Comparisons of PA LACs?

[Anonymous]

Ursinus did not make a strong impression on us. It seemed a bit preprofessiinal, and the surrounding area was sort of strip mall suburban.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haverford and Swarthmore are both selective…but different communities. Haverford has Quaker roots. It is small and tight knit. Swarthmore is very intense, in a way that my DC did not like.

Swarthmore also is a member of the Quaker Consortium and has Quaker roots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We toured a number of them and asked at each school about the others. I was surprised that tour guides consistently said their friend at Dickinson were the least happy.

We liked both the campus and the school. They also seemed to have strong study abroad options.

A few students (and former students) did describe the social scene as “cliquey.“

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haverford and Swarthmore are both selective…but different communities. Haverford has Quaker roots. It is small and tight knit. Swarthmore is very intense, in a way that my DC did not like.

+1000

Though they are often compared to each other (and are in the same consortium so students can cross register for classes), they have very different vibes. Swarthmore feels more like U Chicago/Hopkins...very intense/hyper intellectual...Haverford feels more like Brown/Wesleyan/Carleton. Both great schools but they tend to appeal to different types.

[Anonymous]

DC went to Dickinson and loved it. Great study abroad programs, cute town nearby, pretty campus, great people, in general a lovely place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, we are also visiting some PA LACs over spring break. DD is a strong student but needs merit aid so will mainly apply to safeties/matches. She wants a more rural location and strong resources for environmental science. Prefers low/no Greek life. The ones based on initial research that seem to be the best options for her are Juniata (already visited that one and she likes it a lot), Allegheny, Dickinson. Also spent time at Susquehanna last summer and enjoyed it but it's fallen off the list because she thinks other schools have stronger resources for ES. Also likes F&M but they only give need-aid so it's out of our budget.

If she had different academic and/or setting interests, we'd have a completely different list just in PA, so good to spend some time thinking about that.

Allegheny actually has a really good environmental science department.

That said, you know how there are posters on here who constantly talk about SLACs closing soon because of budget issues? I am seeing signs that Allegheny is doing some belt-tightening. I don't know if they will eventually close (I hope not!) but they are definitely tightening their belts and will expect fewer students than currently enrolled.

Here is an article about them reducing staff and getting rid of 4 majors - https://www.meadvilletribune.com/news/local_news/allegheny-college-to-reduce-faculty-staffing-academic-programs-over-next-three-years/article_9497962a-87a2-11ec-9109-3bbd7dc78825.html

The article does also say they will be adding staff to the environmental science department.

Just something for you to think about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, we are also visiting some PA LACs over spring break. DD is a strong student but needs merit aid so will mainly apply to safeties/matches. She wants a more rural location and strong resources for environmental science. Prefers low/no Greek life. The ones based on initial research that seem to be the best options for her are Juniata (already visited that one and she likes it a lot), Allegheny, Dickinson. Also spent time at Susquehanna last summer and enjoyed it but it's fallen off the list because she thinks other schools have stronger resources for ES. Also likes F&M but they only give need-aid so it's out of our budget.

If she had different academic and/or setting interests, we'd have a completely different list just in PA, so good to spend some time thinking about that.

Allegheny actually has a really good environmental science department.

That said, you know how there are posters on here who constantly talk about SLACs closing soon because of budget issues? I am seeing signs that Allegheny is doing some belt-tightening. I don't know if they will eventually close (I hope not!) but they are definitely tightening their belts and will expect fewer students than currently enrolled.

Here is an article about them reducing staff and getting rid of 4 majors - https://www.meadvilletribune.com/news/local_news/allegheny-college-to-reduce-faculty-staffing-academic-programs-over-next-three-years/article_9497962a-87a2-11ec-9109-3bbd7dc78825.html

The article does also say they will be adding staff to the environmental science department.

Just something for you to think about.

Thank you PP *so much* for this. Our DC got into Allegheny and really liked it, but was an intended major in one of the programs that has gotten cut, which obviously gives us serious pause. Having friends whose kid started at a LAC and then had to transfer after their intended major got completely axed, we really appreciated the advance warning (which if you google there is nothing about).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, we are also visiting some PA LACs over spring break. DD is a strong student but needs merit aid so will mainly apply to safeties/matches. She wants a more rural location and strong resources for environmental science. Prefers low/no Greek life. The ones based on initial research that seem to be the best options for her are Juniata (already visited that one and she likes it a lot), Allegheny, Dickinson. Also spent time at Susquehanna last summer and enjoyed it but it's fallen off the list because she thinks other schools have stronger resources for ES. Also likes F&M but they only give need-aid so it's out of our budget.

If she had different academic and/or setting interests, we'd have a completely different list just in PA, so good to spend some time thinking about that.

