<p>cheetahdude and my dearest of friends bigdog, this is getting tedious. I have no stake in either school. At all. I am unaware of whether HC has a boisterous alumni base. I’m not Catholic. I think I’m vaguely Methodist. My reaction here is that a kid is making a big decision, and I hate to see him choose based on some very distorted posting that creates an image of HC as a good school long ago that is now decrepit and crumbling and now 2nd or 3rd tier. I think that is a huge disservice to the kid. HC ad BC, while obviously different, are very much in the same universe quality, prestige and reputation-wise. You are blowing smoke to suggest anything otherwise. If the kid actually prefers BC I hope he picks BC. I’d just hate to see him not pick HC based on some very distorted information.</p>
<p>As for LACs, I do like a lot of and them and some not so much. As you know bigdog, my kid was waitlisted at Michigan and Wash U and either would have been a top contender if accepted. NYU was her dream school and she got in, but with no money we took it out of consideration. She also got in GWU, Northeastern, American, Brandeis and Bryn Mawr. Mostly, non-LACs there. And her final choice came down to Macalester vs Rochester, and she is picking Rochester, so she picked the non-LAC. </p>
<p>You think you knew my bias because of the Colgate debacle and your Colby gratuitous slam, but you don’t. The debate could be between two non-LACs, two LACs, or whatever. What I don’t like is when I feel, like in this case, that preference is argued vehemently in the direction of one school over another suggesting a margin wider than I believe is accurate. Every kid can’t get into a top 10 school, or the money doesn’t work. I think it is a disservice to suggest that other excellent schools are somehow 2nd rate when there are extremely talented kids out there who have worked very hard to get in those schools or can’t get in. Obviously we can disagree, but most often I jump in when I see characterizations that I think are unfair.</p>
<p>And no worries, I got my Ph.D. in something slightly more practical than philosophy (but I do credit a professor I had at BC for having a major impact on the next phase of my academic/professional life).</p>