NESCAC Spoken Here:

[MWolf]

Yes, and to provide the numbers:

In William’s class of 2029, ED acceptance rate was 26.6%. It’s RD acceptance rate was 7.3%. Their target class size was 560, and they accepted 257 of these ED, so they accepted what they anticipated would be 46% of their incoming class ED.

Middlebury’s target class for 2029/2029.5 is 755 students and they accepted 519 ED1 and ED2, though this includes 30 Posse Scholars, an unknown number of QB students and College Track students. So at least 67% of the incoming class who are not being admitted through the various programs programs come from ED1 and ED2 applications.

@Pnwfamily

Williams will also tell you that your chances of getting in are the same whether you apply ED or RD.

That is not accurate. Even after taking into consideration athletes and such, admission rates for non-hooked individuals during ED are still around >2X the RD acceptance rates.

Many colleges make this same claim, but none have ever released data that would support this claim. I believe that it’s to make sure that the ED applicants are at least mostly kids only ED to their top choice, rather than apply to that college ED because it’s the college with the lowest acceptance rate on their college list.

[circuitrider]

I think in many ways these schools are like high-flying stocks. You may want to “buy on the dip”, especially when we’re talking about such small values:

Middlebury Acceptance Rate at 13.9%

I shared mostly as new information for others to consider. Nonetheless, from reading the article, it appears that members of the Middlebury community believe that its admission results for this year, along with its slip in U.S. News, suggest a softening of its general appeal. On this, I’d say wait and see. Middlebury could be ranked 12th this coming season (for a prediction, see Middlebury Ranking - #9 by merc81), for example, or its decline in applications may simply reflect greater trends that have yet to become widely apparent. Middlebury’s current financial turbulence appears to represent a greater concern, however.

[cquin85]

Four NESCACs - Tufts, Middlebury, Colby and Wesleyan - competing for a spot in the final four in women’s lacrosse.

Wesleyan fell to Colby today but the other three advanced. Still, four teams from one conference in the Elite 8 and 3 of the Final Four ain’t too shabby.

Four NESCAC Teams Play for a Spot on the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Final Four Sunday

[arcadia]

Unfortunately Middlebury won’t get the chance to avenge their earlier loss to Wesleyan, which broke a 67-game winning streak. I’m rooting for a NESCAC final.

[31fan]

The NCAA DIII Track and Field Championships are this week, and here are the qualifying participants from the NESCAC:

Amherst: Parker Boyle (800), Gavin Schmidt (discus), Piper Lentz (800), Hannah Stephenson (5000), Flora Biro (10k), Myeh Medina (400H), Emma Ramsingh (discus)

Bowdoin: Oliver Brandes (800), Adepoju Arogundade (400), Ian Stebbins (pole vault), Kennedy Kirkland (LJ), Marcy Novak (javelin)

Colby: Levi Biery (400H), 4x4 relay, Simone Waheed (100), Fiona Mejico (400H), women’s 4x100 and 4x400

Conn: Matt Scardigno (5000), Blessing Kieh (100), Alex Estes (800), Grace McDonough (1500 and 5000), Kiera Tallas (steeplechase)

Hamilton: Keira Rogan (steeplechase)

Midd: Alex Swann (400H), Dave Filias (hammer), Audrey Maclean (steeplechase and 5000), Emily Rubio (HJ), Zoe Wang (PV)

Tufts: Amokrane Aouchiche (10k), Josh Wilkie (400H), Sahr Matturi (long jump), Makayla Moriarty (400), Arielle Chechile (400H), Harper Meek (HJ), Elyse Cumberland (LJ and TJ), Jordan Andrew (LJ and TJ), Jackie Wells (javelin)

Williams: Zachary Liu-Walter (800), Vincent VanMaaren (PV), William Murray (LJ), Oak Sullivan (decathlon), Rachel Arthur (100), Bella King-Harvey (400), Anna Paluska (800), Charlene Peng (steeplechase), 4x100 and 4x400 relays, Amelie Jamanka (HJ), Ellie Fitzgerald (PV), Jae Yu (PV), Livi Mazerolle (heptathlon)

[sfSTEM]

Some quick-n-dirty handicapping on the women’s side for the NCAA Championship.

3000 steeplechase: Audrey Maclean (SO Middlebury) is the class of D3. She finished 6th at NCAAs last year as a freshman. She’s got the top ranked time in the country this year. In a surprising surge, freshman Keira Rogan (FR Hamilton) has the #3 ranked time in D3 this year. NESCAC may get two on the podium.

1500: Grace McDonough (JR Connecticut College) finished 3rd in the NCAA Indoor Champion mile, and has the #3 ranked 1500 this outdoor season. Grace has been on a tear, definitely podium potential.

5000: Three strong runners for this event. Once again, Grace McDonough leads the conference, she’s the 4th ranked entrant for the 5000. She’ll be pulling double duty with her 1500 racing. In a bit of a surprise, Hannah Stephenson (FR Amherst) is 7th ranked for NCAA entrants. She came on strong in XC, and has really advanced her fitness through outdoor. Finally, we see Audrey Maclean again for the 5000. There are two races for the 3000 steeple (prelim, final). We’ll see what she has left in the tank for the 5000.

800: A couple of stellar performances this past week vaulted two athletes into the national conversation: Annika Paluska (FR Williams) and Piper Lentz (JR Amherst). Both got huge PRs, and are ranked 10th and 13th nationally. Annika is the only freshman in the 800. Alexa Estes (JR Conn College) is there as well, ranked 15th.

