It would be interesting to do a comparative sell-out rate among he NESCACs. Wesleyan publishes a similar “slice” approach to Amherst’s with 26% of the Class of 2023 going into Finance/Consulting and an additional 11% going into Tech/Engineering/Sciences for a total sell out score of 37%, 
(almost forgot the wink emoji!)
1 Like
To borrow a phrase from my father, this train doesn’t run on love. Each of these schools needs to send a % of their class into these professions to keep meaningful donations coming in.
5 Likes
This brings to mind “Excellent Sheep”. It’s not simply about making money or selling out, it’s also about highly competitive kids seeking out highly selective opportunities and feeling validated by "winning " them.
6 Likes
Lol, sounds like me. I worked at a well known plaintiff’s side firm for class actions/shareholders’ derivative suits in Delaware summer of first year. They gave me a return offer on graduation. I summered my second year at a Big Law firm in NYC, and also got a return offer. My political bent in those days was “anti The Man”, but the NYC firm paid much more and was in NYC, so I thought to myself, what better way to defeat the enemy than by infiltrating one of their institutions. 8 years later (and paying over 50% marginal tax including state and local), I found myself a partner at that firm and morphing into an “establishment” small government Independent.
7 Likes
Here is the latest on the report of the ACSR at Williams:
2 Likes
Fun article in People Magazine about Hamilton twin sisters::
7 Likes
Booo!
1 Like
Though technically involving only a portion of the NESCAC, in case anyone’s interested I wanted to get some pub out for the KNAC Northeast Astronomy Consortium, which is a structured and NSF funded REU for astronomy / astrophysics students. The cool thing about it is that the successful applicants are matched to schools other than the school at which the student attends. It’s a nice chance to meet other people, spend a couple of months on another campus and do some interesting research and present it in the fall at an all-consortium symposium. It’s a super cool experience. Some kids even travel to places like New Mexico with their research cohort and get time on “the big” telescopes.
Of the NESCACs, only Wes, Williams and Middlebury are members (Vassar, an honorary NESCAC in my book, is also a member). It’d be great to expand this successful program with other NESCAC-member schools. Hamilton and Bowdoin seem like natural fits.
6 Likes
Bowdoin moved it’s observatory last June and is starting to rebuild it’s astromony program.
5 Likes
I didn’t realize Bowdoin had let their Astro department wither. For whatever reason, I thought/assumed they had a strong department. Hopefully this shot in the arm does the trick. They have the physics piece in place, which is an essential component to having a strong Astro department.
You’re possibly getting Astronomy mixed up with its Polar Studies department. Right specialty, wrong planet.
1 Like
While we’re on NESCAC observatories, here are images of the NESCACs I could find. Could not find one for Tufts or Trinity. And for some, it was a real challenge to find a good picture. You’ll be able to tell which.
Middlebury, which is quite impressive:
Hamilton:
Williams:
Amherst:
Colby:
Bates:
Conn, which is also pretty impressive:
Bowdoin:
Wesleyan:
Wes’ Van Vleck also serves as a real astronomy museum. Astro buffs visit it on pilgrimage to see, amongst other things, its 20 inch refracting telescope, which has its own lore and is one of the largest of its kind in the country still in use, though retired from research. Wes paid over $100,000 for two experts from Swarthmore, PA to restore it about 10 years ago.
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/files/2015/10/astro-mag.pdf
There are all kinds of cool old things in its library and collections. If you happen to be around and like astronomy, VVO is a worthwhile stop. It’s always a hub of activity and draws people from all over.
PS: I think I set my personal record for typos in this post. I’ve had to edit it five or more times. 
7 Likes
I’m always struck by the similarities between the Williams and Haverford observatories.
Haverford:
The stone is typical of Haverford and the surrounding area but I can’t think of another building at Williams that uses light stone.
1 Like
Agreed. I was struck by the observatory at Haverford on our tour (as I was with the rest of the campus). I also think that combination of materials would fit in well on the Hamilton campus, as there are many buildings it would reflect. I’ve always been partial to the old observatory buildings on college campuses and by the history of astronomy itself in higher ed.
Vassar also has a beauty, albeit using different materials than those used at Williams and Haverford:
Alas, I don’t think Vassar operates this building as an observatory now and has repurposed it for other uses.
2 Likes
Observatories are the best. I always like the double ones like at Wesleyan–they say “serious business” to me. Carleton has a nice one of those too:
They also did this with it:
11 Likes
Williams’ program was built into one of the more popular majors under Jay Pasachoff, he will be missed but leaves a tremendous legacy.
3 Likes
“There was one moment where the moon was completely covering the sun, and we were all frantically taking these images,” Tosolini said. “But after a minute had passed, Jay looked at all of us and said, ‘Everyone, put your cameras down. Let’s just look and appreciate this moment.’”
What a great sort of thing to be remembered for!
7 Likes
That is correct - the original observatory in the middle of campus (a national historic monument, I believe?) is repurposed, and their serious astronomy is set way up a hill and more distant from campus light pollution - as pictured. Nothing beautiful about this set-up, but it is very practical and effective.
3 Likes
Determined to keep this thread going. So, for the sports fans, I’ll start with NCAA Crew results:
On the (more exciting) women’s side, Tufts wins their first national title while Wesleyan, still looking for its first crown, comes in as the runner up for the second year in a row (pardon the pun). Williams, seemingly back in form, places third overall. It was a 1, 2, 3, 4 finish for the NESAC, with Trinity coming in 4th place. Well done, ladies. Well done all.
On the men’s side, Wesleyan won its first national title at the D3 IRAs, edging out Williams in a fierce battle over the final 500 meters.
This one featured another NESCAC super sweep, with the order being Wes, Williams, Tufts, Trinity and Bates going 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
7 Likes