The Guide to WASP

[Anonymous]

My son got into Pomona, but my husband keeps mispronouncing it as “ponoma” and when I tell people they say “where?” These are people that went to selective east coast schools.

It looks fantastic, but very expensive.

[Anonymous]

People who know SLAC’s in general tend to be among the highly intellectual crowd, not your garden variety DMV dummy. Grad schools and employers also know these colleges to have excellent reputations. IYKYK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who know SLAC’s in general tend to be among the highly intellectual crowd, not your garden variety DMV dummy. Grad schools and employers also know these colleges to have excellent reputations. IYKYK.

A awful lot of them tend to be monied parents with private school kids who think sending their kid to a SLAC is a good way to avoid questions about why their kid didn’t get into a top university. That’s hardly a highly intellectual decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's my take on WASP:

Williams: Terrible, no good school that rejected my kid. May locusts devour their crops and their spouses become infertile.

Amherst: Kid didn't apply and so I don't know much about it except that it's definitely better than Williams.

Swarthmore: It's am amazing college that accepted my kid. All Swatties are good looking geniuses and who will probably win Nobel Prizes in the future.

Pomona: It's a mediocre school that waitlisted my kid. It has the potential to be great (waitlist pending), but it has some serious issues (like taking my kid off the waitlist).

That’s the spirit!

All williams grads are deeply insecure about not having gotten into an ivy, so they throw that sense of inferiority into a ridic superiority complex wherre thry go around telling everyone they go to thr #1 ranked slac. For ppl to go, huh? So how do you like going to school so close to colonial williamsburg?

Your provincialism is showing. Ordinary people don't confuse Williams and William & Mary because they haven't heard of either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Williams: The quintessential New England college. The most beautiful location. The campus oozes class. Preppy, relatively conservative students, many hoping to make a fortune in finance. Williams has been the US News champ for 20 years! What else needs to be said? Tied with Amherst for the most prestige.

Amherst: The college for progressive kids. Forward-thinking emphasis on student diversity and open curriculum. Highly intelligent students, many championing DEI causes. Great college town location. Good consortium with four other schools. Right on Williams's heels in US News. Tied for the most prestige.

Swarthmore: The college for intellectual kids. Difficult classes with heavy work loads. Students very liberal but too busy with coursework to do much politically. The best STEM in WASP. They have engineering! Maybe the hardest-working students, but prestige somewhat less than Williams or Amherst. Are the students considered too nerdy?

Pomona: The California lifestyle college. Students most similar to those at Swarthmore, but a bit less intense. Very casual environment, shorts worn year-round. Great consortium with Claremont. The hardest of WASP to get into because everyone wants that weather! But also the least prestige. How can we take them seriously with all that SoCal sunshine?

Those are my thoughts on these great schools. Please add your thoughts!

This is just a random person's random opinion, take it with as many grains of salt as you can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who know SLAC’s in general tend to be among the highly intellectual crowd, not your garden variety DMV dummy. Grad schools and employers also know these colleges to have excellent reputations. IYKYK.

A awful lot of them tend to be monied parents with private school kids who think sending their kid to a SLAC is a good way to avoid questions about why their kid didn’t get into a top university. That’s hardly a highly intellectual decision.

My kid chose a WASP over Johns Hopkins- so try again…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who know SLAC’s in general tend to be among the highly intellectual crowd, not your garden variety DMV dummy. Grad schools and employers also know these colleges to have excellent reputations. IYKYK.

A awful lot of them tend to be monied parents with private school kids who think sending their kid to a SLAC is a good way to avoid questions about why their kid didn’t get into a top university. That’s hardly a highly intellectual decision.

My kid chose a WASP over Johns Hopkins- so try again…

My daughter’s best friend also chose Amherst over Johns Hopkins last spring. The kids were shocked but I thought it was a smart decision and great fit.

[Anonymous]

Ours declined due to high cost of attendance as full pay but I liked Amherst very much other than few things like harsh weather, athlete-non athlete divide, lack of eating out options, gay-straight divide and racial divide at Amherst. Obviously hard to judge in single short visit but that's the impression I had.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ours declined due to high cost of attendance as full pay but I liked Amherst very much other than few things like harsh weather, athlete-non athlete divide, lack of eating out options, gay-straight divide and racial divide at Amherst. Obviously hard to judge in single short visit but that's the impression I had.

There really is no “divide” that you mention. Sure students tend to gravitate towards their own kind but it’s a cooperative and welcoming student body. Outside food options are good, esp being so close to UMass with its large student body (to support the restaurant scene).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who know SLAC’s in general tend to be among the highly intellectual crowd, not your garden variety DMV dummy. Grad schools and employers also know these colleges to have excellent reputations. IYKYK.

A awful lot of them tend to be monied parents with private school kids who think sending their kid to a SLAC is a good way to avoid questions about why their kid didn’t get into a top university. That’s hardly a highly intellectual decision.

My kid chose a WASP over Johns Hopkins- so try again…

My daughter’s best friend also chose Amherst over Johns Hopkins last spring. The kids were shocked but I thought it was a smart decision and great fit.

Shocked that the examples involve Johns Hopkins. Now try that with Yale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who know SLAC’s in general tend to be among the highly intellectual crowd, not your garden variety DMV dummy. Grad schools and employers also know these colleges to have excellent reputations. IYKYK.

A awful lot of them tend to be monied parents with private school kids who think sending their kid to a SLAC is a good way to avoid questions about why their kid didn’t get into a top university. That’s hardly a highly intellectual decision.

My kid chose a WASP over Johns Hopkins- so try again…

My daughter’s best friend also chose Amherst over Johns Hopkins last spring. The kids were shocked but I thought it was a smart decision and great fit.

Shocked that the examples involve Johns Hopkins. Now try that with Yale.

Yale is for Harvard rejects

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who know SLAC’s in general tend to be among the highly intellectual crowd, not your garden variety DMV dummy. Grad schools and employers also know these colleges to have excellent reputations. IYKYK.

A awful lot of them tend to be monied parents with private school kids who think sending their kid to a SLAC is a good way to avoid questions about why their kid didn’t get into a top university. That’s hardly a highly intellectual decision.

My kid chose a WASP over Johns Hopkins- so try again…

My daughter’s best friend also chose Amherst over Johns Hopkins last spring. The kids were shocked but I thought it was a smart decision and great fit.

Shocked that the examples involve Johns Hopkins. Now try that with Yale.

Yale is for Harvard rejects

I know someone who turned down Harvard for Amherst.

[Anonymous]

A lot of smart kids realize that the elite SLAC’s provide a better undergrad experience because that’s what they specialize in! Save Harvard and the Ivy’s for grad school and they are only too happy to take the WASP crowd!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who know SLAC’s in general tend to be among the highly intellectual crowd, not your garden variety DMV dummy. Grad schools and employers also know these colleges to have excellent reputations. IYKYK.

They can feel your sneer all the way over in West Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who know SLAC’s in general tend to be among the highly intellectual crowd, not your garden variety DMV dummy. Grad schools and employers also know these colleges to have excellent reputations. IYKYK.

They can feel your sneer all the way over in West Virginia.

For us it is analogous to our boarding school choice. We could have chosen Andover or Exeter, but chose Groton. We have one child who wanted (and got) HYP and one who wanted (and got) Williams.
If you know you know, and if you don't, maybe its for the better. Live and let live and who cares if people don't know where your kid goes to school, its their story to tell, not yours.