Less popular Hidden Gems

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a hugely entertaining thread - hearing that Claremont McKenna and Carleton are hidden gems is hilarious. Almost as funny as the person that suggested more folks would hire from Alabama than one of the most selective colleges in the country. Maybe if you are hiring for Walmart…

Meh. I’d never heard of Claremont McKenna. So far away. Not everyone knows the names of lots of colleges.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Claremont McKenna. Super underrated here, but top notch academics, great quality of life, internships/opportunities abound, alumni network + top outcomes.

Not a hidden gem. It’s a very elite college. You people know nothing!

It is not well-known at all. Even in SoCal, it's not known.

Just stop. It’s ranked 8th in Us News. It’s extremely selective. It’s not “hidden” in any way, shape or form.

Almost no one pays attention to US News for LAC rankings outside of maybe the top 3 or 5 schools. Other schools are heavily regional in reputation. In DC, CMC is NOT known even by the highly educated. Yes it is a hidden gem. Selectivity numbers don't mean much when you only get ~6000 applicants from an international applicant pool of several million a year.

Yes, we are still laughing at you. Even my lowly little Midwest mind knew of the Claremont colleges back in the 1990s and all of them are well known across the land now with CMC being one of the best knows out of the group. It is just tiny.

This is funny.

I’m highly educated and never had heard of CMC until coming to this board.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Claremont McKenna. Super underrated here, but top notch academics, great quality of life, internships/opportunities abound, alumni network + top outcomes.

Not a hidden gem. It’s a very elite college. You people know nothing!

It is not well-known at all. Even in SoCal, it's not known.

Just stop. It’s ranked 8th in Us News. It’s extremely selective. It’s not “hidden” in any way, shape or form.

Almost no one pays attention to US News for LAC rankings outside of maybe the top 3 or 5 schools. Other schools are heavily regional in reputation. In DC, CMC is NOT known even by the highly educated. Yes it is a hidden gem. Selectivity numbers don't mean much when you only get ~6000 applicants from an international applicant pool of several million a year.

That is false. Anyone looking knows it is part of the consortium with Pomona, Pitzer, harvey Mudd and Scripps.

It is an elite school to anyone who knows elite schools. Not under the radar or underranked.

Haha. Not me. I had never heard of Pitzer either. I only know of Pomona because of the road named after it in Bethesda. 🤣

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Claremont McKenna. Super underrated here, but top notch academics, great quality of life, internships/opportunities abound, alumni network + top outcomes.

Not a hidden gem. It’s a very elite college. You people know nothing!

It is not well-known at all. Even in SoCal, it's not known.

Just stop. It’s ranked 8th in Us News. It’s extremely selective. It’s not “hidden” in any way, shape or form.

Almost no one pays attention to US News for LAC rankings outside of maybe the top 3 or 5 schools. Other schools are heavily regional in reputation. In DC, CMC is NOT known even by the highly educated. Yes it is a hidden gem. Selectivity numbers don't mean much when you only get ~6000 applicants from an international applicant pool of several million a year.

Yes, we are still laughing at you. Even my lowly little Midwest mind knew of the Claremont colleges back in the 1990s and all of them are well known across the land now with CMC being one of the best knows out of the group. It is just tiny.

This is funny.

I’m highly educated and never had heard of CMC until coming to this board.

Funny how there are lots of things you don't know about until you read about them.

There isn't a college guidebook on the planet that doesn't mention it, and mention it as top notch.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone said Rollins College in Florida? https://www.rollins.edu/

My DC had it as one of their final two options. The campus is the most beautiful campus I have ever been on. The surrounding town is adorable, and there are many things to do. Everyone I spoke to who has students there raved about it, as did the alumni. Their admitted students' day was not quite as robust as some of the others we attended. Still, students described their classes as challenging (in a positive way) and their experiences with professors as nurturing. I think the fact that it is so beautiful scares parents away from it (“How can you study on a campus this beautiful?”). I wish my DC had picked it, but ultimately they decided they wanted to be closer to home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are people only posting LACs?

Because for much of the country all LACs are hidden gems. They just are not well know to the general population. My public high school had zero applicants to these colleges, and almost no one had even heard of the small New England schools, let alone the more obscure ones in Minnesota or Iowa or Maine (which might as well have been on different planets). Where I came from almost everyone went to school in state, so not a lot of people looked at, talked about, or encouraged applications anywhere else, even to the top students. Most Americans still will go to a school they can easily get to by car; this was even more true of prior generations (those who are now the parents and grandparents helping kids navigate the process) because flying was a huge luxury. My first flight was to my study abroad program in college, which back then was also a hug luxury that very few kids were able to do (but for a scholarship, I wouldn't have either, and even then my parents had to take a loan to pay for the flights).

