Hey @SoccerMomGenie , what a great question you pose! I appreciate the focus on collaboration you and your daughter are exploring. (And BTW, she sounds like an AMAZING young woman!)
My heart warmed when I began reading your thread because it was one of the two or three most important qualities for my child in her college selection journey. If it were Algebra, imagine it would be the first or second variable we would solve. She will be entering college this coming fall, so we have a lot of time invested in learning about and viewing schools with the collaboration versus competition lens.
You have received lots of great feedback about the NESCACs. Our college focus was primary geared to Ivys and NESCACs and the two WASP schools not in the NESCAC league. Geographically, we looked at schools in the Northeast and on the West Coast. As far as Ivy League schools, Brown was clearly the winner in the collaboration department. I have heard this from college consultants, read it in books, and experienced the “vibe” on campus. I am not sure why others have not echoed this sentiment already. Brown is sometimes referred to as “alternative” Ivy, so have your daughter check it out. The other collaborative school that is also sometimes compared to Brown is Pomona in California. If she wants to attend college in New England, this would not work for her, but if you and she are a bit more open to California, it is worth consideration.
If you would like any specifics on a couple of notorious cut-throat schools, please feel free to send me a message. They are great schools in their own rites, but are not known to foster a sense of well-being in their students. Best of luck, and how awesome you have so much information at the start of your journey!
My daughter is a sophomore there, and the kids I’ve met seem to be very happy and excited to be there. The admissions officer told us he seeks out students who he thinks will get along well with others. Brown does not give an official GPA and any class can be taken P/F and many are only offered P/F. Also no core requirements outside of one’s concentration - so students in class want to be there. Also ,there is a “shopping period” for classes - so you can try them out. Here are some clips that gives a feel for the school:
@ThankYouforHelp, thx and would appreciate more insight if possible as yes my Junior Year DD who is pursuing XC and track as a student athlete is a;
great passionate student - 34 ACT with 36 Reading, 36 English, 35 Science, 30 Math and 36 Writing; 3.95 UWGPA (with 4 more AP’s this year she may end Junior Year cummulative with a 3.75, but weighted will stay the same) / 4.22 WGPA, will have 5 AP’s by end of Junior Year / 9 when she graduates, National Merit something in NJ (too hard to tell what a 219 gets you with new scoring); 2015 Siemens Competition; will be NHS this year
a strong developing, but not yet great athlete - sub-21 XC 5k; 5:50 1600; will be captain of XC team in Senior Year; just started running two years ago, but as she runs XC, winter track, spring track for a top NJ HS team she loves it and just keeps getting stronger as her teammates push her in a very supportive way
loves the LAC environment and wants to mix a major in Biology/Environmental Science with a minor in History, or something else but definitely mashing different stuff together
has done initial tours of most of the NESCAC schools, ran the indoor track at Middlebury for kicks and has communicated with some coaches, but would love more insight and guidance.
Chembiodad, your daughter’s academic credentials are great. They would not be a bar at any college in the country, including WASPs and Ivies, that wanted to recruit her.
However, to be honest, unless her running times improve quite a bit, its going to be difficult to get the coaches interested. They only have a few slots and they only recruit athletes that can help their team score points at the college level. You can go to TFRRS and look up the times that the rest of the team runs for various events for comparison.
This is not to say that she couldn’t be part of a team at the Division III level. The teams welcome walk-ons. But she might have to get in without a coach’s interest.
@ThankYouforHelp, yes, not expecting slot consideration with current times, but know that times are competitive 5-7 deep at many of her target schools so it’s really just about having conversations that could help distinguish her amongst the pack in the ED process as yes a scoring walk-on role is realistic at some.
Thanks for asking that, @Akqj10, as I’d been wondering that myself and you finally provided the impetus for me to look it up. WASP = Williams-Amherst-Swarthmore-Pomona, i.e, the 4 most selective/prestigious LAC’s.
Not on your life. I once tried my hand at editing the Wesleyan wiki site and it was like the nine circles of hell combined into one. It definitely put our CC debates to shame.
Another case in point. Colgate is probably the most widely admired and recognized LAC in the country and yet doesn’t get folded into any of the current, self-regarding, acronyms.
@circuitrider Lehigh suffers from this as well.
Some schools don’t fit the forum narrative.
Washington & Lee is another…same thing. Is W&L ever mentioned about merit awards? 10% of each class gets a free ride plus stipend.
Have you ever noticed the proviso after a comment about Notre Dame. Invariably it goes like this “but you have to be prepared for the rural location and heavy religious presence.” I chuckle every time.
@intparent what ranking? The Brookings poll ranks Colgate #2 of all 4 year institutions in term of value added to future earnings. Clearly someone out there thinks highly of it. And it has no engineering.
I never, ever hear Colgate mentioned except out here on CC. It is “hot stuff” in the Northeast, maybe, but in 30 years of business and college discussions in the Midwest and West coast, I have never once run into anyone who attended or applied. I hear other LACs sometimes, even some east coast ones, but it just isn’t at the top of the heap. Had to dig for that Brookings ranking, didn’t you? There is nothing wrong with Colgate, but you exaggerate its reach.
