It’s Williams and after that who cares.

They're not, and parents with kids attending one of them will perpetually be seeking approval.

Anonymous wrote:This thread is embarrassing.

Most of them are. Insecurity and stupidity does not wear well.

Because they are NOT.

Nobody outside of these forums knows what wasp means. Actually most people thinks it means white Anglo Saxon Protestant. Maybe some wannabe elites in nyc, Boston, and Philly do. You tell the average person your considering Amherst and they’ll think you mean umass.

This thread is embarrassing.

Anonymous wrote:Nobody in the real world care about these teeny tiny schools. They're like elite boarding schools, I'm sure there is good learning and a small but mighty network of alums, but it really doesn't amount to much. The reality is most adults in the US and world has never heard of any of these tiny lacs.

Depends on the field… every elite lawyer knows these schools.

Anonymous wrote:People (general public and academics) consider these four the LAC equivalents of Ivy-tier signaling.
The next tier of schools Wellesley, Bowdoin, Carleton, Middlebury, substantively have no difference.
Why do they give less Ivy-tier signaling power?

I disagree with your premise.

Tradition, selectivity, outcomes, endowment.

WASP is like wasp, it's tiny.

people and public being op only

Nobody in the real world care about these teeny tiny schools. They're like elite boarding schools, I'm sure there is good learning and a small but mighty network of alums, but it really doesn't amount to much. The reality is most adults in the US and world has never heard of any of these tiny lacs.

Anonymous wrote:People (general public and academics) consider these four the LAC equivalents of Ivy-tier signaling.
The next tier of schools Wellesley, Bowdoin, Carleton, Middlebury, substantively have no difference.
Why do they give less Ivy-tier signaling power?

You are correct, substantively there is no difference between any of these schools. They have some unique characteristics but academically they are all equals. The most commonly used ranking is driven by resources and the rankings for this group of schools is highly correlated with the size of their endowments.

I think it depends on the person. I far prefer Bowdoin to Swarthmore. Williams has become too preprofessional for my taste. And there will be very smart kids at all of them.

I think you are being swayed by an acronym rather than looking carefully at the schools.

I also love CMC, but DCUM just doesn’t understand

People (general public and academics) consider these four the LAC equivalents of Ivy-tier signaling.
The next tier of schools Wellesley, Bowdoin, Carleton, Middlebury, substantively have no difference.
Why do they give less Ivy-tier signaling power?