Hello, I am an international applicant from India and I wish to apply ED to either Brown or Amherst College. I really like the artsy feel and the variety of course options available at Brown. Brown trumps Amherst in prestige as well (especially internationally).That said, I realise that Brown is not need-blind for internationals. This prompts me to look at amherst (where i can to get a lot of aid ). However, my parents have been persuading me to apply to an ivy as an lac seems to be a risky/experimental option to them. I wish to eventually enter into academia for economics /public policy/International relations. Would going to an ivy be worth the expense?
If you are admitted to Brown and are eligible for aid, you will get it. I am not entirely sure if Brown and Amherst give comparable aid, but theoretically they should. Grad schools will not care which one you attend as they are both strong academic schools with roughly equal reputations. Amherst was founded in 1821 so there is nothing experimental about it.
Need blind simply means that they don’t consider need in the admission process, not that you don’t get any. Brown is need aware but does give aid.
Thank you BrownParent for your response.
I know that Brown does provide aid, but is need aware. My parents feel that paying in full for an ivy degree will be a better option than paying less for an lac ( the fact that they never heard of an Lac doesn’t help.) Is there disadvantage I would face after Amherst? Anything to keep in mind? Although I am pretty sure I will go to grad school, do I face any disadvantage after amherst if I choose to venture into finance/consulting etc.
Thanks again!
Among the people who count, Brown and Amherst are equally respected. Especially in the Northeast. Once you venture west and south, Brown and Amherst are probably equally unknown – although grad school admissions officers and finance/consulting hirers will know both schools. I don’t know who recruits at Amherst – I’m sure you could do some research to find out which consulting/finance/investment firms hire Amherst grads. I am positive that there isn’t a grad school admissions office in this country who would look differently at an Amherst vs. Brown grad.
To me, the differences between Amherst and Brown come down to location and size. Amherst is much smaller, which has plusses and minuses. The whole school is a little bigger than Brown’s freshmen class. Brown is in an urban area, within easy distance of the Northeast’s major cities.
I’m not sure that you really understand the financial aid difference. If you need financial aid, that could affect your admission to Brown, while it won’t affect your admission to Amherst. So you might get into Amherst and not Brown just because of your financial need. Brown DOES accept international students who need financial aid.
If you get accepted to Brown and Amherst, BOTH schools promise to meet 100% of your financial need. In theory your financial aid packages from both schools should be comparable. So your parents wouldn’t necessarily be paying less for a LAC. You need to go to both schools’ net price calculator and see what they say.
I actually get the difference. My parents suggest me to apply to Brown without asking for financial aid as they believe that an ivy would give me better opportunities than an LAC (a fairly unknown concept in India). Thus, I am trying to determine whether attending an an LAC would be a compromise in any respect or no. I’ll probably take econ, math; I am interested in Grad school and jobs in international policy-making bodies/think tanks.
Also, I don’t ideally want to go for a post-baccalaureate/ masters for a rigorous preparation for a PhD. Will Amherst suffice?
It would make more sense to ask potential employers in India then to ask on this site. On this site, most posters knwo about how well known these schools are in the US. But if your plan is to seek employment in India you should probably ask people there about whether there would be a differential in terms of how attractive the two schools are for new hires.
@lostaccount No, I’m not asking about Amherst’s prospects in India. What I mean is that since LACs are unknown in India, my parents are not aware/confident about sending me there. Are there ANY significant drawbacks on attending Amherst over Brown? ( esp. with regards to grad school in USA; considering that I don’t wish to apply to a masters program)
Sorry I misunderstood. Anyone in the US making decisions about entry to grad school would know both schools. An advantage of Amherst would be smaller classes and more contact with faculty. An advantage of Brown may be a larger range of research (in sciences) to become involved with and perhaps more well known faculty heading up larger labs-although that may be more true of place like Penn and Cornell. With your interests in economics /public policy/International relations, except for economics, both seem somewhat odd pics=although I guess they both will provide a strong well rounded undergraduate education.
No.
If you apply without asking for financial aid – if you get in, how will you pay for it? I believe that you can’t enter the country unless you have proof that you can pay for college.
I know how hard it is to get Indians to look at schools that are outside of the Ivy League (BELIEVE ME I KNOW!) That being said, you will get an amazing education at any of the higher ranked LACs. Here are a few tips…first - do your parents understand what a liberal arts college is? Do they understand you can take science and math even thought it is a liberal “arts” college - I know lots of families who didn’t even have that understanding. Then, make sure they understand that at a college ALL the focus is on educating the undergraduate student. That means that all research opportunities, work with professors, etc. goes to undergrads. Also, point out to them that just because they hadn’t heard of it in India…doesn’t make it a great school. How many Americans would have heard of an IIT? Or the Indian Institute of Science? Not many outside the tech world. However, that doesn’t make those schools any less. Similarly, the fact that a handful of American schools are known by EVERYONE doesn’t mean that other schools are not as amazing. It sounds like money is not a consideration for your family. So you need to choose a place you will be happiest. Do you have a private college counselor who can talk to your parents. The Indian counselors I have met with have been very knowledgeable about LACs.
@CValle They do know that LACs offer the sciences.(My dad expressed his desire of having me take computer science in the open curriculum-a field I have no background or interest in!) Money is somewhat of an issue; not so much as to make us compromise on our choices. Frankly speaking, even though I have inferred that an Amherst education is great, I cannot help but feel doubtful at times due to its lack of popularity. I am more of an introverted individual. Excessively indulgent and wild parties are a NO for me ( In fact, that is what made me strike off Dartmouth from my list even though it is need blind) Where do you think I’ll thrive ?
Its “lack of popularity” as you see it is only because you are looking at it from the perspective of a population that knows really very little about American higher education. They know the big names. They know what everyone in the world knows. They are NOT the same people who will be looking at your grad school admission application or your job application in the future (assuming you will work in the US.) THOSE people know Amherst and have a VERY high regard for the school. Amherst has one of the lowest admit rates in the country - http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate
You need to judge whether you are a big school person or a small school person. An urban school person or a less urban school person.