Thoughts on Colgate University

[Anonymous]

Does Colgate have any name recognition as a college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does Colgate have any name recognition as a college?

Yes

[Anonymous]

A good school that very few people have heard of. I tend to think that many small liberal arts colleges will be closing within the next 10 years. This won't be one of them, most likely.

[Anonymous]

Always heard good things about Colgate. They make good toothpaste too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does Colgate have any name recognition as a college?

I applied to college many decades ago, and Colgate had a good reputation then -- a top 15 SLAC then, and maybe higher now. I don't know where you've been, but Colgate has a very good reputation and is well known.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Always heard good things about Colgate. They make good toothpaste too.

It's ADA-approved.

[Anonymous]

Are the top students at the area high schools going to Colgate as a first choice school these days?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are the top students at the area high schools going to Colgate as a first choice school these days?

Not the top students, but good students. There is also a trend developing of kids heading away from the rural schools and more into the cities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the top students at the area high schools going to Colgate as a first choice school these days?

Not the top students, but good students. There is also a trend developing of kids heading away from the rural schools and more into the cities.

Interesting . . . can you elaborate a bit? Where have you observed this trend? Why do you think it's developing? I'm not trying to be antagonistic, nor am I anti-city schools (my sons attend/ed a big city school and love it), but so many posters on this forum make assertions without citing any evidence -- even anecdotal or personal experience. I think we'd all benefit from discussion that provides a bit more context or explanation.

[Anonymous]

The atmosphere is similar to a North Korean prison camp, but enjoy.

Adonal Foyle is a bum.

[Anonymous]

If you check the applications to the Top Liberal Arts schools, noting in particular the "rural" locations you will see a definite decline in applicants. That said it hard to attribute the decline just to the "rural" location but surveys released do mention the factor as one "issue" applicants consider. There's no doubt e.g., that going to Williams in the middle of no where (or Kenyon e.g., which arguably is "worse" in terms of remoteness) is absolutely not for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Colgate is much better than Davidson, W&L, Macalester, and Smith. Equivalent or slightly better then Bates and Colby.

I'm not sure about Macalester as none of my 3 kids currently attending college nor any of their close friends even looked at it (which doesn't necessarily mean anything, of course) but I know several kids who applied to Colgate along with Davidson, W & L, Bates &/or Smith in recent years. Colgate seemed to be a safety school among those who considered Davidson or W & L to be target schools & a target school among those for whom Davidson & W & L were considered reaches. My DD's guidance counselor told her that she had a good, but hardly guaranteed, chance of getting into both Colgate & Colby but that admission to Colby was generally slightly more competitive. Bates & Smith both seemed to be more in the same category as Colgate as far as reach vs. safety schools, though it seems like the kids who ended up at Bates & Colgate were generally not quite as strong academically as the girls who ultimately attended Smith

FWIW, I know several current college students (at least 6 that I can think of just off the top of my head) who didn't get into Davidson but were accepted to Colgate. I know of none for whom the reverse was true. I only know of 2 kids who applied to both W & L & Colgate. One was accepted at both but ultimately chose to attend Wellesley while the other got into Colgate but not W & L (or, for that matter, Davidson) & now goes to Colgate.

My middle DD, who is now a sophomore at Vanderbilt, is so far the only one of my kids to apply to Colgate (3 college application processes down, two to go !). She also applied Colby, Middlebury, Davidson, Bates, Elon, Lehigh & Villanova. She was told by her guidance counselor that Davidson, Middlebury & Vanderbilt were reaches for her but that she had a better shot of being admitted to Vanderbilt than to Davidson or Middlebury, which she was "about equally unlikely" to get into (luckily, DD already figured Davidson & Middlebury were definitely long shots & wasn't too upset to hear this confirmed ) & that Elon, Villanova &, more than likely, Lehigh could be considered her safety schools. The counselor's take on things turned out to be pretty accurate. DD was admitted to Colgate, Bates, Lehigh, Villanova & Elon (which offered her some merit-based aid), waitlisted at both Colby & Vanderbilt & denied admittance to Davidson & Middlebury. She was ultimately accepted to both Colby & Vanderbilt off their respective waitlists.

[Anonymous]

I guess Elon has gotten considerably better. In my day, it was not considered a good school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The atmosphere is similar to a North Korean prison camp, but enjoy.

Adonal Foyle is a bum.

Not true at all. Either one.

http://www.businessinsider.com/most-beautiful-college-campuses-2014-8

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adonal_Foyle

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess Elon has gotten considerably better. In my day, it was not considered a good school.

I'm the 17:43 PP from 9/15 whose DD applied to Elon.

Although Elon's academic reputation has definitely improved & its admissions have become a bit more competitive in recent years, it's still not really in the same league as the majority of the other colleges DD applied to. It's probably a tier below most of them (Colgate, Bates, etc.) & a couple of tiers below her reach schools (Davidson, Middlebury &, perhaps to a slightly lesser extend, Vanderbilt). Of the school she applied to, I'm guessing the one Elon may be most comparable to in terms of competitiveness & reputation is Villanova, but even it is likely a notch above Elon in those regards. This is why Elon was one of DD's safeties.

When she was deciding where to apply, DD was already fairly certain that she wanted a somewhat smaller school but wasn't yet completely sure if she definitely wanted a school in either the northeast or the southeast or if she would be equally happy with either. Because of this, her guidance counselor suggested she apply to at least one safety, target & reach school in both regions. Even more so than her other "safeties", Elon was the school we (DD, her counselor, DH & I) all believed to be as close to 100% a sure bet for her as anything can ever be given the crapshoot that is often college admissions. The fact that DD, a strong student with good SAT scores but was also, admittedly, not exactly an academic superstar, was not only accepted there but offered both merit-based aid & a spot in their honors program (the exact name of which I can't recall) likely adds credence to this belief.