My son has been accepted to both Beloit & Hendrix (and we are elated). He is more inclined towards Beloit, while I would be more inclined towards Hendrix (although would never tell him). He is undecided about major ( inclined towards the social sciences- sociology, anthro, or psychology) but is, at this point, committed to the pre-med path (both parents physicians- no pressure for him to pursue, or not pursue, this path). He was, sadly, rejected from Grinnell ED, accepted to our state flagship (wonderful school, bad fit), Bard, Clark and is awaiting results from other SLACs. We are not rich, but have saved so $ not a big factor. Based on the options on hand we are considering Beloit & Hendrix. Does anyone have any thoughts on the pros and cons of Beloit vs. Hendrix?
As someone who lives in arkansas, Hendrix is looked down upon by people around here. I can’t imagine it being thought of as any higher outside of the state. It has gone from a nice school to a school that is just reaching for money. Although it still gives pretty good scholarship money, it has one of the highest acceptance rates in the state(I think it’s actually higher than the major state schools.) I don’t know much about Beloit, but I would never recommend Hendrix for reputation or education. In fact, the majority of high end students in the state go to the University of Arkansas over it even when it offers a free ride and UofA doesn’t.
Overall, I don’t know anything about Beloit, but I would be hard-pressed to recommend Hendrix.
Good luck!
@slacbound. We’ve looked at a lot of lacs (20 or so), but neither of these 2. Hendrix gets some superb reviews on CC, and it has an excellent reputation nationally. The above opinion is an anomaly. There is a Southern LACs thread that has some info about Hendrix. @Sally305 has written about it and you could try to PM her about her experiences with the school.
reddr0p, with all due respect, you are a high-school student. You are also homeschooled, so likely unaware of how strongly high-school counselors recommend Hendrix or how engaged the students are according to national studies. Have you examined student outcomes? Do you know how well Hendrix grads do with med school, law school and PhD program admissions? (The answer is VERY–Beloit scores high here as well.)
Hendrix DOES have a high acceptance rate and that is something we looked into when my son was applying. It seems to be very self-selecting–the kids who are choosing to go there are really smart, motivated and talented students. Hendrix is ranked among the “100 smartest schools” based on test scores–and this list includes both national universities and other LACs. It ranks above a lot of more “selective” schools that are popular on this site–Texas, Wisconsin, Fordham, Pitt, GW, BU, Dickinson, Bucknell, to name a few.
http://www.businessinsider.com/smartest-colleges-in-america-2014-10
My S has a best friend that attends Hendrix. The student and family only has terrific things to say about it. She received great scholarship and her parents felt so welcomed there when they dropped her off that first year. She is currently studying abroad. At my daughter’s high school Naviance reprts that applicants from her school to Hendrix are top notch on SAT scores and GPA. Wish my D had it on her list but she has her list complete now.
I’m a high school student… who has toured Hendrix and has many friends at Hendrix. So yes, I’m not a student there, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know anything about it. The reason that happens is because it is the only major LAC in Arkansas, so it attracts anyone and everyone who is in Arkansas and around that wants a liberal arts education. Also, it’s scholarship money is REALLY good if you get a 32(composite if you’re a resident gives you an automatic full ride and the hay’s memorial scholarship wasn’t competitive at all. I know two of my friends who applied for it got it last year with a 32 superscored and 3.7).
Heck, in terms of self selecting, look at stuff like this http://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/hendrix-college/student-life/diversity/# . it’s the 1000+ least diverse college, so yes, it’s self selecting, but if you’re looking for a diverse environment, that’s not exactly a good thing. Also, yes it is a top 100 smartest school but so is (almost)every one of the top 50 private colleges as well as most of the top 50 LACs, and I’m sure if you put honors colleges in there they’d be near the top. So if you’re just looking for high SAT/GPA, you can look at just about any private college.
Yes, I have seen student outcomes considering the fact on of my parents is a Hendrix grad(and used to do interviews) and some of her college friends she still keeps up with, but she still recognizes that it is going/has gone downhill.
The outcome is just like that of the honors program at any other college except it lacks in alumni base. From speaking to friends at both schools, it’s very similar to the honors college at the state schools by grad school acceptance rates and actually lower by test scores(see UofA’s Honors College(ACT of 28+ to be admitted with an average of 32 and sports a 100% medical school acceptance rate and UALR’s Donaghey Scholars(ACT of 30 on average and has a 90%+ medical school acceptance rate) compared to Hendrix(ACT of 27 on average)), and those are just two of the instate ones, and I assume, because your son applied to Hendrix, he wouldn’t have a problem with getting in to programs like that.
So yes, small colleges are nice and normally provide many advantages, but if you’re looking for the same community style environment with a lower COA(if you’re not on scholarships), just as high quality students, and larger alumni base, lots of places offer similar, if not better, deals.
