penelopepitstop

I saw a bunch of comparisons of these two schools in discussion, but all of them were in the Colgate thread. Betcha can't guess which school won over there. I visited both and I decided to come to Hamilton. Here's why:

When I visited Colgate, one of the things I noticed during my tour was that everyone - EVERYONE - was wearing a sweatshirt from another college. This is a red flag to me. It suggests that Colgate was nobody's first choice.

Hamilton sits on College Hill, but when we're talking hills, let's talk Colgate's 30% grades all over friggin' campus. I'm in shape, but I don't want a workout every time I walk to the student center. Hamilton's campus has rolling hills and is more spread out. It feels better.

Colgate is D I. 'nuff said. They have a crappy old 5-story building for a gym for the non-athletes and a brand new, state-of-the-art field house limited strictly to the varsity programs. Non-varsity is non-welcome. That kind of jock-elitist mentality rubbed me the wrong way. Hamilton is D III. I'm going to college to get a degree in philosophy. Or History. I haven't decided yet. But what I'm sure I'm not doing is majoring in "eligibility". I want to be a student first.

Distribution requirements. Colgate has 'em. Hamilton doesn't. I'm an adult now (at least, I want to think I am). I can be trusted to take a full liberal arts spread. When I get to class, I can be assured that the other students are there because they want to be - not because they are fulfilling some stupid distribution requirement.

Everyone I met when I was at Hamilton was nice to me. Like, REALLY nice. If I looked lost, someone stopped and asked where I wanted to go. I didn't have to work to start a conversation with someone, indicating to me that they actually wanted to talk to me. Colgate was more aloof. No one asked if I needed directions and the few times I stopped someone (invariably wearing a Cornell or Bowdoin sweatshirt), they didn't seem to want to help.

Hamilton's interview was evaluative. Colgate's is optional and informational. This says to me that Colgate wasn't really concerned with who I am as a person. The forms are the only things they'll use to tell my story. I felt like I had a real connection with my Hamilton interviewer.

Colgate's bookstore isn't on campus. It's in town (the town of Hamilton, by the way, which is something that's already steaming my clams). That's dumb. I don't want to schlep over to town every time I need more erasers.

Colgate is more pre-professional. If you're looking to hit the ground running on Wall Street, maybe it's a better choice. Hamilton felt more like what I expected from a liberal arts school to me.

Colgate has a higher profile and gets better guest speakers than Hamilton does. That is their one mark in the win column from my perspective. The Dalai Lama spoke a few weeks after my visit. That's pretty cool.

In closing, I decided I didn't even want to apply to Colgate. I'm coming to Hamilton and I can't wait for orientation week.