Anonymous
Post 09/13/2025 12:33     Subject: Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs
Anonymous wrote:Hamilton and Middlebury are fine schools but not in the same conversation of Amherst or Bowdoin and Williams.


Bowdoin boosters have entered the chat, trying to lump B in with WASP. Not happening. Stats of Bowdoin kids SAT, ACT, etc) are nearly identical to Middlebury’s. And neither are at AWS level.
Anonymous
Post 09/13/2025 12:23     Subject: Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs
Anonymous wrote:It's necessary to scroll a long way in this ranking of colleges and universities to get from NESCACs such as Hamilton (#21) and Amherst (#25) to Bucknell (#110) and Lafayette (#111):

College & University Rankings in 2025 https://share.google/RDspuPf0dYiN5pgjX

I find it interesting that this site placed Lafayette and Bucknell adjacent to each other in selectivity as well, at 80th and 81st, respectively.
Anonymous
Post 09/13/2025 12:22     Subject: Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs
Anonymous wrote:from a name brand perspective - lafayette and bucknell blow away every nescac except Amherst and Williams - know the rabble rousers on dcum will skewer me for that, but I’ve been in NYC consulting for 30 years -


You’re funny. Good one.
Anonymous
Post 09/13/2025 12:22     Subject: Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs
Anonymous wrote:Bucknell offers a fantastic college experience with robust Greek life and lucrative Wall Street connections that exceed all of the NESCAC except Williams, Amherst and maybe Bowdoin. Kids love it there (as evidenced by the school's minuscule transfer-out rate), work hard and play hard for four years, and graduate into fantastic front office jobs right out of college. What more could you want?

Lafayette is a great school, too. As another poster pointed out, it's solidly on the level of a Bates or Colby. If pursuing engineering, I might consider it over Bucknell, especially for $25k less, but if going into business/finance, Bucknell is the move.

Don't get fixated on the NESCAC mystique.

You clearly know nothing about the placement of these schools in IB/Wall Street and consulting. Google collegetransitions and peakframeworks and look at their list of top feeder schools for IB. CMC, Williams, Middlebury, and Amherst lead by a long shot. Bucknell and Lafayette are not in top 50.
Anonymous
Post 09/13/2025 11:45     Subject: Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs
Big difference in sports cultures between Lafayette/Bucknell and NESCAC. Patriot League is like Ivy League FCS Division1.For prestige chasers if one doesn’t mind spending 4 years in middle of nowhere look at Williams and Bowdoin. Otherwise for mixture of good academics and D1 sports research Davidson, Colgate, Holy Cross, Bucknell, and Lafayette in that prestige order.


Anonymous
Post 09/13/2025 11:23     Subject: Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I find these conversations about outcomes - Hamilton sends more kids to Wall Street, etc - mentally insane. This assumes (1) your kid even wants to do that (2) the ever so slight edge Hamilton or Bucknell or whatever school has over Middlebury or Kenyon or Bates matters to the individual kid. So so so very stupid.

Information can be value neutral, even for the person posting it, but may be of interest to some. And information in the form of analysis can keep untethered opinions in check.


NP - I don't think just by posting these facts (esp in this day and age where everyone seems to have their own "facts") is all that helpful. These rank lists that we google and use to bolster our argument cannot obviously account for so many more important factors: individual preferences, personalities, strengths and weaknesses, connections, fit, etc. Perhaps they add a little to the college decision making for some but really shouldn't. Students change their majors frequently and using these ranks that claim objectivity is foolhardy.
Anonymous
Post 09/13/2025 11:07     Subject: Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs
Anonymous wrote:Bucknell offers a fantastic college experience with robust Greek life and lucrative Wall Street connections that exceed all of the NESCAC except Williams, Amherst and maybe Bowdoin. Kids love it there (as evidenced by the school's minuscule transfer-out rate), work hard and play hard for four years, and graduate into fantastic front office jobs right out of college. What more could you want?

Lafayette is a great school, too. As another poster pointed out, it's solidly on the level of a Bates or Colby. If pursuing engineering, I might consider it over Bucknell, especially for $25k less, but if going into business/finance, Bucknell is the move.

Don't get fixated on the NESCAC mystique.


Why not?, people get fixated on the Ivy mystique.
Anonymous
Post 09/13/2025 10:26     Subject: Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs
Anonymous wrote:I find these conversations about outcomes - Hamilton sends more kids to Wall Street, etc - mentally insane. This assumes (1) your kid even wants to do that (2) the ever so slight edge Hamilton or Bucknell or whatever school has over Middlebury or Kenyon or Bates matters to the individual kid. So so so very stupid.

Information can be value neutral, even for the person posting it, but may be of interest to some. And information in the form of analysis can keep untethered opinions in check.
Anonymous
Post 09/13/2025 10:22     Subject: Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs
Hamilton and Middlebury are fine schools but not in the same conversation of Amherst or Bowdoin and Williams.
Anonymous
Post 09/13/2025 10:16     Subject: Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs
isn’t Middlebury now 19th now the Colgate of Vermont. Agree Colby will soon pass Midd but who cares. Bucknell has much nicer campus than Lehigh/Lafayette.
Anonymous
Post 09/13/2025 10:12     Subject: Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs
Anonymous wrote:Hamilton and Middlebury are nowhere near the prestige level of Amherst and Williams.


Agree. Not saying this is the end all or be all but this statement is true
Anonymous
Post 09/13/2025 09:43     Subject: Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs
Anonymous wrote:Hamilton and Middlebury are nowhere near the prestige level of Amherst and Williams.


Just stop. This gets batted around in a thread almost weekly. Middlebury was ranked in the top 5 for many years and in the top 10 until the past few years. The only thing that has changed is the USNWR methodology, the schools themselves haven’t changed. Same goes for Bowdoin as well. Hamilton is as good as any of those schools.
Anonymous
Post 09/13/2025 09:02     Subject: Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs
Anonymous wrote:If you are into prestige - Bates, Colby, Lafayette, Bucknell are all right with one another. It’s insane to argue that any one is more prestigious than the other. These are expensive schools for wealthy kids who can’t get into higher ranked schools. Not slighting the schools themselves or the kids. These are the schools you look at when your private kid has a 3.3-3.5 GPA and are full pay. 100 percent the truth.


yes. 100% true from the private my senior attends. This is your 3.3-3.6 crowd.
Hamilton, Middlebury, Bowdoin are the next tier (3.75-3.85) Williams and Amherst are just slightly above that. (3.9)
Anonymous
Post 09/13/2025 08:59     Subject: Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs
Hamilton and Middlebury are nowhere near the prestige level of Amherst and Williams.
Anonymous
Post 09/13/2025 08:54     Subject: Lafayette/Bucknell vs Nescacs
I find these conversations about outcomes - Hamilton sends more kids to Wall Street, etc - mentally insane. This assumes (1) your kid even wants to do that (2) the ever so slight edge Hamilton or Bucknell or whatever school has over Middlebury or Kenyon or Bates matters to the individual kid. So so so very stupid.