Gaining admission to a top ranked SLAC
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Anonymous
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My DD is very interested in attending a school such as Williams, Amherst, Pomona, Swarthmore, etc. Considering that the admission rates are so low, what are some strategies for gaining admission? Like most of her FCPS classmates, she has excellent grades and plays sports. She doesn't have test scores yet, but assuming the scores are high, what else would help?
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Anonymous
| She can really work hard on her essay. Excellent personal statements and recommendations can often get a student into college. You can't really help her write her essay though, she has to come up with a topic that's important to her. Have her ask her college counselor for tips on writing a good essay. |
Anonymous
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One thing that makes a difference for those schools is visits and interviews (for the ones that do them). They want to know you are genuinely interested in the school.
Athletic recruiting is big at several of those. And early decision is probably the biggest factor. Some of those schools fill half the class through ED and the admissions rate is higher for the ED group. Most do ED1 and ED2 so if ED1 doesn't work then go for ED2 on the next choice. ED2 seems to be less of a differentiator but still sends the message that the kid wants to attend the school. |
Anonymous
| I agree with both previous posters. |
Anonymous
| Alum of one of those schools here. Make sure she goes to an on campus informational interview, if she knows any alums, have them write recommendations when she applies, network w/ any alums from her high school who are current students or alums of the college, and really get involved in extracurricular activity(ies) she is passionate about, not just things that seem to be ticking the box as far as what she thinks schools are looking for. My experience was these schools would prefer students who have invested a lot of time and effort in something, no matter how obscure as opposed to half-heartedly tried their hand at a variety of volunteer and work experiences just because they look good. |
Anonymous
| Since these schools are quite small and compete in a very wide variety of sports, ends up that a really large percentage of kids at the schools are varsity athletes (40% for Williams and Amherst has been quoted). Thus if your kid "does sports" at a level that would be of interest to coaches at these schools (and the kid actually wants to play in college) then this can be a real help with admissions. The level of play in many sports at these schools, despite being d3, is as good or better than many d1 mid programs, so for this to really help with admissions the kid needs to be a very high level. How the coach helps with admissions varies from SLAC to SLAC in the NESCAC, some have "slots" with admissions for some number of students per sport, the kid has to meet academic criteria but once meeting those criteria the kid is basically in (and the coach tells the player they are in this category in summer or early fall), other schools aren't able to be quite this explicit, or they tell a kid they are going to get a boost with admissions but not a close to guaranteed spot. In every case though the kid needs to apply ED1 to have this work. The d3 school coaches generally can't travel a huge amount to out of state tournaments and to watch kids play for their high schools, so going to camps/clinics at the schools before junior and senior year in the summer, or on spring or fall weekends or breaks is important. Also allows the kid to spend time with the coach and team and see the school not just on an admissions tour, so in our kids cases REALLY helped them decide if the school was a great fit for them. |
Anonymous
| I think sports recruiting matters to different degrees at different schools. I went to Swarthmore and it did not have as many recruited athletes as some of the other colleges you mention. Its focus was more on young people who were particularly committed to a cause and were keen on changing the world. I guess I would say know your target SLAC. |
Anonymous
When did you go to Swat? Have a much younger sibling there currently who got in primarily because of being an athletic recruit. Hearing from him and his friends, each incoming class at Swat these days supposedly is more athletic and better looking than previous classes. But I agree with your statement that the OP needs to target their SLAC choices better because Swat is still VERY different from a place like Williams. |
Anonymous
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A white female is the toughest category to be for SLAC admissions IMO.
