LAC's by Rhodes scholarship winners

nostalgicwisdom
Thu, 31 Aug 2017 21:25:38 +0000

Several things beyond what has been mentioned above:

1. Looking at a full list of Rhodes Scholars means accounting for more than a century of performance, which means trying to make analogies to the current student body is flawed. Also, many of these schools are much larger than they were before (Pomona in 1925 had 800 students, for instance), so your student representation may be off.

2. Rhodes is just one competitive fellowship. There are others like it such as the Churchill, Gates Cambridge, and Marshall Scholarships which should also be considered if trying to make comparative analysis of performance among LACs. You also have to situate a time frame. For instance, if you look at the last ten years, Pomona leads the LACs in winners receiving Churchill Scholarships (5) and Gates Cambridge Scholarships (6). Williams and Wheaton College MA lead the LACs for winners of the Marshalls Scholarship in the last ten years (3).

3. These competitive fellowships are a reflection of a tiny group of the strongest students at the school- maybe the top 5% or so. They should not be used to judge institutional quality.