<p>Wisco, I’m not familiar with your other top two choices, so I won’t offer any input on those, but I have had a few friends attend, graduate, and go on to good things from Hendrix. I’m aware of Hendrix’s admissions stats compared to some of the other colleges in that book, but it seems to be all about the type of student they attract. All three of my friends that attended were very bright, but with vastly different interests, and all three found a niche at Hendrix they loved. The two that have graduated (one is still in) have gone on to competitive graduate programs in different sections of the US. I’d recommend reading through a thread on the Hendrix forum on here titled “The choice is … Hendrix”, there are some good comments and insights on the school in there. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hendrix-college/910701-choice-hendrix.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hendrix-college/910701-choice-hendrix.html</a> </p>
<p>Be careful about reed; people think its inclusion in CCL means that its easy to get accepted, but the college is actually selective. I think the mean ACT may be 31, which is in line with many elite liberal arts colleges. I ended up choosing Reed over Haverford, and I know a couple kids who chose Reed over Bowdoin and Amherst. Addiitionally, Reed does not give out merit aid.</p>
<p>Personally, I dislike the one-sidedness and lack of proof-reading in the book, but I also agree with others that it does a great job of exposing the reader to colleges he or she might never have heard of. Just take his extreme praise with a grain of salt and do more research on your own. I can add (a little) insight into two colleges on Loren’s list that haven’t been mentioned yet: Denison and St. Olaf.</p>
<p>Denison: Okay, so we only stayed on campus for four hours…but the vibe I got from campus was “preppy activism.” EVERYONE we saw - parents, students, presenters for the visit day - was either in a suit with tie or a dress/skirt and plenty of make-up. Definitely not my scene. But there was a ton of activity at the student center, and chalk messages promoting both events and student elections were written all over the sidewalks. I sat in on a class of ~20 (freshman gen ed) and it was a lecture + movie. The student I stopped to ask for directions on the way was very nice and helpful. I know plenty of my friends would love to be here & it would be great for them, so don’t let my post put you off from Denison; it just wasn’t my thing.</p>
<p>St. Olaf: I’ll be a part of the Class of 2014! I’m in love with this college, and before I visited, it was just a safety that I was ambivalent about. The visit was what sealed the deal, and I talked to many other students who felt the same way. Most students/faculty are very good-looking and well-dressed, but the feel is so…warm. Everyone is soooo nice and I felt so comfortable there. I feel that there is more of a mix of different groups - jocks, nerds, activists, preps - although the majority are religious and blond. (I’m an agnostic brunette.)</p>
<p>And yes, I think plenty of top students apply to and attend CTCL colleges: I’m a 4.0 uw NMF with ECs/leadership who was accepted to better known/selective places, but I chose to attend my “safety.” </p>
<p>Keep researching, and you may find that “diamond in the rough.” (Or wherever is best for you) Good luck!</p>
<p>St. Olaf’s sounds like a great place (plus they have the most awesome fight song ever). Do they offer merit aid? It sounds as if you’d be a shoo in for some of that! I hear some of the great LACs in the Midwest have merit aid while most top LACs in the east have only need-based financial aid.</p>
<p>Grinnell is one of those great midwestern LACs that gives generous financial aid. It used to be in Colleges that Changed Lives-not sure if it’s in the current edition. It’s got a lot of of Reed’s intellectual independence and quirkiness, but with a midwestern vibe that’s a little less aggressively out there.</p>
<p>Another book/tome/directory that has been well received is Choosing the Right College, which gives a sometimes humorous but thorough analysis of several hundred colleges across the country by region, on academic integrity and freedom of expression. It was highly useful for us. In fact, I wish it would be expanded to include more schools in the "off the radar screen " level for our other children coming along behind D1 in selecting colleges. </p>
<p>No book is 100% accurate and 100% objective. You have to determine that for yourself and measure your own subjective criteria. And take a lot of these comments with a grain of salt. But they are excellent starting points to get down to your final list of say 10-12 schools and then determining how to prioritize those schools for your student.</p>
<p>St. Olaf does offer some merit aid for students with high academics, and has scholarship competitions for academics, service, and musicians. It is pretty competitive, though–my daughter applied for the academic scholarship but did not get selected even though she had good grades and test scores. She did get a need-based grant, but it was pretty small relative to the total cost of attendance. Ultimately, she decided to go elsewhere. St. Olaf would be a great choice for the right person, but as has been said, do not fall in love with any school until the financial package comes in.</p>
<p>Also, I have visited Allegheny and Juniata colleges in Pennsylvania and Eckerd College in Florida and those colleges might also be good choices for some people. Also, don’t limit yourself to colleges listed in the book–there are many colleges that could have been included in the book but were not.</p>
<p>I think that the CTCL message is a wonderful counterpoint to the “get into the most elite college” (GIMEC) philosophy propounded by too many folks and supported by USNWR-style ranking systems. Pope’s advice on what to look for in a college is very sound, even if you don’t decide to pursue a CTCL-branded school. We attended a CTCL fair and it was so much more of a positive experience for our kids, compared to the more-comprehensive college fairs.</p>
