Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:imo the biggest problem schools like Midd, Hamilton, Colby, Bates, Colgate have is very undesirable rural/remote locations with no diversity. Demographics have changed drastically in the US. Lots of kids want to be in or have easy access to major cities for all the cultural, entertainment and culinary benefits. Logistically try getting to Middlebury Vermont, Hamilton NY or Watervile Maine. Plus the winters are brutal. Believe Colgate had a 3,000 drop in apps and Midd has seen a pronounced decline in last 2 years. College popularity has changed with top kids flocking to Duke and Vandy while those wishing to remain in North East seeking city schools.

I agree with this. SLACs remain competitive but, in relative terms, their popularity has suffered at the expense of national universities. Meanwhile, cities have become more popular, not to mention larger demographic shifts away from New England and upstate New York towards the south and west. Endowment level (and ability to give merit in future) mitigates or accelerates this decline.

While the very top will remain top, you can already see the shift going on in the tiers below WASP-B. Stock picks, largely for these reasons:

Hold long-term: WASP-B
Buys: Davidson, Mudd, CMC
Sells: Bates, Colby, Midd, Hamilton, Colgate, Conn College, Trinity (neighborhood negates urban advantage)
Holds: Wesleyan, Holy Cross, W&L, Macalester, Occidental, Haverford, Carleton, Grinnell (due to endowment)

CMC is as good as the market is. The second there’s a downturn in hiring for Consulting/IB, there’s very little bones left as to what those students can do. Very little academic diversity with 50% of students majoring in economics. It’s a one trick pony. They’re making attempts with integrated sciences, so we’ll see how that goes in the next 5 or so years. They’re also becoming a very closed campus community with current campus investments are going into a massive sports bowl and potentially new aquatic center:https://www.cmc.edu/giving/investing-in-future-leaders/roberts-campus-sports-bowl.

DS was really excited to attend and then realized there was very little space to be different.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:imo the biggest problem schools like Midd, Hamilton, Colby, Bates, Colgate have is very undesirable rural/remote locations with no diversity. Demographics have changed drastically in the US. Lots of kids want to be in or have easy access to major cities for all the cultural, entertainment and culinary benefits. Logistically try getting to Middlebury Vermont, Hamilton NY or Watervile Maine. Plus the winters are brutal. Believe Colgate had a 3,000 drop in apps and Midd has seen a pronounced decline in last 2 years. College popularity has changed with top kids flocking to Duke and Vandy while those wishing to remain in North East seeking city schools.

I agree with this. SLACs remain competitive but, in relative terms, their popularity has suffered at the expense of national universities. Meanwhile, cities have become more popular, not to mention larger demographic shifts away from New England and upstate New York towards the south and west. Endowment level (and ability to give merit in future) mitigates or accelerates this decline.

While the very top will remain top, you can already see the shift going on in the tiers below WASP-B. Stock picks, largely for these reasons:

Hold long-term: WASP-B
Buys: Davidson, Mudd, CMC
Sells: Bates, Colby, Midd, Hamilton, Colgate, Conn College, Trinity (neighborhood negates urban advantage)
Holds: Wesleyan, Holy Cross, W&L, Macalester, Occidental, Haverford, Carleton, Grinnell (due to endowment)

You are nonsensically stupid but if you are using stock picks why not just equate it to Finance and consulting careers:
Williams, Midd, CMC, and Amherst place well above the others with Midd rising and Amherst slipping a bit but still strong
Bowdoin, Colgate, Hamilton, and W&L get to play in the game
The others aren't really there for IB but they get good Consulting gigs.

Anonymous wrote:^as predicted Midd boosters back from walking the cats. Like how Midd is always rising and they alternate between Bowdoin or Amherst falling. No one is buying it.

Anonymous wrote:Nobody outside of these forums knows what wasp means. Actually most people thinks it means white Anglo Saxon Protestant. Maybe some wannabe elites in nyc, Boston, and Philly do. You tell the average person your considering Amherst and they’ll think you mean umass.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People (general public and academics) consider these four the LAC equivalents of Ivy-tier signaling.
The next tier of schools Wellesley, Bowdoin, Carleton, Middlebury, substantively have no difference.
Why do they give less Ivy-tier signaling power?

