I have been admitted to 7 different liberal arts schools and while I have some preferences I have been unable to visit all of them and would like to hear some other thoughts
Obviously money matters and if anyone has an experience where a school I have gotten more scholarship from has revoked money later or a school that has given you more money after appeal please let me know
Did anyone who is now at Wesleyan get into some of these schools and possibly have a similar decision? Any advice?
Whitman College ($13,000 merit)
Kenyon College ($25,000 merit)
Willamette University ($24,000 merit)
Wesleyan University (about $11,000 in grants/work study)
Carleton College (about $15,000 work study/grants)
Macalester College (about $14,000 merit)
University of Redlands (about $30,000 merit)
Waiting: Pitzer
For students possibly looking at schools to apply to here are the other results I got
Wait-Listed: Grinnell
Rejected: Claremont Mckenna College
I am IB Diploma Candidate, 5 HL Classes, 4.02 Weighted GPA (about 3.8 unweighted I think), Super-score SAT (660 CR, 650 Writing, 760 Math/2070 Composite) done lots of clubs/sports if you have any questions as a high-school student feel free as well
I am biased toward the NE schools. With that admission out of the way, I would eliminate Willamette and Redlands (particularly Redlands) off the bat. Those two aren’t in the same league as the others. Whitman isn’t really either, but much better than Willamette or Redlands. Whitman is a nice school that has increased its endowment, but my experience (I live in Seattle) is that older people looking to tour wineries appreciate the charm of Walla Walla much more than 20-something year olds do. It is WAY out there = 5+ hrs. from Seattle, or anything else for that matter. My kids looked at Whitman, liked the school, but couldn’t get over the location. It’s not for everybody.
That leaves you with the rest, which I’d rank a full notch ahead of Whitman, Willamette and especially Redlands, and which I’d stack this way:
Carleton/Wesleyan. Carleton is currently ranked a little higher; Wesleyan is increasing their endowment by the day as they try to join the $1 B club, and I expect they’ll be back in the top ten at some point when they do. Both are very high level places. Wesleyan is a very interesting place that produces a lot of interesting people in crazy different fields. Google the Apker prize and the creator/director/lead of Hamilton. I also work with three Carleton graduates, each of whom is top notch smart. One of them was Harvard Law Review editor in chief.
Kenyon/Macalester: I think these are equivalent schools, neither of which is quite up with Carl or Wes but they’re good. I personally just like Kenyon; always have. Beautiful (and I mean beautiful) campus, quirky school personality, marches to its own beat kind of place. Only drawback to Kenyon is that they have very little $$; endowment is dangerously low. They need to fix that.
I know you’re waiting, but I, personally, would not choose Pitzer over either Wesleyan or Carleton, unless being in the consortium is some kind of consolation prize for not getting into CMC or unless you have to be in Cali.
Good luck. Those are very nice choices. I’d go with Carl or Wes in a moment if I were choosing.
The problem with Whitman, as pointed out by MiddleburyDad2, is its location. If it was located closer to a major metropolitan hub it would probably be ranked one of the top 10-20 LACs in the nation, but because of its relative isolation it tends to only attract people who thrive in open spaces without a lot of stimulation. I bet there’s some overlap between people who apply to Deep Springs College and Whitman for that reason.
The four schools that MiddleburyDad2 ranks above Whitman are definitely more well known and less isolated. Those are schools that relatively educated people will recognize pretty much everywhere in the US.
SFgiants98…Regarding Pitzer…Just another opinion The consortium is substantial and noteworthy unlike others. Princeton Review and Fiske did comment accordingly…as that can be substantiated…But Pitzer is for a particular type of student with real definable progressive non stodgyl attributes of social consciousness, environmental sustainability, intercultural student engagement…all with an Interdisciplinary approach. One of our country’s youngest LAC’s or amongst any college for that matter and has an incredibly impressive growth chart for only 50-60 yrs…allowing Pitzer to stand on it’s own, let alone have the distinct advantage of being consorted with 3 of our nation’s top 10 LAC’s according to Pr. Review…Certainly an awarded and meaningful choice rather than a “consolation prize” as was short sightedly stated …Congrats though as you can choose among some of the very best…
@parentgeorgia , ultimatley, a kid is going to a school. The Claremont consortium is impressive … one of my kids is at Pomona. I get it.
But I think it’s clear that Pitzer leans on that advantage pretty heavily; and your post, which starts right out with singing the praises of the consortium, is consistent with that view.
Pitzer is a good school. Carleton and Wesleyan are, in my view, better stand-alone.
Kids at Mount Holyoke can take classes at Amherst, kids at Barnard take classes at Columbia, and Bryn Mawr has a tight consortium with Swat and Haverford. There are other consortiums/arrangements. Would you say that Bryn Mawr competes with Williams because of its combined horsepower from Hav and Swat?
I wonder if the OP had been admitted to CMC whether he/she would be here asking the same question.
My personal impression of Pitzer is, while a good school, it’s a “Kardashian” school - it’s popular for being popular. What it offers on a stand-alone basis is good but not great. For some reason it has become very popular in recent years, thus more “selective”, which boosts its rankings…you can see how the dynamic works. I know a few students who have used Pitzer as a back door to get a CS degree (essentially from Harvey Mudd) so the consortium does have its perks! Your birds in hand are better than Pitzer IMO so unless you want to stay in CA, forgo the WL. We are going with Carleton, which has excellent airline connections with both coasts.
@SFgiants98, well, at the risk of offending someone, which isn’t my goal, I’d say that there’s no reason to wait for the Pitzer decision. I cannot imagine the number of people who turn down CMC to attend Pitzer is very high.