<p>overseas - it’s just a metaphor kind of thing, amplifies meaning in some ways, loses meaning in others.</p>
<p>Funny, no one’s come up with a west coast equivalent for Brown…</p>
<p>I understand…but let’s take Santa Clara in a perfect location with perfect weather…put it into Boston? I love Boston in the spring and summer! Boston’s one of my favorite places, but it’s not Santa Clara. I am sorry…keep on going. I get too serious most of the time.</p>
<p>Rabo, don’t think I wasn’t trying!</p>
<p>The closest I could get was Rice (small U, so so city, undergrad focus) and it isnt that good a match.</p>
<p>overseas, think of it as a campus culture/size/fit thing…</p>
<p>This is interesting. It seems like many kids that are willing to apply to more than one region of the country do apply to many of the mentioned ‘pairs’. I’ve seen a lot of comparisons with Duke/Dartmouth and Stanford/Princeton and my kids look for those to see what other schools might be of interest. Thought the Williams/Davidson and then Williams/Carleton parallels were a laugh. Would anyone apply to those three places?</p>
<p>hmm…ive always thought of brown as a reed-ish type school. Lots of choice and independence, students a bit quirky, offbeat location-providence is a city but it has a slightly bohemian vibe to it. Maybe it’s just me, though.</p>
<p>I can’t see rice, but then again that’s mainly because of location-houston and providence, while both so-so cities, are vastly different. Maybe brown is like reed and rice combined? are we allowed to do that?</p>
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<p>I’m not all that familiar with Carelton to know, but I believe that Davidson and Williams are as close as any two schools I can think of, by almost any criteria. Very good academics. Heaviest emphasis on varsity athletics of all LACs. Generally well-heeled, prep-school kids. Pre-professional in orientation. Work hard/drink hard social scene. Both are traditionally male institutions that went “co-ed” about the same time. Williams strong music and art departments may be the most differentiating characteristics.</p>
<p>Likewise, I think Dartmouth and Duke cater to a very, very similar customer, and share a lot of common characteristics.</p>
<p>“Funny, no one’s come up with a west coast equivalent for Brown…”</p>
<p>One school could rival Brown for its clever use of marketing and gimmicks to climb in the so-called ranks. Despite lacking the subtility of Brown, WUSTL is a close second in the art of positioning.</p>
<p>Thanks Interesteddad. I have another D that thinks Williams, in particular and also Dartmouth sound great, maybe partly because I thought the same thing at her age and didn’t follow that dream. The deal is, she does not do well with cold,LOL! Read things about Davidson during sibs’ search that sounded interesting, just not for her. Davidson and Duke could be good alternatives at some point. She is into math and Carleton is supposed to be a great LAC in that area but she thought it was more on the liberal side and Davidson, more moderate/conservative. Plus she thinks she couldn’t handle the temp in Minnesota. (Williams would be sooo much better in the winter, right?!)</p>
<p>Yes, D intends to apply to Williams, Davidson, and Carleton. We’ve visited all three, and the academics are top-notch. I’d give Williams the edge on academics (tutorials!), Davidson the edge on weather, and Carleton the edge on student happiness.</p>
<p>Have to disagree with you , Xiggi, about Brown and WUSTL…my daughter went to Brown and both kids looked seriously at WUSTL…Brown is much more “granola, tree huggers”, WUSTL much more pre-professional.</p>
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<p>Wow, overseas you oughta go into Marketing if you are not already. That’s the best spin I’ve ever seen put on USC’s crummy neighborhood and smoggy air.</p>
<p>critter - Carleton is indeed extremely strong in math and natural sciences. D is just finishing frosh year there and is on track to be a chem major. Visit the school. Seems to have the Swarthmore academic grind except with just 3 classes per trimester to concentrate on (15 weeks of semester course taught in 10 weeks provides the intensity). Very intelligent, quirky, ACTIVE, sporty, and happy (as fireflyscout points out) students. Not as much intensity on sports as Williams, but there is a large percentage of participation. Much, much less preppy than Davidson and Williams.</p>
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<p>Uuuuhhh - my daughter?</p>
