Yeah, it is a little iffy. They did vote in favor of reproductive rights recently though. Also a kind of friend is being recruited there and they should not go to the same school.
I still think of Ohio as a purple state, but obviously that is entirely up to the OP.
Out of Amherst, Colby, Macalester, and Middlebury I think that Colby and Mac have the most interesting classes. Of course I know nothing about ES and I’m not the one going to college. lol
Looking at your daughter’s notes from Amherst, I’d wonder why Hamilton wouldn’t be on the list. Pretty similar qualities except no consortium, about the same number of ES students (slightly more) in an interesting physical environment (not quite the mountains), likely a more academic feel than (e.g.) Colby. Reach for anyone RD but not more than Colby or the other Maine schools, and I’d bet a very solid ED II candidate if it came to it.
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She was trying to avoid schools with Greek life.
Such isolated votes on abortion tend to give results well to the left of general political leanings, so they may not be reliable indicators on other state-level political matters that can affect quality of life for some students, such as LGBTQ related laws and policies.
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Not to get too far off on a tangent, but states like Ohio have gerrymandered state legislatures that can help explain why state referendums and state laws can go in different directions in roughly the same periods. And this is not meant to diminish concerns about possibly adverse state laws, quite the opposite I think the fact there are currently structural reasons for that discrepancy is a cause for heightened concern (and there is even more to that story in Ohio, but that is undoubtedly more than enough).
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Middlebury established the nation’s first undergrad environmental studies major back in the ‘60s, and graduates more environmental studies majors than most other sLACs. The campus is unique—nestled in a valley between the Green Mountains and Adirondacks—with lots of limestone, marble, and granite buildings set on quads. I think it’s worth a visit for any student who is serious about environmental studies.
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I believe SUNY-ESF established its ES degree back in the 1950s. (School had a different name then). 
But yes, Middlebury worth a visit. Great ES, among the nation’s best, but the school overall elicits strong (and in my limited experience with two children, quick) reactions, whether pro or con, and I would not suggest a student apply there ED without visiting and getting a feel for the campus culture.
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Okay, can we do a compare and contrast of Amherst, Colby, Macalester, and Middlebury? lol D25 says the classes sound most interesting at Colby. What are the social climates like? I want to make sure that a quiet LGBTQ girl with purple hair who prefers hiking to parties will find her people.
My oldest (nerdy, introverted kid) graduated from Macalester last year, and I think Mac definitely would be a social fit for her–lots of quirky, smart kids, very LGBTQ friendly, etc. His final two were Macalester and Hamilton, and he picked Macalester because Hamilton felt too sporty/preppy to him after a return visit (he texted me: “everyone here is from Massachusetts, and they all play a sport”). In particular, he was turned off that so many of the math majors he met were planning to go into finance. I think there’s definitely more that kind of vibe at northeastern LACs than midwestern ones, for the most part. That said, I also think he would have been perfectly fine at Hamilton and made friends there.
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Understanding few people have direct and recent experiences which would form a reliable basis of comparison . . .
In my circles, Macalester has by far the least-preppy/most-quirky reputation among those. In fact very high among LACs in general. This may or may not actually be accurate, but if you were going to ask me to pick an LAC to generate a random student picture and I wanted to maximize my chances of getting purple hair, Macalester would be one I would consider betting on.
All of the NESCAC have more of a sporty/preppy reputation. Colby is reputed to be particularly sporty, outdoorsy, and traditional partyish (Bates of the Maine colleges would be more toward the artsy/quirky side). Middlebury actually similar in terms of sporty/outdoorsy, but maybe a little more preppy flavor of that–kinda like Bowdoin in fact. Amherst seems to have a generally more cosmopolitan reputation, although recently there has been chatter about the degree to which athletes might dominate the social scene.
How much is any of that accurate? Could she find her people anywhere? I think those are good questions, and I think visiting and also actually talking to current students (particularly LGBTQ students) is probably going to be more helpful than collecting those sorts of reputational claims. But for what it is actually worth, that is how they are talked about in my circles.
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Yeah, at Bates I feel like there was a skater boy vibe, probably due to all the skateboards. lol At Colby all of the tour guides were female and not overly sporty. At Bowdoin the students seemed very normal. Unfortunately we visited Amherst over their spring break. I’m pretty sure I saw kids with different color hair at all the schools where kids were present. All the tour guides said their school was LGBTQ friendly.
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Okay, D25 wants to know the differences between Colby and Macalester in ES. Obviously she knows one Is in a major city and one is far from a city. Does one have better research opportunities or job placement on ES? Any other notable differences?
Which of these schools would be most similar to the feel of Lewis and Clark? We love them on Instagram and it seems like her kind of people. It just isn’t quite as strong in ES and maybe not overly academicky.
Here is her current pros/cons list
Macalaster
pros
close to city for internships, concerts, airport (10min from airport)
second campus es research place
quirky queer people (campus pride index = 5)
emphasis within major
cons
requires 4 semesters of foreign language (but could probably take asl at st kates)
not in nature
no housing guaranteed all 4 years
Amherst
pros
no language requirement
open curriculum: could double major
resources of consortium
heavy emphasis on academics
housing guaranteed all four years
cons
not well known for environmental science
kinda bleh es classes/research
50min from airport
Colby
pros
jan plan for study abroad
owns two islands
also has literature and the environment major
housing guaranteed (required) all 4 years
cons
requires 3 semesters of foreign language
1hr 16min from airport
pros for all
capstone project, can graduate with honors
study abroad, research
outing club
liberal
small class sizes, professor connections
not hot
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Just FYI, AP or DE credit can be used for the language requirement at Mac, in case that’s something that’s possible next year (my son had DE credit through the 4th semester of Spanish and didn’t take any language classes). He also lived on campus all 4 years without any issues getting housing (the last year in a campus-owned apartment above a Thai restaurant right by campus), but a lot of people like to move off campus because there’s lots of availability of reasonably priced apartments very close by (within easy walking distance). At least as of pretty recently, living off campus was generally seen as a money-saver over the dorms and meal plan. That said, so many students living off campus does give things a somewhat different feel than a purely residential college. But my understanding was that almost everyone is still in the same neighborhood at least.
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This post, which you may have seen before, includes brief comments on Amherst, Colby and Middlebury: NESCAC Spoken Here: - #5 by merc81.
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A suggestion to not use EA Macalester as a litmus test of access to your noted “reach” schools. We were concerned when my son '23 intended math - environmental studies/science major was deferred (postponed as they call it) during EA (ultimately deferred). He was accepted to Bowdoin, Hamilton, Vassar & Carleton among others in RD. Not sure if they deemed him not a good fit or if our financial aid need played a part (they are not need blind in admissions). I suggest applying to a wide range of schools with varied admissions rates - including some schools you love on the reach level.
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We weren’t really using it as a litmus test, more there aren’t many schools she would choose over Macalester.
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