UIUC is of out of my son’s list now. He also was accepted to Macalester, Colgate, and Washington and Lee. It is really hard to find out which school is best fit for him. I believe the other 3 schools have Japanese major so he can do double major in Physics and Japanese. Is it easy to do double major in these 3 schools.
For Washington and Lee, it has the best ranking but its confederacy influence really bothers him. Only 3% of Asian students makes me concerned about this school prefers white students over others.
Colgate gives the best aid award, $57,000 but no scholarship, does it matter? Could Colgate’s education quality compete with Grinnell or W&L?
Colgate seems doesn’t have year long study abroad in Japan.
Ucbalumnus makes a very good point (above) that makes Grinnell different from most other LACs. There are no general ed requirements (only a freshman seminar). The only additional requirement to graduate is fulfilling the major(s) requirement. Having a double major is much more doable at Grinnell than other LACs.
Did Colgate give you a grant? Becuase “grant” and “scholarship” are basically synonymous.
If Colgate “gave you” loans, then it’s not really a gift!
First, is your son quite conservative and does he enjoy to wear a suit and tie? Or is he quite liberal and does he enjoy to wear cut offs and very casual clothing?
If the former, then W&Lee, if the latter, then Macalester.
Both are truly excellent.
As for Colgate, yes it totally holds it own compared to the other two academically, but if there’s no year-long Japanese program it may be a problem.
Finally, Grinnell is in a class above the others, but not by much - all are excellent LACs.
Colgate gives $57,000 grant, not loan, and it $10,000+ more that Grinnell and W&L. Right now, W&L has the best reputation and faculties (physics major) based on student review on the internet. Grinnell has many Sexual Assault on campus in the past which worries me. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/03/grinnell-sexual-assault_n_6780632.html
Then it’s Colgate. In terms of academic reputation or academic rigor, there’s no difference between all of them. The only difference is vibe, atmosphere.
Does your son like to wear a suit and a tie? Does he like to wear flip flops and cut offs? Does he want Greek Life or a rather low-key, no-hard-drinking social scene? Is he politically aware, politically involved - and if so, which parties/y does he support?
Those are the BIG differences between those colleges, NOT academic rigor.
(wrt Grinnell: I’d assume the culture there encourages reporting. It’s the last place I can imagine rape culture thrives.
In addition, 85 universities are currently under investigation for the way they respond to sexual assault, and Grinnell is not one of them.) Nor are W&L, Macalester, or Colgate.
If he’s not politically involved or leaning, I’d remove W&L (very conservative) and Macalester (very liberal).
If he wants to keep them in play, keep in mind the Brooks Brothers dress code at W&L, and the cold at Macalester.
That leaves Grinnell and Colgate.
Yes, Grinnell is within driving distance, 4 hrs according to Google Map but I will say about 5 hrs because of the highway construction. Colgate will cover some of the travel cost but I don’t know how much yet.
Your son should like one or the other - they have similar academics and locations (rural, rigorous, with a nudge for science at Grinnell and economics at Colgate), but their “vibes” are very different; - Grinnell is laid-back, “Quaker-ish”, perhaps a bit nerdy, whereas Colgate is preprofessional, competitive, "work hard/play hard " (ie., students drink a lot on weekends).