<p>Actually, she did not apply to Williams because she got turned off by a bad campus visit, but not for any thoughtful reason, just that gut thing that teens do sometimes. Based on her actual articulated criteria, Davidson and Williams were the best fits. Davidson, Dartmouth and Williams are really 3 peas in a pod - Dartmouth has some overlap with Duke because of size, all 4 share some common aspects of student body - plop the kids down blindfolded, and the only way they would know where they were would be by accent.</p>
<p>Carleton - well she applied to Swarthmore as well, and many people would “say, what!”, but there was sense in the list, you just had to hear the reasons.</p>
<p>Stanford would be Harvard.</p>
<p>Duke would be Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Wash U would be Johns Hopkins with a major marketing campaign (or a secular Georgetown?)</p>
<p>New College of Florida would be Hampshire.</p>
<p>Wake Forest has not been affiliated with the Baptist Church for a long time…</p>
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<p>Wondered how long it would take for someone to pick up on that! The Protestant quotient is probably as high as the Jewish contingent at Brandeis, but not just Baptists - true. What they have in common to me is that the academics at both schools are underestimated.</p>
<p>I’ll add my voice to the chorus here in case it helps anyone who is struggling with regionalism in a serious way. As a parent I am familiar with both Davidson and Williams, and I’d say they do have quite a bit in common though I think Williams because of its location and greater name recognition has a hint of an academic edge–in the sense of slightly higher SAT scores and such. Both are schools where bright students work hard but do not necessarily parade their work ethic, real though it is. Both have wonderful faculty and facilities. </p>
<p>I am aware of a number of students in the past three or four years who have applied to both Davidson and Williams. Carleton, which I know only by its stellar reputation and excellent informational packages, is perhaps the odd school out in this trio; weather isn’t the reason though. In our area at least Carleton seems to be considered more in the Swarthmore/Oberlin/Chicago/Wesleyan mold, rightly or wrongly. (I think Davidson and Williams both fall into the Dartmouth section of the spectrum–with the Greek system at the two D’s having somewhat similar roles to play in the overall mix.) All in all, I think going out of region is an adventure whichever way you are headed, but there are similarities and differences that transcend geography, as well as differences that may be rooted in geography.</p>
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<p>I don’t think that’s odd at all. My daughter had sent application to both Swarthmore and Williams. She had her Davidson app ready to mail (although, in retrospect, I don’t think it would have been the right place for her).</p>
<p>None of these schools are monolithic. Williams actually has two student-bodies, IMO. The majority fit the athletic/prep school/pre-professional mold. However, there is significant element of “hard-core academic”,“diversity”, and “geekdom”. Willliams has its own little “Swarthmore” concentrated in the Berkshire Quad, known to the rest of the campus as the “Odd Quad”. Not as many athletes. Not as much drinking, etc.</p>
<p>In fact, this dichotomy appears to be underlying the administration’s concern on issues like housing, drinking, athletic recruiting, racial issues, and ad hoc segregation. The faculty and administration apparently would like to push the tilt a little further towards the center and encourage more mixing: something that virtually ALL of the students resist. I don’t know whether the decision to force the two groups together into small housing units is going to work. I think the big losers will be the geek faction that has traditionally gravitated to the “Odd Quad” to get away from the party scene.</p>
<p>Swarthmore has the same dichotomy. The only difference is that the percentages are reversed. The geeks are the majority and the athlete/preppy/party hard crowd are the strong minority. Tradition (co-ed, etc.), specific policies (housing), and overall self-selection in the applicant pool tend to encourage somewhat more cross-over between the two groups. </p>
<p>All schools have this dichotomy to some extent. Look at the visibility of the “substance-free” dorm issue these days. Dartmouth certainly has the same dichotomy.</p>