Colby/Bates/Bowdoin/Middlebury

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Bates has a tiny endowment. Ad demographics shift, it's a school that will be left behind.

And with Middlebury, hey it's 2023, if foreign languages is your claim to fame, you're already academic road kill.

You don’t think their ability to teach adults complex foreign languages to a high standard, in a short time, is impressive?

You sound very ignorant.

Between English being the universal language over the past half century and certainly into the future, along with translation being one of the easiest jobs for AI, foreign languages at Middlebury is quaint, but not at all forward thinking.

I agree with what you say. But you don’t have to study foreign languages at Middlebury.
It is a fine SLAC like it’s peers and probably most of them will study finance, medical or law related majors.

Most people don’t go to Middlebury for the languages. Having gone there, I can tell you that many people studied them in order to go abroad junior year as the school had pretty stringent requirements for proficiency before they would allow you to study at a Middlebury school abroad. But, languages were very secondary to other majors.

Important point made in the post above.

Find it peculiar that someone would criticize an elite LAC for having one of the best foreign language programs in the country. Is it being criticized for being too practical ? Certainly, foreign language ability is relevant and an important skill in the real world.

Oh come on. Yes, it was an important skill for a limited set of workers decades ago, but mostly irrelevant today.

Clearly you don't live in Florida, Texas or other growth states.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These are four seemingly quite similar schools but they do vary notably in their enrollment strategies and selectivity.

Bates and Middlebury admit 40-50 percent of their ED applicants and their ED cohorts make up a big part of their classes (60+ percent for Bates and 70+ percent for Middlebury). Most of the students at these schools will have settled on them early in the application process.

This year Bowdoin admitted 17% of their ED applicants, and their ED cohort typically makes up about 50 percent of the class. Just based on the numbers, Bowdoin might be the hardest NESCAC to get in at this point.

Colby publishes a dauntingly low acceptance rate every year but their application numbers are probably juiced up because of no fee and no supplemental essays. Nobody really knows how they compare with the other schools because they don't choose to publish their data.

If your child is interested in NESCAC schools in this geographic region and doesn't otherwise have grounds for choosing between them, and if you don't need to look at the competing FA packages before accepting an offer, Bates and/or Middlebury in ED seems like the obvious choice.

My kid is looking at ED at Bates this year; your advice is spot on! Interestingly she will be a French major if she gets in.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Don't believe the out-of-teach weirdos in this thread. Vast majority of people have never heard of these schools, and most do not care. It certainly won't give you "a leg up" or confer some magical social status if you attend, despite the very pushy insistence of the aforementioned posters.

+1 yessir

Just so ignorant.

No, this is true. I work with people who have graduated from these schools and they are no more positioned for success in their field than others who went to respectable state or private institutions. It really depends on the discipline or field of study. Not everyone wants to work in finance or management consulting where these school names hold more weight. The people stuck on these schools either live in a bubble or are misguided. I am a senior officer in a company where a lot of college graduates apply to work from the elite SLACs and other schools. It's a waste of money. Sorry...

And you are a grim person who never got to experience how much fun going to a SLAC can be. Small classes, discussions, being in a cohort, it's a really good way to learn how to learn. These schools have strong alumni networks because their graduates share common ground. They're not particularly elite in terms of anything but academic achievement, and that's why they're especially valuable for families that are first generation college, or first generation American: they are the colleges of the former ruling class and when they open their doors and their endowment purses to offer your kid a seat at the table, I highly, highly suggest you take it.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:All great. All prestigious. All extremely well known to top employers and graduate schools. All hard to get into and hard to excel at.

If you don't know these things, the fault is with you.

These are facts.

You guys really do live in a bubble

Who the H$ll cares? Some kid on my street is a getting a computer science degree from Colby at high private prices. What for? A higher ranked degree can be had at so many great and less expensive institutions. A waste of money.

And in ten years, your kid will be sitting in a cube coding away next to every other UMD grad and that Colby kid will be sitting in the corner office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread sucks. Most of these posts do not respond to OP’s questions, and the few helpful ones are buried under all the petty back and forth. DCUM at its worst.

There's one poster here who is really convinced of a few things:

1.) Humanities are bad.
2.) State schools are good and the only real good schools are large universities, where everyone who isn't a loser should study computer science.
3.) It is his job to keep telling us all this. Over and over.

He reminds me of the guy who hated high school IB programs a few weeks ago. If he's not the same guy, he's similar.

I feel sorry for him, for what he doesn't know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All great. All prestigious. All extremely well known to top employers and graduate schools. All hard to get into and hard to excel at.

If you don't know these things, the fault is with you.

These are facts.

You guys really do live in a bubble

That's the point! East coast elites like living in their own bubble and they don't want you there. "IYKYK" etc. Try getting a preppie to explore out of the "bubble", and they won't like it: "Ew gross!"

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:And make dullards envious.

I have never heard of a human being being envious of those places. If anything the silently smirking response will be, sorry your kid got rejected from her first choices.

Smile away, we're laughing at you.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:And make dullards envious.

How is that possible when no one has ever heard of these schools?

Lots of people have heard of these schools. It’s a social indicator that you haven’t.

