I really appreciate all the thoughtful input I have gotten on CC so far. My d23 is about to pull trigger on ED2 to Hamilton. Would love to hear any positives or negatives from any parents or students who attend/attended. Also would love to hear from those who chose Hamilton (what other schools you were considering ) or almost chose Hamilton and where they ended up instead! Many thanks!
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I donāt see anyone has responded and I have nothing but wondering if you saw the US News Profile which says others apply to Bowdoin, Colby, Colgate, Middlebury. Iād imagine the other LACs up that way get hit too but donāt know - Vassar, Skidmore, Bates.
You might read the Princeton Review write up and / or look at student comments on Niche which are sometimes helpful.
Good luck.
We live very close to Hamilton and itās a wonderful place. Iād say the downside for some students could be the more rural area and the harsher winters. The upside is the wonderfully open curriculum and strong community of students and graduates. Good luck to your daughter!
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My D17 graduated in May ā21 and had a fabulous experience at Hamilton even though Covid. Iām happy to answer any particular questions you might have.
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Maybe @merc81 can lend a hand here.
Hamilton was a coin-flip for ED1 with the school our daughter attendedā¦ Haverford. It came down to a conversation with her Head of School Hamilton grad, who also had a Haverford sonā¦ and she decided to stay closer to home with the first application.
Just after getting accepted, a friend was asking about her selection process, and my daughter said āyouād love Hamiltonā to her friend. It was December ~20th. He applied, visited the first week of January, changed his app to ED2, was accepted, and loved his time there.
We visited twice including an overnight (which was the best of her 3), and we all really loved the school. If I were picking a similar school, Iād lean toward Colby and Haverford for vibe and size (Haverford is smaller, but the Bryn Mawr connection makes it feel a lot bigger).
We didnāt get that vibe from Colgate. It felt a lot more āpre-professionalā, and fell off our list. The first visit to Hamilton was actually a side-trip after visiting the intended target (Colgate).
Good luck.
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I spent a summer living in the dorms as part of an internship many, many years ago. The pros included a lovely, rather secluded campus. The major con was, coming from Wesleyan, I wasnāt accustomed to such a long walk into town. Clinton is down a steep hill and people tend to wait until they can catch a car ride. Very different from Williams where the town intersects with the college. The sense of being isolated is especially palpable at nighttime.
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@EyeVeee thatās great information. My daughter and I both really liked Haverford too .I think he location is perfect combo of quiet and cute town etc. She is gravitating toward Hamilton for the slightly larger size and she thought Haverford student body was a bit edgier than Hamilton? How has your daughterās experience been there? thank you!
As I said earlier, we live near Hamilton and one of my kids goes to Bryn Mawr (close to Haverford). She likes the access to the train/Philly and prefers that setting to Clinton.
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I have a son who graduated from Hamilton in 2020 and a son who is currently a junior at Hamilton. Both have nothing but great things to say about the school. In general Iād say the administration really cares about the students, most of the professors are very good and accessible, and the community is accepting of everyone and understanding. The facilities are very good for a small school and well kept (we noticed that wasnāt the case at some other similar LACs).
The negatives to me are the weather stinks (if you need sun to be happy then donāt go to Hamilton) and the school is isolated from anything off campus. You either need a car or take the jitney to get off campus. New Hartford has a mall and every big box store and Utica/New Hartford surprisingly have a lot of varying restaurants to try. Itās not New York City but itās not as rural as some other schools.
Once my sons narrowed their school lists to small liberal arts colleges they looked at most of the NESCAC schools. The older son liked Colby a lot also (very similar vibe to Hamilton). The younger son was seriously considering Colgate also just because he thought he might want a slightly larger school but not a big school. But he ended up applying ED1 to Hamilton (his older brother did a lot of convincing!).
Let me know if you have any specific questions and Iāll see if my sons can answer them.
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My son was a Miami Posse finalist for Franklin and Marshall. Hamilton is another Posse school for Miami and was his second choice. He didnāt get Posse and then found himself in the Posse school recruiting pool. Many a school reached out to him but Hamilton gave it the personal touch. It was really nice. He applied but later pulled because he really wanted Emory Oxford. He wanted two years LAC and two year research institution. He got in there ED2. When he reaches out to pull his Hamilton application they sent back a really nice email and called him to wish him luck at Emory. The email said also wished him success. We were impressed that even though he was pulling an application to go elsewhere that the school
still made the experience uplifting and personal. Very impressive.
