College Comparison: Wellesley, Smith, Brown, UChicago, Carleton

College Search & Selection
1

<p>If anyone can answer any (or all) of the following questions for any of the above schools, it would be greatly appreciated: </p>

<ul>
<li>How would you describe the student body?</li>
<li>How would you describe the faculty? Are TAs employed?</li>
<li>Are there accessible/well-funded resources for fine arts?</li>
<li>Can you opt to double major?</li>
<li>Can you opt to study abroad?</li>
<li>Is there a parliamentary debate society?</li>
<li>Does the surrounding city have art museums, music halls, theatres, etc.? </li>
</ul>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>bump (b/c im interested in carleton)</p>

3

<p>I don't know anything about Wellesley or Smith.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>How would you describe the student body?
Brown: well-rounded but definately a liberal presence, outgoing and friendly
Chicago: quieter than Brown, definitely liberal, super intelligent, there is a social scene but it's more friendly social than party social
Carleton: intellectually stimulated. a "thinker" crowd, not sure about social scene</p></li>
<li><p>How would you describe the faculty? Are TAs employed?
couldn't tell you</p></li>
<li><p>Are there accessible/well-funded resources for fine arts?
Brown: definately
Chicago: well, you're in Chicago!
Carleton: couldn't tell you</p></li>
<li><p>Can you opt to double major?
not sure</p></li>
<li><p>Can you opt to study abroad?
i think this is a 'yes' at all 3.</p></li>
<li><p>Is there a parliamentary debate society?
hmmm...</p></li>
<li><p>Does the surrounding city have art museums, music halls, theatres, etc.?
yes, yes and yes. especially chicago, but providence does as well. carleton is about 45-60 minutes from Minneapolis, and they will have culture there but I'm not sure about Northfield specifically.</p></li>
</ul>

4

<p>A couple of yrs ago, with D1, we visited Wellesley, Smith, and Brown. To us, Brown is the most urban in that it is just up the hill--10-15 min--walk from a very busy shopping/eating area of Providence. Smith is in Northampton...a very artsy community with a lot of character. Wellesley, on the other hand, is about 30-40 min outside of Boston in a wealthy suburb. As a result of locale, the "feel" of each campus is very different. I tend to think that all 3 have a liberal lean...with Smith on the far left and Wellesley holding up the right. Of the women colleges, friendly and supportive...but Wellesley is definitely a little "stiffer." Both offer a great education with wonderful connections. Having studied piano for 13 yrs, D1 actually met with Wellesley's Dir of Performance...newly hired from Harvard. From what I have heard, Smith's performance program is a tad stronger. All 3 have beautiful campuses and study abroad programs. Definitely no TA's at Wellesley or Smith. Hope this helps....</p>

5

<p>For Smith:</p>

<ul>
<li>How would you describe the student body?</li>
</ul>

<p>The most economically diverse of any prestigious liberal arts college (or private U) in the country, with 28% of the student body on Pell Grants, as well as a wealthy, private school contingent. Large foreign contingent. Lots of "overachievers" - as the student body is economically poorer, so are their SAT scores. But, along with Wellesley, the highest proportion of Fulbright scholars produced of any LAC, so they are likely doing some right while there. Student body is liberal. 10% of the student body are older students, ages 24-65 (average around 35). It is also larger than virtually any other LAC. Student body tends to be studious. Certainly much less drinking than Carleton (which is a great school, as are all the others.)</p>

<ul>
<li>How would you describe the faculty? Are TAs employed?</li>
</ul>

<p>There are a few TAs - in languages, where they help with discussion sections, and a few in the labs.</p>

