College acceptances - small liberal arts colleges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your post just reveals the world you grew up in, which is not generally applicable.

Where I "came from" (UMC suburb public school) everyone aimed for top 10 universities or state schools. I think we had one person in our top 10 percent who went to a SLAC.

When I see a SLAC on a resume I immediately assume you came from a privileged background and won’t try very hard. Sorry!

Oof. Maybe a SLAC would have given you the skills to test those assumptions and think outside the box.

I’ve never been proven wrong yet!

I mean... the one person from our high school who went to a SLAC was a delicate flower of a girl.

I’ll see your delicate flower and raise you my SLAC graduate brother, who is a US Marine Corps veteran with combat experience, and my SLAC graduate neighbor who spent over 2 years in a literal one room hut in rural West Africa serving in the Peace Corps. Neither of them delicate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hmm so they are not keeping pace with their financial aid offerings? They did not used to cost more than other schools once offers were made, except for in-state tuition (and the schools I'm seeing kids going to are not in-state).

They always cost more than other schools. Thirty years ago when I was applying to college, SLACs and Ivies cost the same and everything else was less expensive. Now there are more private schools in the “just as expensive” pool - and SLACs are still the same cost as Ivies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in suburbia. At my high school cities felt a little intimidating to a lot of kids. And a lot didn't want an enormous state school so SLACs were very popular.

But my kids were born and raised in DC, and while it's not a huge city, they think it would be weird to be at a college in the middle of nowhere. So less excited about SLACs.

SLACSs are very popular with DC private school kids. Like I taught at a medium-good one and I would guess that at least half the kids went to SLACs.

Kids who are used to that small-class special attention vibe will like SLACs. Public school kids less so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in suburbia. At my high school cities felt a little intimidating to a lot of kids. And a lot didn't want an enormous state school so SLACs were very popular.

But my kids were born and raised in DC, and while it's not a huge city, they think it would be weird to be at a college in the middle of nowhere. So less excited about SLACs.

SLACSs are very popular with DC private school kids. Like I taught at a medium-good one and I would guess that at least half the kids went to SLACs.

Kids who are used to that small-class special attention vibe will like SLACs. Public school kids less so.

Makes total sense to me. They love privilege!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Davidson would love more DCPS and DCPCS but preferences matter, and they just don’t apply. Plenty of private applicants, plenty of athletes. Not a lot of kids from JR, Walls, or Banneker let alone DCI or BASIS. Honestly Dartmouth and Brown feel the same way.

I’ve never heard of Davidson.

Without judgment, I’d just say that is an indicator of your socioeconomic class.

Maybe so! Or maybe it’s not as great as you think it is. Or maybe a little bit of both?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your post just reveals the world you grew up in, which is not generally applicable.

Where I "came from" (UMC suburb public school) everyone aimed for top 10 universities or state schools. I think we had one person in our top 10 percent who went to a SLAC.

When I see a SLAC on a resume I immediately assume you came from a privileged background and won’t try very hard. Sorry!

You should work on your tendency to make assumptions.

I graduated from a top 10 SLAC and worked and paid my own way through with about a 50% scholarship and a whole lot of loans. I was far from the only one.

When? The 1950s? What was tuition then? And did you walk uphill in the snow to classes both way?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your post just reveals the world you grew up in, which is not generally applicable.

Where I "came from" (UMC suburb public school) everyone aimed for top 10 universities or state schools. I think we had one person in our top 10 percent who went to a SLAC.

When I see a SLAC on a resume I immediately assume you came from a privileged background and won’t try very hard. Sorry!

That’s funny because I’ll assume you can write well and have actually read the books.

Hmmmm I would assume you are used to a hefty amount of privilege and grade inflation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in suburbia. At my high school cities felt a little intimidating to a lot of kids. And a lot didn't want an enormous state school so SLACs were very popular.

But my kids were born and raised in DC, and while it's not a huge city, they think it would be weird to be at a college in the middle of nowhere. So less excited about SLACs.

This, along with costs, are definitely part of it. Not to mention even liberal SLACs are not always in welcoming communities.

