Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a first year at Amherst. I could not be happier. I had some of the worries about small school, athlete/non-athlete split, etc. but all of the great things about the SLAC environment have proven to be true (and not the downsides). What makes me so happy, is that my kid and (the other kid she knew that went) are the happiest amongst their friend group from HS. Easy to get involved in activities, great professors, and most importantly just a great group of kids and the school fosters community (kids eat together, lots of school events, etc.). We looked at a lot of the SLACs and liked a number. Could not be happier with the choice that was made. Whether something is worth the tuition is a personal decision. From my perspective, totally worth the money.

My sophomore son at Amherst is having a similar positive experience - he absolutely loves it. Not a recruited athlete though plays club ultimate frisbee, and they travel to tournaments all over New England. Active in the outing club which does hikes, ice climbing, ziplining, whitewater rafting, mountain biking, etc. We just returned home from Family Weekend last night. Everywhere we walked with him, he routinely stopped to greet friends crossing paths. We watched the soccer game vs Connecticut, and he cheered on his friends on the team. We went to the annual a cappella show, and he cheered on his friends performing with various groups. The goodwill all appeared genuine to me, which was a relief because I was also concerned about the notorious recruited athlete vs NARP divide. We sat in on some classes - they were small and intimate, and the professors were enthusiastic and engaged - no grad students teaching the undergrads.

YMMV but we are thrilled with Amherst College - Go Mammoths, Tusks Up!

Is Amherst a sports school? I never thought of it this way

Amherst very much is in terms of the divide between athletes and students. Makes for a shitty experience for many.

Interesting because according to the 2023 CDS, 97% of first year students returnedthe following year

Love this! Someone on DCUM actually presents facts rather than biased opinions rooted in ignorance and bias. Kudos PP!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a first year at Amherst. I could not be happier. I had some of the worries about small school, athlete/non-athlete split, etc. but all of the great things about the SLAC environment have proven to be true (and not the downsides). What makes me so happy, is that my kid and (the other kid she knew that went) are the happiest amongst their friend group from HS. Easy to get involved in activities, great professors, and most importantly just a great group of kids and the school fosters community (kids eat together, lots of school events, etc.). We looked at a lot of the SLACs and liked a number. Could not be happier with the choice that was made. Whether something is worth the tuition is a personal decision. From my perspective, totally worth the money.

My sophomore son at Amherst is having a similar positive experience - he absolutely loves it. Not a recruited athlete though plays club ultimate frisbee, and they travel to tournaments all over New England. Active in the outing club which does hikes, ice climbing, ziplining, whitewater rafting, mountain biking, etc. We just returned home from Family Weekend last night. Everywhere we walked with him, he routinely stopped to greet friends crossing paths. We watched the soccer game vs Connecticut, and he cheered on his friends on the team. We went to the annual a cappella show, and he cheered on his friends performing with various groups. The goodwill all appeared genuine to me, which was a relief because I was also concerned about the notorious recruited athlete vs NARP divide. We sat in on some classes - they were small and intimate, and the professors were enthusiastic and engaged - no grad students teaching the undergrads.

YMMV but we are thrilled with Amherst College - Go Mammoths, Tusks Up!

Is Amherst a sports school? I never thought of it this way

Amherst very much is in terms of the divide between athletes and students. Makes for a shitty experience for many.

Interesting because according to the 2023 CDS, 97% of first year students returnedthe following year

Amherst is 40% athletes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a first year at Amherst. I could not be happier. I had some of the worries about small school, athlete/non-athlete split, etc. but all of the great things about the SLAC environment have proven to be true (and not the downsides). What makes me so happy, is that my kid and (the other kid she knew that went) are the happiest amongst their friend group from HS. Easy to get involved in activities, great professors, and most importantly just a great group of kids and the school fosters community (kids eat together, lots of school events, etc.). We looked at a lot of the SLACs and liked a number. Could not be happier with the choice that was made. Whether something is worth the tuition is a personal decision. From my perspective, totally worth the money.

My sophomore son at Amherst is having a similar positive experience - he absolutely loves it. Not a recruited athlete though plays club ultimate frisbee, and they travel to tournaments all over New England. Active in the outing club which does hikes, ice climbing, ziplining, whitewater rafting, mountain biking, etc. We just returned home from Family Weekend last night. Everywhere we walked with him, he routinely stopped to greet friends crossing paths. We watched the soccer game vs Connecticut, and he cheered on his friends on the team. We went to the annual a cappella show, and he cheered on his friends performing with various groups. The goodwill all appeared genuine to me, which was a relief because I was also concerned about the notorious recruited athlete vs NARP divide. We sat in on some classes - they were small and intimate, and the professors were enthusiastic and engaged - no grad students teaching the undergrads.

YMMV but we are thrilled with Amherst College - Go Mammoths, Tusks Up!

