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<p>Familiarity with LACs is very often regional. In the Amherst/Northampton, MA area, a significant percentage of students and parents (including parents with a kid(s) attending or who have attended elite Eastern LACs or universities) have not heard of at least one, and often many, of the top West Coast LACs. E.g., Pomona, Claremont Mckenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, etc. And I’ll guarantee 90%+ of the locals haven’t heard of Whitman, etc. Some folk are very East Coast-centric.</p>
<p>Having said that, it isn’t unusual for students to apply to Carleton, St Olaf, Mac and—even before the legalization of marijuana—CU Boulder.</p>