Anonymous wrote:I think it’s great that a school like Wes can have all the quirky artsy types and also win the D3 lacrosse national championship. Lots of diverse tribes makes it easier to find your people at a LAC. And the fact that they all integrate and get along speaks volumes to the culture. I found schools like Williams, Midd, Colby, Bowdoin and Hamilton to be more homogeneous not in terms of identity groups but in terms of personality. Bates seemed to have a great history and culture but didn’t love lewisboro.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t see the Swarth/Wes analogy at all…..

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid considered all of the colleges mentioned by OP. My kid would have been a viable candidate for any of them (which of course was no guarantee of admission.) In the end, my kid decided not to apply to any of them other than Wesleyan and ended up there. The others lacked really strong student run arts/music/theater scenes, and there didn't seem to be as many people at the others who were marching (or playing or singing or dancing) to the beats of their own drummers. My kid also preferred the size of Wesleyan. It has something like a thousand more students on campus than Amherst or Williams, which makes it feel a lot more diverse in terms to student interests. This also makes it a little less selective.

Most Wesleyan students probably experience Wesleyan pretty much the way most NESCAC students experience their colleges. Wesleyan has a lot of athletes and a lot of serious students who could have ended up at pretty much any of the other selective small colleges in the Northeast. The main difference is that Wesleyan also attracts quite a few who would not have ended up on a NESCAC campus if Wesleyan had denied them admission. Wesleyan has a different vibe as a result.

Another difference is Middletown. It's big enough to feel like a very small city. There are dozens of ethnic restaurants, breakfast spots, and other places for students to go, and it is very pleasant, but it isn't postcard beautiful at the level of Amherst or Williamstown. It's more like Northampton but not quite as pretty and not quite as interesting.

Williams can confuse people who are into arts/music/theater because of its professional summer theater series. It's a wonderful professional theater series but it doesn't affect students much. Williams does produce some incredibly successful alumni in artistic fields, but the scene on campus seems sleepy and Williamstown is a gorgeous but tiny town.

If you like Wesleyan because of its quirkiness or its arts scene, you also might do well to consider Vassar, Macalester, Oberlin, Carleton, Grinnell, Lawrence, Beloit, Kalamazoo, Whitman, Puget Sound, Lewis & Clark, Reed, the Claremont Colleges (especially Pomona, Pitzer and Scripps), and maybe even Amherst/Smith/Mt. Holyoke/Hampshire (if you don't mind cross registering at nearby colleges). Some of the colleges on that list are more artsy. Some are more academically intense. Some are even more selective than Wesleyan. Some are a lot less selective than Wesleyan.

By the way, quite a few people who like Wesleyan and like New England also consider Bates, Connecticut College, and Tufts.

Agree that the consortiums in Claremont and in central MA (Amherst, Smith, etc.) are great options. Tons of classes available but you still get the small college experience.

Anonymous wrote:My kid considered all of the colleges mentioned by OP. My kid would have been a viable candidate for any of them (which of course was no guarantee of admission.) In the end, my kid decided not to apply to any of them other than Wesleyan and ended up there. The others lacked really strong student run arts/music/theater scenes, and there didn't seem to be as many people at the others who were marching (or playing or singing or dancing) to the beats of their own drummers. My kid also preferred the size of Wesleyan. It has something like a thousand more students on campus than Amherst or Williams, which makes it feel a lot more diverse in terms to student interests. This also makes it a little less selective.

Most Wesleyan students probably experience Wesleyan pretty much the way most NESCAC students experience their colleges. Wesleyan has a lot of athletes and a lot of serious students who could have ended up at pretty much any of the other selective small colleges in the Northeast. The main difference is that Wesleyan also attracts quite a few who would not have ended up on a NESCAC campus if Wesleyan had denied them admission. Wesleyan has a different vibe as a result.

Another difference is Middletown. It's big enough to feel like a very small city. There are dozens of ethnic restaurants, breakfast spots, and other places for students to go, and it is very pleasant, but it isn't postcard beautiful at the level of Amherst or Williamstown. It's more like Northampton but not quite as pretty and not quite as interesting.

