Which among WASP would you choose to ED and why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amherst by a mile ... it's just a special place.

Amherst like Pomona just seems comfortable in its skin - probably as both really fill their ranks mostly from self selection - where a significant point about Williams that’s rarely talked about is that the bulk of athletes were striving for an ivy, and weren’t good enough - but grades/scores/apps were, so they dropped down. If you strike at at all ivies, Williams is the next rung down. No athlete is targeting Williams at the beginning of junior year - it’s after the kid’s junior year sports season where kid (and mom and dad) realize the hard truth that junior isn’t ivy material. Next best thing to impress the folks at the country club? Williams!

Why wouldn’t they next step down from Ivy be Pomona? Or Amherst? Or Swat?

I don’t really get this “dig” for two reasons. A. Sounds like Williams is the step down from HYP. Not the others. And B. Many people don’t care if the men’s squash players or women’s hockeys players weren’t good enough squash or hockey players for the Yale team but their grades/scores/apps were at the level. Okay!

Just not true. Many of the athletes actually are shooting for Ivies, but going to the NESCAC isn’t about not being good enough, it’s about not getting the final nod and moving from there. Our school has kids choosing NESCAC schools over mid-major/lower level Dl every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amherst by a mile ... it's just a special place.

Amherst like Pomona just seems comfortable in its skin - probably as both really fill their ranks mostly from self selection - where a significant point about Williams that’s rarely talked about is that the bulk of athletes were striving for an ivy, and weren’t good enough - but grades/scores/apps were, so they dropped down. If you strike at at all ivies, Williams is the next rung down. No athlete is targeting Williams at the beginning of junior year - it’s after the kid’s junior year sports season where kid (and mom and dad) realize the hard truth that junior isn’t ivy material. Next best thing to impress the folks at the country club? Williams!

Why wouldn’t they next step down from Ivy be Pomona? Or Amherst? Or Swat?

I don’t really get this “dig” for two reasons. A. Sounds like Williams is the step down from HYP. Not the others. And B. Many people don’t care if the men’s squash players or women’s hockeys players weren’t good enough squash or hockey players for the Yale team but their grades/scores/apps were at the level. Okay!

Just not true. Many of the athletes actually are shooting for Ivies, but going to the NESCAC isn’t about not being good enough, it’s about not getting the final nod and moving from there. Our school has kids choosing NESCAC schools over mid-major/lower level Dl every year.

cool story bro

[Anonymous]

you guys are missing the point - for the ivy or bust striver-athletes and their ivy or bust parents, D3 is a difficult pill to swallow - and the Williams name can ease that pain, and is really the only acceptable D3 option for this striver class - along with trumpeting to everyone they know that “Williams has been the #1 ranked liberal arts school for x years”. It’s not about Amherst or Pomona being as good or better (which I believe), it’s solely about the name with this class of folks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you guys are missing the point - for the ivy or bust striver-athletes and their ivy or bust parents, D3 is a difficult pill to swallow - and the Williams name can ease that pain, and is really the only acceptable D3 option for this striver class - along with trumpeting to everyone they know that “Williams has been the #1 ranked liberal arts school for x years”. It’s not about Amherst or Pomona being as good or better (which I believe), it’s solely about the name with this class of folks

THIS
A typical recruited-athlete family is a very brag conscious. Some have been talking about their kids playing for Harvard since 4th grade. If you’re in the community, this should sound familiar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not ED to any unless I'd visited and truly fallen in love. My unhooked kid was accepted to Swat RD. We had visited.junior.year and she really thought she wanted to go. But when we visited for Swatstruck (accepted student day) she realized it was not for her. Polling DCUM is not the way to pick one of these schools

Very helpful reply. Thanks! Do you mind sharing your DD’s stats, what you think was the difference that got her into RD of such a tough-admit school, and why she didn’t like it after accepted student day? Again this is very helpful. Thank you!

DD had low 1500s SAT and a 4.0 unweighted GPA from public school. She's a pretty intellectual kid whose interests go deep and are interdisciplinary, which I think is drew her to Swat and why she got in there. Admitted students day was interesting ... the admitted students wound up eating lunch in the cafeteria with a random Swarthmore student who was not part of the Swatstruck event and who was pretty critical of the school. He complained about it being small and cliquey and told them he wanted to transfer. It depends on your point of view, but it was either the worst possible lunch pairing or maybe it was a blessing in disguise. A lot of what he said underscored some of her concerns about Swarthmore. Ultimately I think Swat was also smaller and more suburban than she wanted, but needless to say, she was not "Swatstruck."

