What are the most type-y local schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have visited a LOT of SLACs and I don't think we have any type-y ones in the DC area.

Maybe on your next family trip, look for one in the area and check it out. That's what we did a few years back. We were up in NYC for a fun trip and looked on a map for a nearby LAC. Saw Sarah Lawrence so booked a tour. Turned out DC LOVED it, it went on their college list and then we started looking in earnest at LACs.

I've been to Marymount and UMW and they are not the same at all.

The problem is that SLACs and LACs actually vary widely. Why would you consider Sarah Lawrence an archetypal school vs. any other school, for example?

OP, if smaller schools are of interest, there are a lot of them within two hours of DC, in VA, MD, and PA. Pick a few.

Yes there is variety of course, but after going to sooooo many Northeast SLACs, there is a lot of similarity amongst them. And you just don't get that feel down here in the DMV. My kid even jokes that they are all the same and the tour guide we just had even acknowledged that in deciding between LACX v LACY they were "basically the same school."

Visiting the range of nearby school types helped my DD decide that she preferred a LAC. Then we visited a bunch of them. I was actually surprised at how she tuned into the nuances of difference between them. Yes, the generic tours all start to sound the same. But wherever possible we went to open houses where she could tour facilities specific to her major, talk with faculty, meet more students. She ended up at one that was a great fit and was really clear on preferring that over a couple schools that, to me, seemed similar but, to her, felt distinctly not-her. She visited her final pick multiple times - first introduced via an open house; return all-day visit where she could sit in on a class, have lunch with students in her major, meet with a professor; third visit to audition for a music scholarship (science major but plays in the band).

My other kid went to a big state U and those seemed a lot more interchangable to me, but with small schools you really need to take the time to figure out the fit.

[Anonymous]

Also recommend St Mary's - very pretty campus with most student life right on campus (since its otherwise a bit remote).

[Anonymous]

You really can’t get a good sense of schools based on what’s local. For me, it would be a disservice to the kid to tell them that GW was typical of an urban school for example. U Penn, Columbia, USC have very different vibes despite being urban schools.

For SLACs, there’s so much variance depending on what’s nearby, campus culture and vibe, and geographic location. Williams is quite different to Reed which is different to Swarthmore. Wellesley feels quite different to Mt. Holyoke vs Bryn Mawr.