10,000: One NESCAC entrant, Flora Biro (FR Amherst). She is the only freshman to make the field. She’s 13th ranked among entrants for the race.

[cquin85]

I’m going to make a statement here with no basis in research or counting, and it’s not a complaint in any way, shape or form.

Notwithstanding that each NESCAC school is pretty good and competitive in various sports, and tippy top in one or two, I’ve had the general impression that Tufts and, to a slightly lesser extent, Middlebury, have started to pull away as the overall elite D3 sports leaders in our conference. Williams used to be the undisputed leader in this category, but w/o even looking I think it’s safe to say they no longer occupy that role. The school I follow most closely, Wesleyan, has made great strides, winning a national title in men’s lacrosse, women’s tennis and men’s crew in the the last several years, and they seem to be “in the mix” with the top end teams in the conference (and often the nation) in many other sports. And they won the NESCAC football title this year and have really pulled more than their share of Little 3 titles over the last, say, 5 to 10 years. But in terms of teams that are like #1 in the country or going to NCAAs and winning it all, it seems like Tufts and Middlebury are on another level right now.

Do others share this perception? Or am I overreacting with recency bias from the last couple of seasons (or even spring vs. winter or fall).

[UltimaCroix]

I think your perception is accurate.

Tufts is a university “masquerading” (sorta kidding) as a LAC. With an undergrad population of almost 7,000 students, and 6,000 graduate students (some of which are on varsity), it is well poised to excel in sports compared to other NESCACs.

We’ve seen many instances of Williams not recruiting high level athletes because its academic standards are so high. Athletics is not the same priority there as it once was. Its academic bar is frequently higher than the Ivies for recruited athletes.

[31fan]

If you look at NESCAC championships this year, Williams and Midd lead with 5, Trinity, Tufts, and Amherst have 3, and Bowdoin, Wes, Conn, and Hamilton each have one.

[31fan]

Oh, sorry, if you add Baseball and softball, Midd and Tufts each get one more. And add rowing, give one more to Trinity and Tufts.

[Collegequestions5]

I don’t follow NESCAC sports closely enough to have an opinion on this topic, but I will note that the Wesleyan women’s ultimate frisbee team won the national championship today. So add that to the list!

[cquin85]

@31fan

If you look at NESCAC championships this year, Williams and Midd lead with 5, Trinity, Tufts, and Amherst have 3, and Bowdoin, Wes, Conn, and Hamilton each have one.

@31fan

Oh, sorry, if you add Baseball and softball, Midd and Tufts each get one more. And add rowing, give one more to Trinity and Tufts.

Yeah, I may be overly focused on sports in which I have a lot of interest and I think there is also some recency bias in my reaction as well as a bias for national championship runs. There, I feel like I see Tufts and Middlebury making the most noise the last few years. But again, I acknowledge my biases.

ETA: looking at the scorecard, yes, Williams in men’s and women’s swimming/diving, men’s and women’s cross country and women’s track & field. There is my sports bias showing through (though I have a deep background in track & field). For those who might be interested (we’re talking NESCAC titles here, not national titles):

Past Champions - 2024-25

[arcadia]

If you go back and look through the Leerfield Directors’ Cup standings for the past few years, Williams still dominates DIII, with Tufts and Middlebury regularly in the top 10. Hopkins, NYU, MIT, and Wash U., which are larger DIII schools, have also regularly finished near the top.

According to this year’s standings (which aren’t yet final because the spring season isn’t finished), Middlebury leads the NESCAC in 7th place, followed closely by Williams in 8th, Amherst in 9th, and Tufts in 10th.

At the end of last year, Williams finished in 2nd place, followed by Tufts (4), Middlebury (6), Bowdoin (25), Amherst (27), Wesleyan (42), Trinity (45), Bates (48), Colby (55), Conn College (106), and Hamilton (117).

For 2022-2023, Tufts was second, Williams 3rd, and Middlebury 8th.

For 2021-2022, Tufts finished first in D3, with Midd 3rd and Williams 6th.

So Williams is still a sports powerhouse, as are Amherst, Tufts, and Middlebury.

Learfield Directors' Cup Previous Standings

[cquin85]

Maybe it’s the type of sport in which Williams dominates that’s changing. Clearly swimming and x-country are strengths. Women’s soccer and crew were sports on which they maintained a stranglehold for years but that is no longer the case.

[sarahbrown24]

As a Bates parent, I was surprised to see that tuition went up 5.34% for the next academic year - housing/food as well. Tuition is $70,146 and housing/food $19,784.

In contrast, the increase from 2023 to 2024 was 4.9%, the biggest increase since 2009, which was covered by the news media.

I would love some context for another record increase.

What are increases for other NESCACs?

[circuitrider]

According to this survey, Bates is not the most expensive NESCAC. Of the thirty most expensive colleges in the country, five of them are NESCACs:
30 Most Expensive Colleges In 2025

[sarahbrown24]

This list is misleading - not all schools have released tuition for 2025-2026 academic year.

Bowdoin still lists the 2024-2025 year, for example

[circuitrider]

The point is that Bates presently is not alone in having a sticker price of $70K for tuition. Your point is that it will be even less likely this time next year.

[sfSTEM]

Williams comes in at $72k for the upcoming year. They’re not on that list.

[Mom24boys]

Bowdoin is increasing cost 5.8% and increasing financial aid budget 8.2%
The Bowdoin College Board of Trustees recently approved the following tuition and fees for the

2025–2026 academic year:

Tuition:-------------------$71,070

Room: (housing)--------$9,678

Board (food):-------------$9,882

Student activities fee:----$670

TOTAL-------------------$91,300