Franklin and Marshall

College Search & Lists
1

<p>For a student like myself who is looking into studying the social sciences at the UG level and hopefully going on to grad and professional school, how would Franklin and Marshall be as a safety (presuming 3.9 at highly competitive public HS and minimum 1400 of 1600)? Beyond that, though, (and much more importantly) would it offer a strong enough academic program, particularly in comparison to highly selective LACs (i.e. Haverford, Swat, Oberlin, Wesleyan, etc.)?</p>

2

<p>I hear that F&M is quite a demading liberal arts college with an enviable record of getting students into top professional schools (i.e. law, medicine and business). I would say it compares fairly favorably academically with many of the top LACs in terms of providing an excellent liberal arts education and in graduate school preparation (e.g, it has a great success rate getting students into the Harvard Law School). </p>

<p>F&M is probably closest in academic spirit to Haverford. Swarthmore is in a category of its own, at the extreme end of “academic”. Oberlin and Wesleyan both have strong traditions in the sciences, and share a funky, PC multi-culturalism that can, at times, be the enemy of academic rigor, especially in the humanities and social sciences (IMHO). </p>

<p>There are several schools like F&M in terms of academic rigor – more traditional than progressive:</p>

<p>Wabash College (all-male) in Crawsfordsville, Indiana
Davidson College in Davidson, NC
Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA
College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA
Hamilton College in Clinton, NY
Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA.
University of the South (Sewanee) in Sewanee, TN</p>

<p>I don’t know if F&M is a “safety” school for you or not.</p>

3

<p>What about Lafayette College? They give out merit aid, and have a stellar record for getting students into law school as well.</p>

4

<p>Balletgirl sayeth she:</p>

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<p>Wesleyan has one of the top Economics departments among LACs nationally; this isn’t just my opinion, but based on the number of peer-reviewed articles published and citations given by other authors. Two of it’s poetry publications received critical acclaim last year, including a “Most Notable of the Year” citation in the New York Times. Again, I’m just quoting the Times. :/</p>

5

<p>^^Every school has its pockets of light.</p>

6

<p>The production of Ph.Ds is only one of many measures of the academic quality of a department. Here are some interesting numbers on the baccalaureate origins of Ph.Ds in economics:</p>

<p>Swarthmore College 15.12
Agnes Scott College 9.08
Grinnell College 9.04
Carleton College 7.04
Williams College 6.96
Harvard University 6.88
Macalester College 6.49
Princeton University 4.78
Trinity University (TX) 4.55
MIT 4.46
Stanford University 4.40
Yale University 4.28
Wabash College 3.92
Bowdoin College 3.91
University of Chicago 3.77
Oberlin College 3.77
Wellesley College 3.66
Earlham College 3.53
Kalamazoo College 3.48
Beloit College 3.27
Pomona College 3.21
Illinois Wesleyan University 3.16
College of William and Mary 3.09
Amherst College 3.09
Columbia University 3.02
Rice University 2.93</p>

<p>This data is taken directly from a recent working paper, The Undergraduate Origins of Ph.D. Economists by John Siegfried of Vanderbilt. </p>

<p>EconPapers: The Undergraduate Origins of Ph.D. Economists</p>

<p>Here is more data on other disciplines from Reed College’s website.</p>

<p>[REED</a> COLLEGE PHD PRODUCTIVITY](<a href=“http://web.reed.edu/ir/phd.html]REED”>Doctoral Degree Productivity - Institutional Research - Reed College)</p>

<p>Wesleyan shows strength in History and, not unsurprisingly, Area & Ethnic Studies.</p>

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<p>Probably somewhere near Dartmouth. :)</p>

8

<p>It’s in Middletown, CT. The PhD origins study is one of my favorites!</p>

9

<p>It’s an interesting read; but, I’m not sure what it proves. As, implied in my response above, half the ivies are missing in action. Thirty years ago, I would have said, sure, this is an indication of where the nation’s best and brightest come from. Today, it’s more an indication of who’s graduates choose not to go into the work force right after graduation.</p>

10

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<p>BALLETGIRL - I really find our comparison list interesting - but a bit off… F&M doesn’t even compare in many ways to a few you deemed in comparable to… of course - JMHO</p>

11

<p>I’ve actually heard lots of good things about F&M.</p>

<p>One of my friends applied there for the social sciences.</p>

12

<p>Re: the Ph.D origin study, here’s a link on the Franklin & Marshall site to the actual data for LACs over a 75-year period, as well over a 10-year period:
<a href=“http://server1.fandm.edu/departments/CollegeRelations/bacorigins/BacOrg98.pdf[/url]”>http://server1.fandm.edu/departments/CollegeRelations/bacorigins/BacOrg98.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Though this particular study period ended in 1995, its scope was so large it still seems quite valid.</p>

<p>For what it’s worth, F&M was No. 22 in Ph.D origins for all disciplines grouped together. Oberlin was No. 1 overall. (johnwesley: Wesleyan was No. 7 overall in the 75-year study and No. 5 in the 10-year study. In economics, Wes was No. 5. Very good showing.)</p>

13

<p>For the OP, F&M sounds like the ideal safety. You should get in, the school’s academic focus is great for a SocSciMan, and I understand that their grads have terrific acceptance rates at grad schools.</p>

14

<p>My brother goes to F&M, it’s a nifty little place. You will get in with your numbers and as was stated they do place well into grad schools. The workload however is pretty rough I’ve heard, but he manages. They also like to have good time on weekends and all the students are really close knit. If you have any further questions feel free to PM me.</p>