Colby vs Bates vs Kenyon

<p>I'm having a difficult time deciding between these three schools. I feel I would fit in at any of these three for different reasons. Looking for a social, friendly place but I'm not a big partier. Would either play a varsity sport (may depend on where I go) and if not would definitely do IM or Club. Most likely will major in Bio with the intent of going to med school. Would like to definitely spend a semester abroad (hope I can do this as both a pre-med and athlete!). I'm from a upper middle class suburb but I do value diversity and I have friends of a wide range of racial, religious and socio-economic backgrounds. When I visited Bates and Colby I felt more hipster and when I visited Kenyon I felt more preppy! If you had to summarize each school in a few words, how would you describe them?</p>

<p>Colby College: Everything you’re looking for.</p>

<p>Social and friendly students: Check. Colby is easily one of the friendliest campuses that I’ve been on.</p>

<p>Not a big partier: Check. Colby certainly has the parties if you ever want to have that kind of weekend, but as a “not a big partier” myself, I can tell you that there is a TON going on all the time that doesn’t involve parties.</p>

<p>Varsity all the way down to intramural sports: Check. 30% of Colby students play a varsity sport. An additional 10% play club. Finally 70% total are involved in something from DIII (or DI if you Ski) to intramural (this stat includes overlap).</p>

<p>Biology/Pre-Med: Double check. The biology department here is particularly strong, with many research opportunities (and even opportunities at Bigelow Labs if you’re into marine bio) and a medical school program with Tufts.</p>

<p>Study Abroad: Check. About 2/3 of Colby students study abroad at some point during their 4 years on the hill. There are opportunities for semester, full year, and even just Jan Plan study abroad. Colby has three of its own programs in Spain, France, and Russia, but there are a myriad of programs from other schools that are pre-approved by Colby. Even if it’s not pre-approved, you can appeal it (if it meets academic standards, you’re a go). Basically, if there’s a place on Earth you want to go, and there’s a program that goes there, you can do it.</p>

<p>As far as the hipster thing goes, that’s not really how I would characterize Colby (or even Bates, but then again I don’t go there). When I think hipster, I would be more likely to think of a school like Macalester. Colby students are a pretty good mix between preppy and normal (jeans, t-shirt), with some hipsters thrown in too (along with others) as far as clothing goes (I’ve never been a fan of preppy as description of character). As far as personalities, Colby has pretty big diversity here. Perhaps someone with very conservative social values may not be in the majority here (although this is probably the case at most liberal arts schools), most people would have no problem fitting in here and finding others with similar or different perspectives than themselves.</p>