LACs with the WORST locations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What SLAC doesn’t have the athlete/non-athlete divide?

Maybe less noticeable where athletics don't seem to dominate in the same way? Swarthmore, Grinnell...

I'd add Carleton to the list. They have competitive sports teams, but don't idolize athletes. And the most successful competitive sport is ultimate frisbee so not exactly a football school vibe.

[Anonymous]

It may be your students only opportunity to live in the country since most people in the US live in cities. Per the census.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is something to be said for attending a SAC in a "bad" or more accurately "remote" location. Its different. I went to St. Lawrence and absolutely loved the location. yes Canton is quite depressed, all of update NY is depressed, but driving through the Adirondacks to get there? Loved it. I came from the suburbs outside NYC and this was so different than what I was used to, that it was a very impactful experience. Eye opening actually. Its also so insular that the kids really stick together and create more of a community than you might see in a location that has more "non-college" things to do.

I thought the campus was beautiful but administrators we met/dealt with other than the school president were awful. They treated the parents at the admitted students day like chilren. My kid had appointments to meet some profs in kid's area of interest and kid's 20 something year old advisor told kid as we were walking off no. Profs came looking for kid and ignored her. The president of the college was very gracious and interesting. She wasn't the only admin acting like this. During the hour long parent's luncheon, I walked out to our car to get spouse's medication and was chastised for leaving the building. Kid and I stopped by the swag table where the admins didn't want to actually let people take the free pens etc they had put out. They were rude to people in line waiting for food and started taking away food well before the lunch hour was up and people were still in line. The dog and pony show the parents have to sit through to hear how wonderful the school is was bizarre. It was more like a marketing pitch for new professors. We'd been to several admitted students days by this time and this one was so different. The interactions with the "advisor" my kid had completely shut down kid's interest in the school. It had been one of kid's top schools prior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Easily St. Lawrence. It's in the absolute middle of nowhere with no transportation options. There's no local retail and a run down local economy. It's freezing and windy--as cold as Montreal and colder than Juneau--but not in with pretty mountains.

When we attended the admitted student's day there were only 2 restaurants close to campus - maybe in the entire town. One was do dirty we walked out. We saw no food options off campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Easily St. Lawrence. It's in the absolute middle of nowhere with no transportation options. There's no local retail and a run down local economy. It's freezing and windy--as cold as Montreal and colder than Juneau--but not in with pretty mountains.

When we attended the admitted student's day there were only 2 restaurants close to campus - maybe in the entire town. One was do dirty we walked out. We saw no food options off campus.

That is too bad! As an alum, I love the school. Most of those working in admissions are students or young grads.

And yeah it’s a very depressed economic area. You don’t go there for the fine dining and spas. I hope that my two favorite pizza places are still there! The draw is the nature and even proximity to Canadian cities. It’s just a different place to be.

[Anonymous]

^ yep just checked. I attended thirty years ago and still crave Sergi’s or Josie’s pizza rolls. Mouth still watering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Occidental college. They want you to think t is in LA but it is not

+1. the former president wanted to remarket it as "LA's school" but that's obviously USC and it never went anywhere. Oxy is in an armpit of Los Angeles County nowhere near Los Angeles proper. Look at a map

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Part of the rural NESCAC experience other than say Union is being in an academic summer camp almost - if you don't like it you shouldn't choose it, but to say as to the Maine Schools, Hamilton, Middlebury etc.. one or the other is more rural or colder or remote is kind of silly - if that type of school appeals to you I would look more at the student body, what the kids do for fun, relative size, depth of classes/profs in your major, etc.. since they are all more similar than they are different. I went to Hamilton and loved it and then went to law school in a very urban environment and loved that for me at the time as well

Can you clarify what you mean by an academic summer camp? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Also Union isn't in NESCAC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Part of the rural NESCAC experience other than say Union is being in an academic summer camp almost - if you don't like it you shouldn't choose it, but to say as to the Maine Schools, Hamilton, Middlebury etc.. one or the other is more rural or colder or remote is kind of silly - if that type of school appeals to you I would look more at the student body, what the kids do for fun, relative size, depth of classes/profs in your major, etc.. since they are all more similar than they are different. I went to Hamilton and loved it and then went to law school in a very urban environment and loved that for me at the time as well

Can you clarify what you mean by an academic summer camp? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Also Union isn't in NESCAC

If you like summer camp it's a good thing and if you don't like summer camp it's a bad thing.

Come on people...are the posters on this board such inexperienced innocents that they don't even know if they enjoy city life vs. country life? On if you like to hike, ski, camp, etc....many nescacs will be appealing. If you like urban life, most nescacs are not going to be for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Occidental college. They want you to think t is in LA but it is not

+1. the former president wanted to remarket it as "LA's school" but that's obviously USC and it never went anywhere. Oxy is in an armpit of Los Angeles County nowhere near Los Angeles proper. Look at a map

Why do people just make things up on this site? Occidental College is in fact located within the City of Los Angeles. Which is shaded in blue, on this map:

https://geohub.lacity.org/datasets/lahub::city-boundary/explore?location=34.124022%2C-118.203928%2C13.00

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What SLAC doesn’t have the athlete/non-athlete divide?