Williams can confuse people who are into arts/music/theater because of its professional summer theater series. It's a wonderful professional theater series but it doesn't affect students much. Williams does produce some incredibly successful alumni in artistic fields, but the scene on campus seems sleepy and Williamstown is a gorgeous but tiny town.

If you like Wesleyan because of its quirkiness or its arts scene, you also might do well to consider Vassar, Macalester, Oberlin, Carleton, Grinnell, Lawrence, Beloit, Kalamazoo, Whitman, Puget Sound, Lewis & Clark, Reed, the Claremont Colleges (especially Pomona, Pitzer and Scripps), and maybe even Amherst/Smith/Mt. Holyoke/Hampshire (if you don't mind cross registering at nearby colleges). Some of the colleges on that list are more artsy. Some are more academically intense. Some are even more selective than Wesleyan. Some are a lot less selective than Wesleyan.

By the way, quite a few people who like Wesleyan and like New England also consider Bates, Connecticut College, and Tufts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid considered all of the colleges mentioned by OP. My kid would have been a viable candidate for any of them (which of course was no guarantee of admission.) In the end, my kid decided not to apply to any of them other than Wesleyan and ended up there. The others lacked really strong student run arts/music/theater scenes, and there didn't seem to be as many people at the others who were marching (or playing or singing or dancing) to the beats of their own drummers. My kid also preferred the size of Wesleyan. It has something like a thousand more students on campus than Amherst or Williams, which makes it feel a lot more diverse in terms to student interests. This also makes it a little less selective.

Most Wesleyan students probably experience Wesleyan pretty much the way most NESCAC students experience their colleges. Wesleyan has a lot of athletes and a lot of serious students who could have ended up at pretty much any of the other selective small colleges in the Northeast. The main difference is that Wesleyan also attracts quite a few who would not have ended up on a NESCAC campus if Wesleyan had denied them admission. Wesleyan has a different vibe as a result.

Another difference is Middletown. It's big enough to feel like a very small city. There are dozens of ethnic restaurants, breakfast spots, and other places for students to go, and it is very pleasant, but it isn't postcard beautiful at the level of Amherst or Williamstown. It's more like Northampton but not quite as pretty and not quite as interesting.

Williams can confuse people who are into arts/music/theater because of its professional summer theater series. It's a wonderful professional theater series but it doesn't affect students much. Williams does produce some incredibly successful alumni in artistic fields, but the scene on campus seems sleepy and Williamstown is a gorgeous but tiny town.

If you like Wesleyan because of its quirkiness or its arts scene, you also might do well to consider Vassar, Macalester, Oberlin, Carleton, Grinnell, Lawrence, Beloit, Kalamazoo, Whitman, Puget Sound, Lewis & Clark, Reed, the Claremont Colleges (especially Pomona, Pitzer and Scripps), and maybe even Amherst/Smith/Mt. Holyoke/Hampshire (if you don't mind cross registering at nearby colleges). Some of the colleges on that list are more artsy. Some are more academically intense. Some are even more selective than Wesleyan. Some are a lot less selective than Wesleyan.

By the way, quite a few people who like Wesleyan and like New England also consider Bates, Connecticut College, and Tufts.

I hear what you're saying, but a student (and parent) with their heart set on the schools that OP listed just isn't going to be happy settling for at least half the schools you just listed. They just don't compare academically or prestige-wise, and let's be honest: the schools on OP's list make clear that they care about both.

But the reality is that every kid who is applying to T20 LACS should also have low matches and safeties. Advice that helps you see which are potentially good fits is really important.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid considered all of the colleges mentioned by OP. My kid would have been a viable candidate for any of them (which of course was no guarantee of admission.) In the end, my kid decided not to apply to any of them other than Wesleyan and ended up there. The others lacked really strong student run arts/music/theater scenes, and there didn't seem to be as many people at the others who were marching (or playing or singing or dancing) to the beats of their own drummers. My kid also preferred the size of Wesleyan. It has something like a thousand more students on campus than Amherst or Williams, which makes it feel a lot more diverse in terms to student interests. This also makes it a little less selective.

