My S (at Bates) and D (attending Bates this fall) looked at a lot of the schools on your list or similar to them. I would agree that Hamilton belongs with Colby. D was not interested in joining a sorority, so that also colored her experience with some schools. I use the term likely instead of safety.
Here are some other LACs to consider. They’re all good schools but I’ll list what they/we saw as their down sides:
St. Lawrence. Overall a nice school. Isolated, a little “lax bro” for their tastes. My sense is that it’s best for kids who really like the outdoors because there’s not much to do in the town. Match/lilkely.
Hobart and William Smith. Also far and lax bro. but remained on their lists, as they have some good internship programs and seems to have a pretty good sense of the direction in which they want to go. In an unattractive small city. Perhaps more of a drinking culture than you’d like but worth checking out as it feels similar to the NESCACs Likely.
Franklin and Marshall. She liked it but was a little concerned about the high participation level in frats/sororities. Match.
Gettysburg. Was recommended by her college counselor and we had a good tour but her reaction was just “meh”. Didn’t like the obvious influence of frats. Likely.
Dickinson. Liked it. Stayed high on both lists. Would be a match.
Conn. College. Also stayed on her list. No football was a turnoff for S but I think you’d find plenty of sports to watch. D would have applied had ED at Bates not come through. Match.
Wheaton (MA). Some good programs. S’s friend is there and likes it. Felt slightly shabby and the food looked terrible. D was turned off by some of the traditions left over from the days when it was an all-girls school. Stronger academics than you would expect from a school with its high admissions rate. I would have kept it on the list but neither kid wanted to apply. They were probably also turned off by the fact that it was too close to home. Likely.
Muhlenberg. When she visited we drove through a crowd of kids with heavy piercings and dyed hair. Her comment was “Not my people”. We did not stay for the tour, as she already had some safeties she liked on her list. I have heard good things about Muhlenberg and I think our experience may have been an anomaly so I’d take our experience with a grain of salt. Likely.
Goucher. S and H saw a lot of drugs/alcohol on the tour. Probably not a good match for you but would be a likely.
Juniata was recommended. S and H skipped it after realizing what a hellacious drive it would be. Would be a likely.
Denison. Somehow we never made it there but I would recommend it as a match. Lots of friends’ kids love it.
Clark. Frankly, I don’t remember why it came off S’s list. May have been Worcester. Probably a likely.
We did not look at Hampshire because we had visited someone there are my kids felt it was too artsy/alternative/druggy for their tastes. Likely.
I assume you’ve been to Union (match/likely) if you’ve seen Skidmore and Hamilton. If you haven’t toured Union I’d swing by when you visit the others. My D took it off her list. Can’t remember why other than the unattractive city.
This is a highly subjective account so anyone is free to chime in and tell me how wrong these opinions are!
