Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I attended a WASP about 30 years ago — I met my husband there, and two of our children attended the same one (actually, one is there currently). I had no interest in applying to an Ivy. I visited Yale and attended classes with a friend. She was especially excited to bring me to a lecture class with a professor who I’m sure was world-renowned. The 200 hundred person lecture class paled in comparison to the three person language class I visited at the college I ended up attending (also with a renowned professor). Like my husband and our two children who attended the WASP, I had no interest in applying to any ivies after visiting. In my (admittedly biased) opinion, nothing beats the education you can receive as an undergraduate at a SLAC. Don’t assume that many students are Ivy rejects — while some are, there are many that never considered applying to them.

Certainly, there are positives and negatives about the educational experiences at both LACs and at National Universities. School selection should depend upon the particular preferences of a specific student. One, among several, aspects that cannot be denied are the greater breadth of courses, majors, and professors available at larger schools than at smaller schools. I attended a 2,000 plus student LAC and was limited by the lack of variety of courses, majors,and professors at the school. Additionally, the LAC suffered from a lack of perspectives available and shared by both fellow students and professors. To me, the LAC experience was somewhat suffocating and boring due the above mentioned limitations.

Some cautionary advice for those considering small colleges: Don't be fooled by departments which list a high number of professors and a wide variety of courses as neither is going to be accurate during a typical school year.

Most of the top LACs have ways to increase the course range (Five colleges, claremont colleges, wellesley-mit, tri-co consortium + upenn, etc)

Does this really address a lack of breadth of courses in one's particular major ?

I can say this does for The Claremont Colleges. Each college builds a different version of the department with different specialties and faculty interest. A good example is the difference in science education- you can get a classic STEM education at Pomona and Harvey Mudd, meanwhile The Natural Sciences department at Scripps and Pitzer have a biological focus, and CMC has integrated sciences now, which is a very computationally focused science major with faculty. Students can join labs at any of these schools and take classes there too. This has allowed DS to major at Pomona, join two labs at Harvey Mudd and Pitzer/Scripps, and now he's assisting a professor at CMC in their research.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LACs are equivalent to ivy plus. Same prestige.

Williams - Harvard
Amherst - Yale
Pomona - Stanford
Bowdoin - Dartmouth
Carleton - Cornell

+100
Swarthmore - Chicago

OP was focused on prestige, not on perceived similarities.

U Chicago prestige extends across the globe, whereas Swarthmore's prestige extends across the Philadelphia suburbs and then some.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LACs are equivalent to ivy plus. Same prestige.

Williams - Harvard
Amherst - Yale
Pomona - Stanford
Bowdoin - Dartmouth
Carleton - Cornell

After reading the above post, my first thoughts were that this has to be a joke post or that ignorance is bliss, but I suspect that you are serious in your posted prestige matches.

None of your posted prestige matches are correct even considering that the concept of "prestige" is, in significant part, a personal preference.

Bowdoin - Dartmouth?

No way. They’re nothing alike.

Agreed, Bowdoin doesn't have the heavy drinking and greek life culture that is Dartmouth.

Anonymous wrote:LACs are equivalent to ivy plus. Same prestige.

Williams - Harvard
Amherst - Yale
Pomona - Stanford
Bowdoin - Dartmouth
Carleton - Cornell

Most people have not heard of Amherst, Bowdoin, or Carleton of all places. It's not even remotely close.

Anonymous wrote:LACs are equivalent to ivy plus. Same prestige.

Williams - Harvard
Amherst - Yale
Pomona - Stanford
Bowdoin - Dartmouth
Carleton - Cornell

+100
Swarthmore - Chicago

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LACs are equivalent to ivy plus. Same prestige.

Williams - Harvard
Amherst - Yale
Pomona - Stanford
Bowdoin - Dartmouth
Carleton - Cornell

After reading the above post, my first thoughts were that this has to be a joke post or that ignorance is bliss, but I suspect that you are serious in your posted prestige matches.

None of your posted prestige matches are correct even considering that the concept of "prestige" is, in significant part, a personal preference.

Bowdoin - Dartmouth?

No way. They’re nothing alike.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LACs are equivalent to ivy plus. Same prestige.

Williams - Harvard
Amherst - Yale
Pomona - Stanford
Bowdoin - Dartmouth
Carleton - Cornell

After reading the above post, my first thoughts were that this has to be a joke post or that ignorance is bliss, but I suspect that you are serious in your posted prestige matches.

None of your posted prestige matches are correct even considering that the concept of "prestige" is, in significant part, a personal preference.

