Reply to Skidmore College - up and coming or already here?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is there a website that has these so called tiers? I want to rule the top tier out and find some good 2nd tier ones. [/quote]

I think US News has a decent ranking, and anything in the top 25 or so LACs is top tier. 2nd tier would be those in the 26-50 range, like Skidmore. Reed is one exception top tier school which does not participate in rankings. [/quote]

I don't think I would cut the 2nd tier off at 50.  Maybe around 100?  I don't think there's a huge difference between schools ranked in the 40s and the 60-70s (looking over USNews--there are over 230 National LAC listed--and that doesn't even get unlisted regional privates).   Many states will have multiple solid LACs and then a handful of 3rd tier.  I would instead look at the profile of students they accept (GPA/SATs)--and how they rank on admissions to PhD programs (even if your kid doesn't want a PhD, it just gives some measure of academic rigor).  I like this slightly wider lens because it will capture the variability of things a student might be interested in (e.g. international studies, music, admission to top PhD programs, marine biology) that a given school might have as a strength--and geographical diversity.   I would also look at endowment--you don't want a school that is struggling--and some 3rd tier LACs are.  Given their often small size, endowments don't need to be enormous, but healthy.  I wouldn't bother looking at acceptance rates for 2nd tier--a school can have a high acceptance rate because LAC applicants have often chosen the college carefully to match their stats and their interest--the first tier is where you are more likely to get students throwing their hat in the ring for colleges they don't quite match stats-wise.

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