Allegheny actually has a really good environmental science department.

That said, you know how there are posters on here who constantly talk about SLACs closing soon because of budget issues? I am seeing signs that Allegheny is doing some belt-tightening. I don't know if they will eventually close (I hope not!) but they are definitely tightening their belts and will expect fewer students than currently enrolled.

Here is an article about them reducing staff and getting rid of 4 majors - https://www.meadvilletribune.com/news/local_news/allegheny-college-to-reduce-faculty-staffing-academic-programs-over-next-three-years/article_9497962a-87a2-11ec-9109-3bbd7dc78825.html

The article does also say they will be adding staff to the environmental science department.

Just something for you to think about.

Thank you PP *so much* for this. Our DC got into Allegheny and really liked it, but was an intended major in one of the programs that has gotten cut, which obviously gives us serious pause. Having friends whose kid started at a LAC and then had to transfer after their intended major got completely axed, we really appreciated the advance warning (which if you google there is nothing about).

(And I should add, as the PP, they still had a lot of majors - and we liked many, many things about Allegheny, it's just that our kid had a pretty specific interest. By way of comparison, they still seemed to have maybe 2-3 X the number of majors/minors as St. Mary's College Maryland, where there was literally nothing my kid wanted to major in. And the finances with the merit aid were fantastic. I don't want to criticize a school for making necessary curricular choices... Just grateful as ever for the breaking news.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, we are also visiting some PA LACs over spring break. DD is a strong student but needs merit aid so will mainly apply to safeties/matches. She wants a more rural location and strong resources for environmental science. Prefers low/no Greek life. The ones based on initial research that seem to be the best options for her are Juniata (already visited that one and she likes it a lot), Allegheny, Dickinson. Also spent time at Susquehanna last summer and enjoyed it but it's fallen off the list because she thinks other schools have stronger resources for ES. Also likes F&M but they only give need-aid so it's out of our budget.

If she had different academic and/or setting interests, we'd have a completely different list just in PA, so good to spend some time thinking about that.

Allegheny actually has a really good environmental science department.

That said, you know how there are posters on here who constantly talk about SLACs closing soon because of budget issues? I am seeing signs that Allegheny is doing some belt-tightening. I don't know if they will eventually close (I hope not!) but they are definitely tightening their belts and will expect fewer students than currently enrolled.

Here is an article about them reducing staff and getting rid of 4 majors - https://www.meadvilletribune.com/news/local_news/allegheny-college-to-reduce-faculty-staffing-academic-programs-over-next-three-years/article_9497962a-87a2-11ec-9109-3bbd7dc78825.html

The article does also say they will be adding staff to the environmental science department.

Just something for you to think about.

Thank you PP *so much* for this. Our DC got into Allegheny and really liked it, but was an intended major in one of the programs that has gotten cut, which obviously gives us serious pause. Having friends whose kid started at a LAC and then had to transfer after their intended major got completely axed, we really appreciated the advance warning (which if you google there is nothing about).

(And I should add, as the PP, they still had a lot of majors - and we liked many, many things about Allegheny, it's just that our kid had a pretty specific interest. By way of comparison, they still seemed to have maybe 2-3 X the number of majors/minors as St. Mary's College Maryland, where there was literally nothing my kid wanted to major in. And the finances with the merit aid were fantastic. I don't want to criticize a school for making necessary curricular choices... Just grateful as ever for the breaking news.)

Definitely important to stay up on the curricular changes. I'm the PP whose DD is looking at Allegheny, Juniata, Dickinson, etc. and it's certainly important to us that ES is a program they are prioritizing. In the current environment, schools will need to make choices about what they focus on but that will make these schools a more difficult selection for an undecided student. (DD's been passionate about botany, wildlife, ecology, etc pretty much forever so I think it's highly, highly unlikely that she makes a big shift in major so we feel comfortable with a small school where that is an real emphasis).

Tip for evaluating colleges -- set up a google news alert with the college name

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Haverford and Swarthmore are both selective…but different communities. Haverford has Quaker roots. It is small and tight knit. Swarthmore is very intense, in a way that my DC did not like.

+1000

Though they are often compared to each other (and are in the same consortium so students can cross register for classes), they have very different vibes. Swarthmore feels more like U Chicago/Hopkins...very intense/hyper intellectual...Haverford feels more like Brown/Wesleyan/Carleton. Both great schools but they tend to appeal to different types.