P.S sorry for grammar and spelling, I’m on my phone.
Some friends have a daughter who is a junior at Hendrix; they tell me that she loves it there. The parents are also pleased with the education that their daughter is getting at Hendrix.
reddr0p, no one is saying you don’t know anything about Hendrix. But some of your information is incorrect. There is an on-campus competition for the Hays and in years past there have been about 100 applicants for the few awards. I didn’t see any automatic full ride for AR residents with a 32 ACT–here are the scholarships currently available.
https://www.hendrix.edu/scholarships/
Hendrix IS generous with merit money–that is a good thing. As for diversity, Hendrix is on par with the national average–it says so in the link you provided. MOST small colleges lack diversity and so do many national universities. As far as the alumni network goes–again, it’s a small school. No small school can match the alumni network of a larger one.
As for your comment about student outcomes, you are obviously influenced by your mom’s experience and not looking at the data. As they say–you are entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts. 
US News has ranked Hendrix the #1 “Up and Coming College” multiple times over the past few years.
The school was recently ranked #8 for best undergraduate teaching.
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges/undergraduate-teaching
Hendrix is one of the top 50 producers of PhD students in science, according to the National Science Foundation.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/top-50-schools-that-produce-science-phds/
It’s also one of the top producers of student Fulbright scholars.
https://www.hendrix.edu/news/news.aspx?id=56681
I could go on…
You won’t find much difference between the two for sociology or psych. Anthropology at Beloit is an unusually strong and well-rounded department for a LAC, however, with a great anthro museum and artifact collections to boot.
This isn’t nearly as big a bragging point as your others. Lots of colleges stall in that category for years; improvement is all well and good, but the important thing is to improve faster than the competition. In Hendrix’s case, its current rank (#81) is actually lower than its rank 10 years ago (#70 in 2004).
warblers, you are correct that USNWR should be taken with a grain of salt. I only mentioned the “up and coming” thing to counter the claim that the school is somehow in decline.
You are also right about Beloit’s respected anthropology program. Since the OP wants to compare the two schools, this information from the Colleges that Change Lives website might be useful (emphasis added):
OP, I would take reddrOp’s comments as one data point. No less and no more than that.
@sally305 , the Hendrix Scholarship for Arkansas Governor’s Distinguished Scholars (GDS) is automatic(pretty sure it is anyway) for anyone receiving the GDS which is a state funded scholarship that is automatic as long as they don’t have too many applicants(they haven’t turned anyone down since it was created).
Those stats are great… if you want to be with a bunch of people who want PhDs/major in things where PhDs are required… Wanting to get a PhD doesn’t make you any better of a student. Many engineers and computer scientists are extremely smart and yet never get PhDs, not because they can’t but because they don’t want to or don’t see the advantage to it.
reddr0p, rather than just being “pretty sure” you could have checked the link I posted above. 
It says this:
And, yes–many kids who choose liberal-arts schools are interested in grad school (whether medical, law, business or another masters’/PhD program). Obviously, the OP already knows her kid wants this type of college.
Addressing the OP’s question, Beloit and Hendrix appear to be similar colleges. Overall excellent LACs for serious students. Both in smaller towns within a reasonable drive to larger cities. Major differences I see are the climate and greek presence (none at Hendrix and modest at Beloit).
@sally305, in the past it has been automatic. Although they reserve the right to change it by using that, I don’t know any GDSs who didn’t get it, and each year I’ve seen about 5 apply, so maybe it’s not automatic but it’s dang close. There are only 300 GDSs in the entire state with most going to state colleges, so even if they only offered 20 you’d probably have a 75%+ chance.
Here’s a link to a pamphlet describing some southern LACs, including Hendrix. http://pulleygroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Sweet16.pdf
@dadof1 , I just read that, and it is an awesome summary of some of the schools! Although it seems to be lots of quotes from the faculty, and you’re never going to hear a bad thing from their mouths.
^That’s correct, but it does give a sense of what the college thinks makes them special.
“The important thing is to improve faster than the competition.” While I agree with this as a general proposition, and certainly so in business, I am not convinced that “improvement” or lack thereof is accurately reflected by any particular ranking. Certainly not USNWR. If LAC 1 moves up a few spaces and LAC 2 moves down a few, is that necessarily a negative indicator for the latter? Perhaps LAC 2 made a greater commitment to diversify its student body. Test scores drop slightly, but it becomes a more enriching college experience for the whole community. It drops a few points, yet by most other reasoning it has indeed improved.
OP cautioned on another thread against putting too much stock in rankings and “prestige.” I agree with this wholeheartedly. Great colleges are often “great” for many reasons that can’t be measured by a metric.
dadof1, the summary of Hendrix in the link you provided is spot on. I think the author really captured the essence of the school.