I’m down to choosing among Colby, Bates & Skidmore for college. I have to ED one of them. I’ll be majoring in Economics and probably double major in Statistics/Computer Science/Mathematics. I’m expat so I can’t really visit the colleges. I’m an Asian. Based on their rankings, I’m leaning towards Colby but my parents are skeptical about racism issues at all 3 colleges.
I won’t be interested in partying. All I need is academics and solid networking. Also I heard that Skidmore gives first year students a triple to dorm?! That’s uncomforting to hear. What about the other 2? I’m preferring single or at the very least a double.
Colby has no loan package, not sure about bates, skidmore counts loans in its financial aid.
Yes it’s true about triples at Skidmore.
Singles are exceedingly rare and considered bad for 1st year students since it isolates them more from the community.
Anyway: Sounds like it’s Bates or Colby then. Either one is going to be very good. See if they have ED2 so that you can apply to one ED1 and the other ED2?
@MYOS1634, Okay, both have ED2. But Colby is #11 and bates #21. That is quite a lot of difference in the rankings. Also I see bates has more white population than Colby.
For economics, especially if you like math, Colby is a great choice. Also, it has exceptional career services. (And there are often a couple of research opportunities in economics over the summer. Competitive to get.) You should run the NPC before applying to check on affordability. I would recommend looking carefully at the course catalog and degree/general requirements for each of your finalists to make sure you like the way the program is set up. They are similar in some ways but not exactly.
I know a handful of Asian American students at Colby (certainly not the whole universe, mostly athletes - and all from NJ) who have not experienced racism at the school but have commented that Maine itself feels very white, occasionally uncomfortably so.
You will not get a single your freshman year at Colby. Freshman get doubles and triples. The latter are not “forced”, in that they have always been triples, but they are not necessarily terribly big. With that said, if you choose a substance free dorm, I think it is likely that it will have only doubles. Housing in subsequent years can be VERY nice, and you could conceivably have a single in each of the following 3 years.
Really, you can’t go wrong with any of your choices. All excellent schools.
Colby registers an overall score in U.S. News of 88. Bates lands at 85. On a 100 point scale, this represents a small difference. Both Colby and Bates offer economics departments with accomplished faculty: https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html. Note, however, that Bates only recently established its computer science major, so this may be an aspect you should research further.
S is double majoring in CS and Econ at Colby. He speaks very highly of the head of the CS department as well as the other CS profs whose classes he has taken. Seems to be a quickly growing program at Colby. Similar experience for Econ. It is a popular major, so sometimes it is difficult to get into a class, but he seems to figure it out each term. Overall he really loves Colby. He is not a party kid and has found great friends who are similar. He was in a triple freshman year, but not many kids are placed in triples. His room was huge, so although he was concerned at first, it was not an issue at all for him. He has a very close friend at Bates who is very happy there, however I am not familiar with their CS or Econ programs. I will say that Bates and Skidmore tend to have the reputation of being more artsy while Colby is more outdoorsy if that matters to you at all. Bates is more integrated into the town, while Colby sits outside of the town center, but has a shuttle bus system. All are great schools, good luck!!
One should not base their application decisions on USNews rankings, any more than one should decide who to marry based on how well that person ranked in a beauty pageant.
Nor base them on how many beds in a freshman dorm room. Or, what parents think.
If you’d like an admit to a highly selective or selective college, you need to be the sort who can determine match, whether you fit what they want, figure out if a dept suits you, etc.
What sort of racism? Can’t you look into various clubs, events, and support at target colleges?
Skidmore has a location that feels less isolated to me than both of your Maine choices. Is that important to you? I would not let a triple discourage you. It would be fine and part of what the college experience is - learning to be more flexible.
Colby and Bates are great too. I’d start with geographic preference and campus type and go from there. I find Colby to much more beautiful than Skidmore. I also find Lewiston…well, just not appealing. On the other hand, Saratoga is very appealing.
OP: In my opinion, you are receiving some great advice in this thread, especially the accurate post above (#13) of @Empireapple.
Saratoga Springs is one of the most attractive college locations in the US & Lewiston is among the least desirable. However, if location & surroundings are not important to you, then these observations may not be relevant.
@Empireapple: Thanks. Yes, Colby hit its Georgian look. Skidmore’s campus misses any particular defining description, though its entranceway is beautiful.