As an opinion, I’d say that, of the schools you listed in your original post, Bowdoin offers the strongest general history program.
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Good to know-- I’ve already had family question if it’s worth it for history since they just know it for science. I’ll direct any naysayers to you! 
By the way, I loved your impressions of the '22 tours. It seemed, though, that you weren’t a big fan of the various liberal arts colleges you visited. Looking forward to hearing how the trip with Gettysburg and Swat goes. Will that visit be in the fall? Also, have you visited any colleges that you think you could see yourself attending, or have they all been nos?
I actually liked the Gburg virtual visit, so I’m optimistic I’ll like it in real life too. I was searching online for peoples’ impressions of the surrounding area, and someone said the town’s vibe was closer to a southern small town than a northern one. No idea how true that is, but I’ve spent a good chunk of time in southern small towns so I’m very familiar with that “feel” and could probably fit in quite well (though the student body seems split between preppy kids, partiers, and history nerds). Point is, not expecting another Northampton.
If someone told me I was going to take one of these schools off the list after visiting, I would probably guess Swat. Its biggest draws to me are 1. location and 2. Alice Paul went there. It’s the school I’m least attached to out of everything on my list; if I drop it than I’ll probably drop Bowdoin as well despite their excellent history program and stop looking at LACs (went down a little Hamilton rabbit hole recently though, ngl).
I’ll be visiting in the fall so probably able to get a better idea of what life on campus feels like. As for actually being able to see myself attending any of the colleges I visited, …no, but I’m not worried yet because they were all so similar (except for UGA, which was a miserable weather day). I can say with fair certainty that quirky, artsy, activist LACs are not for me, and that’s ok.
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With respect to Swarthmore alumnae/alumni who may be of particular interest to you, you might also consider James Michener, who brought lots of history into his writing.
As a general comment regarding Swat, however, it seems its students have turned somewhat away from the study of humanities in recent years.
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I had no idea James Michener went to Swat!
They do seem to be pushing engineering a lot in their emails, so that lines up.
Based on some of your comments regarding LACs, you may appreciate that Hamilton’s history of having been two colleges of different characteristics and attributes helps to distinguish it from other liberal arts colleges, especially architecturally and spatially.
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As a note on Hamilton that might be relevant to you, it offers an open curriculum. So if you wanted to take 15 history courses there, you could.
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@merc81 and @apple23 - thanks for the Hamilton tidbits. I’m balking slightly because of the posts I’ve seen championing it’s writing focus because while I can write well and don’t foresee problems completing a history major, it’s not something I love. Otherwise, Hamilton looks promising so not taking it off the table yet.
To make it easier for you to pursue independent research on Swarthmore, this is one of the articles that influenced my earlier comment:
Note, however, that this type of information is best considered in the context of national trends, which may express similar patterns to those at Swarthmore. In any case, you would be able to expand your academic range through other Tri-Co history courses, such as those at Haverford. Moreover, you would, as you have suggested, be likely to appreciate Swarthmore’s proximity to historic cities and towns.
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I think you did a good job categorizing your schools. My only concern would be that most of your reaches and targets rely heavily on Ed admissions and are significantly more difficult to get into RD. I would consider adding some schools that take a decent amount of their class RD and also give some thought about where you might use ED2.
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That’s a really good point about ED vs RD admission rates. As of now, I’m not set on any of my reaches (except probably Penn, but will visit before pulling the trigger on ED). With my targets, I’m leaning heavily into demonstrated interest with American and accepting W&M OOS is a tougher admit.
If anyone has any reach/target suggestions that accept a more favorable amount RD, I’m more than willing to check them out.
Your publics (even those with ED) and your secondary privates - like a Gettysburg, are going to have plenty of RD.
And you had Delaware on your list.
I would look at curriculums at different schools but most will have classes but few will have depth like Gettysburg and their Civil War Institute.
There’s so many smaller privates up that way - from Dickinson to Juniata to Allegheny to Goucher to you name it - but it’s a question of, will they have enough content to meet your interests. You also don’t want South -but you might find wonderful opportunities to study as it’s where it’s happened - a College of Charleston, etc.
I’m not sure most schools will meet your need - so I’d check curriculum and even professor’s interests - and see where you can get closest.
Here’s a few links for you.
Civil War Era Studies - Shenandoah University - College of Arts & Sciences (su.edu)
About the Center – Virginia Center for Civil War Studies (vt.edu)
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Using this aggregator, these were the ED vs. RD admission rates for entry in fall of 2022. Each university is obviously the best source of info for this data, but if you’re looking for a speedy look, it’s a good resource for many (but not all) schools.
American and Gettysburg both have approachable/reasonable RD rates, and I suspect that you’re likely/safeties are all good as well. And the publics, as @tsbna44 mentioned, should not have that impact your consideration. So unless you want more schools to investigate, I think you’re pretty safe with the list you currently have.
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BTW, this made me a little concerned for you - studying History and preservation anywhere is going to include a ton of writing - that’s still the primary mode of communicating scholarship wherever you go with it. Something to think about!
Besides that, I would definitely keep Hamilton on your list. It definitely feels more “sprawling” than e.g. Swarthmore - the 1300+ acres is no joke, there is just a ton of space - and the writing programs are justifiably highly-regarded, with less of a intense/pre-professional focus than you may find at other LACs.
I saw someone also mentioned Syracuse, and if you have a chance to visit, I’d recommend it. I think it will fall in Target (at least) and it’s a place with a lot of passion and opportunities to work with Humanities faculty.
Good luck!
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I had exactly the same thought. Studying history in college (and beyond) is not like studying history in most high schools. Very writing intensive – reading and writing are at the core of the discipline.
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I would 3rd the history = writing intensive sentiment. I was a history major in college. It’s what we did.
My daughter is in more of a social science field as a college senior. It is also writing intensive, especially at higher levels.
I am not sure how else you would expect academic work in the majors you mentioned to be evaluated. There aren’t multiple choice or short answer essay tests in 300- or 400-level historic preservation classes, and there certainly aren’t problem sets. I didn’t comment initially because I thought that perhaps you meant that Hamilton has longer or somehow deeper requirements than is typical, but writing is what you will be doing at any of these schools.
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OP- you’re going to college to learn. And maybe you’ll learn to love a writing intensive program- and maybe you’ll pivot to another discipline and that’s ok too.
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Hold on, I think I didn’t word things correctly. Let me clarify: I LOVE reading about anything and everything and am perfectly okay with writing, especially if it’s about history. When reading about Hamilton, I got the sense that every discipline there requires intense writing-- that’s what gave me pause. I know I’m going to be doing a lot of writing in most of my classes, so if I were to take a few more quantitatively-focused classes out of pure interest, I might want a little bit of a break from that level of writing.
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Hamilton’s course catalog will help you clarify your impressions. As would be expected, many history courses are designated as Writing Intensive: Hamilton College Catalogue - History Courses. However, economics courses, for example, are more likely to fulfill Hamilton’s Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning requirement (QSR courses, as well as courses without any specific designation, would not be regarded as writing intensive): Hamilton College Catalogue - Economics Courses. (For both departments, click on the course titles for this information.)
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