Anonymous
09/04/2025 11:50
Subject: LAC prestige analysis and reputation?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I went to Duke and my spouse went to Dartmouth. We’d go to the SLAC our son attends over our alma maters in a heartbeat. #IYKYK
Which SLAC? I went to Dartmouth and I would love to know.
Interesting. My kid chose Pomona over Dartmouth, but he considered Dartmouth to be more LAC than university. In terms of the education itself, Dartmouth seemed great and felt extremely "liberal artsy"--undergrad focused, small classes, focus on interdisciplinary breadth over focused depth. He really liked both schools, but Pomona was a slightly better fit in terms of culture and he wanted to try out life on the West Coast. Anyhow, in my mind, I still think of Dartmouth as more much like Williams or Colgate than, say, Penn or Columbia.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 11:23
Subject: LAC prestige analysis and reputation?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:WASP is the best. The top 15 in general are very strong.
Top ten LACS are all rigorous and virtually indistinguishable. Separating out WASP from the rest is silly.
WASP + Bowdoin. Then a drop off.
Then you have your 10 schools - CMC, Mudd, Colby, Wellesley, Grinnell, Wesleyan, Carleton, Vassar, Midd, Haverford
Trajectories matter even amongst those 10, second tiers though: CMC and Mudd have rising stock, as does Wesleyan (after a downturn) and Carleton; Wellesley and Vassar are holding steady; and Midd, Haverford, Grinnell, and Colby are on a decline (especially Midd).
I am confident that 100% of what you wrote is incorrect.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 11:18
Subject: LAC prestige analysis and reputation?
Anonymous wrote:I went to Duke and my spouse went to Dartmouth. We’d go to the SLAC our son attends over our alma maters in a heartbeat. #IYKYK
Which SLAC? I went to Dartmouth and I would love to know.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 11:17
Subject: LAC prestige analysis and reputation?
Anonymous wrote:My husband & I both went to ivies for college and law school. So have most of our friends. Our DD is at Brown and our DS is considering a LAC which is new for our family.
Which of the following LACs have the most global and national prestige?
Williams: seems like the best one overall in terms of rep
Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan: "little three"
Williams, Amherst: I see them referred to as Ivy lite?
Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona: often grouped together as WASP?
Bowdoin, Middlebury: For my non-Ivy/Stanford friends, these seem like the net two highest in terms of prestige
Wesleyan: is this as prestigious as it used to be?
Carleton, Haverford: next most intellectually rigorous in terms of rep, but we prefer northeast to midwest
Genuinely asking - why is this important to you? You have said nothing at all about your child or what major, career, or other opportunities are important to your child. Do those things matter at all to you, or is it all about how other people perceive your child? I feel sorry for your kid.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 11:15
Subject: LAC prestige analysis and reputation?
Anonymous wrote:Culture matters to some people, so some people don't pick purely based on prestige or ranking. That's why there are some people who turn down Princeton to go to Brown, or turn down Amherst to go to Wesleyan. I'm not saying Brown is as selective or prestigious as Princeton, or that Wesleyan is as selective and prestigious as Amherst. I'm just saying some people choose the less selective and prestigious options and have good reasons for their choices.
100% - DD ended up at another school, but Wesleyan was a huge contender. She's quite artsy and liked the vibe much more than Amherst.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 11:11
Subject: LAC prestige analysis and reputation?
I went to Duke and my spouse went to Dartmouth. We’d go to the SLAC our son attends over our alma maters in a heartbeat. #IYKYK
Anonymous
09/04/2025 11:09
Subject: LAC prestige analysis and reputation?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:honestly from a pure prestige perspective - and I have no dog in this fight - the only two that are stand outs are Amherst and Williams. Every other SLAC is just one of the bunch
Boom. There it is. Facts.
Go to Williams or Amherst so that you can impress people who write things like, "Boom. There it is. Facts."
Anonymous
09/04/2025 10:52
Subject: LAC prestige analysis and reputation?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:for me Williams and Pomona are tops. Amherst feels a little dusty.
Keep pushing that Pomona thing little girl. Maybe someday dreams will come true.
wtf are you talking about?
Anonymous
09/04/2025 10:49
Subject: LAC prestige analysis and reputation?
Anonymous wrote:for me Williams and Pomona are tops. Amherst feels a little dusty.
Yeah I think it’s “the top northeast SLAC” vs. Pomona, at least in the eyes of the younger generation. All of the northeast SLACs are dusty, so it’s Williams as the northeast default vs. Pomona at this point.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 10:43
Subject: LAC prestige analysis and reputation?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:WASP is the best. The top 15 in general are very strong.
Top ten LACS are all rigorous and virtually indistinguishable. Separating out WASP from the rest is silly.
WASP + Bowdoin. Then a drop off.
Then you have your 10 schools - CMC, Mudd, Colby, Wellesley, Grinnell, Wesleyan, Carleton, Vassar, Midd, Haverford
Trajectories matter even amongst those 10, second tiers though: CMC and Mudd have rising stock, as does Wesleyan (after a downturn) and Carleton; Wellesley and Vassar are holding steady; and Midd, Haverford, Grinnell, and Colby are on a decline (especially Midd).
Anonymous
09/04/2025 10:24
Subject: LAC prestige analysis and reputation?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:honestly from a pure prestige perspective - and I have no dog in this fight - the only two that are stand outs are Amherst and Williams. Every other SLAC is just one of the bunch
Would add Harvey Mudd for STEM.
Are you related to the Pomona booster? The incessant pumping for a couple of the 5Cs really has a air of desperation.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 10:20
Subject: LAC prestige analysis and reputation?
Anonymous wrote:for me Williams and Pomona are tops. Amherst feels a little dusty.
Keep pushing that Pomona thing little girl. Maybe someday dreams will come true.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 10:19
Subject: LAC prestige analysis and reputation?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:honestly from a pure prestige perspective - and I have no dog in this fight - the only two that are stand outs are Amherst and Williams. Every other SLAC is just one of the bunch
Boom. There it is. Facts.
You are about as dim as the poor souls arriving here from overseas who believe that their are only 9 schools one should attend 8 schools covered with vines and one called UC in California. We silently shake our heads at their ignorance as well as yours.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 10:00
Subject: LAC prestige analysis and reputation?
for me Williams and Pomona are tops. Amherst feels a little dusty.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 09:54
Subject: LAC prestige analysis and reputation?
Anonymous wrote:honestly from a pure prestige perspective - and I have no dog in this fight - the only two that are stand outs are Amherst and Williams. Every other SLAC is just one of the bunch
Boom. There it is. Facts.