Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. I don't actually think Dickinson is fairly categorized as comparable in terms of admissions, but the others are super-helpful. Sadly, this confirms my own research that most of the other SLAC schools that are quirky and possible to get into and not crazy expensive are not in the northeast -- not a deal-breaker for me, but more logistically complicated to visit in these covid times. But they do seem like great schools.

Why is that "sadly"? Oberlin, for example, is not at all hard to visit. It's a six-hour drive from DC (and not on 95, woohoo!), or a quick Southwest flight to Cleveland.

It's much harder to get to e.g. Colby or Middlebury than it is to get to Oberlin.

DP. Also, Oberlin has its own hotel owned by the college, right next to campus, and very, very new (just built a couple of years ago). I'm guessing they're very keen on covid protocols if they want visitors. So I'd talk to the hotel about what they're doing to make college visits safe right now. We stayed at that hotel when DC visited Oberlin in 2018. And PP is right, it's about a six-hour drive. Visit Kenyon on the same trip if it's of interest but be aware that Kenyon is isolated.

It doesn't affect us now with DC already in college but I hate that families are not able to travel freely and comfortably and visit colleges readily due to covid. Visiting really made a huge difference for our DC and made DC's final choice much clearer and easier. Depending on covid, if you can safely (?) visit colleges of the most interest to your kid, do.

Anonymous wrote:
St. John’s College in Annapolis

A fantastic school for precisely the right student who really wants the specialized curriculum St. John's provides, but it's not for everyone by any means.

I say this knowing two kids who have gone there in recent years and loved it, so this is not a diss on St. John's at all!

Just noting that it has a highly prescriptive classical focus for everyone, and you have to want that program to be happy there. It's not truly comparable to Oberlin, Bard, etc. academically because it's just not structured like any other college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every one of those other schools is *so much more* competitive in admissions, which means that in typical DCUM fashion this isn't really useful. For a kid who likely wouldn't get into Macalaster or Kenyon or Oberlin - schools that now have roughly 25% admission rates - any thoughts about merit versus nonmerit aid at actual competitor schools? Yes, all things being equal, I would prefer for my child to go to Oberlin over Bard. But if they don't get into Oberlin, and we're looking at Bard, what other schools and considerations should we be looking at?

I am looking for schools with less selective admissions too, but I still think Bard is too druggy and decadent to consider for my kid. I'm influenced, maybe more than I should be, by having visited as a college student and finding the culture and students very offputting. But my kid is pretty science-oriented, liberal but not artsy, and probably would not be happy in that environment.

Someplace like Muhlenberg has a similar admissions rate but is so culturally different from Bard.

I think it's worth visiting Muhlenberg just to see what your kid thinks. Oberlin sounds like a good fit as well.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. I don't actually think Dickinson is fairly categorized as comparable in terms of admissions, but the others are super-helpful. Sadly, this confirms my own research that most of the other SLAC schools that are quirky and possible to get into and not crazy expensive are not in the northeast -- not a deal-breaker for me, but more logistically complicated to visit in these covid times. But they do seem like great schools.

Why is that "sadly"? Oberlin, for example, is not at all hard to visit. It's a six-hour drive from DC (and not on 95, woohoo!), or a quick Southwest flight to Cleveland.

It's much harder to get to e.g. Colby or Middlebury than it is to get to Oberlin.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every one of those other schools is *so much more* competitive in admissions, which means that in typical DCUM fashion this isn't really useful. For a kid who likely wouldn't get into Macalaster or Kenyon or Oberlin - schools that now have roughly 25% admission rates - any thoughts about merit versus nonmerit aid at actual competitor schools? Yes, all things being equal, I would prefer for my child to go to Oberlin over Bard. But if they don't get into Oberlin, and we're looking at Bard, what other schools and considerations should we be looking at?

I am looking for schools with less selective admissions too, but I still think Bard is too druggy and decadent to consider for my kid. I'm influenced, maybe more than I should be, by having visited as a college student and finding the culture and students very offputting. But my kid is pretty science-oriented, liberal but not artsy, and probably would not be happy in that environment.

Someplace like Muhlenberg has a similar admissions rate but is so culturally different from Bard.

I was going to suggest Muhlenberg, too, but agree it’s very different from Bard.

My kid got accepted at Bard and Skidmore (zero merit aid at either, and we don’t qualify for financial aid), and also Muhlenberg ($30K in merit aid).

Anonymous wrote:Every one of those other schools is *so much more* competitive in admissions, which means that in typical DCUM fashion this isn't really useful. For a kid who likely wouldn't get into Macalaster or Kenyon or Oberlin - schools that now have roughly 25% admission rates - any thoughts about merit versus nonmerit aid at actual competitor schools? Yes, all things being equal, I would prefer for my child to go to Oberlin over Bard. But if they don't get into Oberlin, and we're looking at Bard, what other schools and considerations should we be looking at?

