Comparing the top LACs' "vibes"?

bclintonk
Thu, 08 Apr 2010 16:05:58 +0000

Hmmm . . . lots of recurring words here. My stereotypes:

Outdoorsy: Williams, Middlebury, Bard, Colorado College

Artsy: Vassar, Wesleyan, Oberlin, Skidmore, Bard, Reed; Williams, just a bit

Jock-y: Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin

Intellectual: Swarthmore, Reed, Carleton, Grinnell, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Smith, Wesleyan, Amherst, Pomona

Preppy: Colgate, Hamilton, Trinity, Bates, Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Davidson, Washington & Lee

Pre-professional: Wellesley, Amherst, Williams, Claremont-McKenna (and all others, to some extent)

Hippie-ish: Reed, Bard, Wesleyan, Pitzer

Activist: Wesleyan, Oberlin, Macalester, Reed

Quirky: Swarthmore, Vassar, Haverford, Grinnell, Carleton, Pomona, Wesleyan

Clean-cut (generally neither artsy, quirky/intellectual, nor hippie-ish): Amherst, Wellesley, Bowdoin, Colgate, Hamilton, Bates, Claremont-McKenna, Davidson, Washington & Lee

Then you can draw from these categories to get a profile of the school, e.g.:
Williams: outdoorsy, jock-y, preppy, pre-professional, and just a bit artsy
Wesleyan: activist, intellectual, artsy, quirky, hippie-ish
and so on.