Is Amherst a sports school? I never thought of it this way

Amherst very much is in terms of the divide between athletes and students. Makes for a shitty experience for many.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a first year at Amherst. I could not be happier. I had some of the worries about small school, athlete/non-athlete split, etc. but all of the great things about the SLAC environment have proven to be true (and not the downsides). What makes me so happy, is that my kid and (the other kid she knew that went) are the happiest amongst their friend group from HS. Easy to get involved in activities, great professors, and most importantly just a great group of kids and the school fosters community (kids eat together, lots of school events, etc.). We looked at a lot of the SLACs and liked a number. Could not be happier with the choice that was made. Whether something is worth the tuition is a personal decision. From my perspective, totally worth the money.

My sophomore son at Amherst is having a similar positive experience - he absolutely loves it. Not a recruited athlete though plays club ultimate frisbee, and they travel to tournaments all over New England. Active in the outing club which does hikes, ice climbing, ziplining, whitewater rafting, mountain biking, etc. We just returned home from Family Weekend last night. Everywhere we walked with him, he routinely stopped to greet friends crossing paths. We watched the soccer game vs Connecticut, and he cheered on his friends on the team. We went to the annual a cappella show, and he cheered on his friends performing with various groups. The goodwill all appeared genuine to me, which was a relief because I was also concerned about the notorious recruited athlete vs NARP divide. We sat in on some classes - they were small and intimate, and the professors were enthusiastic and engaged - no grad students teaching the undergrads.

YMMV but we are thrilled with Amherst College - Go Mammoths, Tusks Up!

Is Amherst a sports school? I never thought of it this way

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a kid apply to Wesleyan, Carleton and Grinnell. Got into Carleton and Grinnell but not Wesleyan, which would have been the top choice. Not a huge fan of Carleton and the merit money from Grinnell sealed the deal.

The kid definitely saw differences between the schools, and never even considered the top northeastern SLACs - thought they were way too mainstream.

The point being that students definitely see differences between SLACs.

Our kid had a very positive reaction to Carleton and a negative reaction to Grinnell, to the point we turned down their merit aid offer and picked Carleton. I can of course see a family doing the opposite; fit is personal. A one paragraph description might imply those two are very similar, but in our experience they were very different.

Sorry but to have such a dramatically different reaction to the two schools is odd. Sounds like you’re rankings chasers.

Not PP, but this response is unnecessarily shitty. Is it so hard to believe that a teenager might have different impressions of two different schools? That doesn't strike me as odd in the slightest.

Never said “different.” Said “dramatically different.” They’re definitely not dramatically different.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a kid apply to Wesleyan, Carleton and Grinnell. Got into Carleton and Grinnell but not Wesleyan, which would have been the top choice. Not a huge fan of Carleton and the merit money from Grinnell sealed the deal.

The kid definitely saw differences between the schools, and never even considered the top northeastern SLACs - thought they were way too mainstream.

The point being that students definitely see differences between SLACs.

Our kid had a very positive reaction to Carleton and a negative reaction to Grinnell, to the point we turned down their merit aid offer and picked Carleton. I can of course see a family doing the opposite; fit is personal. A one paragraph description might imply those two are very similar, but in our experience they were very different.

Sorry but to have such a dramatically different reaction to the two schools is odd. Sounds like you’re rankings chasers.

Not PP, but this response is unnecessarily shitty. Is it so hard to believe that a teenager might have different impressions of two different schools? That doesn't strike me as odd in the slightest.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a kid apply to Wesleyan, Carleton and Grinnell. Got into Carleton and Grinnell but not Wesleyan, which would have been the top choice. Not a huge fan of Carleton and the merit money from Grinnell sealed the deal.

The kid definitely saw differences between the schools, and never even considered the top northeastern SLACs - thought they were way too mainstream.

The point being that students definitely see differences between SLACs.

Our kid had a very positive reaction to Carleton and a negative reaction to Grinnell, to the point we turned down their merit aid offer and picked Carleton. I can of course see a family doing the opposite; fit is personal. A one paragraph description might imply those two are very similar, but in our experience they were very different.

Sorry but to have such a dramatically different reaction to the two schools is odd. Sounds like you’re rankings chasers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a kid apply to Wesleyan, Carleton and Grinnell. Got into Carleton and Grinnell but not Wesleyan, which would have been the top choice. Not a huge fan of Carleton and the merit money from Grinnell sealed the deal.

The kid definitely saw differences between the schools, and never even considered the top northeastern SLACs - thought they were way too mainstream.

The point being that students definitely see differences between SLACs.

Any regrets?

Zero. Absolutely loved it and with the merit aid half the price of the other schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know how someone could look at Macalester, Carleton, Claremont McKenna, and Swarthmore and see the same college.

Thank you! Just say you’re not open to the small college experience. Don’t embarrass yourself by suggesting they’re all the same. Just visited Vassar, Colgate, and Hamilton over a few days with my DC a few weeks ago. They were like three totally different countries.

Can you say how these three are so different? I've been to Vassar, not Hamilton or Colgate yet. thanks!

