lax8scr13

I got in ED so i didnt get to apply elsewhere. However, I was wondering where else everyone is applying.

For me, it was going to be W&M, Wake Forest, Brown, NYU, and Claremont McKenna.

kara17

besides colgate i'm applying to:
yale
swarthmore
williams
amherst
bowdoin
w&m
whitman

azncoolkiemonstr

Hey Kara no offence, but why Whitman? What distinguished Whitman to be your only west coast school when you could have applied to Claremont McKenna/Pomona/Willamette/Stanford/etc.? Sorry, I'm just curious because my friend is going to Willamette (which to my knowledge is Whitman's rival?) Basically I would like to know how Whitman differs from Willamette. Thanks and good luck on your college letters! =)

Maize&Blue

Whitman: Along with Reed, Pomona, CMC - one of the best LAC's in the West. To compare with Willamette, Whitman is more difficult to get into; smaller student body; in south-central/east Washington not near a major city; small greek presence.
Willamette: More greek activity; in Salem, near Portland; has some grad programs; more merit $ opportunity for those with lesser stats attracting some students away from Whitman.

Students I know attending both schools are happy with their choices.

collegeconfusion

go whitman woo woo!

kara17

okay i'm going to be completely honest in my answer, so please don't be offended.

i wasn't looking at whitman at all but when i told my GC that i was concerned about not having any "safety" schools, she suggested i look at whitman. i did, and i liked it, so i'm applying.

the reason i decided to apply there and not other west coast schools:
i live in the sf bay area, and wanted to go somewhere new, so that counted stanford out (i live, literally, two minutes from stanford campus), and i don't like southern california so all that left was UCs, and i wanted something smaller. so clearly no california. other than that, i just didn't know very much about other schools on the west coast, and since i already had most of my list i didn't need to find more. i know NOTHING about willamet (i don't even know how to spell it) so i can't tell you what the difference between whitman and willamet is.

tcolgate

Deffered Colgate ED

Lehigh
Lafayette
Bucknell
Trinity (CT)
Miami (Ohio)
Pitt
Holy Cross

MomofWildChild

TColgate- Can you compare Bucknell and Colgate for me? Colgate is on my son's list (we haven't visited yet). Our tour guide at Cornell transferred to Cornell from Bucknell. He said Bucknell felt too small and isolated. Cornell is isolated, but bigger..... What did you think of Bucknell? Do you think it is as strong academically as Colgate? Thanks.

RaboKarabekian

Mom: I can answer a bit of your question. Bucknell's in a similar setting, although not quite so rural, IMO. Colgate's academics are supposed to be stronger, but they're pretty comparable. You might be better looking at specific departments if you want to contrast.

tcolgate

I never got around to visiting Bucknell, but it is a little bit bigger, and i dont think the campus is supposed to be as nice as Colgate's. socially they're similar, and i think Colgate has better sports. probably similar students, but i think Colgate has more of the boarding school types, but im sure lots of Bucknell kids come from private schools, but Colgate is more known as a safety for all the elite private school kids

collegeparent

Bucknell is a very hot school right now and its entrance requirements are not as strenuous or as rigorous as Colgate's, but are getting there. The academics are indeed stronger and more demanding at Colgate and if you want engineering, definitely consider Bucknell (although Colgate has no engineering program per se, it is affiliated with Columbia & Cornell in a 4-2 program) -- While Colgate (along with Bowdoin, Middlebury, Tufts and Williams) has long been considered a prep school safety for those not getting into the top Ivies (HYP&Col), many of those same applicants are now choosing Colgate over the other Ivies, most notably Dartmouth & Cornell. Bucknell enjoys a large contingency of prep & private school kids which is a vibrant part of the campus without being intrusive, i.e. a lot of pop-up collars there but so what? But it is an excellent school with a beautiful campus and bright and engaging kids -- also, its enrollment could be thought of as less selective than Colgate's because it has 200+ more students per entering freshman class. Colgate shares a similar reputation socially as Bucknell (but is more highly regarded, IMHO, academically because of its grad school & job placements) and also has an enthusiastic athletic program with almost every Colgate student participating in sports either at the varsity or recreational level. Ultimately, you can't go wrong at either school. Again, it all depends on the student and what he/she wants.

MomofWildChild

Thanks a lot, all. Will keep Bucknell on the early list. S is an athlete, so a lot will depend on coaches' interest.

tcolgate

What sport does he play?

MomofWildChild

He's a runner. Cross country and track.