Most Wesleyan students probably experience Wesleyan pretty much the way most NESCAC students experience their colleges. Wesleyan has a lot of athletes and a lot of serious students who could have ended up at pretty much any of the other selective small colleges in the Northeast. The main difference is that Wesleyan also attracts quite a few who would not have ended up on a NESCAC campus if Wesleyan had denied them admission. Wesleyan has a different vibe as a result.

Another difference is Middletown. It's big enough to feel like a very small city. There are dozens of ethnic restaurants, breakfast spots, and other places for students to go, and it is very pleasant, but it isn't postcard beautiful at the level of Amherst or Williamstown. It's more like Northampton but not quite as pretty and not quite as interesting.

Williams can confuse people who are into arts/music/theater because of its professional summer theater series. It's a wonderful professional theater series but it doesn't affect students much. Williams does produce some incredibly successful alumni in artistic fields, but the scene on campus seems sleepy and Williamstown is a gorgeous but tiny town.

If you like Wesleyan because of its quirkiness or its arts scene, you also might do well to consider Vassar, Macalester, Oberlin, Carleton, Grinnell, Lawrence, Beloit, Kalamazoo, Whitman, Puget Sound, Lewis & Clark, Reed, the Claremont Colleges (especially Pomona, Pitzer and Scripps), and maybe even Amherst/Smith/Mt. Holyoke/Hampshire (if you don't mind cross registering at nearby colleges). Some of the colleges on that list are more artsy. Some are more academically intense. Some are even more selective than Wesleyan. Some are a lot less selective than Wesleyan.

By the way, quite a few people who like Wesleyan and like New England also consider Bates, Connecticut College, and Tufts.

I hear what you're saying, but a student (and parent) with their heart set on the schools that OP listed just isn't going to be happy settling for at least half the schools you just listed. They just don't compare academically or prestige-wise, and let's be honest: the schools on OP's list make clear that they care about both.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid considered all of the colleges mentioned by OP. My kid would have been a viable candidate for any of them (which of course was no guarantee of admission.) In the end, my kid decided not to apply to any of them other than Wesleyan and ended up there. The others lacked really strong student run arts/music/theater scenes, and there didn't seem to be as many people at the others who were marching (or playing or singing or dancing) to the beats of their own drummers. My kid also preferred the size of Wesleyan. It has something like a thousand more students on campus than Amherst or Williams, which makes it feel a lot more diverse in terms to student interests. This also makes it a little less selective.

Most Wesleyan students probably experience Wesleyan pretty much the way most NESCAC students experience their colleges. Wesleyan has a lot of athletes and a lot of serious students who could have ended up at pretty much any of the other selective small colleges in the Northeast. The main difference is that Wesleyan also attracts quite a few who would not have ended up on a NESCAC campus if Wesleyan had denied them admission. Wesleyan has a different vibe as a result.

Another difference is Middletown. It's big enough to feel like a very small city. There are dozens of ethnic restaurants, breakfast spots, and other places for students to go, and it is very pleasant, but it isn't postcard beautiful at the level of Amherst or Williamstown. It's more like Northampton but not quite as pretty and not quite as interesting.

Williams can confuse people who are into arts/music/theater because of its professional summer theater series. It's a wonderful professional theater series but it doesn't affect students much. Williams does produce some incredibly successful alumni in artistic fields, but the scene on campus seems sleepy and Williamstown is a gorgeous but tiny town.

If you like Wesleyan because of its quirkiness or its arts scene, you also might do well to consider Vassar, Macalester, Oberlin, Carleton, Grinnell, Lawrence, Beloit, Kalamazoo, Whitman, Puget Sound, Lewis & Clark, Reed, the Claremont Colleges (especially Pomona, Pitzer and Scripps), and maybe even Amherst/Smith/Mt. Holyoke/Hampshire (if you don't mind cross registering at nearby colleges). Some of the colleges on that list are more artsy. Some are more academically intense. Some are even more selective than Wesleyan. Some are a lot less selective than Wesleyan.