Just one person's opinion, but I would describe the schools this way:

Vassar = more urban feel given location in small city in Hudson River Valley; likely most progressive of the three (can we please retire "woke") and the students are on the "alternative" side, as we used to say in the 90s; though oft maligned as too arts focused, school is strong in many stem fields, though you probably wouldn't choose it if finance or consulting is the goal; gender balance pretty far in favor of women, if that matters - likely vestige of Vassar previously being one of the Seven Sisters; strong school traditions and spirit that are not at all related to athletics - sort of Hogwarts house type stuff; maybe the most beautiful campus in the game and a museum with a collection so impressive it's almost embarrassing for just one small college to have it

Colgate = very remote feel with location in Upstate NY, though the town of Hamilton nearby is very quaint; less progressive vibe, students seem much preppier and sportier than Vassar; seemed to have a heavy pre-professional focus: consulting and finance all day; to that end, some student groups were application only and competitive; D1 sports school so football and basketball are a much larger part of the school's identity - athletes visibility on campus just much different than at a DIII SLAC; perfectly lovely campus just not my fave, nor that of my DC

Hamilton = also located in rural Upstate NY near town called Clinton, but proximity to Utica and Syracuse make it seem less remote; student vibe seemed to be in the middle perhaps of Vassar and Colgate - sportier presenting but also progressive-minded; Hamilton prides itself on its writing instruction across disciplines - did not get a pre-professional vibe; I asked our student tour guide if students had trouble getting into clubs and he sort of laughed and said he was aware that that was an issue at other schools but it wasn't at Hamilton; tour guide was an athlete and he did discuss the well known sports rivalries amongst the NESCAC schools, but he also discussed Hamilton traditions (google "light side v. dark side," for example) that generated school spirit; some greek life but no houses and it is not a large part of the social scene, beautiful campus distinguished by the school's acquisition of a nearby women's college in the 70s(?)

I'll note that both Vassar and Hamilton have some variation of an open curriculum which attracts a certain kind of student.

Now please forgive this rant but you can't discuss the relative merit schools on a DCUM post without mentioning their USNWR rankings, so ... The schools are ranked what they're ranked. That said, admissions criteria for all three are more or less in the same neighborhood, and the schools have great outcomes. Attempts to distinguish between these schools or between these and "higher-ranked" schools based on notions of value or ROI are, IMO, lazy people applying their own notions of prestige based on their own personal experiences and biases and further informed by USNWR rankings. Every family has to choose where they spend their tuition dollars. I get it, and I don't judge that. But saying X school isn't "worth it" however, is like saying x house isn't worth that price because only center hall colonials in Arlington are worth that price. It just sounds myopic and boorish, frankly. Just say, the zeitgeist has declared these schools "the best" so I need not do any additional research! Many other schools have much to offer based on their academic strengths, locations, cultures, admissions standards, etc. Again, in my opinion, these are much more valid reasons to inform college application decisions than how US News has shuffled the WASP (+ Bowdoin, now) order in any given year.

Anonymous wrote:I had a kid apply to Wesleyan, Carleton and Grinnell. Got into Carleton and Grinnell but not Wesleyan, which would have been the top choice. Not a huge fan of Carleton and the merit money from Grinnell sealed the deal.

The kid definitely saw differences between the schools, and never even considered the top northeastern SLACs - thought they were way too mainstream.

The point being that students definitely see differences between SLACs.

Our kid had a very positive reaction to Carleton and a negative reaction to Grinnell, to the point we turned down their merit aid offer and picked Carleton. I can of course see a family doing the opposite; fit is personal. A one paragraph description might imply those two are very similar, but in our experience they were very different.

Anonymous wrote:I had a kid apply to Wesleyan, Carleton and Grinnell. Got into Carleton and Grinnell but not Wesleyan, which would have been the top choice. Not a huge fan of Carleton and the merit money from Grinnell sealed the deal.

The kid definitely saw differences between the schools, and never even considered the top northeastern SLACs - thought they were way too mainstream.

The point being that students definitely see differences between SLACs.

Any regrets?

I had a kid apply to Wesleyan, Carleton and Grinnell. Got into Carleton and Grinnell but not Wesleyan, which would have been the top choice. Not a huge fan of Carleton and the merit money from Grinnell sealed the deal.

The kid definitely saw differences between the schools, and never even considered the top northeastern SLACs - thought they were way too mainstream.

The point being that students definitely see differences between SLACs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For 90k, I will not look beyond WASP.. rest aren't worth

You’d exclude Middlebury and Bowdoin?

Middlebury for sure, Bowdoin may be!

Bowdoin now has a lower admit rate than some WASP schools. Strange to not consider it a peer school.

Acceptance rate doesn't mean what it once did. Colby has a lower acceptance rate than Bowdoin. Guess it's a better school, right?

Anonymous wrote:Bucknell if your desired outcome is finance/Wall Street.

No