This. Anyone who hasn’t heard of these schools is from flyover country. Or likely not college-educated, if they live on the East Coast.

Lol keep telling yourself that. Enjoy paying off that 280k as a Starbucks barista.

???

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Schools of the wealthy. If you get a scholarship to any of them good for you ! Otherwise make sure you can afford them

Middlebury: 41% receive need based grants of some kind with an average grant of $38K
https://www.collegetuitioncompare.com/trends/middlebury-college/financial-aid/

Bowdoin: Nearly half receive need based grants of some kind with an average grant of $47.5K
https://www.bowdoin.edu/admissions/costs-and-aid/index.html#:~:text=Nearly%20half%20of%20all%20enrolled,their%20family%20to%20attend%20college.

Bates: About half receive financial aid witht he average package $47K
https://www.bates.edu/admission/student-financial-services/#:~:text=Bates%20awards%20approximately%20%2436%20million,financial%20aid%20package%20is%20%2447%2C051.

Colby: For families earning up to $150,000 with assets typical of that range, our Fair Shot Fund now ensures your parent or guardian contribution will be capped at $15,000 — which may make Colby cost less for you than any other four-year college or university.
http://www.colby.edu/admission/apply/#financial-aid

So you are wrong. Not just for the wealthy. Run the NPC and apply with the confidence of the informed.

I graduated from one of these schools over 25 years ago, back when they were still kind of an extension of prep school. Sure, there were lots of wealthy kids but certainly not everyone. In fact, most of my friends were on financial aid. Now, the schools are a lot more diverse both racially, economically and geographically.

FWIW, pretty much all of my classmates are successful, including 2 in my class alone (of 450) who went on to be Supreme Court clerks.

I feel like whenever NESCAC schools are discussed here, there are always people with chips on their shoulders who chime in about how crappy they are, not well-known, not worth the money, full of rich kids, etc. I ask them, how do you know? Do your kids go there? What basis do you have for saying that?

If you want to get a good job in Iowa or Kansas City or OK City, sure, none of these schools will translate there just as going to Beloit or Rhodes College isn't going to mean much to a hiring manager in Boston/NYC/DC/SF. Schools are very regional. I wouldn't be going nuts for some state school grad from Iowa, Kansas or OK because I am not from those areas and don't know what the quality of those schools are.

I really don't think rural SLACs are for everyone but for some kids, they are great environments for learning and having a nice college experience.

Another person displaying too much common sense and thoughtfulness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All great. All prestigious. All extremely well known to top employers and graduate schools. All hard to get into and hard to excel at.

If you don't know these things, the fault is with you.

These are facts.

I went to one of them, did well, and got a job on Wall Street where I excelled and where I met now very successful husband. We have many high functioning friends who went to top SLACs. PP is right - highly educated people in cities like NYC, Boston, Chicago all know of these schools.

[Anonymous]

We visited all three last February (kid attended a camp at one). Liked Bowdoin a lot and Bates seemed ok but neither of us liked Colby much. It was winter and cold but Colby seemed more isolated and we did not love the architecture. But your kid might so worth a visit. Lovely gym at Colby.

We also visited Middlebury. I did not go in that trip but it was a weekend where lots of kids were taking bus to go to schools ski slope!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We visited all three last February (kid attended a camp at one). Liked Bowdoin a lot and Bates seemed ok but neither of us liked Colby much. It was winter and cold but Colby seemed more isolated and we did not love the architecture. But your kid might so worth a visit. Lovely gym at Colby.

We also visited Middlebury. I did not go in that trip but it was a weekend where lots of kids were taking bus to go to schools ski slope!!!

Colby’s a bit bleak at the height of winter, but if you can get through that - the rest of the year is pretty good. Just one comment on ED at any of these schools - the numbers are high because that’s when all the recruited athletes have to apply.

[Anonymous]

Any one with a kid at Bowdoin now that can share about their experiences? Looking for current first and second year students. And how well would a mixed race student fit in?

[Anonymous]

We currently have a sophomore at Bowdoin. Not a single bad thing to say about the place. DD has gotten every class she wanted so far (one key advantage of SLACs), and has liked or loved every one of them. Academics are rigorous and expectations are high. Small classes with lots of personal interaction with professors even for the shyer students. Most of DD's friends are URMs or foreign students and she says in general student body is well integrated socially with no clear-cut cliques (though with some exception for athletes).

All sorts of personal, academic, and career support is available for the students. Community host program is wonderful, matches students up with families in and around Brunswick who take them on outings, help with transportation, invite them for cookies during stressful exam periods, etc. Plenty of activities and student organizations to choose from, with a great outings club.

Campus is small but surrounding setting is very picturesque. Brunswick is a great town, with most of what you might need and very convenient transportation (including an Amtrak station).

FYI, our DD came from a large suburban high school, was not a recruited athlete or anything like that. Just a very good student with unique EC's.

[Anonymous]

Well, this year if you weren’t a recruited athlete or legacy or something, Bowdoin was just about impossible to get into. 13% of ed applicants accepted! Probably many of which were superstars by most definitions….lower ed admit rate than brown.