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[quote=Anonymous]I just discovered this forum today and out of curiosity searched up what ''DC Urban Moms and Dads" had to say about my alma mater - Bowdoin. While gratifyingly, most reviews are glowing (and I can attest to the wonderful education & career outcome I received!), it was to my great surprise to find that it is apparently viewed as a tier below this so-called 'WASP' collection of schools.

Not salty at all, just very confused - in all my years on this planet, I have NEVER heard 'WASP' referenced. And I work among many graduates of such schools and volunteer to interview Bowdoin applicants every year (I ask them about what other schools they are considering)!

Hence my question: how long has this 'WASP' grouping existed, and is it even meaningful?

I confess that I may just be ignorant because I come from a California public school background and did my college search independently without referencing any online forums (just went down US News LAC list and did research on each school). I was the only kid in my HS class to apply to LACs and college counselor/immigrant parents only knew Ivy League/UCs etc, so nobody around me had any idea either.

I do recognize that Williams & Amherst are consistently #1/2 in the rankings, but I had always thought Swarthmore/Pomona were more or less equivalent to Bowdoin. The year I applied to college, Pomona & Bowdoin were tied and I don't think Bowdoin has ever fallen out of the top 6-7 LACs... so I guess if you would want to rephrase, my question is.. are S/P truly perceived as qualitatively 'better' than B? Or does did WASP arise simply because it is a funny (and somewhat fitting) acronym?

FWIW in recent years there seems to have appeared a new 'official' association called 'Six Colleges' that includes WASP + Bowdoin and Carleton, so why aren't people using that?

Answers appreciated! And in exchange, I suppose I can answer any questions you people may have for a young-ish Bowdoin graduate. [/quote]

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