We visited Haverford, Swarthmore and Penn in one visit. DC expected to like Haverford the most because we had heard the same as above. However, Haverford was so quiet it was unnerving. The tour guide (which I know is luck of the draw) was bland and her enthusiasms for Haverford (if they could even be called that) were so generic. Not only were DC and we turned off on the school for him personally after the visit, I’d say we left feeling like the college has no identity. Versus Swarthmore had a lot more students out and about on campus (the visits were on the same day of the week) and the tour guide was really passionate and specific about what she loved about Swarthmore, the different things her friends are passionate about there, etc. DC wound up not even applying to Haverford which I still wonder if was a mistake based on all of the great things we had read about Haverford but the in person visit was a bust.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d group Swarthmore, Haverford and BM as one similar group (with BM being all women)- incredibly small, intense academics, students interested in a “life of the mind.” Dickinson could be a safety for this group. I’d next group Lehigh, lafayette, Bucknell (debatable whether to call Lehigh a LAC but I’d still group it with these others) with greek life dominating the social life and lots of well-rounded students (not as many rising PhD candidates but lots going onto law/med schools and jobs in finance). F&M and Gettysburg could be safeties for this group. I do not know much about the rest.

This is a good start. The toughest to get into are Swarthmore, Haverford, and Lehigh.

I think seeing any more than two in a day is brutal.

If I were you, I'd come spend a night in Philly. See Swarthmore OR Haverford in the morning, and St. Joe's in the afternoon. St. Joe's is a very nice school, but it is not the preppy SLAC that some of these schools are. It would give you a true contrast to Swarth/Hav.

Then drive up to Allentown and knock off Lehigh and Lafayette the next day. If you are REALLY ambitious, maybe see Muhlenberg, but again, I think that's too much for one day.

If you are really into this, head northwest and see Bucknell and Gettysburg on the third day. After that, you should be brain-dead.

It's hard to tell you anything else unless we know what kind of kid you have.

Lehigh is no longer that tough to get into, as they are expanding the size of the school with the new College of Health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haverford and Swarthmore are both selective…but different communities. Haverford has Quaker roots. It is small and tight knit. Swarthmore is very intense, in a way that my DC did not like.

Swarthmore was also founded by Quakers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d group Swarthmore, Haverford and BM as one similar group (with BM being all women)- incredibly small, intense academics, students interested in a “life of the mind.” Dickinson could be a safety for this group. I’d next group Lehigh, lafayette, Bucknell (debatable whether to call Lehigh a LAC but I’d still group it with these others) with greek life dominating the social life and lots of well-rounded students (not as many rising PhD candidates but lots going onto law/med schools and jobs in finance). F&M and Gettysburg could be safeties for this group. I do not know much about the rest.

This is a good start. The toughest to get into are Swarthmore, Haverford, and Lehigh.

I think seeing any more than two in a day is brutal.

If I were you, I'd come spend a night in Philly. See Swarthmore OR Haverford in the morning, and St. Joe's in the afternoon. St. Joe's is a very nice school, but it is not the preppy SLAC that some of these schools are. It would give you a true contrast to Swarth/Hav.

Then drive up to Allentown and knock off Lehigh and Lafayette the next day. If you are REALLY ambitious, maybe see Muhlenberg, but again, I think that's too much for one day.

If you are really into this, head northwest and see Bucknell and Gettysburg on the third day. After that, you should be brain-dead.

It's hard to tell you anything else unless we know what kind of kid you have.

This is very good advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We toured a number of them and asked at each school about the others. I was surprised that tour guides consistently said their friend at Dickinson were the least happy.

I wonder why they are unhappy at Dickinson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d group Swarthmore, Haverford and BM as one similar group (with BM being all women)- incredibly small, intense academics, students interested in a “life of the mind.” Dickinson could be a safety for this group. I’d next group Lehigh, lafayette, Bucknell (debatable whether to call Lehigh a LAC but I’d still group it with these others) with greek life dominating the social life and lots of well-rounded students (not as many rising PhD candidates but lots going onto law/med schools and jobs in finance). F&M and Gettysburg could be safeties for this group. I do not know much about the rest.

This is a good start. The toughest to get into are Swarthmore, Haverford, and Lehigh.

I think seeing any more than two in a day is brutal.

If I were you, I'd come spend a night in Philly. See Swarthmore OR Haverford in the morning, and St. Joe's in the afternoon. St. Joe's is a very nice school, but it is not the preppy SLAC that some of these schools are. It would give you a true contrast to Swarth/Hav.

Then drive up to Allentown and knock off Lehigh and Lafayette the next day. If you are REALLY ambitious, maybe see Muhlenberg, but again, I think that's too much for one day.

If you are really into this, head northwest and see Bucknell and Gettysburg on the third day. After that, you should be brain-dead.

It's hard to tell you anything else unless we know what kind of kid you have.

Agree but I'd do Gettysburg and Dickinson in a day as they are close to each other. Bucknell is in the middle of nowhere.

Definitely wouldn't do Bucknell unless you're pretty sure your DD is a budding partier.