To that list, I would add:

Washington & Lee for the South
Reed for the Northwest
Colorado for the mountains
Rice for the deep south, though strictly speaking Rice is not a lac

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:imo the biggest problem schools like Midd, Hamilton, Colby, Bates, Colgate have is very undesirable rural/remote locations with no diversity. Demographics have changed drastically in the US. Lots of kids want to be in or have easy access to major cities for all the cultural, entertainment and culinary benefits. Logistically try getting to Middlebury Vermont, Hamilton NY or Watervile Maine. Plus the winters are brutal. Believe Colgate had a 3,000 drop in apps and Midd has seen a pronounced decline in last 2 years. College popularity has changed with top kids flocking to Duke and Vandy while those wishing to remain in North East seeking city schools.

I agree with this. SLACs remain competitive but, in relative terms, their popularity has suffered at the expense of national universities. Meanwhile, cities have become more popular, not to mention larger demographic shifts away from New England and upstate New York towards the south and west. Endowment level (and ability to give merit in future) mitigates or accelerates this decline.

While the very top will remain top, you can already see the shift going on in the tiers below WASP-B. Stock picks, largely for these reasons:

Hold long-term: WASP-B
Buys: Davidson, Mudd, CMC
Sells: Bates, Colby, Midd, Hamilton, Colgate, Conn College, Trinity (neighborhood negates urban advantage)
Holds: Wesleyan, Holy Cross, W&L, Macalester, Occidental, Haverford, Carleton, Grinnell (due to endowment)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As others have pointed out out Colby has gamed the Lac ratings akin to what Northeastern has done. Colby is benefiting from recent large donations but has one undeniable liability it’s location so I agree with sell now rating. If HC is smart they will market the proximity to Boston and sell their Jesuit identity to growing Hispanic population. Trinity has problems and Conn College should have n been sold years ago as no upside.

Why wouldn’t someone interested in a college in Boston just go to a college in Boston? There’s so many.

Not SLACs.

Tufts essentially is one and is a much better value than HC. Boston college is also quite small.

They are both midsize schools. Neither is small.

Anonymous wrote:If a family/kid is looking for a top 25 SLAC in Boston area only 2 choices Wellesley and Holy Cross. Tufts and BC are universities and BC has 10k undergrads. Back to stock ratings. New England boarding schools were the feeders to many of these rural SLACs since their establishment, however the white anglo saxon demographic at prep schools is greatly diminishing and for that reason sell Midd, Colby, Colgate, Hamilton, and by all means Bates.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As others have pointed out out Colby has gamed the Lac ratings akin to what Northeastern has done. Colby is benefiting from recent large donations but has one undeniable liability it’s location so I agree with sell now rating. If HC is smart they will market the proximity to Boston and sell their Jesuit identity to growing Hispanic population. Trinity has problems and Conn College should have n been sold years ago as no upside.

Why wouldn’t someone interested in a college in Boston just go to a college in Boston? There’s so many.

Not SLACs.

Tufts essentially is one and is a much better value than HC. Boston college is also quite small.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s an outdated term. Swarthmore and Pomona are niche and not as desirable in my area (New England). Bowdoin and Middlebury absolutely are. They’re all fabulous schools and highly selective.

Your area isn’t reflective of the country.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of Middlebury boosters constantly trying to inflate their school’s prestige.

No kidding. One “substantive difference” is Midd accepts 70% of their class ED, and is a far easier admit than WASP-B. Not to mention their Feb. admit issue.

I do agree that there is no substantive difference between Midd and these 8 schools: Colby, Davidson, W&L, Hamilton, Wesleyan, Colgate, Smith, and Grinnell.

I would put Carleton, Wellesley, Claremont McKenna, and Mudd in a category above Midd and its brethren, though still below WASP-B….

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As others have pointed out out Colby has gamed the Lac ratings akin to what Northeastern has done. Colby is benefiting from recent large donations but has one undeniable liability it’s location so I agree with sell now rating. If HC is smart they will market the proximity to Boston and sell their Jesuit identity to growing Hispanic population. Trinity has problems and Conn College should have n been sold years ago as no upside.

Why wouldn’t someone interested in a college in Boston just go to a college in Boston? There’s so many.

Not SLACs.