My Daughter (2023) is in the process of narrowing down a list of SLACs for ED1 next fall. Her top six right now are Middlebury, Swarthmore, Haverford, Grinnell, Macalester, and Carelton…with Wesleyan as a more distant possibility. We visited Middelbury and Wesleyan in the summer and will see the other 5 this spring.
Her list so far is mainly based on fit and vibe. Middlebury’s more preppy/jock vibe is the one exception though she is a language kid, so it makes the list.
She wants to think about her list in terms of possible area of study. She almost certainly will major in Classics (along with some other traditional Humanities major…e.g. Religion, Philosophy, English etc…). So we are looking for insight into Classics programs at SLACs. Are any of the schools she is looking at particularly good in that area. Are there SLAC’s that we are not looking at that would be especially good at Classics that deserve another look?
I would recommend looking at the course catalogs at each of those schools to see the courses offered in Classics. They might have quite different focuses within their Classics departments - some may be more language focused (and focused on one particular language rather than offering multiple), others might be more focused on history, etc.
You can learn a lot about a school’s program by delving a bit more into the courses offered and the research done by the professors within the department. D20 ruled out plenty of schools just by reading the course catalog and figuring out that the classes offered in the departments she was interested in weren’t classes she wanted to take.
I would encourage her to do a deep dive into the offerings in the Classics major and other requirements such as language at each of the schools on her list…each school can have a different take/focus, such as time frame/era most studied, and how much religion is included.
Once she sorts thru that (and maybe she already has), then she can assess vibe (and any other factors) to decide if the school makes the list. Did she consider Williams, Amherst, Bates, and Bowdoin? If yes, and they fell off the list, the reasons would be helpful for posters to recommend other schools.
Is she only considering LACs? If so, she will need some less selective schools to balance out the list. Less selective schools (relative to the ones you mentioned) that are strong in Classics: St. Olaf, Skidmore, Wooster, Whitman, Williamette, Oberlin. Safeties (depending on her stats, and if affordable) could include Beloit and Mary Washington.
You also may want to research the popularity of classics programs through IPEDS. For example, Haverford recorded 5 graduating classics “first majors” in a recent year: College Navigator - Haverford College.
Former Classics major. Agree with what’s been said- the course catalogue is your D’s best friend in vetting programs. Interdisciplinary studies are very easy at some colleges, harder at others- there is no need for a Classics major to have a minor, second major, etc. if she’s at a college where there is regular and vigorous collaboration with other departments of interest. And looking at the 'visiting professors" list is also helpful- even though those scholars won’t be on campus when she shows up, it will help figure out if it’s a robust department where faculty from other institutions want to be, or if it’s dying a slow death as the current faculty retire and don’t get replaced.
In my opinion, philosophy represents the strongest overlap field for classics (unless archaeology might be an interest). Your daughter may want to emphasize colleges with notable programs in this area as well.
Thanks for the great replies folks. The course catalogs look like a great next step.
Her strong preference is to go to a LAC. She has national universities on her list as well but not for ED1. If she can get into a school like say…Swarthmore she wold much prefer that over say a Brown or a Chicago. With that said, if she ends up not getting into her ED school she likely will look at some bigger schools.
We live in Virginia so her current thinking is that William and Mary will be her safety school.
She is not a fan of most of the traditional New England SLACs like Williams and Colby…she is not into the prep school vibe that many of those place have. Even Middlebury rubbed her the wrong way though it remains on the list because of its Language strength.
She knows the schools on her list are tough to get into but she hopes she will be competitive. She is a Junior and currently has a 4.0/4.57 GPA.
She is currently taking:
AP US History
AP Physics 2
AP Calc AB
AP English
Spanish 4
German 3 - she skipped 1 and 2
Latin 3
Art 3 - she skipped 1 and 2
Next year she will take the following classes (she will take a full load plus an additional independent study):
AP Chem
AP Calc BC
AP English Lit
AP Government
AP Spanish (5)
AP German (5) - she will skip 4
AP Latin (4)
Independent Study Greek 2
AP Art - Drawing
She hopes to go to Latin Governor’s school this summer, she is on the Academic team, tutors ESOL Middle School kids, had an internship at UVA last summer…
She looks great. But my daughter had similar stats and 32 act and didn’t get into W&M. Not sure if residency matters in VA but you might want a just in case safety underneath.
Regarding Swarthmore, its students have moved away from the study of humanities in recent decades. This may be a reflection of national trends, however.
With Wesleyan I think it’s important that you take a look at The College of Letters (COL), too. It’s a really cool interdisciplinary approach to Lit, Philosophy and History (both Ancient and Modern): WesMaps - Wesleyan University
When my oldest son applied to college a few years ago it was as a Classics major. We looked at all the top liberal arts schools including all the NESCACs and they were all pretty similar in their offerings. The exception was Holy Cross. In my humble opinion they are the liberal arts school with the best Classics Department. Just examine all the school’s Classics departments & the classes they offer. Holy Cross has the largest Classics Department of any liberal arts school in the country. It is significantly larger in terms of number of professors and the breadth of its offerings and is comparable in size to what you would see at universities. Typically at liberal arts schools, even the very best ones, the Classics departments will be very small and their offerings limited. This can particularly be an issue if your daughter has a more advanced background in Classics. Holy Cross also has a full tuition scholarship for Classics (the Bean). My son ultimately chose to attend Georgetown partly because it’s Georgetown but also because of the real limitations on what were offered at the liberal arts schools. All the schools you listed are great schools, but if studying Classics is truly your daughter’s goal, aside from Holy Cross, they are not ideal.
I had lots of classmates who did Classics with History overlap OR Art History OR Religious Studies (which was where a lot of the antiquities scholars were housed) and one intrepid soul who overlapped with Egyptology (a tiny, mostly grad level department but he managed fine as an undergrad). No overlaps with philosophy, which likely reflected the U’s outstanding faculty in the aforementioned departments… students tend to gravitate towards “the fantastic professors”.
OP- your D will quickly find where the rockstar professors are, and that will help shape her interests. I had zero interest in learning about the impact Herodotus had on military history and policy until I took the class!
Is your D tackling Level 2 in Greek without having had Level 1? That’s ambitious!
No she did Greek 1 as a Sophomore (we are really lucky to have it taught at all at our HS).
I like what I think you are saying…She loves classics but she she also loves ancient history, ancient philosophy, ancient literature, and all languages. I think that if she is in an environment that allows a multidisciplinary approach she will prosper. Maybe it is better to say she wants to study antiquity across many departments.
Holy Cross does look like they have an impressive department, but she has already rejected it…way too conservative and she has no interest in a school that still puts that kind of value on religion.
I’m sure that’s valid. My perspective perhaps was based too narrowly on the connection between classics and the prominent Greek philosophers taught in philosophy departments. Of fields you didn’t mention, medieval and Renaissance studies may be another for which the OP’s daughter will want to research available course offerings.
It is true, colleges are filling more and more of their class via ED.
However, if you truly aren’t sold on a particular school and it does seem like Classics is limited as it’s a declining area…if you’re not 100% sold on a school for the major and/or for $$, then don’t apply ED.
Many kids are still getting in EA/RD and at the schools that offer merit (on your original list Mac and Grinnell), often times it’s better RD since they need to “convince” you to come.
Too many feel like the “must” ED. Many of us have kids that got into fine colleges (in our case W&L) that didn’t go the ED route.