So most Americans have never heard of these small, expensive, private colleges. They hope to get their kids to the main campus of the state flagship. We are wealthier than our parents by 100-fold, and so now that our kids have more options, we are learning about a bunch of new schools that could not have been in my universe before. DH knew about some of them because he comes from a family of professors, but they certainly couldn't afford those schools either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a hugely entertaining thread - hearing that Claremont McKenna and Carleton are hidden gems is hilarious. Almost as funny as the person that suggested more folks would hire from Alabama than one of the most selective colleges in the country. Maybe if you are hiring for Walmart…

Your privilege is oozing out of your pores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If I was the next Governor of MD, I'd focus on trying to make St Mary's College tuition-free in order to lure the state's top students. It's already an honors college, but I think the location does a big disservice to its desirability. Not a lot of 18 year-olds want to go to school at a state university in the middle of rural farmland on the Chesapeake. If the school was free, I think the school would get a lot of looks from students and families.

That school should be similar in caliber and prestige to William & Mary. It's has the capability to get there.

My DD is a freshman there. I don’t think you need to make tuition free to lure top students. Being generous with merit aid should be enough, and is one reason DD is there.

The location is a plus for her. She didn’t want a big city but it’s not as rural as you think. Pax River Naval Air Station is about 10 minutes away and there are some shopping centers and places to eat within a 10 mile radius. Freshmen can have cars on campus, so that makes getting around easier. Also, it’s on the St. Mary’s River, not the Chesapeake.

Our DD likes it and describes it as a “small STEM school”, and less of a classical liberal arts college, which is fine for her since she’s a biochem major.

DP

That sounds wonderful! And I agree that they don’t need to make it tuition free. If they want to attract top students, offer more merit aid. That would make a difference.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:NP-My kid is finishing up 4 years there.

The prison has ZERO impact on students. Most activities are on campus. In fact, when you go into town, you don't see or pass it at all (downtown is in the opposite direction). Same when I drive there from this area.

I think I have seen it twice in her four years, when we had to go to Walmart (you drive by it).

Baltimore has 20 jails and prisons. You pass one (where executions take place) every time you take the shuttle from the Homewood Campus to the Medical Campus. It does not prevent too many people from considering Johns Hopkins.

Baltimore does not have 20 jails and prisons. And you most definitely don't pass one where executions take place because Maryland abolished the death penalty in 2013.

Well the government thinks there are 20 jails/prisons there:

https://www.countyoffice.org/md-baltimore-city-jails-prisons/

When I went there, the bus from Homewood to the medical campus went through the prison grounds (on a street that bisects it) everyday. And I remember seeing death penalty protestors outside the day that an execution was scheduled.

So, my execution detail was dated, but my point that good schools can exist in cities with prisons/jails still stands.

That jail was closed by Hogan during his first term.

Perhaps you should start a thread or write a book about the history of Baltimore.

You are, however, being quite dense about the PP's point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Montclair State. New Jersey public university. They grant in-state tuition to qualifying out-of-state students, so it's worth a look for local DMV students who might be happy at a mid-tier regional public. Definitely not a "top" school by any means -- but a very good value for certain majors, e.g. education & nursing.

I'd especially consider it for students who are eager to break into NYC's theater or entertainment industries. Those aren't degrees I would pay a lot for: I'd put more stock in industry experience, so proximity to NYC is great. (It's a 30-minute train ride.) Faculty are well connected bc Montclair is basically a tony NYC suburb and many Broadway and tv execs live there (Stephen Colbert is the famous example) -- and have connected with the school. Anyway the College of the Arts is decent enough that a go-getter will have no trouble finding great NYC internships.

Also good for comms: Sony built their brand-new communications building, which is better than anything we have in the DMV.

def a "budget" option (full freight OOS is like 20k)

Great points!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:NP-My kid is finishing up 4 years there.

The prison has ZERO impact on students. Most activities are on campus. In fact, when you go into town, you don't see or pass it at all (downtown is in the opposite direction). Same when I drive there from this area.

I think I have seen it twice in her four years, when we had to go to Walmart (you drive by it).

Baltimore has 20 jails and prisons. You pass one (where executions take place) every time you take the shuttle from the Homewood Campus to the Medical Campus. It does not prevent too many people from considering Johns Hopkins.

Baltimore does not have 20 jails and prisons. And you most definitely don't pass one where executions take place because Maryland abolished the death penalty in 2013.

