<p>My daughter is a rising senior and is really interested in a few NESCAC schools. All of these schools claim to have exceptional alumni associations and I am wondering if there are some schools that have significantly stronger alumni networks than others, or is it just splitting hairs when you are comparing one NESCAC school to another?</p>
<p>Probably the latter. From the people I know, I’d say that Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, and Bates seem to be about equal in that regard, anyway. </p>
<p>There may be a difference in efficacy vs devotion; ie, I doubt that Conn College alums have the same collective clout as Williams alums, just to pick two. Hamilton and Trinity are also somewhat lower in the pecking order. </p>
<p>Yes, some NESCAC alumni associations are stronger than others, and by-and-large the alumni network of the elite LACs is superior to most of the Ivies. One measure of this is the percentage of alumni who support the college financially. US News reports on this, and as you can see from the link below, Amherst, Bowdoin, Williams, Middlebury and Bates are all within the top 10 nationally and ahead of all of the Ivies except Princeton. This says a lot.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2013/09/26/10-colleges-where-most-alumni-give-back”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2013/09/26/10-colleges-where-most-alumni-give-back</a></p>
<p>How much the alumni association can have an impact on your life depends a lot on where you are. Speaking from the perspective of my own city, if you’re an NESCAC alum in Chicago, you may not find there is a critical mass to provide much of a support network locally. Maybe if you’re from Tufts.</p>