+1
Give it a rest folks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I attended a WASP about 30 years ago — I met my husband there, and two of our children attended the same one (actually, one is there currently). I had no interest in applying to an Ivy. I visited Yale and attended classes with a friend. She was especially excited to bring me to a lecture class with a professor who I’m sure was world-renowned. The 200 hundred person lecture class paled in comparison to the three person language class I visited at the college I ended up attending (also with a renowned professor). Like my husband and our two children who attended the WASP, I had no interest in applying to any ivies after visiting. In my (admittedly biased) opinion, nothing beats the education you can receive as an undergraduate at a SLAC. Don’t assume that many students are Ivy rejects — while some are, there are many that never considered applying to them.

Certainly, there are positives and negatives about the educational experiences at both LACs and at National Universities. School selection should depend upon the particular preferences of a specific student. One, among several, aspects that cannot be denied are the greater breadth of courses, majors, and professors available at larger schools than at smaller schools. I attended a 2,000 plus student LAC and was limited by the lack of variety of courses, majors,and professors at the school. Additionally, the LAC suffered from a lack of perspectives available and shared by both fellow students and professors. To me, the LAC experience was somewhat suffocating and boring due the above mentioned limitations.

Some cautionary advice for those considering small colleges: Don't be fooled by departments which list a high number of professors and a wide variety of courses as neither is going to be accurate during a typical school year.

Most of the top LACs have ways to increase the course range (Five colleges, claremont colleges, wellesley-mit, tri-co consortium + upenn, etc)

Does this really address a lack of breadth of courses in one's particular major ?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I attended a WASP about 30 years ago — I met my husband there, and two of our children attended the same one (actually, one is there currently). I had no interest in applying to an Ivy. I visited Yale and attended classes with a friend. She was especially excited to bring me to a lecture class with a professor who I’m sure was world-renowned. The 200 hundred person lecture class paled in comparison to the three person language class I visited at the college I ended up attending (also with a renowned professor). Like my husband and our two children who attended the WASP, I had no interest in applying to any ivies after visiting. In my (admittedly biased) opinion, nothing beats the education you can receive as an undergraduate at a SLAC. Don’t assume that many students are Ivy rejects — while some are, there are many that never considered applying to them.

Certainly, there are positives and negatives about the educational experiences at both LACs and at National Universities. School selection should depend upon the particular preferences of a specific student. One, among several, aspects that cannot be denied are the greater breadth of courses, majors, and professors available at larger schools than at smaller schools. I attended a 2,000 plus student LAC and was limited by the lack of variety of courses, majors,and professors at the school. Additionally, the LAC suffered from a lack of perspectives available and shared by both fellow students and professors. To me, the LAC experience was somewhat suffocating and boring due the above mentioned limitations.

Some cautionary advice for those considering small colleges: Don't be fooled by departments which list a high number of professors and a wide variety of courses as neither is going to be accurate during a typical school year.

Most of the top LACs have ways to increase the course range (Five colleges, claremont colleges, wellesley-mit, tri-co consortium + upenn, etc)

Yes, but are these options actually used by small college students ?

And doesn't this just highlight that there is a problem ?

Agree that the Claremont Colleges consortium is an especially nice option since all 5 schools are within walking distance of each other.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I attended a WASP about 30 years ago — I met my husband there, and two of our children attended the same one (actually, one is there currently). I had no interest in applying to an Ivy. I visited Yale and attended classes with a friend. She was especially excited to bring me to a lecture class with a professor who I’m sure was world-renowned. The 200 hundred person lecture class paled in comparison to the three person language class I visited at the college I ended up attending (also with a renowned professor). Like my husband and our two children who attended the WASP, I had no interest in applying to any ivies after visiting. In my (admittedly biased) opinion, nothing beats the education you can receive as an undergraduate at a SLAC. Don’t assume that many students are Ivy rejects — while some are, there are many that never considered applying to them.

Certainly, there are positives and negatives about the educational experiences at both LACs and at National Universities. School selection should depend upon the particular preferences of a specific student. One, among several, aspects that cannot be denied are the greater breadth of courses, majors, and professors available at larger schools than at smaller schools. I attended a 2,000 plus student LAC and was limited by the lack of variety of courses, majors,and professors at the school. Additionally, the LAC suffered from a lack of perspectives available and shared by both fellow students and professors. To me, the LAC experience was somewhat suffocating and boring due the above mentioned limitations.

Some cautionary advice for those considering small colleges: Don't be fooled by departments which list a high number of professors and a wide variety of courses as neither is going to be accurate during a typical school year.

