Wesleyan vs Lewis and Clark vs Pitzer

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Hey,
I am having an impossible time deciding between LACs because of how picky I am.
Im looking for a small liberal arts college that is:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>at least a bit intellectual (but not to the point where there is an unhealthy, clausterophobic bubble…)</p></li>
<li><p>is strong academically, but not tooo rigorous :that there be time enough to explore life outside of academics- I think that undergrad is the time for exploration, experimentation and discovery!</p>

<ul>
<li>ability to have a life off-campus. Having a fairly strong independent streak, its really important to me that no matter how many activities the campus always offers and no matter how much I love the school, that I be able to expand my social circle to off campus (like other colleges or city people) or have a job/ internship during the school year</li>
</ul></li>
<li><p>has an interesting and diverse student body (ethnically and socioeconomically), preferrably active, nott apathetic- even better if theyre rebellious, entrepreneurs and people who question (note: not the same as group thinking on protests or complaining about politics or republicans in a group…)</p></li>
<li><p>either have an outdoors club so as to make nature/adventure trips or have enough kids that are outdoorsy/adventure</p></li>
</ul>

<hr>

<p>My dilemma is that, from my conclusion:</p>

<p>Wesleyan- has a great student body and known to have strong academics (the amount of famous/ successful alumni must be proof!), but classes are by DEFAULT rigorous, and students dont have time for much else. Also, there are not any other colleges in the vicinity to interact with and Middletown doesnt offer much in terms of jobs/internships.</p>

<p>Lewis and Clark- has most things I am looking for. Portland is a perfect city, known to attract creative entrepreneurs, offer many outdoors escapades as well as aspects of any other city such as social and jobs. However, I dont feel comfortable with knowing that its academics are not held in esteem -I want to know that I am working hard for something that is recognized outside of Portland, or simply know that the academics are at a high standard. The second thing I see it lacking is an intellectual edge (something that is OVERpresent at say, Reed).</p>

<p>Pitzer- Has pretty much everything I am looking for and would sound perfect, except for - similar concern as with Lewis and Clark- that the academics are not great…Pomona is supposed to be on a much higher level than Pitzer, but it isnt as diverse and the student body is more relaxed and apathetic which I dont like (as well as apparently they dont have much time for else than academics…).</p>

<pre><code> Please help!!
</code></pre>

<p>p.s. others I am applying to are: Brown University, Sarah Lawrence college, MAYBE Williams college (how does it compare to Wesleyan?) and University of King’s college in Halifax-Nova Scotia</p>

2

<p>Is there a reason you have to decide now? Why not wait and see how your admissions cycle goes? Perhaps then you could visit the places you were accepted.</p>

3

<p>I think you have a good take on the schools but at least with Pitzer you can take classes at other schools. At Lewis and Clark, it’s not like you can swing over to Reed. </p>

<p>Middletown, CT isn’t much, but you may find that so much is going on (on campus) that the thought of making substantial friendships in the community at large is merely wishful thinking.</p>

4

<p>As a Wes kid, I’m going to respond to some of your thoughts/concerns about Wes, not because I necessarily think you should pick Wes over the others, but just to give you a student’s perspective: </p>

<p>I you really care about the ability to LIVE off campus, Wes is not the place for you, since it is nearly impossible to get off campus housing. However, the junior apartments and senior houses to provide some independence. </p>

<p>Middletown won’t be great for internships and such, at all. But you can get a job in town, and there are a LOT volunteer opportunities in town, depending on what you want to do. If you have a car, it would also be possible to intern in Hartford or New Haven a couple days a week, if you organized your schedule right.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>While classes are rigorous, the latter half of that statement is just not true – I don’t know anyone here who doesn’t have at least one EC they are very passionate about, and most have four or five or ten! Not to mention hanging out with friends. Unless your stats are far enough under Wes’s average that you are afraid you won’t be able to handle the workload (which, seeing the other schools you are applying to, I assume they aren’t), there is no reason you wouldn’t be able to do classes and many other things at the same time. </p>