<ul>
<li>Are there accessible/well-funded resources for fine arts?</li>
</ul>

<p>They are the center of the 5-college music, dance, and theater scene. 5-College Opera Consortium, and program in Early Music. They have the largest music department of any LAC (18 profs) - actually larger than Brown's, and dwarfs that at Chicago and Carleton (which is also very good, just much smaller.) Very good art museum, and art department is said to be good (as is Wellesley's. and all the women's colleges, and former women's colleges, like Vassar.)</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Can you opt to double major?
Yes. It's a little easier than at some places, as there are no distributional requirements or core curriculum. </p></li>
<li><p>Can you opt to study abroad?
Almost 60% of the student body studies abroad, the majority for a year. Smith has the oldest established JYA programs in western Europe - in Paris, Geneva, Florence, and Hamburg. They also set up working internships for students in at least two of these (Florence and Geneva). Note, however, that for their own programs they require a minimum of two years of college-level language, and a course in "stylistics" (most colleges require one), and a pledge not to use English while in the program. They do, however, have students abroad in many English-speaking programs.</p></li>
<li><p>Is there a parliamentary debate society?
<a href="http://sophia.smith.edu/debate/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://sophia.smith.edu/debate/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li>
<li><p>Does the surrounding city have art museums, music halls, theatres, etc.?
Northampton is a very happening town, with cafes, bookstores, an academy of music, and cinema that shows indie films. And it is literally 3 minutes from campus. It is a mecca for the 5 Colleges on weekends.</p></li>
</ul>

6

<p>Thank you all very, very much.
BUMP</p>

7

<p>The main things I can see about these schools is the womens' thing and the fact that Carleton and Smith are in less desirable places than the other schools. Smith is probably the easiest to get into, but I'd love to go to any of them.</p>

8

<p>Can anyone else offer some insight? Bump</p>

9

<p>Regarding your specific questionx (study abroad, arts funding, faculty resources, etc.), I'd suggest a careful perusal of each school's Web site and links. Much of this information is available directly and reliably from the institutions.</p>

<p>I don't think you can describe any of them as less desirable than the others; for example, for someone who wants a coed LAC and enjoys or can adapt to cold weather, Carleton would be as close to the ideal as you could get, as well giving an East Coast person the chance to see that civilization does not end west of the Huidson. </p>

<p>As a regular visitor to the Connecticut Valley and an admirer of Smith College's physical appeance, heritage, and amenities, I have to say that despite the frequent eloquent expressions of unequivocal delight you can find posted by several CC parents, it's not a school for everyone. Some straight women may be comfortable there, but others may not be, and that doesn't make them homophobes; some apolitical women or politically moderate or even liberal women may love the feeling of political activism, others may just prefer to be someplace less vocal, and that doesn't make them preppy airheads. Northampton is a dynamic town, alive with culture, notably gay-friendly, and something of a crossroads of an area with a certain 1960s-forever outlook; that's neither good not bad, but it does provide a very specific flavor. It is lovely, culurally active, and its proximity to I-91 makes it easy to get to other places as well. But it is a very specific sort of place in a way that other towns of comparable size (or even smaller) may not be. I suspect that if you are interested in a women's school Wellesley offers a more mainstream environment, and of course is closer to the incredible cultural richness of Boston.</p>

10

<p>I can offer the opinions my daughter shared with me about a few of these schools. She applied to three of them, and considered another. In the end the "last schools standing" in her decision were Wellesley and Oberlin. Please take these impression following a brief glimpse of the places as being only just that.</p>

<p>The Wellesley campus is stunning, and the academics seemed great. (Though a math class she attended didn't).The workloads seemed very heavy. The students seemed rather more preprofessionally and career focused than at some of the other schools she was considering.</p>

<p>The campus is in a suburb and getting to Boston is not effortless or instant. They do have a bus that runs there from campus though. She was not bullish on what she observed of their social life. The women seemed to spend a lot of time going on buses to MIT frat parties in order to hope to meet guys.</p>

<p>THe surrounding city is Boston; it has everything. Wellesley itself didn't seem to offer much of interest for college kids.</p>

<p>She was also interested in Carleton until near the end. I believe she thought the campus was attractive. It is in a small college town (St. Olaf college is also there) about 45 minutes from Minneapolis/St. Paul, which has good theater I believe, and probably everything else. The students at Carleton are unusually apt to play intramural sports, was one impression she came away with. The student body has atypically high representation from Minnesota/ Wisconsin, and from public schools.
Although I understand winters recently have been mild there, recognize that on average this is one of the colder places in the United States. The academics at Carleton also seemed great. Particularly for sciences, but for everything really.</p>

