college - tell me about "the best kept secret" schools - anyone have one?

[Anonymous]

I would really recommend looking at the Claremont colleges - Pomona, Claremont Mckenna, Scripps (all women), Harvey Mudd, and Pitzer. 4 out of 5 are now ranked in the top 25 and 2 in the top 10. Harvey Mudd is strictly engineering so is probably out, but the other are great and all of them have their own personality so your daughter can find one that fits. But 4 out of 5 are small (less than 1,500 students) but the community is upwards of 10. You have shared athletic facilities, dining halls and classes so you get the intimacy of a one but the benefits of all.

I must confess I can't imagine what is a hidden gem - it can't be a school in the top 25 of U.S. news and world report, can it?

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I have never seen the Claremont colleges that hgh in the rankings. At least not U.S. New and World Report.

The Claremont colleges are located in a very remote area in California. There's nothing to do there. The only school of the five that is really good is Pomona. And the social life/quality of life just isn't that good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never seen the Claremont colleges that hgh in the rankings. At least not U.S. New and World Report.

The Claremont colleges are located in a very remote area in California. There's nothing to do there. The only school of the five that is really good is Pomona. And the social life/quality of life just isn't that good.

Uh, remote? Claremont is about 30 miles outside of LA -- about the distance between Annapolis and DC. Remote makes it sound like it's way out in the wilderness. It's actuallly more of a suburb or exurb.

[Anonymous]

yeah, I think 21:20 is the same from before. The schools are in a small college town as said, 30 miles from LA but 15 from Pasadena. Northhampton, Wesleyan, Princeton...ummmm same deal.
Look up the last 5 U.S. News and World reports. Do not speak of that which you do not know. this is meant to be a helpful board.

[Anonymous]

Thirty miles from LA is quite a lot if you do not have a car, as many college students don't. The town of Claremont itself offers nothing.

As for Northampton: it's a beautiful, small city with an abundance of good restaurants and shopping. Wesleyan, which I attended for a year (while at Smith) is in Middletown, which is not quite as nice as Northamption, but certainly offers some restaurants and hang-outs. Princeton is a lovely city in its own right, from what I understand. I am hardly speaking of that which I don't know.

I actually just posted the latest News and World Report rankings and, based on the fact that they are ranking Wesleyan University at 13, have decided that the rankings contained therein are about as valuable a piece of used toilet paper. Either the rankings were made by someone stupid, insane, or -- best bet -- someone who had an affair with someone within Wesleyan's administration that went sour.

Whatever the reason, it does not change the fact that the person who has Wesleyan on their resume is going to have an edge in the job market over someone who went to freaking Davidson.

Don't believe everything you read.

[Anonymous]

oh 21:59, so bitter to see your 'almost ivy' schools fall from grace? While I do agree that you have to take these ratings with a grain of salt, it has been 10 or 15 years (or more!) since many of us went to these colleges. I am with you in that I still hold the rankings in my mind from then, but 10 or 15 years is a long time and some schools have stepped and others have been riding on reputation for too long (Vassar is probably a good example).

[Anonymous]

Yes, time has past and years will go by, but that doesn't make me dumb or dead. I do not hold a degree from Wesleyan, so I have no reason to be bitter about its absurd ranking.

As for Vassar, I really can't tell from your message if you think its stepped up in the past years or been riding on its reputation for too long, but I will say this: it's place in these Mad Lib ratings is absurdly high. Vassar, like Smith, was once a really, really good school. Then it admitted men and pretty much went to hell. Maybe the ranker was tripping on acid when he came up with this list. I don't know.

[Anonymous]

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/lessvisible/

[Anonymous]

Someone mentioned Colorado College in passing a while back. Worth a look. It's a nice small campus in the most beautiful part of a medium sized city and they offer classics and drama.

[Anonymous]

Over the years I have known several Colorado College grads and they have a strong affection for the school.

A couple of former classmates of DD went on to Harvey Mudd and love it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vassar, like Smith, was once a really, really good school. Then it admitted men and pretty much went to hell. Maybe the ranker was tripping on acid when he came up with this list. I don't know.

Can we all agree to ignore this poster? I doubt she knows anything first-hand about Vassar.

[Anonymous]

hysterical

[Anonymous]

She seems to be the same one that trashed Smith. I wish we could vote her off the island.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thirty miles from LA is quite a lot if you do not have a car, as many college students don't. The town of Claremont itself offers nothing.

Agree that LA is far from Claremont and many students lack cars, but completely disagree about Claremont offering "nothing." Claremont is an adorable little town with cute shops and restaurants walking distance from all of the 5-college campuses and obviously has amazing weather. It's a great place to go to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She seems to be the same one that trashed Smith. I wish we could vote her off the island.

And I tried to start a new thread as a result of the Smith bashing and she showed up there too.