Well the government thinks there are 20 jails/prisons there:

https://www.countyoffice.org/md-baltimore-city-jails-prisons/

When I went there, the bus from Homewood to the medical campus went through the prison grounds (on a street that bisects it) everyday. And I remember seeing death penalty protestors outside the day that an execution was scheduled.

So, my execution detail was dated, but my point that good schools can exist in cities with prisons/jails still stands.

That jail was closed by Hogan during his first term.

Perhaps you should start a thread or write a book about the history of Baltimore.

You are, however, being quite dense about the PP's point.

There’s no substance to pp’s point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Another vote for Kalamazoo College - a school with fabulous faculty, very loyal
Alums, strong social justice programs - all in a great town!

Also, in case you are looking for hidden gems, I can report that Kalamazoo - which looked really impressive and has an incredibly interesting curriculum/career/personal development plan that dates back decades that looks a lot like most other similar schools are only now trying to do -- gives a *lot* of merit aid, even to students who don't have the strongest stats. Best merit aid of all the similarly situated colleges we applied to (think over $40K).It was so incredibly reasonably priced with merit aid for my DC that it was hard to turn down. Looked very diverse, inclusive, interesting, nice small city with good internships, strong study abroad, etc.

Shout out to the Hornets! Kalamazoo is also an interesting, cute small city - not many still have a downtown these days. There is a university in Kalamazoo - Western Michigan - as well as a large community college so there's a bit more "college town" infrastructure than there would be in a city with only a LAC.

DC got a large merit offer, though ended up turning down for their ED. DC was thrilled to have gotten in soon after submitting EA application and said would probably have gone if not for getting into another Midwestern LAC.

+1 DC got into to their reach T20 school ED and almost wanted to rescind the offer because they liked Kalamazoo so much (and it would save about 30k a year after merit aid!). They really got excited about all the international travel, apprenticeships, internships, community programs, close relationships with profs etc.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Claremont McKenna. Super underrated here, but top notch academics, great quality of life, internships/opportunities abound, alumni network + top outcomes.

Not a hidden gem. It’s a very elite college. You people know nothing!

It is not well-known at all. Even in SoCal, it's not known.

Just stop. It’s ranked 8th in Us News. It’s extremely selective. It’s not “hidden” in any way, shape or form.

Almost no one pays attention to US News for LAC rankings outside of maybe the top 3 or 5 schools. Other schools are heavily regional in reputation. In DC, CMC is NOT known even by the highly educated. Yes it is a hidden gem. Selectivity numbers don't mean much when you only get ~6000 applicants from an international applicant pool of several million a year.

Yes, we are still laughing at you. Even my lowly little Midwest mind knew of the Claremont colleges back in the 1990s and all of them are well known across the land now with CMC being one of the best knows out of the group. It is just tiny.

This is funny.

I’m highly educated and never had heard of CMC until coming to this board.

Funny how there are lots of things you don't know about until you read about them.

There isn't a college guidebook on the planet that doesn't mention it, and mention it as top notch.

Something can be top notch and yet unknown to many people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a hugely entertaining thread - hearing that Claremont McKenna and Carleton are hidden gems is hilarious. Almost as funny as the person that suggested more folks would hire from Alabama than one of the most selective colleges in the country. Maybe if you are hiring for Walmart…

There are plenty o people who work at walmart who make a lot more than you ever will. they aren't all cashiers but glad to see you are showing your true colors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Claremont McKenna. Super underrated here, but top notch academics, great quality of life, internships/opportunities abound, alumni network + top outcomes.

Not a hidden gem. It’s a very elite college. You people know nothing!

It is not well-known at all. Even in SoCal, it's not known.

Just stop. It’s ranked 8th in Us News. It’s extremely selective. It’s not “hidden” in any way, shape or form.

Almost no one pays attention to US News for LAC rankings outside of maybe the top 3 or 5 schools. Other schools are heavily regional in reputation. In DC, CMC is NOT known even by the highly educated. Yes it is a hidden gem. Selectivity numbers don't mean much when you only get ~6000 applicants from an international applicant pool of several million a year.

Yes, we are still laughing at you. Even my lowly little Midwest mind knew of the Claremont colleges back in the 1990s and all of them are well known across the land now with CMC being one of the best knows out of the group. It is just tiny.

This is funny.

I’m highly educated and never had heard of CMC until coming to this board.

What this tells me is that while you may be highly educated, your parents and/or grandparents almost most certainly were not. Or if they did have advanced degrees, they attended state schools or private regional schools and earned practical type degrees like accounting or engineering or nursing.

It's not a judgment on you, but not having heard of these schools is not an indicator of education, but rather of social class. And I can also guarantee that your kids will know these schools by the time they apply to colleges.