I went to Wesleyan and my daughter is at Bates. The only other NESCAC she considered was Wesleyan and I think there are lots of kids at Bates who also considered Wes. There’s not a whole lot of overlap between Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby other than geography. Although I don’t think either Wes or Bates are full of quirky kids. I think they are sporty but not preppy.
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Not NESCAC, but she might like Skidmore.
I think it’s worth applying quite widely for LACs, even to schools that might not seem like perfect fits the summer before senior year. Kids’ perception of ‘fit’ can change a lot between September & May & admissions results can be inconsistent (even for the same candidate with seemingly similar schools). My S25 applied to 7 NESCAC schools; he was waitlisted by a couple that he had thought were great fits and accepted by some that he initially didn’t think were right for him; he was glad to have applied widely, and he got to use accepted student days to reassess fit. Because many of the NESCACs don’t have supplemental essays & waive application fees if you apply for financial aid, he didn’t feel overwhelmed by so many applications.
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That may well be, though I would say Smith’s strength in crew is fairly recent (we know the head coach who helped create it) and Wellesley has won multiple national titles in the sport. I know they (Wellesley) have good programs in other sports too. It’s a competitive place.
I think there is a big drop off after Smith and Wellesley though. And all of them are going to be less sporty than the least sporty NESCAC IMHO, especially insofar as one is measuring how sports can affect campus culture. Once you eliminate the men’s helmet sports you have eliminated A LOT of sporty vibe.
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I agree with this. When we engage in these discussions it often leads to an impression that exaggerates the points more than I think we intend to do. Quoting @circuitrider , these schools have more big things in common than they do differences.
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Don’t leave me hangin’ … 
Lol, apologies. I was making my points in an inarticulate manner, so wanted to come back to it.
I agree with this, although both these schools have an environmental studies major, not env science (might matter for some students, might not matter for others.) Bowdoin also has an Earth and Oceanographic science major and the spectacular Schiller Coastal Studies Center. I would say both Hamilton and Bowdoin offerings/resources/opportunities are superior to Oberlin’s Env Sciences. Not sure about Smith’s Env Sci. Vassar’s Env Studies is top notch too.
The other point I wanted to make is that even though there are differences among the NESCACs (and my rankings would be very similar to circuitrider’s above), by and large I feel that many different types of students can find their people at all of them, like some posters have pointed out. I know my D who went to Bowdoin feels that way, and we’ve talked about it a lot (sometimes with her friends too.)
The same is not true of what I would call ‘fit’ schools…schools where it is not the case that many different types of students will find their people and/or feel a ‘fit’. Schools in that group (IMO of course to all of this) are Oberlin, Reed, women’s colleges (men’s colleges too, but there aren’t many of those.) Macalester may have moved into this group as well (again, IMO.) That’s why I always tell people they have to do in-person visits to the ‘fit’ schools. Of course it’s ideal to visit any school on the list, but that’s just not possible for so many students.
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Thank you all for the thoughtful and informative responses! I’ll definitely be adding in a few more of these for her to explore. I appreciate people chiming in that she’ll find her tribe at most any of these schools- which is probably pretty accurate, since we’re in Kentucky and any of these are going to feel more diverse, liberal & accepting than her current HS. I know how I felt when I landed at a SLAC (Beloit, back in the early 90s) and it was such a relief to finally be around intellectual kids who ‘got me’ & I just want that same sense of belonging for her. I appreciate all the insights!
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I couldn’t agree more. My artsy, progressive daughter found her tribe at Williams–the art and music departments are stellar. IIRC, there were 30+ art majors in this year’s senior class. At Williams, the art department encompasses studio and art history. Environmental Studies is a popular major, but I don’t know how it compares to other NESCACs. FWIW, she loved Vassar, but never clicked with Wes, which surprised me.
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Not disagreeing with you .just asking for clarification. I think of Oberlin’s Environmental Studies and Sciences program as one of the gold standard programs in the country, especially for Environmental Studies. Were you referring to the sciences in particular? Or to $$ factors?
I was talking about Env Science and Env Studies. But I respect that someone could see Oberlin’s offerings in those areas as a gold standard.
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With respect to environmental studies, this site includes NESCACs such as Middlebury, Hamilton, Bates and Bowdoin:
As a comment on a conspicuous omission, where is Colby, which offers excellent environmental studies programs?
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Guessing without CDS, they don’t have the info to fit into their model. Colby has 3 different environmental majors and some incredible resources (like their own islands). Iirc, these are quite popular and well-regarded majors.
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For those who want to see how the LACs stack up in this comprehensive ranking that includes behemoth research R1s and who don’t want to muddle through Collegefactual’s rankings with cumbersomely large school logos and advertisements:
#11 Middlebury College
#13 Colorado College
#14 Pomona College
#20 Hamilton College
#21 Bates College
#22 Bowdoin College
#24 Wellesley College
#25 Wesleyan University
#26 Davidson College
#27 Scripps College
#28 Pitzer College
#30 Dickinson College
#32 Willamette University
#33 Colgate University (a colleague’s daughter majored in environmental science here and now works in a PE firm in the Bay Area)
#37 Barnard College
#44 Hobart & William Smith
#45 Juniata College
#48 St. Mary’s College of Maryland
11, 20, 21, 22 and 25 for the NESCACs. Not bad when you consider the players in this ranking that includes schools like Cal, UCLA, Wisconsin, UW, Northwestern, Duke, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, UVa and others.
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Thanks, this is super helpful!
Why omit W&L?
Where does W&L appear in the College Transitions site?
sorry, did I miss them? I didn’t think I saw W&L in the ranking but it’s entirely possible I missed it. it’s a cumbersome site with lots of adds, etc.
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I’m not Googling; if someone provides a link, I will look. If they are not on the list, forgive me, but that calls the list’s relevance/usefulness into question.
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The site appears a few posts up-topic: NESCAC Spoken Here: - #1528 by merc81.
Thank you. Couldn’t read without an account, which I am unwilling to create.
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