By the way, quite a few people who like Wesleyan and like New England also consider Bates, Connecticut College, and Tufts.

I hear what you're saying, but a student (and parent) with their heart set on the schools that OP listed just isn't going to be happy settling for at least half the schools you just listed. They just don't compare academically or prestige-wise, and let's be honest: the schools on OP's list make clear that they care about both.

Anonymous wrote:My kid considered all of the colleges mentioned by OP. My kid would have been a viable candidate for any of them (which of course was no guarantee of admission.) In the end, my kid decided not to apply to any of them other than Wesleyan and ended up there. The others lacked really strong student run arts/music/theater scenes, and there didn't seem to be as many people at the others who were marching (or playing or singing or dancing) to the beats of their own drummers. My kid also preferred the size of Wesleyan. It has something like a thousand more students on campus than Amherst or Williams, which makes it feel a lot more diverse in terms to student interests. This also makes it a little less selective.

Most Wesleyan students probably experience Wesleyan pretty much the way most NESCAC students experience their colleges. Wesleyan has a lot of athletes and a lot of serious students who could have ended up at pretty much any of the other selective small colleges in the Northeast. The main difference is that Wesleyan also attracts quite a few who would not have ended up on a NESCAC campus if Wesleyan had denied them admission. Wesleyan has a different vibe as a result.

Another difference is Middletown. It's big enough to feel like a very small city. There are dozens of ethnic restaurants, breakfast spots, and other places for students to go, and it is very pleasant, but it isn't postcard beautiful at the level of Amherst or Williamstown. It's more like Northampton but not quite as pretty and not quite as interesting.

Williams can confuse people who are into arts/music/theater because of its professional summer theater series. It's a wonderful professional theater series but it doesn't affect students much. Williams does produce some incredibly successful alumni in artistic fields, but the scene on campus seems sleepy and Williamstown is a gorgeous but tiny town.

If you like Wesleyan because of its quirkiness or its arts scene, you also might do well to consider Vassar, Macalester, Oberlin, Carleton, Grinnell, Lawrence, Beloit, Kalamazoo, Whitman, Puget Sound, Lewis & Clark, Reed, the Claremont Colleges (especially Pomona, Pitzer and Scripps), and maybe even Amherst/Smith/Mt. Holyoke/Hampshire (if you don't mind cross registering at nearby colleges). Some of the colleges on that list are more artsy. Some are more academically intense. Some are even more selective than Wesleyan. Some are a lot less selective than Wesleyan.

By the way, quite a few people who like Wesleyan and like New England also consider Bates, Connecticut College, and Tufts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The rankings can change quite a bit over time. As I said, Vassar dropped 9 or 19 spots in one year. Do you really think the school changed that much? Reed refused to play along from the beginning and is commonly believed to be a much stronger school than the ranking would reveal.

You've just named two outliers. This isn't common at all.

I named them because I specifically suggested Vassar if the OP’s child is interested in a school like Wes and, when I came up with a list along those lines of possible schools, someone responded with a ranking list. I’m not writing the long anti-ranking posts but I do think they have to be taken with a grain of salt. The OP listed four rather different schools and I asked what they liked about them because perhaps we can help with similar schools to consider and/or visit.

This is OP. I appreciate a lot of the responses but y’all lost me somewhere along the way . DC is just starting his search and he is our oldest so lots of new info for us in here.

But I can answer this question, what appeals to DC. He says: small size as is looking for close knit peer community, and ability to connect with professors (DC has always enjoyed a good relationship with teachers/coaches), friendly and welcoming student body (he is a very strong student but is laid back, and his current peer group is a mix of more intense and ones more like him - he loves doing group projects and class discussions, and I know he won’t want an environment where his more laid back attitude is in the overwhelmed minority, so maybe Swarthmore will be out fast, who knows), pretty campus/settings (“these look like what I always pictured college looking like”), access to outdoor activities like hiking and skiing, strong academics in particular in subjects like econ, history and political science. I realize these descriptors can apply to many colleges and maybe don’t apply to all the ones I listed- we are just excitedly starting this journey!

