Who is WASP (Williams, Amherst, Swat, Pomona) for?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“WASP” has never been heard of. What is that?

Yeah, why these four and not another set of four or a combination of a few of these with others? And why P which is all the way on the west coast whereas the 'WAS' are east and even that S is not in New England. Explanation anyone??

They’re the top 4 lacs. It’s not really anything crazy.

They aren’t. They are among a group of schools which are indistinguishable by anything except the size of their endowments and the rankings over the last 40 years have fallen almost directly in line with size of endowment. They are all superior none moreso than the others.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I have a kid at WASP and a kid at HYP. There's no doubt that from bragging to friends, HYP is the mic drop. And my kid LOVES it. But he's also a very outgoing person who makes things happen. Will apply to 20 internships, will jump up to make a speech, will cold call professors he doesnt have a class with etc. He does just fine in a school that requires a bit of aggression.

My kid at WASP has a lot more than comes to him. Professors who will contact him and say, why not apply to xyz .. I can make an introduction. He's taken music lessons in his free time (offered for free). He has more time in some ways and also freer in his choices to try the newspaper or do stand up. You dont have to be good at this one thing to try it there, you can try things for the first time.

IOW, I have two kids who found their fit. They offer different things. Outcomes will be what you make of your time

These are just two kids with different personalities. Premeds, pre law, math/cs students at LACs are no less aggressive

+1, lacking ambition is a character flaw, not a facet of an institution.

Williams outcomes are as good as HYP

maybe 20-30 years ago, not today

signed,
Parent of ‘24 Williams grad (econ major)

Then your child is underperforming, it happens. Typical top SLAC grad does every bit as well as Ivy grads.

I like LACs but grads of research universities do make more.

No they don’t. Averages are skewed higher because of engineering students. Econ for Econ, Bio for bio it’s just not true.

Claremont McKenna is the lac with grads that make the most in economics and it’s 5th while having to essentially cheat by having a majority of the college major in economics and having a specialty and resources nearly 100% dedicated to economics.

LAC grads fair worse.

Not true but if it somehow makes you feel better, sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“WASP” has never been heard of. What is that?

Yeah, why these four and not another set of four or a combination of a few of these with others? And why P which is all the way on the west coast whereas the 'WAS' are east and even that S is not in New England. Explanation anyone??

They’re the top 4 lacs. It’s not really anything crazy.

They aren’t. They are among a group of schools which are indistinguishable by anything except the size of their endowments and the rankings over the last 40 years have fallen almost directly in line with size of endowment. They are all superior none moreso than the others.

Okay? That’s all schools identified with one another. Generally they tend to represent the most well known, most prestigious, and most resourced liberal arts colleges falling along endowment, outcomes, and applications. Unsure of why this must be explained.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid at WASP and a kid at HYP. There's no doubt that from bragging to friends, HYP is the mic drop. And my kid LOVES it. But he's also a very outgoing person who makes things happen. Will apply to 20 internships, will jump up to make a speech, will cold call professors he doesnt have a class with etc. He does just fine in a school that requires a bit of aggression.

My kid at WASP has a lot more than comes to him. Professors who will contact him and say, why not apply to xyz .. I can make an introduction. He's taken music lessons in his free time (offered for free). He has more time in some ways and also freer in his choices to try the newspaper or do stand up. You dont have to be good at this one thing to try it there, you can try things for the first time.

IOW, I have two kids who found their fit. They offer different things. Outcomes will be what you make of your time

These are just two kids with different personalities. Premeds, pre law, math/cs students at LACs are no less aggressive

+1, lacking ambition is a character flaw, not a facet of an institution.

Williams outcomes are as good as HYP

maybe 20-30 years ago, not today

signed,
Parent of ‘24 Williams grad (econ major)

Then your child is underperforming, it happens. Typical top SLAC grad does every bit as well as Ivy grads.

I like LACs but grads of research universities do make more.

No they don’t. Averages are skewed higher because of engineering students. Econ for Econ, Bio for bio it’s just not true.

Claremont McKenna is the lac with grads that make the most in economics and it’s 5th while having to essentially cheat by having a majority of the college major in economics and having a specialty and resources nearly 100% dedicated to economics.

LAC grads fair worse.

Not true but if it somehow makes you feel better, sure.

Then why are the top 4 institutions with the highest salary for all grads with Econ degrees all….RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES. It’s almost like you just scream lies when upset.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“WASP” has never been heard of. What is that?

Yeah, why these four and not another set of four or a combination of a few of these with others? And why P which is all the way on the west coast whereas the 'WAS' are east and even that S is not in New England. Explanation anyone??

Endowment size, no other reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“WASP” has never been heard of. What is that?

Yeah, why these four and not another set of four or a combination of a few of these with others? And why P which is all the way on the west coast whereas the 'WAS' are east and even that S is not in New England. Explanation anyone??