<p>On the other hand, if you’re concerned about rigorous academics and not being in a city, I don’t know why you’d apply to Williams – it is at least a rigorous as Wes, and far more isolated.</p>

5

<p>Santi White aka Santigold [Santigold</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santigold]Santigold”>Santigold - Wikipedia) is said to have commuted from New York City to Middletown every day for four years. Now, that’s dedication! And, there are people who have made a habit of hanging out in New Haven clubs every weekend. But, as Weskid indicated, a car is pretty essential if you’re going to depend on doing that. My sense is that you’re looking for something like Barnard (if you’re a girl) or, Macalester in Minneapolis-St. Paul.</p>

<p>Williams’ idea of a nearby city is Albany, NY and you would still need a car. Other NESCAC colleges present similar obstacles to bursting the LAC bubble; that bubble sort of defines what a LAC is. you might even consider Swarthmore, which has a train station right on campus, but, be careful – Swatties are just as intense as Reedies (jk) and, I’m not sure how someone who left campus every weekend might be viewed by everyone else.</p>

6

<p>I think that you have a conundrum. If you want a school with really strong academics you are going to have work hard. It is that simple. The reason those schools have highly regarded academic programs is because they students have to work hard to gain a superior education. </p>

<p>I have kids who have attended L & C and Oberlin. My Oberlin son has worked harder than my L&C son, and the GPAs are about equivalent. Both have had time for extra activities. I know my Oberlin son also added to his own burden by choosing 3 majors and 2 minors, the L & C son had one major and one minor. </p>

<p>Only you can ultimately decide what is more important to you. If you want to be an academically rigorous environment you will have to work hard. But that doesn’t mean you won’t have time to pursue other activities.</p>

7

<p>^ Agree. You are asking for perhaps impossible: a school that is not too academically demanding but is held in high academic regard. There are no free lunches. </p>

<p>But I also agree that at many/most schools, students find time to explore and engage in many things outside of the classroom.</p>

8

<p>Two to consider: Whitman College and Colorado College.
Both get a much higher US News ranking than L&C (if that means anything to you.)</p>

<p>The way both these schools manage your dilemma is by integrating “exploration, experimentation and discovery” into the curriculum and student life. Check out Whitman’s “Semester in the West” program. Colorado College’s one-course-at-a-time “block plan” allows students abundant opportunities for field work in biology, anthro/archaeology, geology, environmental science, etc. (and the school has a wonderful location for these projects). You can, if you like, plan an internship or even study abroad for 1 or 2 contiguous blocks instead of an entire semester. In addition, you get a 4-day break between blocks every 3.5 weeks, which students exploit for skiing and other Rocky Mountain recreation. Or for work/service trips (such as my S just completed with Habitat for Humanity.) The Outdoor Club is the most popular EC activity on campus. </p>

<p>My S liked Wesleyan and some of the other New England LACs but none completely clicked for him. He had some of the same concerns you have about academic esteem/rigor, but has found Colorado College to be intense and the teaching quality there to be excellent. He came out of a demanding IB program at an old East Coast boarding school.</p>

<p>Real issues: Walla Walla is fairly small and isolated. With Colorado College, you do need to be on board with the Block Plan. With either, you have to be open to the great distances separating major cities in the West (although Colorado College is actually in a mid-sized, rather attractive city, 60-90 mins. from Denver and a few hundred miles from Santa Fe).</p>

9

<p>Wesleyan is definitely academically rigorous, but we also have an open curriculum and some courses can be taken pass/fail, so you have some degree of say in how hard it actually is. almost everybody is involved with stuff outside of class. there’s always so much going on campus because people are really involved with extracurriculars.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t say it’s impossible to get an internship off campus (a premed sophomore across the hall from me has an internship at one of the several local hospitals, for example), but most people would be involved with off-campus activities through community service type things.</p>

10

<p>Have you considered Occidental College? It is closer to the center of Los Angeles than Pitzer. The only draw back to occidental will be if you don’t have a car or refuse to use public transportation to explore the city. I tend to think Occidental fits in more with your wants than does Pitzer. </p>

<p>Academics might be more rigorous, but instead of L&C how about Reed?</p>