I am looking for schools with less selective admissions too, but I still think Bard is too druggy and decadent to consider for my kid. I'm influenced, maybe more than I should be, by having visited as a college student and finding the culture and students very offputting. But my kid is pretty science-oriented, liberal but not artsy, and probably would not be happy in that environment.

Someplace like Muhlenberg has a similar admissions rate but is so culturally different from Bard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. I don't actually think Dickinson is fairly categorized as comparable in terms of admissions, but the others are super-helpful. Sadly, this confirms my own research that most of the other SLAC schools that are quirky and possible to get into and not crazy expensive are not in the northeast -- not a deal-breaker for me, but more logistically complicated to visit in these covid times. But they do seem like great schools.

We have visited some of them. I suggest you do virtual visits and apply to the ones your child likes the most. Can visit when he or she is accepted.

You might be right about Dickinson but I thought they had about a 50% acceptance rate. I think the percentage who gets merit is a lot lower than at St Olaf or Beloit etc.

Sorry I was wrong. Dickinson is a 40% acceptance rate.

Maybe check out places like St Mary’s College of MD or Mary Washington if you want to stay on the east coast. I agree that there are more options in the Midwest and west coast though.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. I don't actually think Dickinson is fairly categorized as comparable in terms of admissions, but the others are super-helpful. Sadly, this confirms my own research that most of the other SLAC schools that are quirky and possible to get into and not crazy expensive are not in the northeast -- not a deal-breaker for me, but more logistically complicated to visit in these covid times. But they do seem like great schools.

We have visited some of them. I suggest you do virtual visits and apply to the ones your child likes the most. Can visit when he or she is accepted.

You might be right about Dickinson but I thought they had about a 50% acceptance rate. I think the percentage who gets merit is a lot lower than at St Olaf or Beloit etc.

Thanks. I don't actually think Dickinson is fairly categorized as comparable in terms of admissions, but the others are super-helpful. Sadly, this confirms my own research that most of the other SLAC schools that are quirky and possible to get into and not crazy expensive are not in the northeast -- not a deal-breaker for me, but more logistically complicated to visit in these covid times. But they do seem like great schools.

St. John’s College in Annapolis

Anonymous wrote:Every one of those other schools is *so much more* competitive in admissions, which means that in typical DCUM fashion this isn't really useful. For a kid who likely wouldn't get into Macalaster or Kenyon or Oberlin - schools that now have roughly 25% admission rates - any thoughts about merit versus nonmerit aid at actual competitor schools? Yes, all things being equal, I would prefer for my child to go to Oberlin over Bard. But if they don't get into Oberlin, and we're looking at Bard, what other schools and considerations should we be looking at?

St. Olaf
Wooster
Lawrence
Dickinson
Muhlenberg
Beloit
Whitman

All give merit, some of these give merit to most who are accepted. You can see an estimate of how much merit they would get if you run the calculators on their web sites.

Every one of those other schools is *so much more* competitive in admissions, which means that in typical DCUM fashion this isn't really useful. For a kid who likely wouldn't get into Macalaster or Kenyon or Oberlin - schools that now have roughly 25% admission rates - any thoughts about merit versus nonmerit aid at actual competitor schools? Yes, all things being equal, I would prefer for my child to go to Oberlin over Bard. But if they don't get into Oberlin, and we're looking at Bard, what other schools and considerations should we be looking at?

By comparison, other schools mentioned in this thread, with students answering Unigo's question, "Do students do drugs?"

Oberlin:
1% "Never, we're here to learn"
15% "There might be people who do"
67% "People are known to partake on weekends"
18% "There's a huge drug scene"

Kenyon:
4% "Never, we're here to learn"
39% "There might be people who do"
52% "People are known to partake on weekends"
5% "There's a huge drug scene"

Macalester:
2% "Never, we're here to learn"
34% "There might be people who do"
55% "People are known to partake on weekends"
9% "There's a huge drug scene"

St. Olaf:
16% "Never, we're here to learn"
60% "There might be people who do"
24% "People are known to partake on weekends"
0% "There's a huge drug scene"

Anonymous wrote:I dunno, we went to see Bard after visiting Skidmore College and Bard seemed practically straight-edge by comparison. All the online reviews about Skidmore complain about suite-style on-campus housing in which all the other roommates wake-and-bake every day. It was kind of hilarious to read those after noticing "no smoking on campus" signs all over Skidmore -- apparently there is no enforcement at all, at least in the dorms.

Reviews from Unigo, "Do students do drugs?"

Skidmore:
0% "Never, we're here to learn"
11% "There might be people who do"
66% "People are known to partake on weekends"
23% "There's a huge drug scene"

Bard:
3% "Never, we're here to learn"
10% "There might be people who do"
49% "People are known to partake on weekends"
38% "There's a huge drug scene"

Anonymous wrote:Also, I'm curious to hear PP's view about comparable SLACs that offer merit aid - can you provide examples?

Oberlin
Kenyon
Macalester
St. Olaf