which of these schools for ed1?

[Anonymous]

I think in 2025 and beyond, a lot of "need blind" schools will look for full pay. btw international visa issues, fed cutting funds, and demographic issues, full pay male humanities feels like a hook to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The weird trolls trying to force op’s kid into a university confuse me as to why they go on these threads.

OP, I’d seriously look at CMC.

NP to this thread. Your anger is irrational and unwarranted as posters are trying to present options to a curious parent.

I, too, would encourage OP's student to consider some National Universities due to the tiny number of students studying philosophy at each of the listed LACs. Plus, a graduate dept. in philosophy should give OP's son more options and better access & understanding of career paths because of the vastly greater number of philosophy students at elite National Universities.

I visiting the Chicago area, it would be easy for OP's student to visit both U Chicago & Northwestern University and make an appointment with the head of each school's philosophy dept. For one intending to apply ED, there are significant advantages to applying ED at either of U Chicago or Northwestern University. LAC ED1 tends to be dominated by recruited athletes at most of the top rated LACs.

Curious as to why Swarthmore College has not been mentioned in this thread (maybe I missed it if it has been).

OP: Also consider the more practical major of P,P,&E (Politics, Philosophy, & Economics) which is offered at several elite colleges & universities.

OP: Here is a list that ranks (2024) undergraduate philosophy programs in a combined ranking of both National Universities and LACs (highest ranked LAC is Wesleyan University at #34):

https://philosophy-colleges.com

Not a bad idea to consider Chicago and Northwestern. Both are great schools and the ED boost for unhooked kids is probably bigger than at the LACs being considered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:full pay
feeder private hs
3.8 most rigorous
male
humanities (philosophy) with EC/research to back up
1520
school leadership
unhooked

trying to narrow down ed1 .. like all right now.
williams, bowdoin, pomona, cmc.

feel good about Midd or Wes for ED2.

our naviance isn't very helpful because we have a lot of very hooked kids.

The order in which you listed the student’s qualifications is very telling. Full pay first? I always laugh at that because you seem to be suggesting that because you’re rich you’re getting an edge. These schools all have huge endowments and are need blind. No one cares about your ability to pay. It is such a sense of entitlement to suggest otherwise. You can’t buy everything.

Perhaps she should have said "not asking for a discount." Would that make you feel better?

I think OP did it in the right way. Full pay and private school provided two critical information, and should be listed first. Full pay sets you in a different pool. Private school, again, sets you in a different pool. Unhooked sets you in a different pool.

With these background information, reading of the stats in that context begins to make sense.

Agree with you.

[Anonymous]

With respect to the universities sub-topic, JHU, for example, graduated just five first majors in philosophy in a recent year, which would make its undergraduate philosophy community less than half that of some LACs.

College Navigator - Johns Hopkins University https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Johns+Hopkins&s=all&id=162928#programs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:full pay
feeder private hs
3.8 most rigorous
male
humanities (philosophy) with EC/research to back up
1520
school leadership
unhooked

trying to narrow down ed1 .. like all right now.
williams, bowdoin, pomona, cmc.

feel good about Midd or Wes for ED2.

our naviance isn't very helpful because we have a lot of very hooked kids.

The order in which you listed the student’s qualifications is very telling. Full pay first? I always laugh at that because you seem to be suggesting that because you’re rich you’re getting an edge. These schools all have huge endowments and are need blind. No one cares about your ability to pay. It is such a sense of entitlement to suggest otherwise. You can’t buy everything.

Perhaps she should have said "not asking for a discount." Would that make you feel better?

What would have made me "feel better" would be OP simply (1) listing the schools and the planned major, (2) identifying the student as a strong student at a top private, and (3) soliciting advice on which one to ED1 from a strategic and academic interest standpoint. That's all that needs to be said. The rest means nothing without context that OP is not about to disclose.

And, of course, I always wonder why posters with strong students at so-called top privates have to come here and seek advice from anonymous posters who know a lot less than the guidance office that surely the "top private" has -- and also, unless the anonymous posters here, also has ALL the context.

One really has to wonder what exactly you’re doing here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:full pay
feeder private hs
3.8 most rigorous
male
humanities (philosophy) with EC/research to back up
1520
school leadership
unhooked

trying to narrow down ed1 .. like all right now.
williams, bowdoin, pomona, cmc.

feel good about Midd or Wes for ED2.

our naviance isn't very helpful because we have a lot of very hooked kids.

This is a tough one. I would ED1 to CMC. It will help and it is a far more desirable outcome than Midd or Wes, where kid is likely headed after a likely ED1 rejection from Williams, Bowdoin, or Pomona.

CMC is a great school but the idea that it is "a far more desirable outcome than Midd or Wes" is laughable.

(Not the poster whose comment you responded to.)

CMC has outstanding employment outcomes.

