Why not.

College Search & Lists
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<p>The fact that LACs have no (or few) graduate departments/schools is the major distinction.
With a few exceptions, LACs also have no undergraduate pre-professional majors (accounting, business, architecture, engineering, journalism). Some people prefer LACs, believing that they provide more individual attention, smaller classes, and no teaching assistants. The best LACs tend to have very good records for placing students into graduate and professional schools, and produce relatively large numbers of students who go on to earn Ph.D.s.</p>

<p>College Confidential has a forum devoted to “CC Top Liberal Arts Colleges”. Macalester is one of them. There probably are many that you’ve never heard of, and many of those are more selective (more prestigious, even) than some schools that are household names.</p>

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<p>Here is a link to a Wall Street Journal list of the top 50 “feeder” schools (ranked by the ratio of graduates attending certain elite law, medical and business schools):</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/pdfs/wsj_college_092503.pdf[/url]”>http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/pdfs/wsj_college_092503.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I count 21 small Liberal Arts Colleges on the list. Realize that the rankings don’t account for the number of applications from each of these schools. So it’s possible that the admit rates vary more widely than these ratios do. Presumably, schools with a strong pre-professional focus (Georgetown, Northwestern, Tufts) tend to generate a relatively high percentage of applications to professional schools, compared to schools like Chicago or Reed that send many students to graduate school in the arts and sciences. But it’s possible, too, that schools with a pre-professional focus tend to graduate relatively many terminal B.A.s.</p>

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<p>Of course, the schools on the above WSJ list are among the most selective in the country, so it’s hard to say what the colleges per se are doing to make them good “feeders”, other than admitting capable kids. Of the 50, the ones that are slightly less selective would include Brandeis, Macalester, Reed, Case Western, and (for in-state applicants) the 3 public universities. So perhaps there’s a little more value-added from those.</p>

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<p>oh wow that link is really helpful. I live in Cleveland now and know for sure that Case Western and I would not get along, but I was actually reading about Reed in Princeton 391 best-- seems like a perfect place, except for the distance/isolation from anyone I’d know. </p>

<p>oh if anyone cares,
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/711034-like-words-man-who-has-spent-little-too-much-time-alone.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/711034-like-words-man-who-has-spent-little-too-much-time-alone.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>that was my chances thread. you don’t have to chance or whatever, but that’s most of my resume besides some awards here and there to give some insight into who I am. My tentative list for colleges from the beginning of junior year is at the bottom, but it’s all up in the air right now.</p>

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<p>If you come to find me affable
build a replica for me.
Would the idea to you be laughable
of a pale facsimile?</p>

<p>Because if so, you should just attend Tufts with me and avoid those irksome pale facsimiles. Seriously go to Tufts.</p>

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<p>Starlight, have you discovered Colleges That Change Lives<a href=“the%20book%20or%20the%20web%20site”>/u</a>? </p>

<p>Here’s the CTCL page for Reed:
[Reed</a> College | Colleges That Change Lives](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/reed]Reed”>Reed College – Colleges That Change Lives)</p>

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<p>Snarf-- quick story. i was just at borders working on a couple projects and i had my ipod in and I was listening to Andrew Bird on shuffle, and I was in the middle of effigy when my ride came by to get me. I was like damn, I love this song but I paused it to gather my stuff and say goodbye. And I paused it at " Would you burn…?" and THE BORDERS SOUNDTRACK HAD ON NOBLE BEAST. and it was on effigy. and it picked up almost exactly where my track left off. My heart literally stopped for a second- everything in life was in sync. </p>

<p>okay, sorry, I get excited easily. and I will do a gigantic college tour sometime in the summer and head up to the Boston area for sure, though I’m pretty peeved I didn’t get to do this during the school year and now all the campuses are empty :confused: </p>

<p>And yeah tk, i was directed there a couple days ago by someone. also, Reed is #1 in academic experience in the princeton book. still, the isolation. :confused: </p>

<p>I love big cities. I want to be fairly close to NYC, Boston, LA, SanFran, Chicago, or some big name city like that just because… I don’t know, that’s me. I’ve moved like 8 times in my life, but have always lived in some suburban nowhere while enjoying city vacations to the max. I want to test out city life while sheltered in a safe college campus so I can find out if it’s truly for me in the future.</p>

