What are your favorite CTCLs (and similar) and why?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:St Mary’s college is in a financial crisis.

1) Which one, CA (a CTCL) or the one in MD?

2) How do you know?

in Maryland. They are cutting departments and majors. Know because it seems obvious and from people who are in higher Ed.

Did you know they’re also adding a neuroscience and a marine science major?

Yes I did.

They added programs in a desperate attempt to save the school which has had declining enrollment for the last 15 years or so. Not a good choice for a humanities focused student as they have cut art history and religious studies and are considering philosophy next.

And yet they keep going up in the USN&WR rankings (among others). Imagine that.

I’m glad your kid likes it but we don’t want to risk it. Our kid wants a liberal arts school.

[Anonymous]

SMCM is a liberal arts school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SMCM is a liberal arts school.

It was but is moving away from that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SMCM is a liberal arts school.

It was but is moving away from that.

NP here. My DD just graduated from SMCM this year so I think I have a pretty good understanding of the school. The PP who has an axe to grind with SMCM is confused. The school has cut out a couple of majors that had very, very few students. Most classes in those subjects will still be offered. The school has made so many gains in the time that my DD attended: new buildings, new majors, new stadium, new sports... Literally the best undergraduate professor (winner of the nationwide Robert Foster Cherry award for great teaching), moving up in the rankings, increase in applications and attendance every year. I almost don't want to promote the school because one of the things my DD loved about it was that it was so under the radar and didn't attract the hyper competitive types. Anyone who is considering CTCL schools will find that SMCM is is a really smart choice for the quality of education for the public school price. My DD considered a bunch of CTCL schools when she was applying but she's glad she chose SMCM and really loved her time there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wooster, Kalamazoo, and Lawrence are the ones that have impressed my DC who has interests in both arts and sciences. Wooster is a bit remote though and Kalamazoo was esp. attractive because it was in a small city and near a large university (Western Michigan University) so felt more lively while still having a very traditional liberal arts campus. DC especially looked at PhD rates for areas of interest as that's the track she wants (and also looked at med school admits because she may be interested in that path too). Denison and Juniata were on the list too but didn't appeal as much. Denison felt too "new" and Juniata too remote (DC's opinions not mine).

???

Denison was founded in 1831.

https://denison.edu/campus/about/our-history

Like I said, it was DC's reaction not mine, but I think the reactions were in response to buildings she went to, the style, the marketing--she billed it as "new" feeling--meaning I think they weren't all about their traditions and the like. Had a more corporate feeling style of marketing.

DP. We got the exact same vibe when we visited. We asked about traditions (which are typical for LACs) and the tour guide couldn't come up with anything and we also felt the admissions presentation was very corporate. This obviously appeals to people, but my kid was looking for a more traditional LAC feeling, and she took it off her list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SMCM is a liberal arts school.

It was but is moving away from that.

NP here. My DD just graduated from SMCM this year so I think I have a pretty good understanding of the school. The PP who has an axe to grind with SMCM is confused. The school has cut out a couple of majors that had very, very few students. Most classes in those subjects will still be offered. The school has made so many gains in the time that my DD attended: new buildings, new majors, new stadium, new sports... Literally the best undergraduate professor (winner of the nationwide Robert Foster Cherry award for great teaching), moving up in the rankings, increase in applications and attendance every year. I almost don't want to promote the school because one of the things my DD loved about it was that it was so under the radar and didn't attract the hyper competitive types. Anyone who is considering CTCL schools will find that SMCM is is a really smart choice for the quality of education for the public school price. My DD considered a bunch of CTCL schools when she was applying but she's glad she chose SMCM and really loved her time there.

My child wants to study the areas that St. Mary’s has cut or proposed to cut. He was very excited about St. Mary’s until he found out. His family members are professors at other colleges and warned him and told him and us not to consider it. We are actually really disappointed.

[Anonymous]

Declining enrollment at St Mary’s of MD. Not increasing. https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2021/03/18/st-marys-aims-to-boost-enrollment-shift-curriculum.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SMCM is a liberal arts school.

It was but is moving away from that.

NP here. My DD just graduated from SMCM this year so I think I have a pretty good understanding of the school. The PP who has an axe to grind with SMCM is confused. The school has cut out a couple of majors that had very, very few students. Most classes in those subjects will still be offered. The school has made so many gains in the time that my DD attended: new buildings, new majors, new stadium, new sports... Literally the best undergraduate professor (winner of the nationwide Robert Foster Cherry award for great teaching), moving up in the rankings, increase in applications and attendance every year. I almost don't want to promote the school because one of the things my DD loved about it was that it was so under the radar and didn't attract the hyper competitive types. Anyone who is considering CTCL schools will find that SMCM is is a really smart choice for the quality of education for the public school price. My DD considered a bunch of CTCL schools when she was applying but she's glad she chose SMCM and really loved her time there.

My DC came very close to attending SMCM. It had just about everything she was looking for. In the end, she choose a CTCL, but every single person we ever met from St. Mary's loved the place. That says a lot.

[Anonymous]

Puget Sound appears to be a beautiful college with friendly students and faculty in a surprisingly nice small city (Tacoma), fairly close to a great city (Seattle) but also close to Mt. Rainier and other very scenic places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SMCM is a liberal arts school.

It was but is moving away from that.

NP here. My DD just graduated from SMCM this year so I think I have a pretty good understanding of the school. The PP who has an axe to grind with SMCM is confused. The school has cut out a couple of majors that had very, very few students. Most classes in those subjects will still be offered. The school has made so many gains in the time that my DD attended: new buildings, new majors, new stadium, new sports... Literally the best undergraduate professor (winner of the nationwide Robert Foster Cherry award for great teaching), moving up in the rankings, increase in applications and attendance every year. I almost don't want to promote the school because one of the things my DD loved about it was that it was so under the radar and didn't attract the hyper competitive types. Anyone who is considering CTCL schools will find that SMCM is is a really smart choice for the quality of education for the public school price. My DD considered a bunch of CTCL schools when she was applying but she's glad she chose SMCM and really loved her time there.

My child wants to study the areas that St. Mary’s has cut or proposed to cut. He was very excited about St. Mary’s until he found out. His family members are professors at other colleges and warned him and told him and us not to consider it. We are actually really disappointed.

If there were actually very few students in the majors they cut that he was interested in, then it's good for him to know they were not strong programs and so SMCM wasn't the right place for him. Would have been worse for him to pick it based on those majors and then show up and find out how weak they are. This is a really important consideration when evaluating small colleges.

[Anonymous]

My favorite CTCL school is none of the above. They’re all second tier or worse except for Reed and maybe Whitman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My favorite CTCL school is none of the above. They’re all second tier or worse except for Reed and maybe Whitman.

Denison, Bard, St Olaf, and Lawrence are all solid schools. Probably others as well.

[Anonymous]

If you're into the arts and music and don't want to spend your weekends in Oberlin, Ohio or Red Hook, New York (near Bard), you may really like Lawrence. Appleton is a nice small city. Academics are serious there. I've heard similar about St. Olaf, Wooster, Kalamazoo and Beloit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're into the arts and music and don't want to spend your weekends in Oberlin, Ohio or Red Hook, New York (near Bard), you may really like Lawrence. Appleton is a nice small city. Academics are serious there. I've heard similar about St. Olaf, Wooster, Kalamazoo and Beloit.

+1 on this list

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My favorite CTCL school is none of the above. They’re all second tier or worse except for Reed and maybe Whitman.

Good for you. There are, however, a range of students who for academic, financial, and other reasons are seeking LAC options. Fortunately there are schools for them.