Weirdly Coolidge has sent kids to Bucknell the last few years. Would not have been my first guess pairing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Davidson would love more DCPS and DCPCS but preferences matter, and they just don’t apply. Plenty of private applicants, plenty of athletes. Not a lot of kids from JR, Walls, or Banneker let alone DCI or BASIS. Honestly Dartmouth and Brown feel the same way.

I’ve never heard of Davidson.

Without judgment, I’d just say that is an indicator of your socioeconomic class.

Or knowledge of NBA basketball I guess

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in suburbia. At my high school cities felt a little intimidating to a lot of kids. And a lot didn't want an enormous state school so SLACs were very popular.

But my kids were born and raised in DC, and while it's not a huge city, they think it would be weird to be at a college in the middle of nowhere. So less excited about SLACs.

This, along with costs, are definitely part of it. Not to mention even liberal SLACs are not always in welcoming communities.

Weirdly Coolidge has sent kids to Bucknell the last few years. Would not have been my first guess pairing.

+1. Small, expensive, in the middle of nowhere or small town with not much going on. It’s not attractive to kids who have grown up in the city and used to lots going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm watching the college matches roll in at SWW, DCI, and other local high schools and I'm seeing precious few smaller liberal arts schools on there. It's all big Universities and a few Ivies here and there.

What gives? In my day those were the gold standard for many kids, and as the product of one, I'm a fan. Why aren't kids applying/choosing small schools? These are often the best way to get a really good education. Many are quite famous too - Oberlin, Amherst, Mt Holyoke, Vassar, Barnard, Grinnell, Bard, ..... etc etc. Many of our top kids at my school went to these colleges. Why not now?

Where are you seeing all these matches?

In the past, I'd look at school instagram pages, but I noticed this year that fewer students are posting where they are going. So while I know there are students going to the schools you have mentioned at least from my kid's school, I also know those results haven't been posted.

I’m just watching the Instagram announcements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Davidson would love more DCPS and DCPCS but preferences matter, and they just don’t apply. Plenty of private applicants, plenty of athletes. Not a lot of kids from JR, Walls, or Banneker let alone DCI or BASIS. Honestly Dartmouth and Brown feel the same way.

I’ve never heard of Davidson.

Without judgment, I’d just say that is an indicator of your socioeconomic class.

I think it’s not well known outside of the south.

I never heard of it until I moved to VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Davidson would love more DCPS and DCPCS but preferences matter, and they just don’t apply. Plenty of private applicants, plenty of athletes. Not a lot of kids from JR, Walls, or Banneker let alone DCI or BASIS. Honestly Dartmouth and Brown feel the same way.

I’ve never heard of Davidson.

Without judgment, I’d just say that is an indicator of your socioeconomic class.

I think it’s not well known outside of the south.

I never heard of it until I moved to VA.

I grew up in the Northeast and went to a well-regarded private school. We knew of Davidson and it was considered a strong SLAC that a lot of kids applied to, at least among the kids who were considering the south.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid goes to a SLAC but I think in general, they are out of favor. Kids are used to having a lot of freedom and seem overall more interested in city or big school life. I think LACS are expensive and often remote and its not really what kids want these days. I also think kids are focused on their careers more than education for education sake and therefore they want to attend highly ranked schools or schools with large alumni bases that can directly help after college.

If you have a kid that wants a LAC, go for it, but its not for most kids these days.

(that said, my kid loves his LAC and is thriving).

I think this answer is spot on.

I tried hard last year to get my DC to consider a LAC. They wanted to major in business and the only one they seriously considered was Richmond. Ended up at a big public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid goes to a SLAC but I think in general, they are out of favor. Kids are used to having a lot of freedom and seem overall more interested in city or big school life. I think LACS are expensive and often remote and its not really what kids want these days. I also think kids are focused on their careers more than education for education sake and therefore they want to attend highly ranked schools or schools with large alumni bases that can directly help after college.

If you have a kid that wants a LAC, go for it, but its not for most kids these days.

(that said, my kid loves his LAC and is thriving).

I think this answer is spot on.

I tried hard last year to get my DC to consider a LAC. They wanted to major in business and the only one they seriously considered was Richmond. Ended up at a big public.

So the problem is the majoring in business.