Anonymous wrote:She applied to a lot of Midwest SLACs so they must appeal to her. Given that I’d pick Grinnell. Def drop Bates.

For me it would be between Grinnell and Wesleyan. Unless your DC really liked something particular about Bates or Denison, I'd drop them. CWRU has one of the most depressing campuses I've seen in our visits. My DC took one look and ruled it out immediately. But every kid is different. My DC loved Oberlin (though for sciences, in which it has an excellent rep/outcomes).

I'd make a pros/cons list with your DC and come to a decision together. I personally wouldn't force a merit aid school on a kid if they wouldn't be happy there. Grinnell does have a reputation for being a happy campus with excellent academics but it is remote and very mid-western. That would have to suit your kid.

She applied to a lot of Midwest SLACs so they must appeal to her. Given that I’d pick Grinnell. Def drop Bates.

My DC has a similar list for next year, with those results he would pick Wes, but would really struggle with turning down aid. The option to take a train to Conn. instead of drive to Ohio or flying anywhere would also factor in. In the end that 30K x 4, plus increases in tuition over 4 years, can really make a big difference though.

Anonymous wrote:The schools are Bates and Wesleyan (full pay) vs. Grinnell, Denison and CWRU (varying amounts of merit at those schools). She also got accepted to Kenyon and Oberlin but they didn't make her final cut.

Obviously, she has to decide if she wants smaller or mid-size.

What does Bates/Wesleyan offer to justify the $30k price difference? Would they offer more opportunities? Better connections? Something else?

To me it would depend on what she wants to do and what my finances looked like. If grad school was in the picture, CWRU plus parental help might be better than Wesleyan and loans for grad school

Anonymous wrote:The schools are Bates and Wesleyan (full pay) vs. Grinnell, Denison and CWRU (varying amounts of merit at those schools). She also got accepted to Kenyon and Oberlin but they didn't make her final cut.

Obviously, she has to decide if she wants smaller or mid-size.

What does Bates/Wesleyan offer to justify the $30k price difference? Would they offer more opportunities? Better connections? Something else?

Being in a city was important to me so I would choose Case in that list. But all are good, and there isn’t enough difference in outcomes to justify $120K difference. There might be enough difference in experience for a kid with a generous budget and a strong opinion.

Short answer, not there is nothing special about the NESCAC schools over other SLACs in other sports leagues.

Go with the merit aid. You will not regret it.

Anonymous wrote:Size and location are what it comes down to. Those factors, and others, affect who the school attracts. Your daughter is going to get a great education at any of these schools, so the next consideration is who she’ll meet and what she’ll do over her 4 years. So she’s gotta get a sense of which “vibe” feels most comfortable.

Yup, parent of kid who chose Wes over Mac, and this is it. Wes is bigger, and the Connecticut location was appealing for many reasons. St. Paul seems like an awesome city, but the need to fly was a drawback, and the possibility of long periods of pretty extreme cold was a concern.

Almost certainly no difference in professional outcomes between the two schools, but kid thought they’d be happier at Wes, so that sealed the deal.

Size and location are what it comes down to. Those factors, and others, affect who the school attracts. Your daughter is going to get a great education at any of these schools, so the next consideration is who she’ll meet and what she’ll do over her 4 years. So she’s gotta get a sense of which “vibe” feels most comfortable.

The schools are Bates and Wesleyan (full pay) vs. Grinnell, Denison and CWRU (varying amounts of merit at those schools). She also got accepted to Kenyon and Oberlin but they didn't make her final cut.

Obviously, she has to decide if she wants smaller or mid-size.

What does Bates/Wesleyan offer to justify the $30k price difference? Would they offer more opportunities? Better connections? Something else?

Did you visit all of them? How did your kid respond?

Depends on schools and amount of aid. But I like northeastern LACs better so would pay some delta yes

Anonymous wrote:I loved my time at Wesleyan, but if it were Wesleyan full pay vs. Kenyon with $35K, I’d do Kenyon. Similar education and save $140,000. (I have a sibling who went to Kenyon and loved it every bit as much as I loved my time in my NESCAC school, and we have similar careers in same field so essentially landed in same place with our different colleges.)

Same choice for Williams/Bowdoin/Amherst? Not sure. Good luck!

If $140k is meaningful to your family's financial picture, it would be kinda insane to choose Wes over Kenyon. Really can't imagine a scenario where whatever a student hoped to achieve career-wise became unavailable as a result of having a Kenyon rather than Wesleyan degree. I acknowledge Wesleyan is a somewhat more difficult school to get accepted into and therefore the 1% of the population that is aware of that fact might think slightly differently of the Wes grad vs the Kenyon grad. Meanwhile 85% of the population never heard of either school.

Can’t understand why you’re asking this without giving the specific school names. None of the answers are meaningful without knowing this.

I loved my time at Wesleyan, but if it were Wesleyan full pay vs. Kenyon with $35K, I’d do Kenyon. Similar education and save $140,000. (I have a sibling who went to Kenyon and loved it every bit as much as I loved my time in my NESCAC school, and we have similar careers in same field so essentially landed in same place with our different colleges.)

Same choice for Williams/Bowdoin/Amherst? Not sure. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:I would choose Wesleyan over Macalaster.

I would choose Grinnell, Carlton, or Oberlin (depending on major) with merit over Wesleyan full pay.

Completely agree.