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My D was just accepted to Hamilton ED 1 and in addition to visiting MANY schools of varying sizes and demographics with her, we also have two older children, one at Syracuse University, and one at Oberlin in OH. Here are my thoughts. First, I would take some info. you read with a grain of salt. As an example, Hamilton is typically listed as āruralā and Oberlin is listed as āsuburbanā. We donāt personally find either to be true. We would classify Hamilton as āsuburbanā and Oberlin as āruralā. While my D was on Hamiltonās campus for a recruiting event, my husband and I took time to really drive around and explore surrounding areas. Hamilton has quite a few large stores and restaurants (Target, Panera, Chipotle, etc.) within a 5-10 minute drive. The town of Clinton itself, is also super cute; gives off a VT or New England vibe.
My Dās personal experience (after multiple visits) to almost every other NESCAC and high academic LAC, was that nothing came close to Hamilton in terms of the friendliest, nicest student body she came across. The campus itself also stood out in terms of beauty and facilities. Hamiltonās campus (1,300 acres) is quite large for the student body size and a good deal larger than the other NESCACs, so it gives a larger feel. My D thought she would lean towards Tufts as we narrowed the search, but after multiple additional visits to both schools, Hamilton won out for all the reasons mentioned above. Again, just our personal experience, but thought Iād share. Good luck!
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@Crosbylane thank you! Those are really helpful points. Huge congrats to your daughter. So nice to know what you want and have it fall into place!!
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My D is a freshman at Hamilton. Weāre from So. California, so moving to Clinton has been quite the adjustment for her. I would agree with Crosbylane. Clinton is considered āruralā but everything you need is in the nearby town of New Hartford ā Best Buy, Wal Mart, Bed Bath Beyond, etc. As far as Hamilton, I agree ā the students are nice and friendly and the campus is stunning. I would add that there are a lot of opportunities to be social on the weekdays and weekends. Additionally, I learned that the college arranges transportation for students to go into town, rides to urgent care or ER, and shuttles to the closest airports. So, though my daughter is thousands of miles away, I do feel better that school has made a significant effort to ensure the students are taken cared of.
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@Ham_Mom thank you for that information. Is your D having a good experience at Hamilton? Positive/negatives for her? many thx.
This video, produced and aired by NBC a few years ago, will give you a sense for the community of Clinton:
https://www.nbcsports.com/video/clinton-arena-2018-kraft-hockeyville-has-long-ice-hockey-history
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Visitors to Hamilton traveling from the east can see urban and suburban areas easily by exiting the Thruway at Utica. They will then travel along the edge of a city, through the suburb of New Hartford and through the village of Clinton within a 10-mile stretch before reaching the college. The authentically rural countryside to Hamiltonās south and west contributes to its atmosphere as well. Visitors arriving from various directions who would like a full sense of Hamiltonās environment would benefit from the approach of @Crosbylane of actively exploring the area.
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Iām the parent of a Hamilton ED applicant from a few years ago. Throughout her search, my daughter visited many schools, including Amherst, Bard, Bates, Bowdoin (double legacy), Colby, Dartmouth, Hamilton, Mount Holyoke (legacy), Smith, Vassar, Wellesley and Wesleyan. We did a ton of research and chose schools that offered a lot for her academic interests in English and art. Iād say that campus aesthetics were a much more important criterion to her than is typical. After her tour and interview on the Hamilton campus, she felt that she had found her place. . . . The ED 1 deferral was devastating.
However, she regrouped, and we ended up doing additional visits to ensure that she had a robust list of possible schools should Hamilton not come through. We made a trip to Ohio to visit Kenyon and Oberlin. We spent two full days at Kenyon, and she determined that it was a place at which she could thrive. She found it to be similar to Hamilton, with perhaps even a stronger feeling of being a literary college. So she decided, after very careful consideration, to switch her application there from RD to ED 2. It was difficult to let Hamilton go, particularly because her school counselor had called my daughterās admissions rep at Hamilton, who spent twenty minutes with the counselor discussing the details of my daughterās application. He assured her that my daughter, as a straight-A student with meaningful ECs and awards, was in excellent shape for admission, and that all that was necessary was a letter of continued interest and a mid-year grade report. Nonetheless, my daughter let Hamilton go and headed to Kenyon. Despite her early and strong affinity for H, she didnāt look back. She had an amazing four years at Kenyon, and she wouldnāt change a thing about the experience (except for losing the end of senior year to Covid restrictions).
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@apple23 thank you! thatās very helpful and so glad your D ended up so very happy. My D is also a legacy at Bowdoin but got deferred ED1. Assume your daughter did not think Bowdoin was the right fit. I thought I had read a prior post that your D went to Hamilton but clearly not! p.s. Kenyon is on the RD list as well for my D.
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Very interesting thread. S23 has applications in to Hamilton, Colby, Bowdoin, Amherst, Williams, Middlebury, and Holy Cross (plus 4 universities, and another uni acceptance in hand). He passed on Bates and Vassar. He hasnāt visited them all so this was all good to read about. Not sure what his options will end up looking like or how he will decide. I just hope he has options! Never know these days. Good luck everyone.
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