What happened to Colby?

[Anonymous]

Same as PP! Colby was very impressive when we visited. Did not expect to like it as much as we did. Seemed great, although long winters!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Colby. But I do think Colby is ranked where it “should” be now - did anyone ever think Bates and Colby were any different academically? I respect Bates more for not having chased rankings and its long standing commitment to test optional which does lower its “average” stats but adds many other positives to its student body.

Colby is one of the few colleges I think is now reaping what it sowed (with its own zealous chasing of usnwr rank over the past 10ish years).

- not a Colby or Bates parent

Many parents do not want their kids to go to Bates because it is more woke.

Current DC at Bates. Definitely not more woke than other area schools. Stop relying on DCUM for your information.

Current DC at Colby (who also was accepted at Bates, Hamilton, Middlebury, etc.). There is definitely a different vibe at the two schools! They're both great, but a student would likely have a preference of one over the other.

Could you briefly describe these different vibes?

I've seen several times groupings of similar college vibes (if you like X, then you would probably like Y), that include: Dartmouth, Williams, Bowdoin, Colby, on the one hand; Brown, Bates, Vassar, Wesleyan, on the other. I think Amherst has maybe moved from the first category to the second in very recent years. Middlebury historically has been in the first category, but might be straddling the two now. But to be clear, there are probably more similarities among all of these colleges than differences.

My kid applied to two in the first category and three in the second!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Colby. But I do think Colby is ranked where it “should” be now - did anyone ever think Bates and Colby were any different academically? I respect Bates more for not having chased rankings and its long standing commitment to test optional which does lower its “average” stats but adds many other positives to its student body.

Colby is one of the few colleges I think is now reaping what it sowed (with its own zealous chasing of usnwr rank over the past 10ish years).

- not a Colby or Bates parent

Many parents do not want their kids to go to Bates because it is more woke.

Current DC at Bates. Definitely not more woke than other area schools. Stop relying on DCUM for your information.

Current DC at Colby (who also was accepted at Bates, Hamilton, Middlebury, etc.). There is definitely a different vibe at the two schools! They're both great, but a student would likely have a preference of one over the other.

Could you briefly describe these different vibes?

I have a kid who visited and was accepted to both and ended up at Bowdoin and we definitely noticed a different vibe between Bates and Colby. Bates was a little more crunchy and had a more urban setting. Colby seemed to be more remote and more sporty. My kid liked Colby a lot but I remember also being impressed by Bates' senior thesis. I thought it was particularly good for students planning to go to grad school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like Colby. But I do think Colby is ranked where it “should” be now - did anyone ever think Bates and Colby were any different academically? I respect Bates more for not having chased rankings and its long standing commitment to test optional which does lower its “average” stats but adds many other positives to its student body.

Colby is one of the few colleges I think is now reaping what it sowed (with its own zealous chasing of usnwr rank over the past 10ish years).

- not a Colby or Bates parent

Many parents do not want their kids to go to Bates because it is more woke.

Current DC at Bates. Definitely not more woke than other area schools. Stop relying on DCUM for your information.

Current DC at Colby (who also was accepted at Bates, Hamilton, Middlebury, etc.). There is definitely a different vibe at the two schools! They're both great, but a student would likely have a preference of one over the other.

Could you briefly describe these different vibes?

I've seen several times groupings of similar college vibes (if you like X, then you would probably like Y), that include: Dartmouth, Williams, Bowdoin, Colby, on the one hand; Brown, Bates, Vassar, Wesleyan, on the other. I think Amherst has maybe moved from the first category to the second in very recent years. Middlebury historically has been in the first category, but might be straddling the two now. But to be clear, there are probably more similarities among all of these colleges than differences.

I agree with these groupings. DC chose Colby over the other NESCACs in part because he was just tired of the constant preaching at his liberal private college. He actually is liberal and wants to be a public defense lawyer, but didn't want to be in the middle of more culture wars at college. Colby is of course of a liberal bent, but it's background noise compared to Bates, Wesleyan, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Same as PP! Colby was very impressive when we visited. Did not expect to like it as much as we did. Seemed great, although long winters!

DC is a sophomore at Colby. New facilities (athletic and arts) aside, they must be doing something right. He loves it SO much.

He has so many friends and really close relationships with his advisors (double major so two of them) and his professors couldn't be more accessible. I personally wouldn't want to live someplace so cold and remote. But I asked recently what he loves most about Colby and he said winter.

[Anonymous]

I visited with DC, and we both loved it. Ultimately, DC used her ED1 on Grinnell and went there, but I'd have been equally thrilled with Colby. It's a beautiful school with outstanding facilities. The "Jan Plan" is a nice bonus in terms of academic enrichment. I feel Colby should be much higher ranked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I visited with DC, and we both loved it. Ultimately, DC used her ED1 on Grinnell and went there, but I'd have been equally thrilled with Colby. It's a beautiful school with outstanding facilities. The "Jan Plan" is a nice bonus in terms of academic enrichment. I feel Colby should be much higher ranked.

Jan plan provides a nice respite from the Maine winter and offers students who want to study abroad a sneak peak for a full semester commitment.

For those students who choose to stay on campus during Jan plan, the offerings seem really interesting. You can learn to fly a plane! https://news.colby.edu/story/dare-skyward-helps-colby-students-learn-to-fly/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I visited with DC, and we both loved it. Ultimately, DC used her ED1 on Grinnell and went there, but I'd have been equally thrilled with Colby. It's a beautiful school with outstanding facilities. The "Jan Plan" is a nice bonus in terms of academic enrichment. I feel Colby should be much higher ranked.

That's interesting. We visited Colby, and I felt that it was very different than Grinnell (at least from what I read about Grinnell).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I visited with DC, and we both loved it. Ultimately, DC used her ED1 on Grinnell and went there, but I'd have been equally thrilled with Colby. It's a beautiful school with outstanding facilities. The "Jan Plan" is a nice bonus in terms of academic enrichment. I feel Colby should be much higher ranked.

That's interesting. We visited Colby, and I felt that it was very different than Grinnell (at least from what I read about Grinnell).

Perhaps Colby is getting more diverse, while Grinnell is attracting more wealthy, preppy kids from both coasts?

[Anonymous]

Which of the Maine LACs is the least woke?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which of the Maine LACs is the least woke?

Probably Colby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which of the Maine LACs is the least woke?

Probably Colby.

+1

[Anonymous]

Current Colby parent here. Another way to illustrate vibe difference between Bates and Colby is Bates calls its career development center “ the Center for Purposeful Learning.” Colby calls it “DavisConnects.” Our son grew up with liberal values starting in preschool but is not a fire breathing dragon about it. He finds many Colby kids to be like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Compared to the other NESCACS, Colby was toward the bottom.

Each of these schools has something to offer. My kid loved Bowdoin, but a friend of his just kept trying to convince him that there was more to like at Colby. My son is a freshman now at Bowdoin and his friend got in at Colby. Both seem happy so far… to each his own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I visited with DC, and we both loved it. Ultimately, DC used her ED1 on Grinnell and went there, but I'd have been equally thrilled with Colby. It's a beautiful school with outstanding facilities. The "Jan Plan" is a nice bonus in terms of academic enrichment. I feel Colby should be much higher ranked.

That's interesting. We visited Colby, and I felt that it was very different than Grinnell (at least from what I read about Grinnell).

Perhaps Colby is getting more diverse, while Grinnell is attracting more wealthy, preppy kids from both coasts?

True. Also, wealthy internationals.

And both are playing free apps game to lower their acceptance rate.