Anonymous wrote:I’d be wary of all SLACs right now with the enrollment cliff approaching. Its female/male ratio is 70/30. School gives huge merit, which may be a sign it’s in trouble. And it doesn’t have the name recognition of other more highly ranked SLACs.

+ 100%, especially any such SLAC that has acceptance rate greater than 35%

Anonymous wrote:Aww I LOVED reading this thread. I went to Muhlenberg, graduating about 10 years ago. I had an amazing experience - one of the best periods of my life and I can’t think of any peers that didn’t have a good experience.

From what you said, sounds like your daughter would enjoy it!

I graduated 30 years ago—hey there, fellow Mule!

Obviously at 30 years out a lot has changed but here is what seems relevant: the College has a small endowment for its size, but when I was there it was on something like its 56th consecutive year of running the budget in the black. The Trustees are tight with a dollar. ELCA put in something like $250k/year in those years and had/still has commensurate influence (or lack thereof), but the overall opportunity to continue in one’s religious path—of any sort—is quite strong.

Also agree that it is very pre-prof—most of my friends there subsequently attended medical, dental or law school, some MBAs a bit more distantly. The group of us who pursued PhDs in arts and science disciplines was pretty small but not zero.

From this discussion it sounds like admin may have been successful killing off the fraternity culture, which definitely drove the bus socially on Th-Sat nights in the years when I was there.

I also consider Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton a pretty interesting region—have not lived there for meaningful time since graduating, but many of my cohort do.

OP, I would definitely take a tour—it’s a really beautiful campus, so at worst it’s a lovely day trip.

My cousins both went to Ivies but their backups were Muhlenberg and Lafayette.

Add me to the list of those who grew up near there. It’s a really nice school and would probably be more popular if it weren’t a bit overshadowed by Lehigh and Lafayette. Years ago it was considered within the local community as a great choice for those hoping to go on to med school (along with F&M) although I’m not sure if that’s still the case.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muhlenberg is a niche school but a great choice for the right kid. Very artsy. It lacks the cachet of the top PA schools like Swarthmore and Bucknell, but if you look at its incoming student stats, it hangs with the likes of Dickinson and Gettysburg. I'm not sure why it can't catch a break in USNWR. Could be graduation rates, which might warrant further investigation.

Bucknell booster strikes again

Bucknell is a pipeline to the Street!

Is that Love Street, Baker Street, or just living on the street?

How the heck does a post about Muhlenberg get taken over by the Bucknell booster?! I was enjoying hearing about a college that isn’t regularly discussed on DCUM.

Start your own separate Bucknell thread…or don’t and stop yapping about The Street!

Aww I LOVED reading this thread. I went to Muhlenberg, graduating about 10 years ago. I had an amazing experience - one of the best periods of my life and I can’t think of any peers that didn’t have a good experience.

From what you said, sounds like your daughter would enjoy it!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muhlenberg is a niche school but a great choice for the right kid. Very artsy. It lacks the cachet of the top PA schools like Swarthmore and Bucknell, but if you look at its incoming student stats, it hangs with the likes of Dickinson and Gettysburg. I'm not sure why it can't catch a break in USNWR. Could be graduation rates, which might warrant further investigation.

Putting Bucknell on level with Swarthmore is hilarious.

Swat is more intellectual, but Bucknell has equal if not better outcomes, especially in finance and consulting. They're the top LACs in PA, 1a and 1b if you will, they just cater to different kids with different goals.

Bucknell better than Haverford? You're delusional.

Haverford isn't in the same universe as Bucknell when it comes to outcomes that don't necessitate grad/law/med school. Bucknell has alums all over The Street stacking cheese with just a bachelor's. The same in consulting. Very few schools, and even fewer LACs, will plug you into such a lucrative network.

Oh dear God, it’s you again!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muhlenberg is a niche school but a great choice for the right kid. Very artsy. It lacks the cachet of the top PA schools like Swarthmore and Bucknell, but if you look at its incoming student stats, it hangs with the likes of Dickinson and Gettysburg. I'm not sure why it can't catch a break in USNWR. Could be graduation rates, which might warrant further investigation.

Putting Bucknell on level with Swarthmore is hilarious.

Swat is more intellectual, but Bucknell has equal if not better outcomes, especially in finance and consulting. They're the top LACs in PA, 1a and 1b if you will, they just cater to different kids with different goals.

Bucknell better than Haverford? You're delusional.

Haverford isn't in the same universe as Bucknell when it comes to outcomes that don't necessitate grad/law/med school. Bucknell has alums all over The Street stacking cheese with just a bachelor's. The same in consulting. Very few schools, and even fewer LACs, will plug you into such a lucrative network.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muhlenberg is a niche school but a great choice for the right kid. Very artsy. It lacks the cachet of the top PA schools like Swarthmore and Bucknell, but if you look at its incoming student stats, it hangs with the likes of Dickinson and Gettysburg. I'm not sure why it can't catch a break in USNWR. Could be graduation rates, which might warrant further investigation.

Putting Bucknell on level with Swarthmore is hilarious.

Swat is more intellectual, but Bucknell has equal if not better outcomes, especially in finance and consulting. They're the top LACs in PA, 1a and 1b if you will, they just cater to different kids with different goals.

Bucknell better than Haverford? You're delusional.

I don't think Bucknell even makes the top ten for PA

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muhlenberg is a niche school but a great choice for the right kid. Very artsy. It lacks the cachet of the top PA schools like Swarthmore and Bucknell, but if you look at its incoming student stats, it hangs with the likes of Dickinson and Gettysburg. I'm not sure why it can't catch a break in USNWR. Could be graduation rates, which might warrant further investigation.

Bucknell booster strikes again

Bucknell is a pipeline to the Street!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muhlenberg is a niche school but a great choice for the right kid. Very artsy. It lacks the cachet of the top PA schools like Swarthmore and Bucknell, but if you look at its incoming student stats, it hangs with the likes of Dickinson and Gettysburg. I'm not sure why it can't catch a break in USNWR. Could be graduation rates, which might warrant further investigation.

Putting Bucknell on level with Swarthmore is hilarious.

Swat is more intellectual, but Bucknell has equal if not better outcomes, especially in finance and consulting. They're the top LACs in PA, 1a and 1b if you will, they just cater to different kids with different goals.

Bucknell better than Haverford? You're delusional.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muhlenberg is a niche school but a great choice for the right kid. Very artsy. It lacks the cachet of the top PA schools like Swarthmore and Bucknell, but if you look at its incoming student stats, it hangs with the likes of Dickinson and Gettysburg. I'm not sure why it can't catch a break in USNWR. Could be graduation rates, which might warrant further investigation.

Bucknell booster strikes again

Or perhaps a Swarthmore booster.

Swarthmore actually *is* prestigious though.

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read that Muhlenberg is an evangelical Lutheran school. Is that true, and if so, in what way does religion impact the college experience? My agnostic kid is considering MC but the evangelical bent is a real turn off.

Good friends dd went there and my dd visited. My understanding is that although it was founded as a Lutheran school, it is basically secular now. It is a very popular school for Jewish students. I actually wish my dd had given it more consideration bc she loved the open house day she went to. But it was about a 6 hour drive from our house and she wanted to be closer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pre-professional school. Lots of Jews.

I Also grew up near there.

Pre-professional how? It’s a liberal arts college. Those don’t strike me as pre-professional environments and not the sense I get from Muhlenberg from our research so far.

I've heard the same, that Muhlenberg leans heavily pre-professional. One example is that it has a business major, which many liberal arts colleges don't. So if you have business majors and lots of pre-law and pre-med students, it could have a pre-professional vibe.