Anonymous wrote:Amherst, Williams, Pomona, Swarthmore, Carleton, Bowdoin are all damn near identical. Don’t get the ranking foolishness done here.

You forgot Middlebury.

Amherst, Williams, Pomona, Swarthmore, Carleton, Bowdoin are all damn near identical. Don’t get the ranking foolishness done here.

Anonymous wrote:Amherst and Williams accept more ED

No they don't

Amherst and Williams accept more ED

Middlebury accepts a huge percentage of their class via early decision. It’s basically the Tulane of LACs in that respect. Students must be deciding not to apply because RD odds are so low.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amherst and Williams are the go to LACs for the foreseeable future. They have the cache, prestige, ratings, and huge endowments. No schools will catch them. Middlebury is one of 20-25 schools that will fluctuate but there is a trend to schools in more urban areas and lots of full pay kids are going to SEC schools and BIG 10 schools.

+1
Amherst and Williams both have increasing applicants while Middlebury's is dropping

I looked at CDS data from Middlebury to get a sense of pre-pandemic numbers.

2019-2020 applications: 9754
2018-2019 applications: 9227

What was it this year?

Anonymous wrote:Amherst and Williams are the go to LACs for the foreseeable future. They have the cache, prestige, ratings, and huge endowments. No schools will catch them. Middlebury is one of 20-25 schools that will fluctuate but there is a trend to schools in more urban areas and lots of full pay kids are going to SEC schools and BIG 10 schools.

+1
Amherst and Williams both have increasing applicants while Middlebury's is dropping

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We thought Amherst campus and buildings were very nice when we visited, with exception of Frost library and Valentine Hall which is being replace anyway with new student complex by 2026. It’s a very large 1000 acre campus filled with wildlife sanctuary and trails with the backdrop of Holyoke Mountains

I wouldn’t really describe it as large, just spread out. Stanford is massive and so much of it is everyday used space; meanwhile Amherst is mostly buildings separated far apart and it gets a ton of acreage from unused land.

This is like comparing apples to oranges which makes little sense. Very different schools in very different locations. One is a small liberals arts college in Massachusetts (although with the largest campus of the SLACs) while the other is a large university in California.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We thought Amherst campus and buildings were very nice when we visited, with exception of Frost library and Valentine Hall which is being replace anyway with new student complex by 2026. It’s a very large 1000 acre campus filled with wildlife sanctuary and trails with the backdrop of Holyoke Mountains

I wouldn’t really describe it as large, just spread out. Stanford is massive and so much of it is everyday used space; meanwhile Amherst is mostly buildings separated far apart and it gets a ton of acreage from unused land.

Stanford University is 8,180 acres, 60% of which is totally undeveloped.

Only 738 acres of Amherst is developed land, so Stanford is still 4x the size of usable space...it's a big place. thanks.

Anonymous wrote:Amherst and Williams are the go to LACs for the foreseeable future. They have the cache, prestige, ratings, and huge endowments. No schools will catch them. Middlebury is one of 20-25 schools that will fluctuate but there is a trend to schools in more urban areas and lots of full pay kids are going to SEC schools and BIG 10 schools.

Oh brother. This perspective is so tired. Even this thread’s full throated attempt to marginalize Middlebury is just silly. It’s one of the wealthiest and most selective colleges in the country. Full stop. Does the vibe suit your kid and are you comfortable with cost or aid options? If so, maybe it’s for you. But let’s not pretend it’s teetering on the brink of collapse, or that it’s some directional state school satellite campus in comparison to Williams. These schools are much more alike than they are different.
Signed non Mid or Amherst NESCAC parent

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We thought Amherst campus and buildings were very nice when we visited, with exception of Frost library and Valentine Hall which is being replace anyway with new student complex by 2026. It’s a very large 1000 acre campus filled with wildlife sanctuary and trails with the backdrop of Holyoke Mountains

I wouldn’t really describe it as large, just spread out. Stanford is massive and so much of it is everyday used space; meanwhile Amherst is mostly buildings separated far apart and it gets a ton of acreage from unused land.

Stanford University is 8,180 acres, 60% of which is totally undeveloped.

Anonymous wrote:Amherst and Williams are the go to LACs for the foreseeable future. They have the cache, prestige, ratings, and huge endowments. No schools will catch them. Middlebury is one of 20-25 schools that will fluctuate but there is a trend to schools in more urban areas and lots of full pay kids are going to SEC schools and BIG 10 schools.

Very much doubt it. There’s many LACs with comparable endowments and who have consistently been gaining popularity and competition, even compared to Williams and Amherst. Williams and Amherst are the go to in the future if your search is solely limited to Massachusetts.

Anonymous wrote:We thought Amherst campus and buildings were very nice when we visited, with exception of Frost library and Valentine Hall which is being replace anyway with new student complex by 2026. It’s a very large 1000 acre campus filled with wildlife sanctuary and trails with the backdrop of Holyoke Mountains

I wouldn’t really describe it as large, just spread out. Stanford is massive and so much of it is everyday used space; meanwhile Amherst is mostly buildings separated far apart and it gets a ton of acreage from unused land.