How much weight should I give student body stereotypes at LACs?

College Search & Lists
1

<p>As a rising senior immersed in college research, I’m trying to figure out how much I should base my decision off of what I’ve heard about the student bodies of my top schools.</p>

<p>For example, some of my favorite current options: </p>

<p>Vassar: Stereotype - rich, white, liberal hippies/hipsters, don’t care about sports, smart/artsy, large proportion of LGBT. (Current 1st choice) </p>

<p>Colby: Stereotype - wealthy, athletic, preppy New Englanders. Smart/friendly jocks. Everyone is a toned athlete. </p>

<p>Swarthmore: Stereotype - socially awkward workaholics. Everyone is a hideous, geeky, genius. Sports are unpopular and free time is nonexistent. (similar to Reed) </p>

<p>I intentionally blew up some of these stereotypes, but I didn’t really need to. It’s frustrating for me to hear that everyone at a certain school is butt ugly or an olympian. The stereotypes are rampant on every college site/book I find. </p>

<p>Should the stereotypes I hear about these student bodies factor into my decision? I don’t fit any social archetype and am very much in between, and social extremism is not attractive to me. </p>

<p>I’m what you might call mainstream, in that I don’t strictly dress or act in the mold of a certain social group. I’m a liberal guy, and I get along best with an artsier crowd but also hang out with a lot of preppier, sporty people. I play sports, and want to have a good intramural environment where a good amount of people participate, but don’t want athletics to dominate the scene. </p>

<p>So, basically, should I factor in these stereotypes, or does every small liberal arts college basically have a similar mix of people?</p>

2

<p>See for yourself. Can you do visits and overnight stays?</p>

3

<p>I looked at a number of LACs with my D and we felt that many did have distinct “personalities” that were often true to their stereotype (ex. artsy, preppy etc.). I agree that the best thing to do is visit the schools you are most interested in and see how they strike you.</p>

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<p>Sounds like you’ll fit in well at any of the schools you mentioned. As for the larger question, well, yeah, the stereotypes are pretty true–LACs are small enough that particular groups can strongly affect the “tone” of the student body–but also be aware that those stereotypes are only about the predominant student profile and that each of those schools has plenty of students who don’t fit the stereotype at all. I’d also advise you to look past the stereotypes–even many of the students who seem to be cookie-cutter matches probably diverge in some important ways. There’s more beneath the surface…</p>

5

<p>Small LACs do have distinct personalities, but they are broader and more forgiving than stereotypes which tend to be negative and exclusive. When you visit, something either clicks or it doesn’t, though sometimes colleges that seem quite different on paper can appeal equally. There is a fair amount of overlap.</p>

<p>My son who was both artsy and physically active outdoorsy found what he was looking for at Williams which offers a simultaneously arts and sports focused environment. He also liked Hamilton and Wesleyan for the same reasons.</p>

6

<p>(yes, agreed–I played rugby and ran varsity track at Williams while getting my English Lit degree mainly in poetry)</p>

7

<p>“socially awkward workaholics” ← Aw, nice going, OP. Made me snort my coffee.</p>

<p>Trawl (not ■■■■■) all the internet venues, OP, like Youtube, Flickr, Facebook, the college newspaper, and its forums. The information is all there. As for those stereotypes, I find they are usually quite external presentations. I mean, how many of your college colleagues were really as one-dimensional as the “archetypes” would have dictated?</p>