“Colleges That Change Lives” List

[Anonymous]

Thoughts on the schools on this list?

https://ctcl.org/category/college-profiles/

The website lays out how they pick these schools but wanted to gauge real life perceptions. Is there a certain type of student they are targeting? Just curious because DC has a couple of these schools on their list.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard of this list, but scrolling down the college names, I know alumni from about 1 /5 of them, like Earlham, Millsaps, Goucher, Evergreen State, and each are among some of the nicest people I've ever met. Now that I think of it, they also speak really fondly of their schools, which doesn't always come up when you meet people as adults.

The dialogue in my head was literallyb like, "oh, I forgot about that college. Laura and Jill went there. They're so nice." Repeat repeat repeat.

There's a bunch I never heard of but I have to say that now I'm intrigued. I did not know there was a Cornell College not in NY.

[Anonymous]

I think personally these are targeting students who want something kind of niche. Like St John’s, Hillsdale, and Oberlin might all be fine schools for the right kid, but no individual kid would ever apply to all three of those.

[Anonymous]

I went to Beloit and loved it, got a great education and had fantastic professors. My D26 has applied to a couple of schools on this list- there are some very solid choices. Obviously, these schools aren't your T20 LACs but a notch down- and will provide great educational opportunities and often nice merit aid. They're targeting kids who aren't all gunning for the tippy-top schools, and smart kids with a wide variety of interests who are looking for either a less competitive environment or who are chasing merit aid. I'd research their retention rates, look carefully at the departmental websites and do some digging to make sure it's a good fit for your kid. Wheaton (IL) is very conservative, for example, whereas Beloit and Oberlin are more crunchy granola type kids. Clark U has had some financial issues lately, and Goucher only has a 52% 4 year graduation rate. So you need to do research on each, but there are lots of great options on the CTCL list. If you can provide a bit more info on your DC (what they'd like to major in, what type of vibe they're looking for, rural/urban, liberal/artsy/preppy/sporty, etc.) people here can make some recommendations for which ones to check out.

[Anonymous]

We looked at a few of them and DD goes to one (Juniata) There is definitely a big range of school experiences there but their commonalities are small schools with nurturing environments and easy admit for a B student.

I'm sure someone will pop up soon to denounce it as just a marketing thing. But what college list isn't a marketing thing. I found reading the book helpful early in DD's search to understand some of the benefits of a small college (I went to a big state U). Not all DD's list was from that but I'd say most of her list were similar to those.

As with any small college, you should do you due diligence re their sustainability. Lots of variation in this list on that. And there are lots of colleges that are similar to these that aren't on the list.

[Anonymous]

Most well-regarded imo:

Bard
Denison
Reed
Rhodes
St. Johns
St. Olaf

[Anonymous]

DCUM loves to hate on this list but I think it’s a nice way to hear about some of these smaller schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most well-regarded imo:

Bard
Denison
Reed
Rhodes
St. Johns
St. Olaf

Isn’t Lawrence also highly regarded?

[Anonymous]

They should probably cut Hampshire, given that it's about to go into bankruptcy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most well-regarded imo:

Bard
Denison
Reed
Rhodes
St. Johns
St. Olaf

Isn’t Lawrence also highly regarded?

ehh. for what major?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should probably cut Hampshire, given that it's about to go into bankruptcy.

^^on the brink of, sorry—should be more specific with my words

[Anonymous]

Eckerd has gone downhill since the 1985 milestone described but it is very good in Marine Science. Nice sailing too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We looked at a few of them and DD goes to one (Juniata) There is definitely a big range of school experiences there but their commonalities are small schools with nurturing environments and easy admit for a B student.

I'm sure someone will pop up soon to denounce it as just a marketing thing. But what college list isn't a marketing thing. I found reading the book helpful early in DD's search to understand some of the benefits of a small college (I went to a big state U). Not all DD's list was from that but I'd say most of her list were similar to those.

As with any small college, you should do you due diligence re their sustainability. Lots of variation in this list on that. And there are lots of colleges that are similar to these that aren't on the list.

Is Juniata for 'B' students??

[Anonymous]

It’s against the rules of DCUM to suggest in any way, shape or form that the only thing connecting these schools—which in many material ways could not be more dissimilar—is their collective need to market themselves through a gimmick.

Let’s see how long this comment is allowed to stand . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We looked at a few of them and DD goes to one (Juniata) There is definitely a big range of school experiences there but their commonalities are small schools with nurturing environments and easy admit for a B student.

I'm sure someone will pop up soon to denounce it as just a marketing thing. But what college list isn't a marketing thing. I found reading the book helpful early in DD's search to understand some of the benefits of a small college (I went to a big state U). Not all DD's list was from that but I'd say most of her list were similar to those.

As with any small college, you should do you due diligence re their sustainability. Lots of variation in this list on that. And there are lots of colleges that are similar to these that aren't on the list.

Is Juniata for 'B' students??

It has a 78% acceptance rate and median SAT is 1170. So, I'd think, yes, they would be happy to have a B student, although you might not get the merit $ to make it a contender. FWIW, DD had a mix of As and Bs, with a good number of APs but a lighter schedule that a lot of classmates at a very competitive NoVA HS. Ended up with just barely a weighted 4.0. Merit $ made it similar in cost to our in-state options.