Reasonable thought. The problem is that most LACs have fewer than 2,000 students and the athletes make up a significant percentage of the student population. The effect is that the athlete/non-athlete divide makes a small school even smaller which is exacerbated by rural, isolated, cold weather locations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Part of the rural NESCAC experience other than say Union is being in an academic summer camp almost - if you don't like it you shouldn't choose it, but to say as to the Maine Schools, Hamilton, Middlebury etc.. one or the other is more rural or colder or remote is kind of silly - if that type of school appeals to you I would look more at the student body, what the kids do for fun, relative size, depth of classes/profs in your major, etc.. since they are all more similar than they are different. I went to Hamilton and loved it and then went to law school in a very urban environment and loved that for me at the time as well

Can you clarify what you mean by an academic summer camp? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Also Union isn't in NESCAC

If you like summer camp it's a good thing and if you don't like summer camp it's a bad thing.

Come on people...are the posters on this board such inexperienced innocents that they don't even know if they enjoy city life vs. country life? On if you like to hike, ski, camp, etc....many nescacs will be appealing. If you like urban life, most nescacs are not going to be for you.

Wow - really sensitive about a simple question. I was really just asking for clarification. Meaning, is your use of the term "academic summer camp" meant to suggest less rigorous academics or meant to speak to the physical environment of the university.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Williams is the one that stands out to me. No way I'd go there over Amherst or Swarthmore growing up in an area like DC.

Friend of mine had a son who transferred from Williams because of this as well as the cliquishness of the other students.

such a weird vibe at Williams - only school of 10 my DC eliminated immediately after the visit - she said kids were odd

My outgoing, well-adjusted kid is ridiculously happy at Williams, just FYI. And I've met a bunch of their friends, none of whom are "odd."

There are many athletes at Williams. They tend to be pretty normal socially. I'm sure there is a quirky, brilliant subset of kids less adept at socializing given the impressive academics though. Our student tour guide happened to be quirky, brilliant, but also social.

Athletes add to the gene pool. Look at the Olympics, lot of beautiful, fit people there. Why wouldn't we want the same at SLACS? I'm all for it! It's good to have a diversity and not just nerdy dweebs.

Williams College reportedly has a distinct social divide between athletes and non-athletes.

I've had kids at 2 different NESCAC schools, and I think they all have this issue. The schools are aware of it, and are trying to address it, starting with orientation and dorm assignments.

How about they get to the root of it and stop prioritizing athletes in admissions? Right.

Is the recruitment of athletes even at SLACs -- a relatively new thing in the life of these schools -- a strategy to game the rankings? It shifts admission earlier (reducing RD acceptance rates) and increases yield. I know it increases tuition revenue, since statistically speaking the athletes at these schools tend to pay more tuition. But it seems like the rankings might be just as big a motivator, if not bigger.

It def seems like the athlete/non-athlete divide has gotten much bigger at many SLACs, which seems really antithetical to their purported missions. It's too bad.

this saddens me to hear. I went to a NESCAC and roomed for four years with the field hockey captain and had many friends who were athletes. Sure, during their seasons they ate with all of the athletes every night but otherwise mixed in. Back then, some teams took walk ons and I have no idea idea if the admissions standards were lowered for anyone besides the football players (their words, not mine). It has to be that the recruitment process has led to more of the professonalization of the teams like you see at D1 schools and therefore more separation between the athletes and non-athletes. Personally, I think the whole process of special consideration for athletes needs to end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What SLAC doesn’t have the athlete/non-athlete divide?

Reasonable thought. The problem is that most LACs have fewer than 2,000 students and the athletes make up a significant percentage of the student population. The effect is that the athlete/non-athlete divide makes a small school even smaller which is exacerbated by rural, isolated, cold weather locations.

Reed College doesn’t, since the school doesn’t have organized athletics— which is part of what drew me there as a student a long time ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Occidental college. They want you to think t is in LA but it is not

+1. the former president wanted to remarket it as "LA's school" but that's obviously USC and it never went anywhere. Oxy is in an armpit of Los Angeles County nowhere near Los Angeles proper. Look at a map

You are not a young person, and seem to be nursing an old wound (don't know when this president was, before our time and DC has graduated). The Highland Park side of Oxy in particular is exactly the sort of LA experience my DC was after. No false advertising, I think the regional rep even said, something about food trucks not Laker games. Anyway, plenty to see, plenty to do ($1 comedy shows), everyone else has a car so need for another. Something tells me what you consider 'good' LA, might meet a college student's definition of the worst. Either way, given all the other schools out there, Oxy's location is not worth remarking on in this thread, the campus is pretty, tucked away, but memorably situated on a hillside.