I am considering the following colleges and was wondering if anyone had any opinions on them to help make my decision.
Colorado, Trinity College, Washington and Lee, Macalester, Kenyon, Wesleyan, Carleton, Brandeis, Dickinson, Skidmore, Lafayette, Middlebury, Luther, Conneticut.
Thank you!
You might get more useful information by reading the various threads about each of those schools. Then if you have remaining questions you can ask them under the section of this site corresponding to each of the schools. There is a substantial amount of information and opinions about each of those schools already. Check out the section called “colleges and Universities” and click on those you have interest in.
Thank you! Still trying to figure this site out!
Pretty much all outstanding liberal arts colleges (LACs), except Brandeis, which I think of as more of a small/mid-size national university. (I’m assuming Connecticut College and not the University of Connecticut, and some are a little bigger than others.) Others might define things a little differently.
These are generally very competitive schools. Are you a good match academically and otherwise? Also, they all have very high “sticker prices.” Most will offer significant financial aid to some students. Will you need financial or merit aid, and is that attainable at these schools? The answer can be a very individual one. You can run the Net Price Calculator (NPC) for each school to see what kind of estimate you get.
While all are outstanding and mostly similar in terms of size, excellent academics, excellent students, etc. There are very real differences. W&L is terrific, and I think of it as a conservative place, with a very significant Greek culture. I don’t mean that as a positive or negative comment, just to indicate that it would be different at a school like Brandeis.
Kenyon is in a very small town. Middlebury, Carleton and Dickinson are also small town. Macalester is an urban LAC (St. Paul). Brandeis is in a suburban town but close to Boston. I could imagine that some students would prefer one environment and other students the other.
These schools are pretty much strong across the board. Some particular reputations: Kenyon and Middlebury for writing; Middlebury for languages; Wesleyan great in film/theater; Dickinson and Macalester for political science (Middlebury too); W&L business/law; Colorado College, strong academics and great outdoors location (though in a city). But, again, in general, outstanding schools.
I’d think Richmond compares to W&L and is urban (like Macalester). If urban sounds good, you might check out Rhodes College (Memphis) and/or Trinity University (San Antonio).
Anyway, pay attention to the financial side, if that’s an issue, and make sure you have a good choice or two that is definitely accessible in terms of admissions (safety school) AND is affordable. Good luck!
Have you got access to a Fiske Guide to Colleges? Library or your GC might have one. It has excellent writeups on each college.