<p>My kid applied to Macalester and plans to visit there this month. He also visited Earlham but decided not to apply. </p>
<p>As you probably already know, Mac is a more selective school. It accepts 42% of applicants, compared to 69% at Earlham. Average M+V SAT scores at Earlham are 1340, compared to 1440 at Mac (which is competitive with scores at the most selective small colleges in the country). </p>
<p>Earlham professors earn lower salaries than Mac professors ($61,831 for Earlham vs. $78,783 for Mac, though Earlham presumably is in a lower cost-of-living area). Earlham’s student retention is much lower than Mac’s (82% vs. 93%). You might want to investigate why this many Earlham freshmen apparently fail to graduate from there (which does surprise me, based on good things I’ve heard about the place).</p>
<p>(My source for these figures is: [Top</a> 2000 Ranked Universities for Highest Overall School Score](<a href=“USA University College Directory - U.S. University Directory - State Universities and College Rankings”>http://www.stateuniversity.com/rank/score_rank.html) . Note, there seem to be quite a few factual errors on this site, but the information I’ve cited - other than perhaps the Earlham retention rate - is consistent with what I’d have expected in comparing the 2 schools).</p>
<p>By these objective measures, Macalester would seem to be a “better” school. However, you have to ask yourself, how much do these factors really matter to *you<a href=“or%20more%20importantly,%20to%20your%20daughter.”>/i</a> These are both good colleges that attract good students. They both offer small class sizes and a similar program of instruction. Earlham is a few thousand dollars cheaper. And clearly, if your daughter really loves the place (or hates the thought of Minnesota winters), that counts for a lot. </p>
<p>If it comes down to having no clear preference after your visits, I would think you could safely make your choice based on cost, if the difference is significant. But if that difference is not too great, and you really do like them both about the same after the visits, I would lend some credence to the “objective” factors and go with Macalester.</p>