Never heard of HYPSM?

+1, everyone pretends to be ignorant here and it wastes time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“WASP” has never been heard of. What is that?

Yeah, why these four and not another set of four or a combination of a few of these with others? And why P which is all the way on the west coast whereas the 'WAS' are east and even that S is not in New England. Explanation anyone??

Endowment size, no other reason.

So they’re able to offer more to their students? Seems like a pretty valid reason to put them together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“WASP” has never been heard of. What is that?

Yeah, why these four and not another set of four or a combination of a few of these with others? And why P which is all the way on the west coast whereas the 'WAS' are east and even that S is not in New England. Explanation anyone??

Endowment size, no other reason.

So they’re able to offer more to their students? Seems like a pretty valid reason to put them together.

Quite the opposite. They hoard their money. Look at institutions like Wesleyan which offer a lot more academic centers, departments, opportunities, with a lot less money. A lot of these schools' funds are going to excessive financial aid and administrative desires over the college itself.

[Anonymous]

too small to be that relevant to most students TBH.

they get thousands of applications, but the mid-size and big universities get tens and hundreds of thousands of applications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“WASP” has never been heard of. What is that?

Yeah, why these four and not another set of four or a combination of a few of these with others? And why P which is all the way on the west coast whereas the 'WAS' are east and even that S is not in New England. Explanation anyone??

Endowment size, no other reason.

So they’re able to offer more to their students? Seems like a pretty valid reason to put them together.

Once you cross a certain threshold it isn’t a differentiating metric in any meaningful way.

[Anonymous]

Among the small schools, West Point and Annapolis tend to get the strongest individuals with the best outcomes. Air Force is also doing really well these days.

Williams and Swarthmore also get great students - just not as fit. But some bright students really want the liberal arts college experience. I'd add Bowdoin here.

No one knows what Amherst is up to these days. And the great thing about Pomona is the consortium. Admissions for randos from the burbs are nearly impossible for Pomona. Tiny school in California. But you can apply to Pitzer, Scripps, and CMC and get all the Pomona classes you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:too small to be that relevant to most students TBH.

they get thousands of applications, but the mid-size and big universities get tens and hundreds of thousands of applications.

Okay? You didn’t answer the question. The best steak restaurant isn’t relevant to vegans, but there are still people who go to steak restaurants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Among the small schools, West Point and Annapolis tend to get the strongest individuals with the best outcomes. Air Force is also doing really well these days.

Williams and Swarthmore also get great students - just not as fit. But some bright students really want the liberal arts college experience. I'd add Bowdoin here.

No one knows what Amherst is up to these days. And the great thing about Pomona is the consortium. Admissions for randos from the burbs are nearly impossible for Pomona. Tiny school in California. But you can apply to Pitzer, Scripps, and CMC and get all the Pomona classes you want.

If you’re worried about outcomes, CMC is better than all the other ones you mentioned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“WASP” has never been heard of. What is that?

Yeah, why these four and not another set of four or a combination of a few of these with others? And why P which is all the way on the west coast whereas the 'WAS' are east and even that S is not in New England. Explanation anyone??

Endowment size, no other reason.

So they’re able to offer more to their students? Seems like a pretty valid reason to put them together.

Quite the opposite. They hoard their money. Look at institutions like Wesleyan which offer a lot more academic centers, departments, opportunities, with a lot less money. A lot of these schools' funds are going to excessive financial aid and administrative desires over the college itself.

"excessive financial aid" is a good thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williams

Swarthmore
Pros: Best LAC for graduate school admissions, beautiful, manicured campus, Access to Philly with Train station on campus, Cash Free Campus, Engineering program
Cons: Worst place to go if Pre-Professional, Academics over everything with a toxic relationship to "rigor," Has a dying/dead Consortium, Food is allegedly inedible, no social scene/party life after greek life disbanded-which had a really negative culture of SA

Can you say more about the "dying/dead consortium"? All three of the colleges (Swarthmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr) talked up the consortium when we visited. My DD is planning to apply early to one of the other LACs in the consortium, and I think being able to cross-register for courses in any of the three schools is appealing for her.

Of course. DC is lucky to be very close to students at Swarthmore and Haverford and spent the night at both hanging with old high school friends. Swarthmore students explained that they hardly use the consortium, because its not that convenient and there's little incentive. Meanwhile, Haverford and Bryn Mawr students definitely use the Bi-Co extensively, and I was even able to take their cute little bus over to Bryn Mawr, which was a very short drive. All colleges will talk up their consortiums, but few work very well (Almost none at the level of Pomona's for example).

Agree that the Claremont Consortium is the gold standard. The small, contiguous campuses for classes and exceptional dining options make it accessible and enjoyable.