(Not the poster who's post you commented on)

They all have similar student bodies and outcomes are driven by the preferences of their graduates. No student from any of these schools should have any trouble developing a good career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not the best liberal arts college in the country: Amherst College. I'm not even sure CMC has a philosophy program-definitely not at the level of Amherst-where students get into top grad schools every year

Best laugh of the day. Thanks, PP.

In the world of philosophy, Amherst’s name is worth gold. I don’t think grad schools even know what “Pamona” or Claremont men’s college are. Great maybe if you want to teach at cal poly or something.

Are you kidding? A tenure track job at cal poly would be a great outcome for virtually any philosophy phd. The job prospects are abysmal.

Indeed. Would not take advice from someone who thinks that getting a job at Cal Poly would be a bad outcome, they clearly are completely out of touch with the field.

Undergrad programs at Pitt and Rutgers will also be top-notch, although the in-field prestige won't translate as much if the long-term plans are for law school or consulting, etc (but for law school a good GPA and LSAT are most important anyway).

JHU has relatively few majors but the faculty has made significant hires in recent years. But if he wants a SLAC, Hopkins might not be a fit.

[Anonymous]

He has no interest in research universities, so please stop requesting them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a lightly subscribed major such as philosophy, you may want to consider the size of the philosophy communities at potential choices. As a rough indicator for this, these are the numbers of graduating first majors in philosophy in a recent year (e.g., https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Claremont+McKenna&s=all&id=112260#programs) for the schools you have named along with two others that have been suggested:

Hamilton: 11
Wesleyan: 10
Amherst: 8
Middlebury: 8
Pomona: 7
CMC: 6
Williams: 4
Bowdoin: 3

+1000

I'd strongly suggest Amherst for ED1, if he's already visited the college and likes it. It would be an amazing enviro to study philosophy. There are some other enviros where he'll get drowned out by finance bros or jocks. Frankly, he sounds like a great candidate for RD to many of these schools so only ED to the one that is the very clear, best choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know 2 unhooked kids who got into Amherst ED this year. But all these LACs are very small and overrepresented with athletes in ED1. I'd definitely take a look at Brown.

There’s almost 0 overlap with these schools and brown

Wes is a target for Brown applicants.

Yes, at our private the same people are applying to and getting into/deciding between Brown and Wesleyan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know 2 unhooked kids who got into Amherst ED this year. But all these LACs are very small and overrepresented with athletes in ED1. I'd definitely take a look at Brown.

There’s almost 0 overlap with these schools and brown

Wes is a target for Brown applicants.

Yes, at our private the same people are applying to and getting into/deciding between Brown and Wesleyan.

What is similar about the two? I really don't associate Brown with anything that Wesleyan values.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For a lightly subscribed major such as philosophy, you may want to consider the size of the philosophy communities at potential choices. As a rough indicator for this, these are the numbers of graduating first majors in philosophy in a recent year (e.g., https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Claremont+McKenna&s=all&id=112260#programs) for the schools you have named along with two others that have been suggested:

Hamilton: 11
Wesleyan: 10
Amherst: 8
Middlebury: 8
Pomona: 7
CMC: 6
Williams: 4
Bowdoin: 3

+1000

I'd strongly suggest Amherst for ED1, if he's already visited the college and likes it. It would be an amazing enviro to study philosophy. There are some other enviros where he'll get drowned out by finance bros or jocks. Frankly, he sounds like a great candidate for RD to many of these schools so only ED to the one that is the very clear, best choice.

He has removed Amherst from the list after visit. Please stop requesting Amherst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know 2 unhooked kids who got into Amherst ED this year. But all these LACs are very small and overrepresented with athletes in ED1. I'd definitely take a look at Brown.

There’s almost 0 overlap with these schools and brown

Wes is a target for Brown applicants.

Yes, at our private the same people are applying to and getting into/deciding between Brown and Wesleyan.

Wesleyan has a 30% yield rate. No-one is struggling to chose between it and Brown, which is an Ivy League college with much better resources, faculty, and quality of students.

[Anonymous]

Either Bowdoin or Williams would be my suggestion for ED1.

Wesleyan sounds like a strong ED2 possibility.

Also, where do you live? How far are flights/logistics etc?

From my experience, location and travel time matter more than I thought! A shortish direct flight or doable car ride trip to college from home really is worth its weight in gold. Long one is a bigger inconvenience than we thought

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know 2 unhooked kids who got into Amherst ED this year. But all these LACs are very small and overrepresented with athletes in ED1. I'd definitely take a look at Brown.

There’s almost 0 overlap with these schools and brown

Wes is a target for Brown applicants.

Yes, at our private the same people are applying to and getting into/deciding between Brown and Wesleyan.

Wesleyan has a 30% yield rate. No-one is struggling to chose between it and Brown, which is an Ivy League college with much better resources, faculty, and quality of students.

I didn't say they "struggled" to decide, but they are often the top 2 decisions being narrowed down on and considered in our private school community. In some cases kids at our kids' school picked Wes because Wes is the parents' legacy school and the kids have grown up visiting and wanting to go there.