Anonymous wrote:My kid considered all of the colleges mentioned by OP. My kid would have been a viable candidate for any of them (which of course was no guarantee of admission.) In the end, my kid decided not to apply to any of them other than Wesleyan and ended up there. The others lacked really strong student run arts/music/theater scenes, and there didn't seem to be as many people at the others who were marching (or playing or singing or dancing) to the beats of their own drummers. My kid also preferred the size of Wesleyan. It has something like a thousand more students on campus than Amherst or Williams, which makes it feel a lot more diverse in terms to student interests. This also makes it a little less selective.

Most Wesleyan students probably experience Wesleyan pretty much the way most NESCAC students experience their colleges. Wesleyan has a lot of athletes and a lot of serious students who could have ended up at pretty much any of the other selective small colleges in the Northeast. The main difference is that Wesleyan also attracts quite a few who would not have ended up on a NESCAC campus if Wesleyan had denied them admission. Wesleyan has a different vibe as a result.

Another difference is Middletown. It's big enough to feel like a very small city. There are dozens of ethnic restaurants, breakfast spots, and other places for students to go, and it is very pleasant, but it isn't postcard beautiful at the level of Amherst or Williamstown. It's more like Northampton but not quite as pretty and not quite as interesting.

Williams can confuse people who are into arts/music/theater because of its professional summer theater series. It's a wonderful professional theater series but it doesn't affect students much. Williams does produce some incredibly successful alumni in artistic fields, but the scene on campus seems sleepy and Williamstown is a gorgeous but tiny town.

If you like Wesleyan because of its quirkiness or its arts scene, you also might do well to consider Vassar, Macalester, Oberlin, Carleton, Grinnell, Lawrence, Beloit, Kalamazoo, Whitman, Puget Sound, Lewis & Clark, Reed, the Claremont Colleges (especially Pomona, Pitzer and Scripps), and maybe even Amherst/Smith/Mt. Holyoke/Hampshire (if you don't mind cross registering at nearby colleges). Some of the colleges on that list are more artsy. Some are more academically intense. Some are even more selective than Wesleyan. Some are a lot less selective than Wesleyan.

By the way, quite a few people who like Wesleyan and like New England also consider Bates, Connecticut College, and Tufts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The rankings can change quite a bit over time. As I said, Vassar dropped 9 or 19 spots in one year. Do you really think the school changed that much? Reed refused to play along from the beginning and is commonly believed to be a much stronger school than the ranking would reveal.

You've just named two outliers. This isn't common at all.

I named them because I specifically suggested Vassar if the OP’s child is interested in a school like Wes and, when I came up with a list along those lines of possible schools, someone responded with a ranking list. I’m not writing the long anti-ranking posts but I do think they have to be taken with a grain of salt. The OP listed four rather different schools and I asked what they liked about them because perhaps we can help with similar schools to consider and/or visit.

This is OP. I appreciate a lot of the responses but y’all lost me somewhere along the way . DC is just starting his search and he is our oldest so lots of new info for us in here.

But I can answer this question, what appeals to DC. He says: small size as is looking for close knit peer community, and ability to connect with professors (DC has always enjoyed a good relationship with teachers/coaches), friendly and welcoming student body (he is a very strong student but is laid back, and his current peer group is a mix of more intense and ones more like him - he loves doing group projects and class discussions, and I know he won’t want an environment where his more laid back attitude is in the overwhelmed minority, so maybe Swarthmore will be out fast, who knows), pretty campus/settings (“these look like what I always pictured college looking like”), access to outdoor activities like hiking and skiing, strong academics in particular in subjects like econ, history and political science. I realize these descriptors can apply to many colleges and maybe don’t apply to all the ones I listed- we are just excitedly starting this journey!