It is even more imperative when applying to SLAC's to really show you will fit with the schools atmosphere and mission and you really want to be there (through your essays and interview, if offered). SLAC's vary quite different in feel as well. Williams and Middlebury are very different from Swat for instance, and Pomona/HMC/CMC have a completely different feel than SLAC's in the North East. I feel that the atmosphere and fit issues are magnified at SLAC's because of their small size so research is key. Have strong essay(s), interviews, get recruited for a sport (hopefully you are good enough), applyed ED1, and cross your fingers. There isn't much more you can do. |
Anonymous
There are many of us looking at SLACs. Can you be a bit more descriptive when you say e.g., that Williams and Middlebury are "very different" from Swat and/or the others? In what ways do you distinguish? Is it because e.g., they are part of the New England conference? Location driven? Liberal v. Conservative? |
Anonymous
Attributes which differentiate Williams/Middlebury from Swat: 1. Swat has a lot more minorities on campus. This is visible when you visit and empirically backed up by the Common Data Sets all the schools release regarding their student bodies. Middlebury is like 65% white, Williams is around 60%, whereas Swat is minority-majority (the class of 2015 was definitely minority-majority and the whole student body right now at best is 50% white if not less). This makes Swat pretty unique because SLAC's (especially in the NE) attract a whiter/prep-school crowd more-so compared to better known ivies, privates, and large publics. 2. Swat is really tiny. SLAC's are small, but Swat is extremely small. Williams has almost a 50% larger student body and Middlebury is about 30% bigger. This definitely has fit implications as Swat can be more suffocating even though it is not in an ultra-rural environment like Williams. The SEPTA allows you to get out to Philly if you really want to but from what I hear from my younger sibling (a junior at Swat) kids don't get out to Philly all that much. 3. Williams and Middlebury are a more relaxed academically. Swat grades notoriously hard and Swat students in general are more nerdy/socially-awkward compared to Williams and Middlebury kids. Williams and Middlebury (in my opinion) are like mini-Dartmouths. Swat is much more geeky. My sibling says there isn't a 'gunner' culture at Swat but there definitely is massive academic pressure, moreso than what his friends at Williams and Pomona/CMC face. 4. Williams has a much bigger drinking culture than Swat. However Swat's administration treats under 21 students like responsible adults compared to Middlebury. A Middlebury student who spent a semester a Swat wrote an op-ed on how Middlebury administrators should copy Swat's when it comes to on-campus drinking by u21's. At swat, as long as you aren't a loutish drunk, drinking on-campus is given the blind-eye. 5. Swat is really committed to its social justice mission and wants students passionate about social justice, etc. Unlike Williams, Swat's interviews are highly recommended and not just 'informational'. Swat definitely uses the interview to screen if kids are a good fit and really understand what Swat is about. Historically Swat has been way more liberal than other SLAC's. 6. Sports are a lot bigger deal at Williams and Middlebury. While my sibling was an athletic recruit at Swat (and swat is increasing some focus in terms of athletic recruiting), Williams/Middlebury/NESCAC schools all have a much larger sports/athletic culture than swat. 7. Swat has an engineering school, which is pretty unique for a SLAC. So if your kid wants the SLAC feel but wants to do engineering, Swat is one of the very few that is an option. 8. My sibling informs me that Williams and Middlebury have much bigger "bro" cultures than swat does. 9. On-Campus Recruiting is much better at Williams compared to swat. If your kid is sort of 'pre-professional' and wants to go to Investment Banking or Trading or Strategy Consulting, Williams is a much bigger target school than Swat. This is one of the major complaints that some of my sibling's friends have at Swat and the incoming freshman at Swat which my sibling mentors have raised their concerns about internship/on-campus recruiting at swat. Swat's network is strong but you have to be way more proactive and hunt down your own opportunities if you don't want to directly go to grad school. Swat really is a training ground for going directly to grad school/med/law/masters. My younger sibling has landed great internships after freshman and sophomore years did all the work in landing them and got nothing out of OCI/career services. It is a source of frustration for my sibling in comparison to his friends at Williams from what I have heard. My younger sibling was recruited both at Williams and Swat. Swat was chosen because it was closer to home, Williams was too rural, the culture at Williams was too 'bro' compared to swat, and williams was much more white (we are asian/indian). If my younger sibling was recruited at Pomona (Claremont Colleges), they would've gone there over swat. My sibling's dream school was Stanford or Princeton but couldn't get recruited at either one. |
Anonymous
| forgive my ignorance. What is "bro" culture? |
Anonymous
Great question..nevrer heard of it.... |
Anonymous
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14:18 - that's probably not too far off. I have a lot of friends from Swat and they do tend to be geeky, sometimes insufferably so.
Your sizes are a little off, which I know only because I just looked at Williams and Middlebury for my DC (DC is not considering Swarthmore). Swarthmore is 1524, Williams is 2029 and Middlebury is 2532. Not sure when Middlebury became so large, I was surprised. |
Anonymous
Think lax bro/frat culture (even though they don't have frats). But I'd say that's pretty moderated by the fact that these are super smart kids who had to work really hard in HS to get to Williams or Middlebury. These aren't Duke level lax bros. |