<p>Dad of an accepted student to these three great LACs asks "which college?"
History, Poly Sci and maybe Econ are main interests with an end goal being high level educator. Comments?</p>
<p>rikflan, it’s great that you’re taking an active interest in your son’s choice of colleges.</p>
<p>All three of these majors are popular at Colgate. Therefore, I’d assume that these three academic departnents at Colgate are competitive with their counterparts at Vassar and Hamilton. </p>
<p>However, more indepth distinctions can be made by a multi-pronged approach: probing students in these depts at the three schools. In particular, those students pursuing “high level educator” as careers may animate the data available in the course catalogues in very helpful ways. Have your son find out about: Distinguished professors in sub-fields within these depts. and their accessibility by students, whether there are opportunities to work closely with professors, research opportunities for students and graduate placements, etc. The active mining for grassroots student perspectives, by your son, will be a great way to ensure that HE is making an informed decision. .</p>
<p>Regardless of the distinctions among these depts in the three schools, your son will be presented with three different campus cultures affecting his growth beyond the purely academic experience.</p>
<p>I would not overlook the importance of the social dynamics of each of these schools. They also will contribute much to your son’s growth as a full human being. You have to choose one of these three competitive LAC’s, that seem quite similar from afar. I’d have your son take a trip to each of these campuses to develop a very subjective sense of what appeals to him. These are three great institutions. But, no individual is guaranteed a great college experience by any one of them. It will be a reciprocal process very much dependent on your son. Might as well get him to be perceptive and proactive about this decision, starting now. After all, that’s what college is all about, isn’t it ?</p>
<p>@Gatetime
Thanks for your response. I have had a ball over the last year visiting schools, researching, talking and planning with my son. I may have given you the impression that he is sitting back and letting me do all the research. That is decidedly not the case. But now it’s time for the real hard work for him, that is, actually choosing where he will attend. </p>
<p>Each of these schools offered very similar financial aid packages so it comes down to academics and what you call campus cultures. We have visited all three and he has visited each more than once. He has already scheduled over night visits to two of them, so hopefully, that will provide the “active mining for grassroots student perspectives” you mention. In addition, he plans on contacting department personnel directly to probe further.</p>
<p>My goal on this site is to try to get perspectives from those in the know who have been there and might have a unique take on any of the schools. His favorite school was Wesleyan, but he was waitlisted and he is not holding his breath for a 2nd chance. From what I have seen, the most similar of the three to Wes would be Vassar and son agrees.
Again, thank you for taking the time to offer advice.</p>
<p>Vassar remains a majority women’s school even today decades after going coed, if that makes any difference. The others, Hamilton and Colgate, are more evenly balanced. Hamilton, at first, tried to not be coeducational, but to add a coordinate college (called Kirkland College) but that idea largely failed, so they eventually just admitted women to Hamilton. It seemed an especially awkward effort to me at the time. Of the three schools, Colgate which once had an intensely macho culture, somewhat ironically seems to have made the cleanest transition to full coeducation. But that was 40 years ago, so may not matter at all today. </p>
<p>Colgate has been very successful in maintaining an egalitarian attitude as well as making great efforts to create a campus comfortable for international students and LBGT students, as well. I’m sure Hamilton and Vassar deal with the same issues just as well, but I have no direct knowledge of that. </p>
<p>Colgate maintains a fraternity-sorority culture that involves maybe 25-30% of students, though it’s been trying to downplay and even eliminate frat culture and been fairly successful in doing so. I think such alternatives are mostly good, allowing students to live on their own, govern themselves, and so forth, but some don’t like that culture much. I think Hamilton still has frats, as well, but I would doubt Vassar does. I don’t know,however. </p>
<p>Vassar is sometimes ranked a little higher than Hamilton or Colgate in the well-known lists, but the three are essentially equal by any reasonable standard. </p>
<p>My own daughter did not want to apply to Hamilton after visiting (she did not find it as welcoming and thought it seemed small and not especially pretty. I think it is a fairly pretty school, but climbing that hill from the town would exhaust a top athlete!). She did apply to Vassar and Colgate, was admitted to both, but decided she did not like Vassar nearly as much after all (it didn’t seem as “sporty” or enthusiastic as she wanted in her college fantasies) and chose Colgate and has fallen in love with it, for the most part (long cold winters aside). She as an A or A- high school student at a top private school, just so you know. </p>
<p>The two most similar schools are probably Colgate and Hamilton. Hamilton is the smaller and more “college-like” while Colgate has many qualities of a larger university. Colgate plays serious sports in Division I, if that matters, while Hamilton and Vassar don’t, playing one step up from high school sports in leagues like NESCAC. Colgate has an enormous number of off-campus programs. Like Hamilton, it’s somewhat lost in the farmlands of upstate New York. Vassar is closer to NYC, though it is a few hours away. </p>
<p>Having visited all three campuses, I’d rank them Colgate first, Vassar second, and Hamilton third on overall beauty. But they certainly aren’t far apart in that department. Colgate seem more elegant looking. I find Colgate the most beautiful of all. If that matters to anyone. </p>
<p>The History, Poli Sci and Econ departments at Colgate are all outstandingly good. My own daughter, now at Colgate, has majored in Poli Sci and loves it and has gotten a first-rate education. I don’t know anything about specific programs at the other two schools, however, so I won’t even attempt a comparison, but I’d be surprised if they weren’t just as good. But every school has stronger and weaker departments, so perhaps not. </p>
<p>I’ve taught students who attended all three school and while all three attract very good students, the kids I knew who went to Colgate seemed more well-rounded academically and more energetic while those who went to Hamilton were a little narrower in interests and perhaps a little less driven in some ways, studious but perhaps not so interesting. Students I’ve known who attended Vassar were good students, but not as good – oddly – as those who went to the other two. These are only my own observations and based on only half a dozen or so students total, so may be misrepresentative–and probably are. My point is only that the actual kids who attend colleges don’t always square with its “image”. </p>
<p>Drug culture on each campus must differ, as well, but I’m not aware of what it is beyond what I’ve been told. Wesleyan once had, and may still have, a strong drug culture on campus. I had once heard that Vassar was a little like that, but I don’t know much about this. Drugs are used at Hamilton and Colgate, too, but it’s most likely going to be marijuana experimentation and not too much beyond that. Alcohol and drugs is something to consider as at some schools the pressures in that direction are not healthy. </p>
<p>It’s best to look at them carefully, talk to people in departments you’re interested in, and certainly visit them if you can. All are great schools, but each is definitely different. </p>
<p>.</p>
<p>“Vassar remains a majority women’s school even today decades after going coed”</p>
<p>Can you tell me more on this? Do you mean Vassar is less sporty and more Artsy?</p>
<p>I wondered because if you just look at the numbers, Colgate’s female/male ratio is 52.8%/47.2%, Hamilton is 53.1%/46.9, and Vassar is 56.4%/43.6%. All three school are pretty much the same… to me.</p>
<p>I just want to reply that my son is a sophomore at Vassar, his class is 45% male to 55% female as is the freshman class. The idea that Vassar is a female school is antiquated. They have been co-ed since 1969.</p>