Hi there,
I am an international student and I have been accepted into these three great LACs. I want to study Comp. Science, Physics, Mathematics and will most probably major in one of these, but I am also interested in English Literature, possibly a minor. The financial aid packages are similar. So now I am trying to choose between these three schools.
Any suggestions??
Since you are Int’l I will assume that you may not have visited these schools… As you have already decided and become aware…they are excellent choices in the realm of small LAC’s…We visited Oberlin and Colgate and had lived near Easton PA ( Lafayette) years ago…Perhaps geography may then be a deciding factor as I’m sure you have perused their websites and blogs ad nauseum to get a sense of their academic strengths…Colgate is very small in very rural NY state with a quaint and smaller town …Hamilton nearby ( Hamilton College)…All of the culture and any measure of arts/creativity comes from the college population …not the tiny bucolic town…Syracuse is the nearest major city (1hr) and it’s an OK vibe but also a college town …Just don’t think you are near Manhattan because you are in NY state…Colgate is in the middle of the state which is green and beautiful but rural…4 hrs. from NYC…
Oberlin is a more liberal socially progressive core of intellectualism and 45 mins. from a major US city…Cleveland… with a vibrant waterfront on Lake Erie and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame…worth a visit or 2…The town of Oberlin is also quaint and rural but has more depth than Easton,Pa or Hamilton, NY. Also, Obie has the Conservatory…one of the most premier in the USA…Always something in the arts going on …World class Museum as well…
Lafayette and Colgate lean more towards Finance and Communication studies than Obie…Although O is commendable there too…Hope this helps. Our S is deciding between Oberlin Conn Coll Pitzer and Bard…
Congratulations on those acceptances. Each of the schools is small and somewhat physically isolated - Colgate more so than the other two. Oberlin has the better conservatory and art (which students can rent per semester), and is probably better known for the science fields you list, while the others could hold their own in the arts and business. Oberlin has the track record in producing PhDs and Nobel laureates so if your intention is grad school in the sciences, it would be a top consideration. In terms of campus vibe, these schools are very different; Oberlin is liberal and as their banners proclaim “fearless” while the others are more conservative imo. If you want to be near a major city, Lafayette gets you reasonably near Philadelphia & NYC. They’re all 3 highly rated, so it’s a matter of what you are looking for in a school beyond it being a small LAC.
@shuffle1 everyone I have talked to told me that Oberlin is more inclined to arts, you are the first one to suggest otherwise.
@parentgeorgia your son has done very well! congratulations!
While I am a Colgate alumnus what I have to offer should not make any difference regarding how you approach the question of where you will be happy and successful.
What to do… Why not evaluate the campus vibe and those further education and career outcomes by going to the primary sources themselves, i.e. the admissions offices of the 3 schools with a clear and concise request for information on graduates’ outcomes? Then overlay the style, timeliness and content of what you receive over the profiles of the colleges that you have gleaned directly from them and also anecdotally (seasoning the latter with a pinch of salt). Lastly, look hard at the curricula, faculty depth and quality, course offerings’ availability and facilities, in your case those of the sciences especially. Also note that Colgate has a core curriculum for all students- a great asset, in my opinion.
As parentgeorgia mentioned, I imagine you have not visited these places yourself so your task is that much more difficult. In my case, I visited Colgate and fell in love with the look and feel of the place- it is a magnificent setting with terrific facilities such as Ho Science Center and Case Library/Center for Info tech- during my last high school year and knew immediately that I would fit in and also grow there. Further, I knew some families of then-current students and also recognized that certain Colgate curricular and extracurricular offerings might suit me very well. “My” result is a life-long attachment to Colgate, its ongoing campaigns to raise money for more financial aid and capital plant additions and improvements and participate in student enrichment programs.
Sorry for the digression but I thought you might enjoy hearing about my enthusiasm- grounded as it is in the school.
I am sure that you will find similarly commited alumni out and about from Lafayette and Oberlin.
Best of luck with your selection!
Go 'gate!
Please see my comments on your same post in the college search and selection thread. I would add that if you can’t visit maybe see if you can get some more independent information about the schools – some ideas would be checking college guide books (ex. Fiske, insiders guide, Princeton Review), try to find the school newspapers online, look at a map to see where the schools are located and if important proximity to an airport, look at courses offered in your area by the different schools etc. I think Lafayette would be an excellent choice but you do have 3 fine schools to choose from so you can’t go wrong.
@parentgeorgia I would call Lafayette more of a STEM oriented LAC. It has a big presence in science and engineering for a school of its size (as well as being excellent in traditional liberal arts disciplines) There is no finance major and no communication major offered at Lafayette so I’m not sure where you got that.
Oberlin is quite different than the other two. Oberlin is super liberal and very much focused on co-op living where students run their living facilities and assign jobs to those in the co-op. Oberlin also has a solid music conservatory as part of the school. Div 3 sports and in the Midwest.
Colgate and Lafayette are more similar to each other. Two of the smallest D1 schools (both in the Patriot League) and in the northeast. Colgate is probably the stronger school.
@ClarinetDad16 is spot on, though as a Lafayette grad I feel that Colgate is just as little bit of a stronger school, lol! And Lafayette has a strong engineering program, while Colgate does not have an engineering program of its own.
You might also want to look at the # of international students at each school. Maybe also contact the International Student Organization at each college to get a sense of the community, support etc. you might expect as a student there.
@happy1. Thank you for the clarification. I stand corrected. I should have researched directly and did not. A colleague in finance business graduated with an Econ/math degree from Lafayette . He mentioned their very successful and oldest student run investment club in the nation. I checked and saw that they were featured on CNN as well…