<p>Keep in mind that the organization evolved from the book by Loren Pope. The CTCL website describes his philosophy and the common criteria among these schools. It also says:</p>
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<p>It is important to realize that there are MANY colleges that fit these criteria, and also that the schools on the list are not equal in terms of intellectual capabilities among the students. I would encourage anyone considering ANY college to do their homework on common data sets or look at collegenavigator.gov to learn about the academic profiles of admitted students. Don’t just assume that because you have “heard of it” it is “better” than one that you haven’t.</p>
<p>For instance, using USNWR as a starting point (not that I am a fan, but it serves as a baseline or context for many people here), many would likely say some of the popular east coast LACs are “better” than those in other parts of the country, and they would use the rankings to support this assertion. In many cases they are “more selective” simply because more kids apply. But the stats tell a different story in terms of the makeup of the student body. So on USNWR, Hendrix is ranked #70, with a 25%-75% ACT range of 26-32. Bryn Mawr (#26) has a range of 26-30. So does Trinity (#38). Dickinson (#41) and Lafayette (#39) are 27-30, Bucknell (#32) is 27-31. The list goes on. If anything what the CTCL “designation” did for us was serve as a starting point to help characterize the type of environment we thought our son might thrive in, and introduce us to a range of schools we had never heard of because they were small and not in our area of the country.</p>