<p>Brown is in Providence, and has a nice area adjacent to campus with some shops. etc. It felt a lot bigger than these other schools.</p>

<p>Chicago apparently makes you take a core program of courses. I'd think an applicant would either want this or not.It is located in an urban area, and has a much larger graduate school representation than the other colleges on this list. I've lived in Chicago, and I think it is a great city. It has great museums, including a great art institute.</p>

11

<p>Monydad,</p>

<p>Just curious, where did your daughter end up going? I'm also very interested in Wellesley, and I hadn't heard that they spend a lot of time in search of boys. Any other impressions you have would be helpful! Thanks!</p>

12

<p>She's attending Oberlin. Which by the way supposedly has an exceptional art museum and is (marginally)closer to Cleveland than Carleton is to Minneapolis.</p>

<p>There are some other threads on CC that discuss the women's colleges, generally. There are clearly people that love it/them.</p>

<p>All these schools are outstanding in their own way, with substantial overlap.</p>

<p>I guess the other impressions I have of Wellesley are: 1)graduates might have an easier time getting jobs from there than from most other LACs. Possibly due to its location, and/or its longstanding reputation for producing business-minded grads, they get a lot of recruiters on campus there. The difference in this regard between a Wellesley and a Carleton is highly significant. When I worked in investment banking Wellesley was one of the very few LACs we recruited at.
2) it seemed to be the kind of place that students didn't particularly enjoy while they were there, but alumni appreciated it more afterwards. We read several comments to this affect from alums. Sounded like my own school.</p>

13

<p>I'm a Chicago student so I can give you some insight.</p>

<p>student body: across the spectrum in practically every category (except for intelligence)</p>

<p>fine arts: you're in Chicago!</p>

<p>double majoring: It's doable. You need 42 courses to graduate. Most concentrations are between 10-18 courses (philosophy is on the low end with 10 while bio is on the high with 18). The core is comprised of 15 courses (2-3 humanities, 2-3 civilization studies, 1-2 fine arts (for a total of 6); 2-3 bio; 2-3 physical science; 1-2 quantitative analysis -ie calc, stat..(for a total of another 6), and 3 quarters of social sciences. You can recieve up to 6 elective credits through examination (AP, oriention week language/math tests, etc.) Credits for specific courses (ie. 4 or 5 on AP bio grants you credit for core biology and does not count toward your six). Most students enroll in 3 quarters per academic year (that is, not during summer quarter) and you take 3-4 classes a quarter in order to be considered a full time student. Here's a link that puts this in a somewhat simpler form: <a href="http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/liberal/degree-worksheet.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/liberal/degree-worksheet.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>study abroad is very doable. Most go during their third year to fullfill their civ core requirement, but there are also other types of programs. Here's the master list: </p>

<p><a href="http://study-abroad.uchicago.edu/programs/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://study-abroad.uchicago.edu/programs/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I know there's a debate team cuz I know some people on it but I don't know any specifics.</p>

14

<p>Here's my opinion on Brown:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>How would you describe the student body?
very smart, eclectic, always doing something, very busy, fun, very enthusiastic</p></li>
<li><p>How would you describe the faculty? Are TAs employed?
The faculty is so knowledgeable it's not even funny. I was dreading big lectures, but I really enjoy them because the profs are so smart and personable. There are TAs, but they only teach sections, not classes. (Except lower level language classes, when the TA is usually a native speaker.) Don't assume that because TAs don't have the degree yet, they're not smart. Once people jump from being a grad student to a PhD, they're not magically imbued with more intelligence. </p></li>
<li><p>Are there accessible/well-funded resources for fine arts?
Dance, music, and theatre are huge here. Performance in general is really valued. </p></li>
<li><p>Can you opt to double major?
Yes, but take note that there are no minors. </p></li>
<li><p>Can you opt to study abroad?
Yup. You can either do a Brown program, or another program through another school, or design your own. </p></li>
<li><p>Is there a parliamentary debate society?
I know there's a debate team. Don't know about the parliamentary bit. </p></li>
<li><p>Does the surrounding city have art museums, music halls, theatres, etc.?
Providence has a few art museums, theatres, etc. Boston's only an hour away on the commuter rail or bus.</p></li>
</ul>