Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:25     Subject: where would top SLACs fall in an overall college ranking list?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:asking as DH is saying these LA schools are equal prestige and education to at least the lower T20s and I disagree - think they should be lower. Yes great intimate educational experience, but can’t compare to a Vandy Rice Or WashU - should be lower imo -


can't compare in what way?

there's a lot that you can compare, obviously.

you could compare PhD placement or dining hall food.
you could compare 4-year graduation rates or mid-career income stats
you could compare golf teams or research grants.
you could compare start-up incubators or med school enrollment.

what are you asking? usually students have very specific feelings about small schools, either being very attracted or not at all interested.


+1. We are considering both universities and top slac and they are impossible to rank in the same list. The larger universities get their overall global reputations mostly through prestige of their faculty and their respective research programs, and not necessarily from the undergraduate experience. First decide if your dc wants one type of school or the other, then rank your preferences within that category using the factors important to you. You won’t find a great list that compares apples to oranges.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:24     Subject: where would top SLACs fall in an overall college ranking list?
Anonymous wrote:Williams and Amherst and Swarthmore are comparable to T12-18 private range. They have never had quite the same percentage of true top kids, partly because 1/3 of the student body is recruited. The intelligence of the top 1/3 is akin to the top 2/3 or so of most ivies (cornell pre-TO had SAT ranges lower than the other ivies).
The LACs from #3 to 15 or so, inclusive of Claremont, Davidson, Wellesley, have student bodies that parallel the T18-30 range schools.

Below the T15ish LAC’s the quality of the average student drops fast and typically one would much better off at a good flagship


Middlebury, harverford, Richmond have decent student quality. They are about t30.

Wellesley is among the top. T10-t20
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:24     Subject: where would top SLACs fall in an overall college ranking list?
Forbes:

17 Williams
19 CMC
23 Wellesley
24 Amherst
25 Bowdoin
27 Swarthmore
37 Pomona
47 Washington & Lee
48 Davidson

Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:23     Subject: where would top SLACs fall in an overall college ranking list?
our feeder high school has kids who choose williams over brown, etc. and certainly over vandy.

of course, even more kids never even apply because this kind of experience doesn't appeal. it didn't appeal to my kids. but these are academically elite schools. they're not the "the hardest thing about this school is getting in" kind of places.

and looking at naviance, both williams and Pomona are a much harder admit than Georgetown, USC, UVA, Vandy, or WashU.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:23     Subject: where would top SLACs fall in an overall college ranking list?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:asking as DH is saying these LA schools are equal prestige and education to at least the lower T20s and I disagree - think they should be lower. Yes great intimate educational experience, but can’t compare to a Vandy Rice Or WashU - should be lower imo -


can't compare in what way?

there's a lot that you can compare, obviously.

you could compare PhD placement or dining hall food.
you could compare 4-year graduation rates or mid-career income stats
you could compare golf teams or research grants.
you could compare start-up incubators or med school enrollment.

what are you asking? usually students have very specific feelings about small schools, either being very attracted or not at all interested.


This is the only reasonable answer for all the ranking threads.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:20     Subject: where would top SLACs fall in an overall college ranking list?
I would love for our DC to attend Pomona over pretty much all Ivies + MS except perhaps Yale and Princeton, and most definitely over U Chicago
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:17     Subject: where would top SLACs fall in an overall college ranking list?
Williams and Amherst and Swarthmore are comparable to T12-18 private range. They have never had quite the same percentage of true top kids, partly because 1/3 of the student body is recruited. The intelligence of the top 1/3 is akin to the top 2/3 or so of most ivies (cornell pre-TO had SAT ranges lower than the other ivies).
The LACs from #3 to 15 or so, inclusive of Claremont, Davidson, Wellesley, have student bodies that parallel the T18-30 range schools.

Below the T15ish LAC’s the quality of the average student drops fast and typically one would much better off at a good flagship
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:13     Subject: where would top SLACs fall in an overall college ranking list?
We don’t rank them. But would go to Williams or bowdoin over some ivy. About T10-T20.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:13     Subject: where would top SLACs fall in an overall college ranking list?
How long before this thread devolves into a full on rock fight?
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:12     Subject: where would top SLACs fall in an overall college ranking list?
Anonymous wrote:asking as DH is saying these LA schools are equal prestige and education to at least the lower T20s and I disagree - think they should be lower. Yes great intimate educational experience, but can’t compare to a Vandy Rice Or WashU - should be lower imo -


can't compare in what way?

there's a lot that you can compare, obviously.

you could compare PhD placement or dining hall food.
you could compare 4-year graduation rates or mid-career income stats
you could compare golf teams or research grants.
you could compare start-up incubators or med school enrollment.

what are you asking? usually students have very specific feelings about small schools, either being very attracted or not at all interested.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:12     Subject: where would top SLACs fall in an overall college ranking list?
Anonymous wrote:asking as DH is saying these LA schools are equal prestige and education to at least the lower T20s and I disagree - think they should be lower. Yes great intimate educational experience, but can’t compare to a Vandy Rice Or WashU - should be lower imo -


Completely disagree. The WASP and other SLAC would rank in T10, definitely over Vanderbilt and WashU. Their emphasis is on meaningful and rigorous undergraduate education.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:10     Subject: where would top SLACs fall in an overall college ranking list?
Look at the WSJ and Forbes rankings. They are all together.

The Claremont schools and Davidson rank very highly by WSJ (several top 10). In Forbes, I think Williams is the highest at like 17 overall, and there are 4 more ranked 20-30.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:08     Subject: where would top SLACs fall in an overall college ranking list?
There is no "overall" list, and there is a reason why USNWR ranks them separately. If you don't think they compare to larger institutions, then they probably aren't a good choice for you.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:05     Subject: where would top SLACs fall in an overall college ranking list?
asking as DH is saying these LA schools are equal prestige and education to at least the lower T20s and I disagree - think they should be lower. Yes great intimate educational experience, but can’t compare to a Vandy Rice Or WashU - should be lower imo -
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:02     Subject: where would top SLACs fall in an overall college ranking list?
hear all this banter about WASP schools being comparable to ivies, but are they really? where should Williams, Amherst, and Pomona fall on an overall list - somewhere in the mid 20s after Georgetown, UVA, USC, Lehigh, etc?