Hey, I’ve been lucky enough to be accepted by the universities in the discussion title.
Bates v.s Colby v.s Colorado College v.s Wake Forest
Right now I’m deciding where to go to. My major is probably history.
No FA received from any of these schools.
What I look for in a college:
-Strong focus in the Humanities–maybe law school admission? (so it can’t be a school with extreme grade deflation)
-Debate Team
-More egalitarian culture, more chill, less preppy
-Location doesn’t matter
-Not a sports fan, but I don’t mind going to a D1 school.
-Small Class Size, or at least enough TAs
-Target school for Investment Banking? (this is less important on the spectrum because I’m not sure if I’ll go that path)
You can begin by deciding whether you’d rather attend a small school (CC, Colby, Bates) or a large school (the UCs).
Colorado College is unique among your choices for its one-course-at-a-time block plan, something it shares with only a few other liberal arts colleges like Cornell. If that appeals to you, the other schools may not be a great fit.
All of your options are great. Courses in the humanities are small and rigorous at all of these. You can’t really go wrong whichever you choose.
Bates. Meets all your criteria and has a renowned debate team, which is open to all and is a lot of fun. Definitely chill. Less preppy than Wake and Colby. I don’t know a lot about CC, but you should know that the block plan is quite unusual and do some research to see if it’s right for you.
Can’t really compare the UCs to the others. Night and day. For sure though, you will not get the small classes you want for at least a couple of years. Form what little we have to go by here, you sound more like a LAC type person.
As far as academics, @warblersrule is right. They will all be rigorous and prepare you well for law school.
@ucbalumnus no I’m not. @Lindagaf Thanks! Do you know anything about the party scenes at Bates? I’m an extrovert but I always prefer to hang out with friends without any substance
My D goes to Bates and is pretty strait laced. Some of her friends drink, but not to excess. No one cares if you don’t, truly. Partying is not a HUGE thing, but, sure there are parties at the weekends. The college is very active in putting on a lot of events so that weekend keggers are not the only option. Bates has no Greek life, and in my Ds case, it was a major consideration. The other two have Greek life, and it’s pretty big at WFU. IOW, there will be drinking and parties at schools with Greek life. I think most would agree that Bates is the least preppy of the three.
If you get into Cal, think hard about the size. My Ds friend goes there. In her freshman year she was in a lecture hall with over 1000 students. Not a typo. My Ds biggest class ever had 60 kids. I think her second biggest class had 25 kids. You won’t get TAs at Bates and Colby, not sure about WFU.
@cchp23 - I can not speak to WF, but S is a freshman at Colby, One of his best friends is at Bates and another buddy is at Colorado. Colby does not have frats and offers substance free housing - two thing that attracted him to the school. His largest class has been about 35 students. He is not what I would describe as preppy, and he has made many friends at Colby very quickly. Although Colby has a preppy reputation (and definitely has students who fit that description), my S has found it to be a very diverse place. If you can attend the admitted student event, I believe it really helps you get a feel for the school. It is what sold him on Colby. He found the kids to be bright, interesting and engaged. His friend at Bates is extremely bright and an incredibly talented musician. He is an introvert, not preppy or a partier, and he is having a great experience at Bates. He is a bit more artsy than my son and he felt that vibe at Bates. The feedback I have heard regarding the block scheduling at Colorado is that is seems to work great for kids interested in the sciences as it allows time to focus on labs, but it can make some of the humanities classes feel rushed. Having said that, my son’s friend, who is an English major, is really enjoying his time at Colorado. All of the schools you mention are outstanding places, congratulations on having such terrific choices. You can’t go wrong!
My S is in the exact same boat, minus the California schools. He’s visited Bates and really liked it, but has never seen WF, CC or Colby. He was pretty excited about the WF admit and is trying to work out visiting there, and CC. I’m looking for any information about those schools because I’m just not familiar with them.
Strongly recommend the re-visit days. It’s a hassle and it’s $$ but these schools have very different personalities -and you are the best person to evaluate how well they fit you.
You didn’t mention finances- is that a factor? (guessing not if your parents were ok w/ $70k/pa for OOS UCs)
Honestly. I would strongly recommend that you attend the accepted student events and assess each place yourself… @xyz123a 's description rings pretty true to me (as a parent, not a student). My kid’s friends at Colby run the gamut from athletes to musicians to political activists. There is no Greek life there. But I suspect that had he chosen Bates, I would be saying the same thing - at any small school, kids can mix it up socially if they want to. The history department is very good. Colby may have the best path to I banking of your list but I think you could pull that off from any of them.
I would recommend that you look at the course catalog and the requirements for graduation in your possible majors (and in terms of distribution requirements). You may see differences that matter to you, and these could be worth exploring at a revisit.
S attends WFU. Is a sophomore. Very rigorous, small classes essentially all taught by profs. There is a big greek culture, BUT it’s only relevant to people in greek life. S is not in greek life. Has plenty of friends both in and not in greek life. Also a big sports culture, well followed.
S was not a partier in HS. He experienced some first semester at greek parties and in the dorm. Nothing crazy as they really do monitor the dorms and write kids up for violations. As far as drinking and partying goes, I’d label him a 5 on a 10 scale. Was surprised to learn he has many friends who would be a 3 and some a 1 or 0. It’s not all parties. It is Work Forest. As a second semester sophomore, going to parties and drinking is strictly a weekend thing as he’s very busy between school and activities. Has a large group in similar circumstances. I’m sure there are greeks who still go bonkers mid week, but it doesn’t involve him and nobody cares.
I’ve also been accepted by UPenn… The prestige is hard to turn down, but its strong pre-professional vibe doesn’t resonate with me. Does anyone know anything about the history department at Upenn?
Addressing earlier comments, I’m unable to go to admitted student events because I’m an international student and my school has a strong policy for absent days in school.
Yes, UPenn does have an excellent history department. The lower level courses may well be taught be TAs. If you really want to be taught primarily by the professors in small classes, the Liberal arts schools are your best choices. If you are looking for “chill”, CC and Bates, IMO are the best choices. But they are all excellent choices. You truly did well in the Admissions Game in that you have a lot of very selective school from which to choose. It comes down to how important various factors are to you. If atmosphere, environment is a big issue, it’s time to schedule a tour of the schools to get a flavor of them all. I’d talk to the head of the school to see if there is anyway that you can take off the time and make a trip stateside.
If investment banking is to be strongly in the picture, yes, Penn is likely to best choice,though the LACs have econ courses that can also open those doors for you. Penn is also in a major city which might make it easier for international travel and family visits.
You must be a really great applicant, OP :-). You have many excellent choices. Honestly, do the easy thing for now: decide which two you are least interested in and cross them off the list. Don’t look back at them. You have a month to decide, and you need that time the keep your grades up and focus on the two that interest you the most.
So you have got into Penn, which is of course a great opportunity. It will be very different from those small LACs. Interestingly, when my D and I toured Bates, our guide told us about how he was down to Penn and Bates. His decision ended up being based on where he felt he would make the most personal connections with professors and students. All three smaller colleges are going to give you great opportunities. I think you should decide based on the environment you ultimately see yourself in.
@gardenstategal , sorry, I wrongly thought that Colby had Greek life. My mistake, I read an article that it formerly had it.