Is Amherst 'preppy'? - Page 4

mythmom · 10-24-2009, 09:15 PM

Well that's what I mean OldbatesieDoc. I think preppy is used in two different way. I think yours is the traditional meaning, but I think the definition has morphed a bit in current kid lingo judging by my students.

Keil: I know preppy and crunchy and in different directions. That was the way I used them -- as opposites.

And my S at Williams doesn't have a preppy bone in his body using either definition.

He is going as Bob Dylan for Halloween because he already has the hair.

He has work/study and earns all his own spending money.

He worked for his dad this summer in his dad's photography studio.

He's a complete nerd. He is studying Ancient Greek (is a Classics major) and was most excited the first time he saw Hector's name in Greek. He hands out in the Chapin library (not the main library) looking at the Classics special collections.

Fun is practicing the piano and the violin.

He gets mad if I suggest he needs new jeans because his have holes and he almost fainted when his sister bought him jeans at Banana Republic. He prefers Old Navy even though they don't fit him because he's so skinny.

And many of his friends at Williams are very similar. Honest injun. Oh, that's another thread. LOL. And I didn't mean to be unPC. Just a very old silly phrase from my childhood.

He chose Williams (as many do) because he didn't want light pollution and wanted to look at stars at night and hike in Hopkins Forest. And he did take astronomy.

He hates Starbucks and anything with a brand name.

And he fits in very well. I know one example does not "prove" anything, but I have met a lot of kids like S there. And I must be "preppy" because I sure do wish he'd get a haircut. But I don't really care. Don't want to revisit the hair wars from my youth.

Or I wish it would grow down and not just out. Haha.

kwu · 10-24-2009, 09:56 PM

Phillips Academy - School Profile & College Matriculations

(2009)

Harvard University 19
Yale University 14
Princeton University 13
Stanford University 12
Columbia University 11
Pennsylvania, University of 10
Brown University 10
Cornell University 9
New York University 9
Dartmouth College 8
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 7
Amherst College 7

Exeter - College Office Newsletter - College Matriculation 2007 - 2009

(2007-2009)

Harvard 42
Yale 33
Princeton 33
Dartmouth 27
Cornell U 27
New York U 25
Columbia 24
Pennsylvania, U 23
MIT 23
Stanford 20
Brown 20
Amherst 7

Don't mind me... just passing through.

'rentof2 · 10-24-2009, 09:59 PM

OMG, mythmom, your kid's hair grows OUT too? Crazy.

'rentof2 · 10-24-2009, 10:02 PM

Kwu, the definition of preppy seems to have shifted. It's hard to keep up with... and probably not worth the bother. Interesting list though. Maybe there should be a thread over on the Harvard board: Is Harvard Preppy?

vossron · 10-24-2009, 11:13 PM

kwu, what would give better insight is the percentage at each school that came from Phillips or Exeter. That would be a precise "preppiness" index, as defined by P & E origins.

Keilexandra · 10-24-2009, 11:47 PM

mythmom - No, I meant that I think Amherst/Williams are becoming progressively less preppy and more crunchy.

mythmom · 10-25-2009, 09:35 AM

Aha. I see. Keil, what is your number one school right now? I'd like to root for you and keep my fingers crossed for your admissions success.

I'm sure you'll do very well, but it's nice to have folks rooting for you.

My kids were so blessed at each being accepted at his/her number one school. It was kind of a miracle.

Keilexandra · 10-25-2009, 12:28 PM

^Haven't got one, unfortunately. It would be nice to have a clear #1. My top three are Yale, Swarthmore, and Pomona. [/derail]

mythmom · 10-25-2009, 01:41 PM

Those are certainly all wonderful schools.

OldbatesieDoc · 10-25-2009, 05:36 PM

And your point is, KWU? With a very limited number of spots for white boys from the NE at all of those listed schools, looks like Exeter and Phillips are doing quite well...

wtidad · 10-25-2009, 09:11 PM

Hey OldBatesieDoc -

I think that you're a little out of date about the preppy thing. It's much more than a style of dress, and even at Bates in the 1970s there were plenty of dyed-in-the-wool (100% Merino, that is) preps, even if they were wearing Army surplus and parading as socialists.
Have you been to Bates recently? (I have - in fact, just last week, to visit my kid who is a senior there) It is chock full O' preps, and REAL preps - the northeast type who had a great-grandfather who was on the Board of U.S. Steel or J.P. Morgan, that sort of thing. Bates has been recruiting heavily from among the middle-of-the-class types from prep schools and affluent publics for a long, long time - they launched their NYC prep school recruitment strategy probably 30-40 years ago. That's because they need to insure that at least half of the class is full pay, which realistically means incomes of 250K and above.
So for all the kumbaya talk of equality, integration, etc. - it's a school with one of the lowest percentage of black students among the better colleges (4% if that), and one of the most privileged student bodies. Sorry, that's the reality.

sunmachine · 10-25-2009, 09:45 PM

I've visited about a dozen LACs with my son, and Bates and Colby (and maybe Whitman) appeared to have the least diverse student bodies. However, the last two admitted classes at Bates have included somewhat higher percentages of African Americans and Hispanics (6-7% of each in 2008, and I think a little higher in 2009), but Bates is still well behind, say, Amherst, Bowdoin, and Williams in terms of diversity.

I also notice that Bates takes nearly half its class ED, which I assume is part of its strategy to insure a healthy number of full pay students.

This is off topic, wtidad, but has your kid had a good four years at Bates? Bates does like to promote its history as an egalitarian and inclusive institution, which I find appealing, although somewhat in conflict with its relative lack of diversity. What's the academic and social experience been like?

OldbatesieDoc · 10-25-2009, 10:42 PM

I would never say Bates wasn't preppy, read my old posts. I loved Bates and "some of my best friends were preppies". I just can't let go the ridiculous assertion that Amherst isn't "preppy".It was a great place for this public school, first generation, scholarship girl to get her LAC education. I'm sure Amherst is, too. But there will be preppies!

vossron · 10-26-2009, 12:02 AM

Ok, here are the percentages of Phillips + Exeter/3 grads at these schools as a percentage of undergrads (from latest CDS or web site):

Code:

School      Phillips	Exeter	Undergrads	Preppiness
Amherst      7		7	1,697		2.20%
Harvard     19		42	6,678		1.98%
Princeton   13		33	4,981		1.93%
Yale        14		33	5,277		1.90%
Middlebury   8		9	2,455		1.79%
Dartmouth    8		27	4,147		1.64%
MIT          7		23	4,153		1.41%
Bates        3		8	1,776		1.28%
Stanford    12		20	6,532		1.14%
Brown       10		20	5,874		1.13%
Williams     2		8	1,997		0.93%
Reed         3		1	1,442		0.92%
UPenn       10		23	10,275		0.69%
Columbia    11		24	11,858		0.64%
Cornell      9		27	13,846		0.52%
NYU          9		25	21,269		0.33%

I added Williams because of my erroneous earlier claim, and Reed as a sanity check (clearly Reed should be more preppy than those below it in the list

).

Excel formula: =(B17+(C17/3))/D17*4

Keilexandra · 10-26-2009, 01:59 AM

I think it's rather silly to define preppy as only Andover/Exeter grads.