That is a good point about being need aware. All of the NESCAC have a wealthy student body, even the need blind ones, although Amherst seems to be a cut above the rest. Some specific numbers are below. Pell % is from the most recent IPEDS. Income figures are inflation adjusted from the Chetty study and are several years old, so they may have changed somewhat today.
In the Chetty study, Bates, Colby, Trinity, and Middlebury composed 4 of the 9 colleges with the highest median parents income in the United States. Trinity had a larger portion of top 1% families than any other college in the United States (26% of kids from top 1%, which is more than portion from bottom 80%). I’m sure this student body wealth and relative lack of economic diversity has some impact on fitting in, although the specific details likely vary from school to school, and from student to student.
Need Aware
Bates – 9% Pell, Median income = $253k, 51% in top 5% income
Trinity – 11% Pell, Median income = $286k, 56% in top 5% income
Colby – 14% Pell, Median income = $263k, 51% in top 5% income
Connecticut – 16% Pell, Median income = $221k, 45% in top 5% income
Partially Need Aware for Domestic
Middlebury* – 17% Pell, Median income = $272k, 53% in top 5% income
Wesleyan** – 18% Pell, Median income = $214k, 45% in top 5% income
*Middlebury is need blind for non-waitlisted and non-international
**Wesleyan says it is need blind for >90% of applicants
Need Blind (for domestic, except for Amherst, which is need blind for all)
Amherst – 30% Pell, Median income = $176k, 41% in top 5% income
Williams – 20% Pell, Median income = $207k, 42% in top 5% income
Hamiliton – 19% Pell, Median income = $233k, 48% in top 5% income
Bowdoin – 16% Pell, Median income = $218k, 46% in top 5% income