Part of the rural NESCAC experience other than say Union is being in an academic summer camp almost - if you don't like it you shouldn't choose it, but to say as to the Maine Schools, Hamilton, Middlebury etc.. one or the other is more rural or colder or remote is kind of silly - if that type of school appeals to you I would look more at the student body, what the kids do for fun, relative size, depth of classes/profs in your major, etc.. since they are all more similar than they are different. I went to Hamilton and loved it and then went to law school in a very urban environment and loved that for me at the time as well

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Anonymous wrote:What SLAC doesn’t have the athlete/non-athlete divide?

Maybe less noticeable where athletics don't seem to dominate in the same way? Swarthmore, Grinnell...

I'd also look at schools that don't have football (Swarthmore was already mentioned but Haverford and others too).
I think this distinction gets overblown though. Particular sports are cliquish but the athletes are always in the minority numbers wise and the guys from the swim team are unlikely to be spending a ton of time with the baseball or football players. Game attendance at most of the schools isn't great outside of a few rivalries, so it isn't like social life revolves around sports at the majority of LACs, even in the NESCAC where they seem to care a little more.

Pomona has a smaller percentage of athletes because the Claremont Colleges share some teams. Reed and St. John’s have no varsity athletics at all. Grinnell is a totally different athletic vibe, partly because most teams will accept any walk ons who want to play, inexperienced or not…

Anonymous wrote:If you choose a Worcester college because it is close to Boston, why mot just pick a college IN Boston?

Agree if that is your only criterion (though many are not actually, as you scream it, in Boston, such as Tufts and BC, not to mention Harvard, MIT, Wellesley, Brandeis, Babson, Bentley etc.) But Worcester has many great restaurants and lots to do: Boston (and nearby nature; Worcester county is beautiful) is a plus. And, you are often only adding 20 minutes to get to Boston in comparison to many Boston suburban schools…

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Anonymous wrote:What SLAC doesn’t have the athlete/non-athlete divide?

Maybe less noticeable where athletics don't seem to dominate in the same way? Swarthmore, Grinnell...

I'd also look at schools that don't have football (Swarthmore was already mentioned but Haverford and others too).
I think this distinction gets overblown though. Particular sports are cliquish but the athletes are always in the minority numbers wise and the guys from the swim team are unlikely to be spending a ton of time with the baseball or football players. Game attendance at most of the schools isn't great outside of a few rivalries, so it isn't like social life revolves around sports at the majority of LACs, even in the NESCAC where they seem to care a little more.

If you choose a Worcester college because it is close to Boston, why mot just pick a college IN Boston?

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Anonymous wrote:Occidental college. They want you to think t is in LA but it is not

What? Eagle Rock IS in Los Angeles. It’s a neighborhood. Just like Westwood, Downtown, Echo Park, Pacific Palisades are all distinct neighborhoods. Don’t blame the college…it’s not their fault you’re dense.

DP. Eagle Rock is way up in northeast Los Angeles county between Glendale and Pasadena in a questionable neighborhood. No one from there considers it to be “in Los Angeles”. Ask anyone from Pasadena. You live in Pasadena. You don’t live in LA

That’s because Pasadena is an incorporated city, and Eagle Rock is a neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles. While it happens to be adjacent to Pasadena, it is still within LA boundaries.

Apologies though.. I don’t want to derail the thread by debating geography!

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Anonymous wrote:Occidental college. They want you to think t is in LA but it is not

What? Eagle Rock IS in Los Angeles. It’s a neighborhood. Just like Westwood, Downtown, Echo Park, Pacific Palisades are all distinct neighborhoods. Don’t blame the college…it’s not their fault you’re dense.

DP. Eagle Rock is way up in northeast Los Angeles county between Glendale and Pasadena in a questionable neighborhood. No one from there considers it to be “in Los Angeles”. Ask anyone from Pasadena. You live in Pasadena. You don’t live in LA

Anonymous wrote:What SLAC doesn’t have the athlete/non-athlete divide?

Maybe less noticeable where athletics don't seem to dominate in the same way? Swarthmore, Grinnell...

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Anonymous wrote:Williams is the one that stands out to me. No way I'd go there over Amherst or Swarthmore growing up in an area like DC.

Friend of mine had a son who transferred from Williams because of this as well as the cliquishness of the other students.

such a weird vibe at Williams - only school of 10 my DC eliminated immediately after the visit - she said kids were odd

My outgoing, well-adjusted kid is ridiculously happy at Williams, just FYI. And I've met a bunch of their friends, none of whom are "odd."

