another difference: hamilton has (recognized) greek life and colby does not.
based on your son’s interests, i think hamilton fits him better, but that is solely my opinion. whenever i looked at hamilton, it seemed like a great school for the humanities, and i’ve heard/read most of its classes are writing intensive. both schools are terrific options, which makes it so difficult to choose. can he visit them at all?
Not to dwell on the drinking issue but substance free housing was a great choice for my daughter at her school (not Colby or Hamilton but a small LAC in the northeast). It helped her find her tribe and she stayed in it for the first two years. She shared an apartment with three other girls last year (all who drank and…) and is studying abroad this year with many who also like to drink. She doesn’t have an issue with it at all but I think she liked knowing it wouldnt’ be an issue, especially her first year away from home.
Most classics majors prefer at least four years of one language and three of the other. Having to postpone beginning a language is annoying, as is having one’s first year of a language divided in half by several months of summer break.
One should acknowledge the deficiencies of a small department. It may not be a make-or-break factor, but it’s something to consider. As I wrote earlier, neither the program at Colby or Hamilton is outstanding, but they’re not terrible either. Of course, it’s true that a pre-law student doesn’t need the rigorous academic training in his/her major that a prospective PhD student does.
Yes, but one could also acknowledge substantive strengths, particularly with respect to the schools in question. In this case, the OP’s son has the opportunity to study with a nationally-renowned classics scholar, as this testimonial for the prestigious American Journal of Philology confers:
https://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/american-journal-philology/testimonials
I disagree with @Publisher 's characterization of rural LAC. Though in between rural and urban, my kid landed at Wesleyan right after the big overdose fiasco. The press was unrelenting. It’s dead now. And she hasn’t had a single problem. She’s on a sports team, and some of her teammates party. Sometimes she goes with them, but as she manages a chronic health issue, she does not partake. When she’s not in the mood, she doesn’t go.
Before my oldest went off to Cal, I recalled a LS classmate’s stories about his time in Berzerkley. I was scared ****-less. She never had a single problem.
These things, w/ or w/o Youtube videos get exaggerated and become the stuff of urban legend. Our private college advisor was convinced my serious, relatively home-body, behaviorally conservative kid shouldn’t even consider Wesleyan because Wes by rep was so “crazy”. She was 100% wrong. She loves it there. There is nothing “party” about that kid, and yet she has more close friends at Wes than she did in HS.
Kids get hammered and do stupid things everywhere. Sure, Dartmouth has a more pronounced party culture than Agnes Scott College, but suggesting that rural LAC means constant drinking is too simple. You should have been with us a couple of weeks ago in Key West and watched all the Ole Miss, Alabama and other spring breakers. Plenty to do in KW besides drink, but I’m pretty sure that was their main focus.f 
The above reply noted, I’m skeptical as to whether a poster who refers to Hamilton’s town as Kirkland has any personal experience with these schools anyway.
Unfortunately, rural LACs do equate with drinking as a primary source of activity/entertainment.
Just my opinion, but if Hamilton students can “only” take 3 1/2 years of Greek language and literature, that hardly seems worth mentioning on this thread as a “deficiency.’”
I found this documentary about Colby by a Colby student quite enlightening:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI3X5iBX0TA
The most resonant exchange to me was that Colby “is not a school where you talk about your academics on the weekend”. Overall this video makes it seem that while academically rigorous, Colby is not a particularly intellectual atmosphere. A lean towards the Classics would make me think your S would prefer a place with more room for casual cerebral discourse.
I have no idea if Hamilton is the same or different in this regard, this does not seem to be the kind of thing one can learn from tours and info sessions.
@4junior I watched the Colby video and I thought it was unfortunate that not many students were interviewed. It was the same people, some of whom had the same themes throughout. I ended thinking I am not really sure if this presents anything that useful about the school vibe other than the opinions of the handful of students presented.
I hear you and I think that’s a really valid point. It seemed like the director’s posse, and that they were somewhat disenfranchised. The piece would have benefitted from showing kids who are happy there (and even those happy kids could have brought home the author’s point had it been orchestrated well).
On the other hand, it embodied the vibe D and I got on our tour to a significant degree, as well as the profiles of the kids we know who go there. For people on CC who are international or who cannot visit I do believe it sheds light on the campus culture that is not visible through other channels. In general, I feel it is helpful to prospective students.
I think some of the exchanges (Hey Black Girl…) were so chilling, but delivered so deadpan and honestly that I believe they happened. I live in an uber liberal bubble and I was so shocked that this happens in these times. Even the outdoor party scenes were shocking to me, but that’s probably just my naivete!
@4junior Google [any school name] and fraternity and/or party and you will see the same. I just watched an Inside Edition of the frats they want to close at Berkeley (from a few years ago, to be fair). But if you watch regular students’ posts from “A Day in the Life at Berkeley” you get none of it, and then the live footage of kids sick in the street and such … it’s everywhere.
@mclmom I think I’ll save that google for about 4 years from now 
And as I said in post 28, it may very well be that other schools, including Hamilton, share the things shown in this documentary. I had a college experience very different than this - art school, where yes there were parties but the tone was different. I found the film enlightening but confess I do not know how much of it is simply college (or LAC’s) these days vs specific to that school.
During parent orientation at my child’s school, there was a session on alcohol education. Schools do compile and share info on this with their neighboring and peer schools. Alcohol is at every school. But drug culture differs. Schools where most of the social life occurs on campus or with the campus community tend to have more drinking. So a remote location can be a factor. Schools with Greek life have more alcohol issues than schools without Greek life. Schools where the population is younger have more issues with alcohol, so perhaps a bigger state university with a bigger range of age groups, returning veteran programs, married students, would have less alcohol issues, it’s not really a LAC thing, more of a locale and community thing. Though the biggest factor according to this session I attended was Greek life, which many lacs do not have. And student alcohol education and enforcement may vary by school.
I’d regard the Colby Life documentary as essential viewing for a potential Colby student. Interpretation is a separate consideration, and can come later.
Colby is in Waterville, not Watertown. And it’s barely in central Maine, certainly not northern Maine. I will be driving to the area next week, and it will take me only an hour from southern Maine. It would take me 4 1/2 hours to drive to northern Maine.