@citymama9 Ummm Colby and Hamilton are both extremely nice. If you have been to Bucknell you will find a similar feel. Hamilton is a very pretty campus and the facilities are extremely nice. If you visit Colgate and Hamilton the same day, Colgate will stick in your mind because the campus is exceptionally beautiful and it has a big personality.
We have a bracket of schools that are generally equal in terms of admissions difficulty, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Colgate, Hamilton, Wesleyan and Middlebury. You can argue that Middlebury and Bowdoin are more difficult but data from our high school shows kids getting in some but not in others without a very pronounced pattern.
Colby and Hamilton were wonderful but location so far goes to Bates and Bowdoin due to their proximity to the ocean and Portland. We are from the Jersey Shore and not having proximity to the ocean is an issue. The other thing is that Colby and Hamilton seemed rather narrow in terms of student type, whereas Bates and Bowdoin had a very urban cross section of students. Jocks to edgey types.
University of New Hampshire was a real treat. We only stopped because it was on the way home but it was very nice.
Food is very important to this kid and Bates and Bowdoin won hands down.
Your son’s preferences seem to track my own daughter’s (HS 2015, now graduating). We wound up visiting 25 some schools I believe! In the end she had only a handful of schools on her short list and she adored Bates and Bowdoin. The campus vibe at both schools truly won her over (beyond the beauty, academics, and yes the food). Eventually for her the mountains were more of a draw than the ocean so she went that route.
Connecticut College was another one on the water that we visited- D wasn’t interested in applying but it was worth looking at since not quite as selective as the other NESCAS. We were both impressed but it definitely was not outdoorsy enough for my kid. It is probably on your list anyway but thought I would mention it since it is on the water as well.
OP, if you are willing to look southward, try St. Mary’s College of MD. Public honors LAC, on the water, and students can check out boats to sail!
Will also agree that your S has a nicely diversified list. DH did a spring break trip to schools with each of our kids, and then we did other visits while on vacations, and more local visits with me. Our limit was two schools a day.
The parent would do the official admissions section, where most of the time it was simply info that’s already on their websites, and my kids would go wander the halls, sit in on a class, etc. We tried to do the student-led tours together. Both took notes and pictures. S1 talked to friends who were already at some of those colleges and they sent some nice and realistic assessments of their schools and specific majors. Pick up a campus newspaper if any schools are still doing the dead tree version – you can find out interesting info! One school bragged about their financial stability in the admissions session (this was 2009-2010), but the campus paper was citing cutbacks to staff and services due to significant drops in the endowment. It can also be a good source for campus crime issues, seeing what’s really available in terms of guest speakers, activities, etc.
Also check out Ursinus (it is a “College That Changes Lives”) if you like Lafayette, Muhlenberg, Lehigh, Bucknell, Gettysburg, TCNJ and Dickinson. My daughter (who ended up at TCNJ) had many of the same colleges on her list.
@bopper - Ursinus, really? Lived here 17 years and didn’t know this at all. Something to check out.