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<p>That’s hilarious. I always have mixed emotions when obscure bands I’ve been devoted to for years become popular enough to start being played at Borders. On the one hand I’m happy that they’re getting the recognition they deserve, but on the other I can’t shake the feeling that the general public doesn’t quite merit such music. Snobbish, I know, but I can’t help myself. I’ve loved Andrew Bird since his name was only found preceding " 's Bowl of Fire", and now you can find him on commercials and in malls. Bleurgh.</p>

<p>

You know, you should send me an e-mail or call me when you come up to the Boston area (I’ll private message you my info). I stay on campus during the summers and I’ve actually been a tour guide before, so I could give a customized tour of the campus for you and your fam. </p>

<p>

Exactly how I felt. I grew up on a farm, but wanted to be an urban planner, so I specifically sought green, grassy campuses with easy access to metro areas as a sort of acclimation period.</p>

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<p>oh gosh, thanks for the contact stuff! It will be put to good use once I’m up there. How long have you been at Tufts? I take it that you’re loving it a ton. What’s your major? I’m currently reading up on Tufts in the Student’s Guide to Colleges. </p>

<p>Also, I’ve only been into Andrew Bird for like two years. Saw him live a couple months ago. I’m pretty sure he’s pretty much the epitome of what the perfect man is. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that ridiculously talented before. </p>

<p>and haha yeah my friend and I always make fun of the Marriott ads with Imitosis and a couple other songs </p>

<p>Anyway, how does Tufts interact with Harvard and MIT and Amherst and other colleges up there? Isn’t the majority of Boston made up of students?</p>

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<p>I’m not sure if you realize that Amherst is a couple of hours west of Boston–in western Massachusetts, near other colleges nonetheless but nowhere near Harvard and Tufts.</p>

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<p>I didn’t :confused: thought it was in the same area. Woops.</p>

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<p>Tufts attaches one of those parolee ankle cuffs on each incoming student to prevent wandering off into the Massachusetts vastness. You can go to Harvard or MIT on weekends, but that’s it.</p>

<p>Reed College does not do this.</p>

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<p>woah, what? we just won’t have time… or …?</p>

<p>Isn’t Reed in Oregon? I don’t know of anyone at all who has gone there or lives anywhere near there.</p>

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<p>Tufts is in a strange position; it’s officially in the same athletic league as Amherst and a host of other small LACs (NESCAC), but, not necessarily close to any of them in a geographic or even spiritual sense (I think Amherst may actually be the nearest, some three hours away.) Tufts’ nearest neighbors all have ties to other athletic leagues (Harvard, Boston College, Holy Cross, Brandeis., etc.) but truth be told, sports plays a relatively minor role in student life there anyway.</p>

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<p>Yup, Oregon. People do live there. I’ve only driven through Portland, quickly, but I hear it’s a very cool city. Only 16% of the fall 2008 entering class came from the northwest. 25% came from the northeast, 20% from California. </p>

<p>I understand your feeling about the distance though. That was one reason my own kid did not apply there (or to awesome little Whitman College). Too far from his east coast social network (though he wound up at a school half way across the country regardless.) My own feeling? Once you cross the threshold of being too far away to drive, it does not matter that much whether you are 4 states away, or 49.</p>

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<p>Yeah, and my parents plan to stalk me wherever I go to college (move somewhere within 5 hours since we all hate cleveland and want to get out)</p>

<p>Also, I was wondering about competitiveness. I like learning without ridiculous levels of unhealthy competition, but don’t mind applying knowledge and intelligence in real life like war. As in, I just want to learn for learning’s sake in college about things that I care about and will help me in the future but then in the job market, I can use the knowledge to beat out others. </p>

<p>I’m really competitive when it comes to my extracurriculars and stuff, but just don’t like freaking out over who got the highest grade in AP Chemistry (which has nothing to do with my future) for the sake of my GPA and rank.</p>

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<p>

I’m a rising senior. I do indeed enjoy my school. I’m a political science and philosophy double major, but I also have significant coursework in drama and urban studies (I take some grad classes through the Urban and Environmental Planning school on occasion).</p>

