In DD18’s Skidmore acceptance letter today, they reported over 10,000 applicants for 690 spots. It’s very tough to get in there right now.
Yes it’s true they fill half the class ED at Skidmore. However, they admit about 25-30% total, not 6.9% if you look just at applicants vs spots.
@LBowie, I think all schools admit more than the spots they have. My point was Skidmore can’t be considered a “safety” by most standards.
(oops - missed earlier replies before I posted, but leaving it as is in case the numbers are of interest)
@WWC4me : it’s true that college admissions have become very competitive. Nervous applicants may nonetheless find a bit of comfort in the fact that yield also enters into the numbers that you cite, so that the rate at which applicants are admitted is higher than the ratio between the size of the entering class and the number of applicants. For example, Skidmore’s 2017-2018 Common Data Set (last year’s) at https://www.skidmore.edu/ir/facts/common/CDS_2017-2018_Final_rev.pdf reports 10,053 applicants, of which 2,465 were admitted (24.6% acceptance rate). Of the 2,465 admitted students, 661 enrolled (26.8% yield). A qualitatively similar phenomenon occurs at all colleges, though the numbers will differ among colleges, of course.
@inboston, Thank you for typing that all out like that. It makes it much easier.
Muhlenberg was founded by a Lutheran pastor. You might see a few Christian symbols here and there, just so you are aware. Those red doors at Muhlenberg are a Lutheran/Protestant symbol of welcome and protection (akin to marking doors with red for Passover). 28% Jewish population.
Be sure to show as much interest in your “safeties” as all your other schools. My son was accepted to his dream/reach school (Bowdoin), but rejected from his “safety” (Skidmore). I’m sure they thought he wasn’t a serious applicant since he had not demonstrated any interest.
If he wants less “arrogance” I’d look in the Midwest. A number of great schools have been mentioned. There really is a different feel there. You could visit a number of schools with a quick trip to Minnesota (Macalister, Carleton, St Olaf). Easy to fly there and may be quicker than east coast schools given the traffic here. 
I’m kind of liking Lawrence. Not sure what S will think.
Lawrence is great. I know a couple families with kids who went there, and they were very happy with it. One was a kid in my kid’s high school class, smart and arty and as far from bro-ish as it’s possible to be and still be straight.
@JHS Thanks for the feedback. Might be a hard sell because it’s such an unknown entity around here (NYC environs). There’s still an element of wanting a college that’s “known.”
@brantly My D18 fell into the trap of wanting a college that is ‘known’ and very selective. But struggled finding a school that felt right. She loved the idea of Grinnell, super endowment, great opportunities, extremely accomplished and capable students but found it a little ‘cold’ during visit and overnight. She loved Macalester on paper and it was even her favorite after visit and overnight, but found the team she was participating in to be lukewarm on the friendliness scale. She fell in love with Lawrence after her first visit and we’ve just returned from admitted students event. It is a special place, students and staff are genuinely friendly and caring. The music ensembles that we heard were amazing, facilities are nice, wonderful science programs (her area of interest) with some of the best research opportunities we’ve seen in the LACs that we’ve visited and that she applied to. If you can generate any interest with your son in Lawrence I highly encourage you to visit, he might come to realize his happiness is well worth choosing a school that isn’t as widely known in your region of the country as some of the other schools he is looking at. Best of luck!
@megawillmae Thanks so much. Maybe we’ll do Carleton, Macalaster, and Lawrence in one trip. Grinnell sounds great, but it seems tough to get to.
If you were in MN and WI, I’d really try to visit Grinnell, it really is worth a visit to compare. If you left, for instance, on . a Sunday afternoon, this could be a Mon-Thurs visit trip and, depending where you fly out of, give yourself a day to decompress and do some touristy things. Some possible routes:
(1) Fly in and out of O’Hare, rent a car, drive 3 hours to Appleton, then the 4 hours to Twin Cities for Mac, down the 45 min/hour to Carleton/St Olaf, then the 3 1/2 hours to Grinnell. 4 hour trip back to Ohare.
(2) Fly into Milwaukee, rent a car, drive 90 minutes up to Lawrence, then about 4 hours to Macalester, down about 45 min to Carleton, and then another 3 1/2 hour drive to Grinnell. You could drive back to Milwaukee (4 1/2 hours) to return the rental and make it a return trip from Milwaukee.
(3) If the excess charges for flying in and out of different spots and returning rental to a different location were not too bad, you could fly into Minneapolis, see Mac, then Carleton (about 45 minute drive), then 3 1/2 hours to Grinnell, then the schlep would be the 4 1/2 drive from Grinnell to Lawrence. 90 minute drive from Appleton to Milwaukee, fly out of Milwaukee.
Also, if a student were visiting Carleton, I’d definitely add in St. Olaf to see another flavor of LAC.
On our trips, we would try to arrive at the new school destination the night before, so we’d wake up fresh. We would do a full visit day, with tour/info session, interview if applicable/available, meet with particular departments/programs of interest, then leave campus in the mid to late afternoon and drive to our next destination. You might be able to squeeze Mac and Carleton into the same day, though it might not be worth it.
I’d also think about tossing Beloit in the the mix if you flew into O’Hare
Hillel.org has a fabulous college guide
On a hunt for merit aid for my D this East Coast born, West Coast settled mom also had a bit of an issue with name recognition. After some visits to Grinnell, Macalester, St Olaf, Oberlin etc I changed my tune pretty quickly. In fact in my D’s liberal, urban West Coast Musical HS St Olaf ,Lawrence and Macalester have become exceptionally popular. On accepted student weekend at Grinnell we met so many Seattle students and families. Word is getting out and it is just a matter of time before they become popular on the East Coast. Be ahead of the trend! Being from an under represented state helps a boatload in admissions and merit too.
I know that you indicated that you wanted small/LAC and you might consider Ithaca. It is more of a safety school than either Rochester or Brandeis are matches. Both are great schools for your parameters and at Rochester those who audition well can have lessons with Eastman faculty/grad schools for which you do receive credit as well. You do need to pass a jury every year to continue. My d is a Rochester grad and had lessons with Eastman doctoral students for 4 years in vocal performance. My older d is a Brandeis grad. Both are schools that will want to see your dedicated interest by campus visit, interview with an admissions rep or alum and you need to have strong essays and recommendations. Although not small, I would consider applying to Pitt as they have rolling admissions. My older d the Brandeis grad had Delaware as her safety and she was accepted to their honors program with merit money but the merit money she received at Brandeis (as well as at Rochester) exceeded the award from Delaware. She never toured or had demonstrated much interest in Delaware.
Younger d who went to Rochester was waitlisted at Oberlin. Her safety schools were American and BU…
Thanks for all the tips. I was thinking that Grinnell would be hard to travel to from the NYC area. What’s the closest airport?