Most of the top LACs have ways to increase the course range (Five colleges, claremont colleges, wellesley-mit, tri-co consortium + upenn, etc)

Anonymous wrote:I attended a WASP about 30 years ago — I met my husband there, and two of our children attended the same one (actually, one is there currently). I had no interest in applying to an Ivy. I visited Yale and attended classes with a friend. She was especially excited to bring me to a lecture class with a professor who I’m sure was world-renowned. The 200 hundred person lecture class paled in comparison to the three person language class I visited at the college I ended up attending (also with a renowned professor). Like my husband and our two children who attended the WASP, I had no interest in applying to any ivies after visiting. In my (admittedly biased) opinion, nothing beats the education you can receive as an undergraduate at a SLAC. Don’t assume that many students are Ivy rejects — while some are, there are many that never considered applying to them.

Certainly, there are positives and negatives about the educational experiences at both LACs and at National Universities. School selection should depend upon the particular preferences of a specific student. One, among several, aspects that cannot be denied are the greater breadth of courses, majors, and professors available at larger schools than at smaller schools. I attended a 2,000 plus student LAC and was limited by the lack of variety of courses, majors,and professors at the school. Additionally, the LAC suffered from a lack of perspectives available and shared by both fellow students and professors. To me, the LAC experience was somewhat suffocating and boring due the above mentioned limitations.

Some cautionary advice for those considering small colleges: Don't be fooled by departments which list a high number of professors and a wide variety of courses as neither is going to be accurate during a typical school year.

I attended a WASP about 30 years ago — I met my husband there, and two of our children attended the same one (actually, one is there currently). I had no interest in applying to an Ivy. I visited Yale and attended classes with a friend. She was especially excited to bring me to a lecture class with a professor who I’m sure was world-renowned. The 200 hundred person lecture class paled in comparison to the three person language class I visited at the college I ended up attending (also with a renowned professor). Like my husband and our two children who attended the WASP, I had no interest in applying to any ivies after visiting. In my (admittedly biased) opinion, nothing beats the education you can receive as an undergraduate at a SLAC. Don’t assume that many students are Ivy rejects — while some are, there are many that never considered applying to them.

Anonymous wrote:LACs are equivalent to ivy plus. Same prestige.

Williams - Harvard
Amherst - Yale
Pomona - Stanford
Bowdoin - Dartmouth
Carleton - Cornell

After reading the above post, my first thoughts were that this has to be a joke post or that ignorance is bliss, but I suspect that you are serious in your posted prestige matches.

None of your posted prestige matches are correct even considering that the concept of "prestige" is, in significant part, a personal preference.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're into the best lacs- aka Williams, Pomona, Bowdoin, Swarthmore- it's just up to the student to determine what environment is right for them. Some choose Brown over Williams, but I've also seen students struggle between Pomona and Yale. It really depends on what the student wants out of their college experience. Overall, it doesn't really matter since these are the top of the top and they will end up fine whether at a top lac or an ivy.

Bowdoin is not in the same league. Nice try.

There are so many boosters here who try to casually insert a less prestigious school into a list of more prestigious schools thinking the association will make others think they’re of the same caliber. I’ve seen this done for Bowdoin, Denison, Richmond, Holy Cross, Lehigh, Bucknell, and several others.

Bowdoin certainly is in the top league.

former AO at an M7 B-school (more than 10 years ago, but I think the below still holds true). The top SLAC kids were at least as impressive as HYPSM kids, and where they typically shined brightest was their writing skills (and also leadership to a lesser extent). I have a grandkid going thru process now and although times have changed, Willams/Amherst/Pomona were considered the top schools equivalent to ivies, while Bowdoin Middlebury Swarthmore Wesleyan were a notch below. Take it for what it’s worth, but that’s how the schools are probably still viewed by b-schooks

Serious question: How would an admissions officer--as opposed to a professor--know about a student's writing skills ? Based on a one-time, possibly/likely coached application ?

If just comparing "the top SLAC kids" to any HYPSM educated applicant, then I agree that it is possible that a top SLAC student is as good as a typical HYPSM graduate depending upon how one defines "top SLAC student".

Nonetheless, it appears as though you have an agenda focused on promoting several LACs over Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, & Stanford. Doesn't this seem to be a bit ridiculous ? Especially when a primary factor in M-7 business school admissions is an applicant's work experience and success during that period of post-undergraduate degree years prior to applying to business school ?

The number of applicants to the top LACs is small when compared to the volume of applicants to an elite National University (which, in this case, is focused on HYPSM). The applicant pool at the LACs listed by you is even less competitive when accounting for admitted athletes which is often about 30% of each class.

LACs are equivalent to ivy plus. Same prestige.

Williams - Harvard
Amherst - Yale
Pomona - Stanford
Bowdoin - Dartmouth
Carleton - Cornell