Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in NC and barely had heard of Notre Dame (which is where I ended up going).

My husband went to a 1200 student body no-name regional liberal arts college in the boonies of MO. I guarantee no one has heard of that.

Truman?

No- Drury.

Honestly, 25 years ago, the whole college process was so different. I highly doubt the lot of people who responded so nastily here knew of half the colleges mentioned on this thread when THEY applied to college. Sure, you may have heard of some big ones because you followed X College or University of X (fill in the sport) or knew of someone who had attended. But in my experience, most people stayed close to home or in their own state for college, unless they were a legacy somewhere. I think College Choice, and the College process in general, used to be highly regional prior to the Internet.

OP, congrats to your DD on her college! In three months (or maybe even three weeks), I doubt anyone will even think about it. And by that time, she'll be at her new school and having a great time. I'm glad she found a place that fit her - that's the most important thing.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in NC and barely had heard of Notre Dame (which is where I ended up going).

My husband went to a 1200 student body no-name regional liberal arts college in the boonies of MO. I guarantee no one has heard of that.

Truman?

People can diss on SLACs all they want. In fact I hope they do. SLACs are the cheat code for grad school. Put you on better footing for top law, medical, grad schools than then ivies and state flagship not in same universe. Others will disagree. I hope they do. I know 1/3 of the kids at my T3 law school went to SLACs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don't have any beef with SLACs and I agree that the top ones are excellent.

But the insistence that there is widespread name recognition and understanding of their rankings is just, incorrect.

It's a small club. And of course, those in or adjacent to the club know the handshake, but the vast majority of the world does not care.

This is true. But there is a portion of the DCUM population that does care and is annoyed that they were never taught the handshake. To placate themselves, they insist that the club is overrated harumph!

Not every diss on SLAC is sour grapes.

Anonymous wrote:I really don't have any beef with SLACs and I agree that the top ones are excellent.

But the insistence that there is widespread name recognition and understanding of their rankings is just, incorrect.

It's a small club. And of course, those in or adjacent to the club know the handshake, but the vast majority of the world does not care.

This is true. But there is a portion of the DCUM population that does care and is annoyed that they were never taught the handshake. To placate themselves, they insist that the club is overrated harumph!

I really don't have any beef with SLACs and I agree that the top ones are excellent.

But the insistence that there is widespread name recognition and understanding of their rankings is just, incorrect.

It's a small club. And of course, those in or adjacent to the club know the handshake, but the vast majority of the world does not care.

I went to a NESCAC school and don't really care if I meet someone who has never heard of it. Usually those people are either not from the DC-Boston corridor or not in an industry that I care about.

I'm from the West Coast and work at an R1 university. My kid goes to a WASP. Many people have heard of the WASP school but don't know it's a great school. Some people haven't heard of it at all. And a few people know of it and know that it's a great school. When I was a high school senior, I think I knew of Pomona, Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore because they were ranked well in USNWR. I ended up going to a T20 school and a T14 law school, but I hadn't heard of schools like Bowdoin or Davidson until much later. I remember a very intelligent law school friend telling me he went to Haverford, which I hadn't ever hear of previously. (Know that I have been through the process with my kid, I'm pretty familiar with all these schools though.)

Anyhow, the lack of brand-recognition is also part of the appeal. It attracts humility and individualism among an incredibly high-achieving student body. Moreover, many of us value the quality of education over prestige, although we're probably in the minority on this board. And the quality of education at the three Maine schools is spectacular.

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Anonymous wrote:Outside of academia and those of us who have actively researched small schools, very few of us know the strong liberal arts colleges from other regions. I run into people all the time who have never heard of the schools my family attended (Denison/Kenyon) and I thought University of Richmond was a commuter school when I moved to Virginia!

The average American knows colleges in his/her region and through sports. Very few can tell you the locations of Grinnell, Harvey Mudd, Pomona, Carleton, Davidson, Haverford, Middlebury, etc. It’s not a litmus test for wealth or education—it’s a lack of exposure.

Wrong. This cohort of schools is very well known, and has been very well known, to highly educated, "highbrow" circles for a long, long time. Of course academics know about them, but also attorneys, physicians, bankers, and the well-heeled professional classes.

DP. There are so many people amongst these three groups that have never heard of these schools. I’m not sure why this is a surprise to people.

There is a high likelihood that a person who isn’t from the northeast and whose kid hasn’t considered LACs in the northeast (i.e., most people) has not heard of these schools. Even amongst well-heeled professional classes.

DP. You’re both right.

You ignored the PP’s qualifier about “highly educated, ‘highbrow’” circles. Among those groups, prominent SLACs are very well known, even across the Midwest and South.

