<p>Many have asked, why not go for the Ivies?</p>
<p>My answer: personal attention, t/s ratio. etc. Schools like Bowdoin, Carleton, Williams and even Amherst are getting the recognition they deserve. A better education, and more…</p>
<p>Who wants to live in New Haven (Yale) anyway? :>)</p>
<p>The (best) small liberal arts colleges are the true Ivies these days. (IMHO)</p>
<p>Rock it U Bears!</p>
<p>And the Ivy League really isn't better than the others as it is hyped up to be. You can get an equally excellent education, if not better, at a liberal arts college.</p>
<p>oh i totally agree with you guys, BUT... have you seen the yale campus?? i was just in new haven the other day.... it's absolutely breathtaking.... it's a gothic castle in the middle of the city, it feels like you're in london or something. but regardless, yeah, colleges like bowdoin definitely deserve the same recognition. :)</p>
<p>Molly gal its funny that you mention Yale and New Haven. During one of my psych. review sessions, right before finals, fellow bowdoinians and I were joking about how awful New Haven is.</p>
<p>Have I been to Yale? Oh, have I ever!! My dad went there and to grad school also. My younger sister is actually named after a local veggie restaurant there! Yes, it is beautiful, wonderful, full of history and no doubt a great international university.</p>
<p>Still, comparing it all, I went for Bowdoin. I have been to Yale about 10 times since I was born, including tours and interactions with students and faculty.</p>
<p>Bowdoin rocks, and so does Yale, but I am now and forever a Bear~~~and proud of it!</p>
<p>My sister went to Yale and I applied to Bowdoin early. I like New Haven's atmosphere, but prefer the small town, scenic environment of one of the lacs in Maine. Is your sister's name Claire- I know there's a vegetarian restaurant named claires. Bates's Lewiston is kind of the New Haven of Maine...</p>
<p>LACs are probably unconditionally better for students who would be average or below-average at a given ivy league school. For students who would be above average at a given ivy, it depends on what they're looking for/what's important to them (name recognition in undergrad degree for business world, etc. vs. personal attention for grad school letters of rec). For students who would be top students at a given ivy, they would have more opportunities at an ivy than at a LAC.</p>
<p>Here I am with those senioritis mid-term blues. I don't have to take any midterm exams because my average is high enough. Pretty much downhill from here....at least I have the lax season to look forward to!</p>
<p>Back to the Ivies vs. Bowdoin thread. If you want name recognition worldwide, the big three (Hahvahd, Yale and Princeton) will give you that. However, in New England, Bowdoin, Midd, Wesleyan, Willy, Amherst, carry a lot of punch. If you want the best education with wonderful letters for grad school (I will be pre-med) an elite LAC is superb.</p>
<p>We are going up to visit Bowdoin next week and I can't wait. It feels like home already. </p>
<p>Go U Bears!!</p>
<p>i agree. when it comes to grad school admissions, the top tier LACs are extremely well perceived. the people who say otherwise on this board are mostly high school students and in reality have no idea what goes on in the grad school admissions committee.</p>
<p>ecape - there are certainly people who do well at Ivies who simply could not cope with the grade deflation at some LACs or with the idea of being prepared for every class (something you don't always have to be in a big lecture class.) I would say, that if you can do well at an LAC, it's well worth the effort.</p>
<p>Maybe, if you think so... I sat in on classes at Wesleyan and UChi... and UChi seemed much more intense. But UChi is not an ivy and Wesleyan is not a LAC with a particularly low GPA, so you could be right. For all the flack Hahvard gets for grade inflation... it has some classes that are known for being hardest in the country of their kind, and likely the grade inflation is due to extremely bright students.</p>
<p>Regardless of specific comparisons, like Bowdoin harder than Brown, etc., I think the issue is that at universities there is usually more competition for every single research position, whereas at LACs the top 1/2 of students could find a faculty-member to do research with if so-inclined. And if you're interested in grad-school, research is important, so you'd have better odds at a LAC.</p>
<p>ecape - it's good that you to mentioned graduate admissions as a likely destination for many LAC graduates, but, I would say the same thing for jobs right out of college; the networking and career counseling at <em>some</em> of the smaller eastern schools is superior to <em>some</em> of the lower ivies. For instance, every senior due to graduate from the Film Studies department at Wesleyan is given the name and address of an alum in the business who has volunteered to help find the kid a job and a place to live. Overall, nearly twice as many Wesleyan students who want them, find jobs within six months of graduation as do Brown students.</p>