Hi - Due to some recent waitlist movement, my student is seeking first-hand impressions of Colgate and the University of Richmond. If you have a current or recently-graduated student at either school, I would love to hear about any of the following:
-Social life dynamics, especially for females freshman year
-Career services and finding a job in the Northeast post-graduation (my daughter sees herself wanting to end up in NYC)
-Overall campus vibe and friendliness
-Level of “chillness” or casualness of the campus (e.g., is there a lot of “dressing up” for class? We’ve heard that this is a possibility at Richmond and would love to hear if there is some validity to this.)
-Any particularities or pros/cons about either school that a prospective student should know about
-If applicable, any impressions or specifics about Jewish life, clubs, and dynamics on campus
-Any barriers to entry for any undergraduate major? My daughter is leaning towards something in the humanities, but business or something business-like is a possibility. I would love to hear of any key “hoops you must jump through” as an example.
Thank you!! If preferred, please feel free to send me a PM. Thanks again.
Visited Richmond with S last year and I was very impressed. Easy drive from airport, smaller campus yet still vibrant, and quite a career orientation. Seems like the perfect place to teeter between the liberal arts and business.
I know a current Richmond rising senior. They are loving their experience. They did the Endeavor program freshman year, studied in Copenhagen, and have an internship with a prestigious company this summer in NYC. He’s male and I don’t know if girls dress up for class.
A friend’s son graduated from Colgate summa cum laude in 2022. He enjoyed his experience, which included studying in Switzerland, but really struggled to find a job after graduation. He started law school in 2024. Colgate’s career services was not helpful (per his mother).
While I don’t have a recent grad from either school, you might ask your d if she prefers NE preppy vs southern preppy, as this could be a consideration. Does she want to be near an airport or in the NE for later potential job opportunities, as you mention. These could also be considerations.
Richmond has become very popular among Northeners - partly because of airport accessibility as you mentioned. Half of the student body is now from the Northeast while only a third is from the South. Yet, I suspect that it still retains much of its Southern culture, dating back to the days when its reputation was that it was the college where Virginia’s “old money” sent their kids. In contrast, Colgate is heavily (two-thirds) Northeasterners. Airport accessibility isn’t too bad - less than an hour to Hancock.
My sister is a Richmond alumni, goes to homecoming every year, her oldest graduated from there (and now lives and works in manhattan). It was funny because my same age daughter went to Clemson, and the photos of what the girls wore were very different, my Jersey girl dressed in bright colors, her daughter dressed like she was going clubbing in NYC (which is how my daughter dresses here at home). They live in the Midwest.
At Richmond, more than 50% of women join sororities, and rush happens in the spring of freshman year. Someone I know did have a daughter for whom rush didn’t work out, and it made for a stressful and disappointing time, although she found other social outlets and had a good experience overall in the end.
At Colgate, the overall percentage of students going Greek is similar, but it doesn’t skew female as much as at Richmond, and rush doesn’t happen until sophomore year.
I expect you’ve looked this up already, but Jewish representation is a little stronger at Colgate, but not drastically. (10-15% vs. 5-9%). Whether that difference is perceptible or not, I couldn’t say.
Colgate has a really nice center for Jewish life and a well-funded program. We spoke for a while with the rabbi when we visited for admitted students’ day.
Richmond always seemed more Northeast influenced than the true old-money, Episcopal, CCV, FFV enclaves like UVA, Hollins, Sweet Briar, W&L, VMI, and Hampden-Sydney. Not sure how many St. Catherines or St. Christopher kids end up at Richmond.
Academically excellent She’s double major - econ and psychology. Advising and professors have been great. She has an internship this summer (after sophomore year which many of her peers in other well regarded schools do not). It’s academically rigorous and students are serious about it They do dress up for class and it’s definitely a preppy vibe.
Do not underestimate the importance of Greek life. They don’t rush til sophomore year but dirty rushing starts early and it is the driver of traditional college party life. Yes, there are plenty of clubs and activities but depending on what social life your student is looking for, keep that in mind.
Colgate is in the middle of nowhere. I would definitely recommend a car starting freshman year. It gives kids a chance to get off campus and get to Starbucks, Target, etc.
My daughter is happy and feels it was a good choice. Now that her sister is at school in a more urban setting, she has said she would have considered that more if doing it over. She was very set on SLACs but said she misjudged the remoteness of it.