But you’re right that there are obviously many successful professionals who didn’t grow up in those circles and aren’t familiar with SLACs.

I ignored the highbrow part and bolded the part I bolded because I don’t necessarily disagree with the highbrow part. But I also don’t conflate highbrow with “well-heeled professional classes” or the three professions listed. There are highbrow people in those professions, but far more seem to inhabit academia, academia-adjacent roles, journalism, or the arts. Those people are more likely to have heard of these schools, yes, but even then the likelihood would fall as you move further away from the northeast (with maybe the exception of academics).

That's the point. Not every attorney is going to know what Williams is, but the partners at Cravath know it.

They might. Will the ones at Kirkland & Ellis or Baker McKenzie in Chicago, or at Latham & Watkins in LA? Maybe, maybe not. Plenty of them haven’t. It’s weird to assume they have.

Also, Williams is probably a different story than Bowdoin, Bates, Colby.

Cravath interviews at top SLACS for their paralegal internships. Of course they know.

A kid is just as likely to end up at Cravath or Skadden coming out of Bowdoin/Bates/Colby as they are coming out of Harvard/Yale/Princeton. Truth.

Anonymous wrote:God, why am I even responding to this stupid thread. Bowdoin, Bates and Colby are three of the very best colleges in the USA. People who matter have heard of them. Idiots have not. That’s okay. Just smile and know your kid is getting a great education.

Btw - the same applies to almost all of not all SLACs. Grinnell, Carleton, Kenyon, Denison, Davidson, Middlebury, Wesleyan, Colgate, etc. Best education money can buy. No one heard of them other than those in the know. Again, just smile and know the jokes on them.

This thread is a good reminder of just how insular this forum is.

Went to Grinnell 25 years ago. Still tell people “I went to a small college in Iowa no was has ever heard of.” People either say (1) that’s nice; or (2) is it Grinnell. Either way I don’t care.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outside of academia and those of us who have actively researched small schools, very few of us know the strong liberal arts colleges from other regions. I run into people all the time who have never heard of the schools my family attended (Denison/Kenyon) and I thought University of Richmond was a commuter school when I moved to Virginia!

The average American knows colleges in his/her region and through sports. Very few can tell you the locations of Grinnell, Harvey Mudd, Pomona, Carleton, Davidson, Haverford, Middlebury, etc. It’s not a litmus test for wealth or education—it’s a lack of exposure.

Wrong. This cohort of schools is very well known, and has been very well known, to highly educated, "highbrow" circles for a long, long time. Of course academics know about them, but also attorneys, physicians, bankers, and the well-heeled professional classes.

DP. There are so many people amongst these three groups that have never heard of these schools. I’m not sure why this is a surprise to people.

There is a high likelihood that a person who isn’t from the northeast and whose kid hasn’t considered LACs in the northeast (i.e., most people) has not heard of these schools. Even amongst well-heeled professional classes.

DP. You’re both right.

You ignored the PP’s qualifier about “highly educated, ‘highbrow’” circles. Among those groups, prominent SLACs are very well known, even across the Midwest and South.

But you’re right that there are obviously many successful professionals who didn’t grow up in those circles and aren’t familiar with SLACs.

I ignored the highbrow part and bolded the part I bolded because I don’t necessarily disagree with the highbrow part. But I also don’t conflate highbrow with “well-heeled professional classes” or the three professions listed. There are highbrow people in those professions, but far more seem to inhabit academia, academia-adjacent roles, journalism, or the arts. Those people are more likely to have heard of these schools, yes, but even then the likelihood would fall as you move further away from the northeast (with maybe the exception of academics).

That's the point. Not every attorney is going to know what Williams is, but the partners at Cravath know it.

They might. Will the ones at Kirkland & Ellis or Baker McKenzie in Chicago, or at Latham & Watkins in LA? Maybe, maybe not. Plenty of them haven’t. It’s weird to assume they have.

Also, Williams is probably a different story than Bowdoin, Bates, Colby.

Cravath interviews at top SLACS for their paralegal internships. Of course they know.

God, why am I even responding to this stupid thread. Bowdoin, Bates and Colby are three of the very best colleges in the USA. People who matter have heard of them. Idiots have not. That’s okay. Just smile and know your kid is getting a great education.

Btw - the same applies to almost all of not all SLACs. Grinnell, Carleton, Kenyon, Denison, Davidson, Middlebury, Wesleyan, Colgate, etc. Best education money can buy. No one heard of them other than those in the know. Again, just smile and know the jokes on them.

*thinkers