally someone on DCUM focusing on things that are really important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is this necessary? Honestly…

You are well educated and obviously have intelligent children. Do your research and find schools that are the best fit for his educational, personal, social needs.

Why do these groupings and designations matter so much?

+1. Isn't there a point in life where you quit trying to impress others?

[Anonymous]

Look at Bama, UGA, Auburn, and Ole Miss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband & I both went to ivies for college and law school. So have most of our friends. Our DD is at Brown and our DS is considering a LAC which is new for our family.

Which of the following LACs have the most global and national prestige?

Williams: seems like the best one overall in terms of rep

Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan: "little three"

Williams, Amherst: I see them referred to as Ivy lite?

Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona: often grouped together as WASP?

Bowdoin, Middlebury: For my non-Ivy/Stanford friends, these seem like the net two highest in terms of prestige

Wesleyan: is this as prestigious as it used to be?

Carleton, Haverford: next most intellectually rigorous in terms of rep, but we prefer northeast to midwest

Wesleyan is not what it used to be and does not get kids who are T20 range from private schools in our area(NJ-NY corridor).
Stick with Williams Amherst and Swarthmore for most ivy-like LACs yet not quite as hard to get into, especially with ED. Great outcomes and all are on top-company target lists and do well with top law and top med schools.
Pomona is its own thing vibe-wise, but is top4 and right for fit for some.
Next would be Wellesley, Bowdoin, Carleton, Davidson, CMC, Mudd as far as intellectual quality. They are not ivy-level but are akin to T16-25 privates as far as outcomes/reputation.

[Anonymous]

If one wants a high paying career look at Colgate, Holy Cross or Davidson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband & I both went to ivies for college and law school. So have most of our friends. Our DD is at Brown and our DS is considering a LAC which is new for our family.

Which of the following LACs have the most global and national prestige?

Williams: seems like the best one overall in terms of rep

Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan: "little three"

Williams, Amherst: I see them referred to as Ivy lite?

Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona: often grouped together as WASP?

Bowdoin, Middlebury: For my non-Ivy/Stanford friends, these seem like the net two highest in terms of prestige

Wesleyan: is this as prestigious as it used to be?

Carleton, Haverford: next most intellectually rigorous in terms of rep, but we prefer northeast to midwest

Can you please share the ives and law schools you attended so a "prestige analysis" can be conducted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband & I both went to ivies for college and law school. So have most of our friends. Our DD is at Brown and our DS is considering a LAC which is new for our family.

Which of the following LACs have the most global and national prestige?

Williams: seems like the best one overall in terms of rep

Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan: "little three"

Williams, Amherst: I see them referred to as Ivy lite?

Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona: often grouped together as WASP?

Bowdoin, Middlebury: For my non-Ivy/Stanford friends, these seem like the net two highest in terms of prestige

Wesleyan: is this as prestigious as it used to be?

Carleton, Haverford: next most intellectually rigorous in terms of rep, but we prefer northeast to midwest

Wesleyan is not what it used to be and does not get kids who are T20 range from private schools in our area(NJ-NY corridor).
Stick with Williams Amherst and Swarthmore for most ivy-like LACs yet not quite as hard to get into, especially with ED. Great outcomes and all are on top-company target lists and do well with top law and top med schools.
Pomona is its own thing vibe-wise, but is top4 and right for fit for some.
Next would be Wellesley, Bowdoin, Carleton, Davidson, CMC, Mudd as far as intellectual quality. They are not ivy-level but are akin to T16-25 privates as far as outcomes/reputation.

Can you elaborate on how Pomona is its own thing? How are the students and opportunities different than at the other 3 of WASP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this necessary? Honestly…

You are well educated and obviously have intelligent children. Do your research and find schools that are the best fit for his educational, personal, social needs.

Why do these groupings and designations matter so much?

+1. Isn't there a point in life where you quit trying to impress others?

It is less about impressing and more about the reputation of college's ability to educate on a deep level. Reputation matters in a tight jobs market. It is no longer 2022 when any tech degree from any school was snapped up. High level thinking is in demand, in all fields including stem. Humanities majors from top unis and top lacs are doing much better the past two hiring cycles('24, 25) than CS and stem majors outside the T20ish.
Soft skills, adaptability and problem solving are important: not all colleges teach these skills well. There OP is right to be concerned and gather opinions. hopefully they are analyzing data on all of these schools as well. Top schools with the highest proportions of top students can push the classroom far past the basics(memorization, understanding, basic application) toward analysis, evaluation, and creation: high-level application of learning to new problems.
Look at various curricula, pull up course syllabi, or better yet talk to professors. Professors understand the value of LACs but also understand they are not created equal, just as T50-75 universities are not at all on par with T15/ivy level.

[Anonymous]

Obviously a troll post, as any serious analysis of this question would of course begin with Bucknell at the top of the prestige list.

Also, there is simply no way a couple with 4 Ivy League degrees between them would not have long since already formed strong opinions on this matter.

Fee, fi, fo, fum I smell the blood of state school strivers on D-C-U-M!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband & I both went to ivies for college and law school. So have most of our friends. Our DD is at Brown and our DS is considering a LAC which is new for our family.

Which of the following LACs have the most global and national prestige?

Williams: seems like the best one overall in terms of rep

Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan: "little three"

Williams, Amherst: I see them referred to as Ivy lite?

Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona: often grouped together as WASP?

Bowdoin, Middlebury: For my non-Ivy/Stanford friends, these seem like the net two highest in terms of prestige

Wesleyan: is this as prestigious as it used to be?

Carleton, Haverford: next most intellectually rigorous in terms of rep, but we prefer northeast to midwest

Wesleyan is not what it used to be and does not get kids who are T20 range from private schools in our area(NJ-NY corridor).
Stick with Williams Amherst and Swarthmore for most ivy-like LACs yet not quite as hard to get into, especially with ED. Great outcomes and all are on top-company target lists and do well with top law and top med schools.
Pomona is its own thing vibe-wise, but is top4 and right for fit for some.
Next would be Wellesley, Bowdoin, Carleton, Davidson, CMC, Mudd as far as intellectual quality. They are not ivy-level but are akin to T16-25 privates as far as outcomes/reputation.

Agree Wesleyan is not seen as a top tier LAC at our private. The trajectories of kids who end up at Wesleyan often look familiar: ED/EA Brown/Yale/Williams/Amherst, rejected, then ED2 Emory/Tufts/Pomona, rejected or waitlisted, then in RD get accepts to choose between Wesleyan/Vassar/Oberlin/McGill

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband & I both went to ivies for college and law school. So have most of our friends. Our DD is at Brown and our DS is considering a LAC which is new for our family.

Which of the following LACs have the most global and national prestige?

Williams: seems like the best one overall in terms of rep

Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan: "little three"

Williams, Amherst: I see them referred to as Ivy lite?

Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona: often grouped together as WASP?

Bowdoin, Middlebury: For my non-Ivy/Stanford friends, these seem like the net two highest in terms of prestige

Wesleyan: is this as prestigious as it used to be?

Carleton, Haverford: next most intellectually rigorous in terms of rep, but we prefer northeast to midwest

Wesleyan is not what it used to be and does not get kids who are T20 range from private schools in our area(NJ-NY corridor).
Stick with Williams Amherst and Swarthmore for most ivy-like LACs yet not quite as hard to get into, especially with ED. Great outcomes and all are on top-company target lists and do well with top law and top med schools.
Pomona is its own thing vibe-wise, but is top4 and right for fit for some.

agreed