I have a son at Colgate - rising senior. We’re also Jewish. Feel free to DM if questions. we are from west coast and he didn’t know a soul when starting. He also really liked Richmond and applied but preferred Colgate (and chose toED).
He’s in a Greek organization (Richmond is also pretty Greek from what we hear). He participated in Hillel and Jewish gatherings (Shabbat, High Holidays). We are not very religious/observant but enough that we were happy to have a community that he could tap into. Colgate has a healthy/warm Jewish community.
So…his take is that he gives it a 10 academically and a 7.5 to 8 socially. That is more to do with his realization that SLACs are..small ecosystems and he sees that as not awesome sometimes. He will also say that almost all his friends rabidly love it and wouldn’t see themselves anywhere else so take that with a grain of salt. The school has a very east coast presence with a large portion of the kids ending up in NYC and then Boston, DC, etc. The alumni base is very loyal and helpful. That also means he has had to hustle by being proactive and creating contacts and opportunities for himself.
Freshman year my best advice is “say yes to anything that looks interesting” and be a joiner. All freshman are in it together and joining clubs and sports will help build a community (I even heard that kids join the volunteer fire department and love it). Two good choices 1 good luck!
My daughter will be a junior at Colgate. Her two final choices were Colgate and Richmond. We really liked both. I think she felt more comfortable with the Northeast vibe of Colgate. No idea if that was a legitimate reason or not, but she’s very happy at Colgate and can’t see herself anywhere else.
Social life. Freshman year is the toughest year in some ways. The girls that want to be in a sorority can’t really go to the Greek parties. They can’t pledge until sophomore year, so they are mostly hanging out in the dorms. Hamilton is a nice little town, but it’s not like they’ll be going to clubs and concerts. There used to be a freshmen bar, but it got closed down a few years ago. But, she still enjoyed freshman year, and it allowed her to make her friend group before pledging. It probably helped her get acclimated academically also.
Career services. They seem helpful, but mostly in having alums up to meet with the students. As I mentioned, she’s only a rising junior. She got a couple interviews through the school, but got an internship on her own. The Colgate name does have weight in NYC (where she’s interning).
The campus seems pretty chill. My daughter actually likes to dress nicely, but it’s still jeans and sweaters. She has a good group of girl friends. There seems to be the usual nice kids and not as nice kids just like in real life. It is a very Greek school BUT there are plenty of kids not in Greek life and those that are a bit alternative. It is not, however, very diverse.
I can’t speak to pros / cons of Richmond, but we did like it a lot when we toured. Here are a couple Colgate challenges:
The Richmond location would probably be better. I like the town of Hamilton, but there’s nothing around it. It’s really helpful to have a car at Colgate. You can have one as a freshman. My daughter drives up to New Hartford (about 30 minutes… near Utica) sometimes, and they’ve driven up to Syracuse (about an hour) a couple times.
The dorms aren’t great. They aren’t terrible, but many are a bit outdated and almost all are small. Even the super nice ones they recently built are small. Colgate says that’s on purpose to get kids out of their rooms. OK, then charge less. Kids also play games with the lottery to get rooms. People have paid to use a better time slot, for example. BUT, my daughter hasn’t paid anyone and got a nice room sophomore year and is living in her sorority house next year. She’s happy.
We are Jewish, but not very observant. My daughter did go to a couple things at the Chabad house when she started, but hasn’t really gone back. She liked it and actually brought a few of her non-Jewish friends who were welcomed. It’s a pretty non-political and non-religious campus. That could bother people who like to protest things (one any particular side), but she prefers to just be a college student and not argue politics. It doesn’t mean people don’t have opinions, but it doesn’t pervade every activity.
There is no barrier to entry to majors, especially humanities. There will be some occasional stress in getting a preferred class, but I think that’s at any school. The good thing about a small school is that she’s been able to get into every class she’s wanted after adding her name to a wait list and reaching out to the professor. Once, a professor that she had went to his colleague and told her to get her into the class if she had room. She didn’t “cut the line” but the professor told the school she was okay with another student being added.
Econ is the most business-like major, and it’s super popular for that reason. It’s where a lot of kids get recruited to consulting firms and IB. Because of that, there is supposedly a curve on the entry level classes. If you want to be an econ major, a B or two won’t hurt, but if you aren’t really interested, it keeps kids away.