Anonymous wrote:Kiddo at Amherst. Expensive but for me worth it for sure. Looked at and considered SLACs with good merit but glad we landed where we do. I’m happy because my kids is so happy and having such an amazing experience. Honestly, I feel like my kid is having the ideal college experience. That is worth the price tag to me.

+1 exactly the same experience with our DC. Amherst is a special place. I think most LACs are, just in slightly different ways. It’s important to visit to see what feels right. Our list shifted after.

Kiddo at Amherst. Expensive but for me worth it for sure. Looked at and considered SLACs with good merit but glad we landed where we do. I’m happy because my kids is so happy and having such an amazing experience. Honestly, I feel like my kid is having the ideal college experience. That is worth the price tag to me.

Anonymous wrote:My kid went to Oberlin with merit over Williams, Carleton, and Cornell.

Understandable, Oberlin gives fantastic merit. Is your kid happy there?

Midwest SLACs offer merit and provide just as strong an education as any of the others. If your kid happens to get into top 5 LAC that is one thing - and most likely only possible ED so the decision is really whether or not to ED to such schools and be obligated to go. But to pay full price for say a Bates or Haverford over a Midwest SLAC with merit seems kinda foolish if you’re price sensitive.

The truth is, price aside, the Midwest SLACs are really nice schools in a lot of ways - one should definitely kick the tires - and perhaps better than their USNWR rankings suggest, maybe because they don’t do as well with diversity due to more rural and remote location

My kid went to Oberlin with merit over Williams, Carleton, and Cornell.

Anonymous wrote:My son had to make this decision. $125k difference between top 35 va top 25. Took money. Easy call. Super happy.

We made a different call. Kid is full pay at a top 15 LAC. We think it's worth it.

My kid got into Williams, went to a merit aid school instead, didn't look back.

Williams offers a terrific education -- no question. But it's not the only great education out there, and six-figures is real money. DC can now use the $$ we saved for grad school or a down payment on a home or an investment in a professional effort.

Anonymous wrote:My son had to make this decision. $125k difference between top 35 va top 25. Took money. Easy call. Super happy.

Great, but that doesn't answer OP's actual question.

My son had to make this decision. $125k difference between top 35 va top 25. Took money. Easy call. Super happy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:there was a very insightful comment on one of these threads - schools like swarthmore williams and amherst will provide a ton of opportunities for kids to have their choice of - while one of these schools ranked btw 20-30 for SLACs will provide less options, but similar quality of the opportunities. Meaning Williams may get you any of 10 PE or IB opportunities, while a Colgate or Bucknell may get you 1 or 2 - as long as you aren’t picky, you will have the same quality of choices

What can Amherst get you that Hamilton or Claremont McKenna can’t?

For the popular major of economics, CMC and Hamilton may be stronger than Amherst. In this analysis of economics departments based on faculty publishing, for example, CMC placed 3rd, Hamilton 7th and Amherst 8th:

Economics rankings: US Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges | IDEAS/RePEc https://share.google/pr46JaNYIkgJjBYnf

No one knows or cares about Claremont McKenna.