<p>Each of our two kids visited several CTCL colleges (among other similar schools) and felt that there were options there for just about any student, ranging from noncompetitive to highly competitive admission standards.</p>
<p>In the end, both of our kids ended up at Hampshire College, and I can surely say that it changed their lives. I can’t say how much more or less ‘changed’ either of our kids would have been at another type of college, but Hampshire certainly made a difference.</p>
<p>If anyone has any more information on Hendrix, especially regarding their econ department, it would be much appreciated, it sounds like an amazing school.</p>
<p>I understand the desire to escape the state in which you live. I did the same thing – but escaped from Indiana to Wisconsin. I attended Beloit as an undergrad and UW for law school. My brother, on the other hand, stayed in state and went to Earlham, which I feel is similar to Beloit in many ways.</p>
<p>Other options – given what you are looking for, I would encourage you to explore Kalamazoo College and Marlboro College. I believe both would give you the type of intellectual atmosphere you desire. While I believe Beloit was an excellent choice for me, if I were to begin my college search today, those are the two colleges that I would take more time seriously considering.</p>
<p>My general impression about the CTCL book is that it has been useful in broadening some students (and parents) horizons. However, I would like to correct what I feel to be a slight misconception about the students who attend CTCL colleges. I get the impression that many people believe that these schools are only for the late-bloomers or B students decidedly not true. As spdf can probably also attest, many of the students who choose to attend CTCL schools could have gone to better known schools with higher admission standards, but choose their school because they felt like they would receive a better education and experience. In my experience the top students at Beloit, Knox, Earlham, Kalamazoo, etc. are as intellectually gifted and as academically driven as the top students anywhere.</p>
Wisco, I’ll send you a PM with the visit brochure and what little information I know. I’ll leave it up to you on whether to share it on here or not.</p>
<p>Yes I’m interested in knowing about Hendrix as well. The rep who came to my school pretty much said that I would get good merit aid if I applied so I was considering it.</p>
<p>I read CTCL about 10 years ago when my son was ready to start college and again last year when my daughter started the process. I don’t agree with everything the author says, however the book made me think a great deal about the overall purpose of college. It was an interesting opposing viewpoint from most of what I had read.</p>
<p>We visited a few of the colleges listed and absolutely loved St Olaf College. It is a true gem and would have been our first choice as parents. We would have not known about the college unless we had read the book. D ultimately chose to attend a different college but that had more to do with weather.</p>
<p>Like a prior poster, we also visited Denison with each kid. My son did not really like it and my daughter hated it. To be honest, I did not like it either but college selection is a subjective process. </p>
<p>I have also heard great things about Hendrix.</p>
<p>I talked to some parents who had kids at both Lawrence and St. Olaf and they said that both were happy. Apparently Lawrence was less religious, more diverse, and had a better music program for what their kid wanted (though no one can top choir at St. Olaf) However, I think that St. Olaf is slightly better academically (especially in math and science). Of course, this is all either second-hand or biased info, so have fun doing more research! :)</p>
<p>I think I’m going to tour Lawrence on June 17 before I leave for six weeks, so I’ll put my review of what I saw after I do the tour; of course, school won’t be in session, so it won’t be the full picture</p>
<p>We visited Hampshire and we definitely felt out of place. We were there for a couple of hours and sat in on a class. S googled the endowment and said it was very low! That explained a couple of things. But, I think its probably a size thing. New College of FL sounds interesting but it has under 1000 students, don’t think you have the opportunities that you have at larger schools. I want to visit Juaniata and Ursinus, anyone have any information about those?</p>
<p>Agree about Hampshire. I loved some aspects of it, choosing my own major, really interesting classes, reading bumper stickers in the parking lot haha but the environment was a bit too hippy for me. </p>
<p>I visited Juniata. Really friendly admissions people. I did a lunch visit and a tour and my family and I were the only ones at either of them. Highly recommend the lunch visit. I was able to ask a lot of questions, the student was very honest and I didn’t feel like she was trying to sell me the college. It felt very friendly with down to earth students. It also felt small and there seemed to be fewer resources than other LACs (as I mentioned earlier in this thread). I like that they have a field station you can go to for a semester. In the class I visited, intro bio lab, the students seemed half asleep, think it was 12 in the afteroon. I was surprised that although the classes are small they aren’t tiny. 50 in Intro Bio and other intro classes and my impression was that freshman and soph classes didn’t get down to less than 20 but I don’t have any data to back that up. I asked all my student guides “what is the biggest and smallest class you’ve had?” so I can get a sense of the reality and not get just an average.</p>
I’m in love with this college, and before I visited, it was just a safety that I was ambivalent about. The visit was what sealed the deal, and I talked to many other students who felt the same way. Most students/faculty are very good-looking and well-dressed, but the feel is so…warm. Everyone is soooo nice and I felt so comfortable there. I feel that there is more of a mix of different groups - jocks, nerds, activists, preps - although the majority are religious and blond.