There are many athletes at Williams. They tend to be pretty normal socially. I'm sure there is a quirky, brilliant subset of kids less adept at socializing given the impressive academics though. Our student tour guide happened to be quirky, brilliant, but also social.

Williams College reportedly has a distinct social divide between athletes and non-athletes.

The freshman entry system makes this divide much less severe than some other NESCACs.

What does that mean?

Small groups who live together. It's meaningless when athletes are spending hours every day (not to mention travel time in season) with their teams

Agreed, that makes sense. Thanks. This is a primary reason we're hesitating about Williams or Amherst for ED.

Well, lots of Williams kids have friend groups from entry. So it means something. Amherst, on the other hand…yikes.

No way I would send my kid to Williams. He would go stir crazy there. Not keen on the smallness of Amherst either but at least they have 30000 college kids in the same neighborhood.

Our student tour guide told us there is a huge divide between wealthy students and those of average means. He said that was his biggest issue socially. Probably overlapped with the athletics issue.

Friend of mines son disliked the geographic isolation AND the rich snobby kids at Williams.

What SLAC doesn’t have the athlete/non-athlete divide?

Anonymous wrote:Two nieces, one went to Bowdoin and one currently at Johns Hopkins. Neither have commented/complained about the locations. I’ll need to ask more I guess!

Bowdoin - Brunswick is a nice town with a good Maine Street (that’s how it is spelled) a short walk from campus. It’s 15 minutes from Freeport and LL Bean’s world headquarters, and 1/2 hour from Portland, one of the best small cities in North America. Thumb’s up.

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Anonymous wrote:Williams is the one that stands out to me. No way I'd go there over Amherst or Swarthmore growing up in an area like DC.

Friend of mine had a son who transferred from Williams because of this as well as the cliquishness of the other students.

such a weird vibe at Williams - only school of 10 my DC eliminated immediately after the visit - she said kids were odd

My outgoing, well-adjusted kid is ridiculously happy at Williams, just FYI. And I've met a bunch of their friends, none of whom are "odd."

There are many athletes at Williams. They tend to be pretty normal socially. I'm sure there is a quirky, brilliant subset of kids less adept at socializing given the impressive academics though. Our student tour guide happened to be quirky, brilliant, but also social.

Williams College reportedly has a distinct social divide between athletes and non-athletes.

The freshman entry system makes this divide much less severe than some other NESCACs.

What does that mean?

Small groups who live together. It's meaningless when athletes are spending hours every day (not to mention travel time in season) with their teams

This dismissal isn't quite accurate. I played a sport at Williams and I, like other freshmen athletes, was much closer with my entry (a small coed dorm-wing of sorts with all first-year students and two junior advisors) than with the members of my team. The most insular clique back then consisted not of athletes, but of ultra wealthy international students from one part of the world.

Anonymous wrote:Occidental college. They want you to think t is in LA but it is not

What? Eagle Rock IS in Los Angeles. It’s a neighborhood. Just like Westwood, Downtown, Echo Park, Pacific Palisades are all distinct neighborhoods. Don’t blame the college…it’s not their fault you’re dense.

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Anonymous wrote:Williams is the one that stands out to me. No way I'd go there over Amherst or Swarthmore growing up in an area like DC.

Friend of mine had a son who transferred from Williams because of this as well as the cliquishness of the other students.

such a weird vibe at Williams - only school of 10 my DC eliminated immediately after the visit - she said kids were odd

My outgoing, well-adjusted kid is ridiculously happy at Williams, just FYI. And I've met a bunch of their friends, none of whom are "odd."

There are many athletes at Williams. They tend to be pretty normal socially. I'm sure there is a quirky, brilliant subset of kids less adept at socializing given the impressive academics though. Our student tour guide happened to be quirky, brilliant, but also social.

Williams College reportedly has a distinct social divide between athletes and non-athletes.

The freshman entry system makes this divide much less severe than some other NESCACs.

What does that mean?

It’s called the “entry system.” Google is friendlier than the likes of me.

How is this any different than other SLACs?

It isn't. There are just called different things at different schools, like customs groups or sponsor groups or things like that.

Two nieces, one went to Bowdoin and one currently at Johns Hopkins. Neither have commented/complained about the locations. I’ll need to ask more I guess!