<p>Hey I am looking at Amherst/Williams for the elite small school experience. Any suggestions for this type of school but at a more good match/safety level?</p>
<p>Middlebury, Haverford, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, etc.</p>
<p>They’re not exactly “match” schools relative to Amherst and Williams, but they are less selective, especially if you are competitive for admissions to Amherst and Williams.</p>
<p>If you want better weather look at Davidson, William & Mary, Washington & Lee for alternatives to Amherst et al…</p>
<p>Bates, Colby, Conn College, Trinity, Union, Skidmore, Colgate, Hamilton etc etc</p>
<p>Holy Cross, Bucknell, Lafayette…</p>
<p>There are dozens of good small schools. Let’s start off with a few limitations: what part(s) of the country are you willing to consider? How rural or urban do you want your school to be? Do you have a major in mind?</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. I would like to be in the northeast I guess. I don’t want an urban school but suburban/rural are o.k. Completly undecided major wise, i guess that is why I like the freedom of LAC’s.</p>
<p>There is no elite small school that is an alternative to Amherst/Williams. Plenty of small schools, though.</p>
<p>^^ middsmith = dead wrong. There are lots of “elite” LACs comparable to Amherst and Williams. For example, Swarthmore. And all the other LACs already mentioned on this thread.</p>
<p>Well, if one takes “elite” to mean “has been respected by rich, powerful, well-connected WASPs for a long, long time,” one could throw in Wellesley.</p>
<p>
You have to read it in context. Good match/safety level of Williams/Amherst != elite. </p>
<p>
Formerly relevant != elite.</p>
<p>^^ kwu’s definition may have worked for a long time but I’m not so sure it does anymore. Even the POTUS isn’t W or AS and his inner circle is as likely to be J as P. </p>
<p>Amherst and Williams are great schools in their own right by virtue of a variety of object standards. They also have that old money cachet, but how many bright kids care much about that anymore?</p>
<p>yea, i hate to break it to you, but it’s hard to be elite nowadays without a solid urban connection which in many ways means, so-long John Cheever, and, hello, Matthew Weiner; so-long, Henry Stimson and, hello Rahm Emmanuel.</p>
<p>Wellesley isn’t ‘formerly relevant.’ Wellesley is ranked #4, right under Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore; tied with Middlebury; and above Bowdoin, Pomona, Carleton, Davidson, and Haverford. A lot of highly successful women graduate from Wellesley.</p>
<p>Other colleges to consider: Carleton (MN), Grinnell (IA), Colgate (NY), Hamilton (NY), Colby (ME), Oberlin (OH), Colorado College (CO), Bates (ME), Macalester (MN), Kenyon (OH), Lafayette ¶, Holy Cross (MA), Trinity College (CT), Bard (NY), Connecticut College (CT), Franklin and Marshall ¶, Union (NY), Dickinson ¶.</p>
<p>^ If the OP is looking for match/safety schools, and Amherst/Williams are realistic reaches, then most of julliette’s “other colleges” would be match schools. Of course, they do span a range (as any set of 15-20 schools do), with Carleton at the high end (maybe at least a low reach), and Union or Dickinson being perhaps a little less selective. I’d be reluctant to consider the schools on this list as safeties, unless (in the case of the least selective ones) the OP is a very strong candidate for AW and cost is not an issue.</p>