Ooh cool, may I ask where she ended up and how she likes it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you guys are missing the point - for the ivy or bust striver-athletes and their ivy or bust parents, D3 is a difficult pill to swallow - and the Williams name can ease that pain, and is really the only acceptable D3 option for this striver class - along with trumpeting to everyone they know that “Williams has been the #1 ranked liberal arts school for x years”. It’s not about Amherst or Pomona being as good or better (which I believe), it’s solely about the name with this class of folks

Also, Williams to me has a slightly more NewYork/NJ vibe and Amherst more of a New England vibe; the NY/NJ braggadocio is more annoying.

[Anonymous]

Amherst for the best balance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you guys are missing the point - for the ivy or bust striver-athletes and their ivy or bust parents, D3 is a difficult pill to swallow - and the Williams name can ease that pain, and is really the only acceptable D3 option for this striver class - along with trumpeting to everyone they know that “Williams has been the #1 ranked liberal arts school for x years”. It’s not about Amherst or Pomona being as good or better (which I believe), it’s solely about the name with this class of folks

Also, Williams to me has a slightly more NewYork/NJ vibe and Amherst more of a New England vibe; the NY/NJ braggadocio is more annoying.

1000% lol - the instagram D3 commit posts that wind up in my feed are horrendous - i guess serves me right for whatever my insta search history is that drives these to my feed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you guys are missing the point - for the ivy or bust striver-athletes and their ivy or bust parents, D3 is a difficult pill to swallow - and the Williams name can ease that pain, and is really the only acceptable D3 option for this striver class - along with trumpeting to everyone they know that “Williams has been the #1 ranked liberal arts school for x years”. It’s not about Amherst or Pomona being as good or better (which I believe), it’s solely about the name with this class of folks

Agree that Pomona attracts few prestige seeking students because it's not that well known. But surprised that there is a big difference between Williams and Amherst. I always thought those were the two top names for LACs and the schools are similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you guys are missing the point - for the ivy or bust striver-athletes and their ivy or bust parents, D3 is a difficult pill to swallow - and the Williams name can ease that pain, and is really the only acceptable D3 option for this striver class - along with trumpeting to everyone they know that “Williams has been the #1 ranked liberal arts school for x years”. It’s not about Amherst or Pomona being as good or better (which I believe), it’s solely about the name with this class of folks

Agree that Pomona attracts few prestige seeking students because it's not that well known. But surprised that there is a big difference between Williams and Amherst. I always thought those were the two top names for LACs and the schools are similar.

There isn't.

[Anonymous]

I have one DC in top 20 NU but a DC who refuses to apply to Ivy plus or other top 20s as she wants a smaller college experience with easy accessibility to professors and undergrad research. She has many cousins who are attending or very recent graduates of Harvard and MIT so she understands that its not for all students, including herself

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have one DC in top 20 NU but a DC who refuses to apply to Ivy plus or other top 20s as she wants a smaller college experience with easy accessibility to professors and undergrad research. She has many cousins who are attending or very recent graduates of Harvard and MIT so she understands that its not for all students, including herself

well don’t leave us hanging, where is she targeting ??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you guys are missing the point - for the ivy or bust striver-athletes and their ivy or bust parents, D3 is a difficult pill to swallow - and the Williams name can ease that pain, and is really the only acceptable D3 option for this striver class - along with trumpeting to everyone they know that “Williams has been the #1 ranked liberal arts school for x years”. It’s not about Amherst or Pomona being as good or better (which I believe), it’s solely about the name with this class of folks

Agree that Pomona attracts few prestige seeking students because it's not that well known. But surprised that there is a big difference between Williams and Amherst. I always thought those were the two top names for LACs and the schools are similar.

There isn't.

+1 It's the opinion of one poster. Otherwise, those two are practically identical academically but with different locations and vibes.

[Anonymous]

DC applied to 3 of the WASP in RD and was accepted to all - Williams, Amherst and Pomona. Only had the chance to visit Amherst and Pomona (before applying). Liked Amherst too, but would've chosen Pomona (mostly because of the 5C benefit). Couldn't attend any of the admitted student days and ultimately decided to attend another school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you guys are missing the point - for the ivy or bust striver-athletes and their ivy or bust parents, D3 is a difficult pill to swallow - and the Williams name can ease that pain, and is really the only acceptable D3 option for this striver class - along with trumpeting to everyone they know that “Williams has been the #1 ranked liberal arts school for x years”. It’s not about Amherst or Pomona being as good or better (which I believe), it’s solely about the name with this class of folks

Agree that Pomona attracts few prestige seeking students because it's not that well known. But surprised that there is a big difference between Williams and Amherst. I always thought those were the two top names for LACs and the schools are similar.

Lmao most competitive LAC with similar student profile to both Williams and Amherst. What a bunch of BS.