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I’m not really sure what you mean by “interact”. We don’t play any Boston area schools athletically, but honestly no one cares. Not only have I never been to basketball game here, I wouldn’t even know where to go to see one. The audience at Tufts’ own homecoming games is usually primarily parents and fans of the other team. Sports is a vanishingly small part of campus life.
Generally speaking, there are a lot of links between all the schools in the area because people at one school have friends from high school who went to another. So, whenever one school has a particularly interesting event (a concert, a hockey game at a school that actually has decent athletics like BU or BC, a famous lecturer or whatnot) there is always a significant population of students from other schools. I’ve seen 3rd Eye Blind at MIT, brought a friend from Northeastern to a Tony Blair lecture at Tufts, seen Interpol at BU, brought a friend from BU to see the Decemberists at Tufts, and seen a number of BU/BC hockey games.</p>

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I think tk was joking, Starlight. S/he’s not a Tufts student, at the very least not a recent one (I believe s/he’s a parent).
The extent to which you get out and about really, really depends on you. The campus is beautiful and there’s usually something happening on campus, and the surrounding neighborhoods have a large array of bars and restaurants, many of which cater to the Tufts community. Davis Square in particular, which is either a ten minute walk or a five minute bus ride away (Tufts runs a shuttle from campus to Davis every 20 minutes) is a very cool place: it has a nice assortment of bars from dives to trendy upscale yuppy hang-outs, a historic movie theater that shows a mix of newly released, classic, and cult films, a bowling alley, an eclectic mix of restaurants including Thai, Mexican, seafood, Chinese, Italian, crepes, sushi, deli-style, Indian, old-timey diner, and a nouvelle cuisine place (Gargoyle’s on the Square) that’s consistently rated among the top 5 or 10 restaurants in the greater Boston metro area. There’s a live blues bar, an Irish pub, a gourmet cupcake bakery, and a specialty bread store (don’t laugh, it’s shockingly delicious). [Utne</a> reader](<a href=“http://www.utne.com/1997-11-01/hip-hot-spots.aspx?page=5]Utne”>http://www.utne.com/1997-11-01/hip-hot-spots.aspx?page=5) ranked it as the 14th coolest place in North America to live. </p>

<p>All that’s to say that if you’re a bit of a homebody, you needn’t ever travel far from campus. But that doesn’t mean you can’t. Davis Square is a stop on the Red Line, only two stops down from Harvard Square (about five or ten minutes) and six stops from Boston Common, right in the center of the city (about twenty minutes). In addition to the shuttle to and from Davis, Tufts runs a shuttle until 3 in the morning that goes between its Medford campus (undergrads) and its Boston campus (med school campus, near Chinatown, the Financial District, and the city center). People who enjoy clubbing frequently go into Boston, something like every night that they’re free. A more typical routine, and one that I enjoy, is heading into Boston only for bigger occasions like concerts, celebrations, museum outings, or giving city tours to out-of-town friends. I don’t love clubbing, and the bars in Harvard and Davis are cheaper, trendier, and more conveniently-located than those in Boston. I go out to Harvard or Allston (I have friends there) at least once a week.
Things are a little different as well over the summer. Many people live near campus while working in Boston or Cambridge, so people tend to be more mobile.
So no, we’re not kept on ankle bracelets, though some people leave campus so infrequently that you’d think they were.</p>

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Everyone’s very smart, but the atmosphere is decidedly more collaborative than competitive.</p>

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<p>jeebus, Snarf. Thank you for the essay haha, but seriously, thanks for being so helpful. </p>

<p>“Everyone’s very smart, but the atmosphere is decidedly more collaborative than competitive.”
That’s pretty much exactly how I’d like it - the opposite of what it is at my current high school. </p>

<p>I have a couple friends at MIT and harvard, and one that might transfer into Olin, so I just wanted to know if it was easy to hang out and stuff on weekends. </p>

<p>Also, how harsh do you think the winters are relative to New York City?</p>

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<p>Ha, sorry about that. I have a summer job answering a phone that only rarely rings, so. . . I get bored.</p>

<p>Yep, MIT and Harvard are very easy to get to. Both are on the Red Line, like Tufts, and there’s actually an MBTA bus route that goes from Tufts campus to Harvard Square.</p>

<p>As far as the weather: probably breezier than NYC year-round. I would say winters are milder on normal days, but with a much higher frequency of storms. New England weather is famous for its fickleness. There’s a saying: if you don’t like the weather in Boston. . . wait twenty minutes.</p>

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<p>I need a job. </p>

<p>and the weather here in cleveland is about as bad as it can get, so i guess anything’s better than weeks upon weeks of gray.</p>