My daughter is really trying to figure out which school is a better fit. Both seem outstanding. CC has a much lower acceptance rate and feels like it could be a missed opportunity if she does not attend. However the block plan seems a bit intimidating, especially for a student on a premed track (this could change of course). CC also is more expensive and offered a less enticing financial package. CC also has a bigger endowment and had a much more squared away admitted students day. I know she would be happy at both, but keep thinking CC is the better choice but really am not sure. Any thoughts?
Two great options. I’d give an edge to CC in the sciences. I’ve heard folks question the block plan structure and pre-med/ science majors but the funny thing is that they are among the most popular majors so it is obviously working.
One downside to Whitman, depending where you live, is access. When it was in final contention for my kid, the time and extra $ required to get there were a real downside. In contrast, CC is fairly accessible with access to the amenities of a city but easy access to nature and outdoors activities, which block breaks allow time to explore.
Did your daughter seem to click with the vibe of one over the other? How big of a financial difference?
She honestly can’t go wrong as both are places with happy students.
I’ve yet to run into a Whitman student/alum who isn’t outright evangelistic about their experience.
Have you contacted to schools to inquire about their success rate in getting students accepted into medical school?
Not really. According to the 2016 NACUBO numbers, the endowments are about $633M at CC vs. $478M at Whitman. Okay, CC’s endowment is larger – but so is their enrollment. The latest Common Data Sets indicate total enrollments of 2,114 (CC) vs 1,493 (Whitman).
The absolute size of the endowment is not as meaningful as the size of the endowment per student. Based on the numbers above, the endowment per student is about:
$ 320,000 Whitman
$ 300,000 CC
So you should actually consider the levels of endowment to be comparable. If anything, Whitman has a slight edge in this respect.
Ignore the acceptance rate. Acceptance rate is not a good proxy for educational quality, especially with small liberal arts colleges, since there are so many things that may or may not motivate a student to apply to an LAC. It’s possible, for example, that Colorado College has been more aggressive at encouraging students to apply (including maybe some students who wouldn’t have a chance at admission) so that they could lower their admissions rate, whereas Whitman has not. CC is also in a city and Whitman is in a small town.
But if you look at the actual profiles of accepted students - they are both very similar. Both colleges accept students who, on average, score between around a 1300 and around a 1500 on the SAT; at both schools, about 80-90% of the accepted students were in the top quarter of their high school class (Colorado has more students who were in the top 10%, but I’m not sure the difference is super meaningful). She’s going to have high-quality classmates at either college.
CC’s endowment is bigger, but they also have more students. The per-student endowment only differs by $20K between the two schools. It’s a difference that is unlikely to matter to the day-to-day of your daughter’s life.
I see that you have mostly listed cons for Colorado College, with few pros that are actually directly related to your daughter’s preferences in a college or student life. What does she want? Does she have a preference for either?
Walla Walla is kind of a pain in the butt to get to, though. It’s four hours from all the cities of any size (Seattle, Portland, Spokane) and flights to the Walla Walla regional airport are a bit pricey (I explored New York to Walla Walla in late August, and there were several flights that were less than $700 but nothing less than $600. To be fair, though, that’s not too much more expensive than flying Seattle from New York. And if you are flying from somewhere closer, like Denver or LA, the flights go into more reasonable territory - an LAX to Walla Walla flight can be had for less than $300. I was also searching a Friday to Sunday flight.)
Also, Colorado Springs does offer the best of both worlds - a vibrant young city great for college students plus lots of outdoors and nature.
Hi! Colorado College has a stellar, stellar reputation out west, especially for sciences. My D will be a freshman there next year and couldn’t be more excited. It’s a particular school though; the block plan is what it is, I guess. But it’s an honor to go there, I really feel that’s true. My D is super picky and can’t wait to start.
As with other elite LACs, both schools enroll a disproportionately large number of students from the upper income brackets. But this tendency is especially pronounced at CC. There are unusually high numbers of students from the “top 1%” at CC, even by elite LAC or private university standards.
Whitman is a great school for premeds, too. If she’s hesitating on the block plan, she can get a great education at Whitman. I agree that a lower acceptance rate does not mean a school is a better opportunity.
Whitman is a wonderful school and my son loved his time there. The sciences are great and many graduates go on to medical school. Walla Walla is a charming small town and the students really bond in a special way, and yes, it takes some extra effort to get there. Many students fly into Pasco (an hour away) and then carpool or bus to Walla Walla. Pasco has more flights and more airlines, so depending on where you start it can be significantly cheaper, for instance, there are non-stop flights from SFO to Pasco. Feel free to PM me if you want more travel suggestions.
We didn’t ever visit or look very deeply into CC because the block plan didn’t appeal to my son, some people love it, some don’t. Has your daughter spent time on both campuses? Does she have a preference for atmosphere? I don’t think that the education is of significantly higher quality or the prestige factor hefty enough to warrant going to CC strictly for those reasons. Fit, in the end, is often the deciding factor.
Congratulations on having a very smart and accomplished daughter!
We are from the Pacific Northwest so getting to Whitman is not an issue. It is far more effort and cost to get to CC. She has been to both campuses and had great experiences at both.
We are from the Pacific Northwest and getting to Whitman is actually more convenient. I think she likes CC better, but is fearful she may not do well on the block plan. She also knows a lot of people going to Whitman and would like to get away I think. I liked CC better but like the savings of from Whitman better financial package.
What’s the difference in net price?
If it is due to 2 different assessments of “need” (not due to more merit money from Whitman), have you tried appealing to CC for more aid? Send them an itemized list of Whitman’s FA breakdown. Maybe CC will budge (since they’ve been claiming for the last year or two to meet 100% of demonstrated need.)
I already attempted to get more money from CC and was told no. The difference is $8300. CC is more expensive overall. This included projected travel costs, slightly higher tuition and $4300 less merit money.
I LOVE both of those schools. Luckily your daughter can’t go wrong. Congrats to her!
Thoughts on CC: Though it does sound intimidating, the block plan is very manageable. Most students thrive on the immersive nature of the one at a time configuration (IMO science classes actually work well under the block plan, I’m an alum who took many of them). Dynamics of the location are interesting- access to the amenities of a small city with all of its advantages- but personally I do find Colorado Springs a strange place. Having said that, most CC students live on campus (or within a few blocks of campus) so the greater region is quite irrelevant to their day in and day out lives. I would be willing to bet you would encounter a more geographically diverse student body at CC, a student body that is more evenly distributed across the country whether or not that matters. There is a lot going on at CC, both inside and outside the classroom, and since CC students tend to be pretty adventurous they tend to be very busy. Even during block breaks!
Thoughts on Whitman: The community is really close. Whitman strikes me as being a bit like a very large extended family. I have no doubt the academics are excellent at Whitman, that the education one receives is on the same level as CC. I’m not nearly as well acquainted with Whitman as CC- I have visited twice and know a few kids who go/have gone there- but I am struck by how welcoming, non judgmental, incredibly accepting students we encounter seem to be. It’s not that CC doesn’t have friendly, laid back students who value their campus community, it’s more that Whitman students have a truly close community bond. And Walla Walla is such a lovely town, parents would be lucky to be able to visit their kids at Whitman!
Anyway, I do love both schools and your daughter is going to have to split some hairs when deciding between the two. In the end she should really just go with her gut, where she will feel most excited to land.
Great schools. I have a special place in my heart for Whitman. Besides pre-med, what are your daughters other interests or hobbies? Music? Sports? Causes? If she likes both schools, go with the money. The difference in supposed rank is negligable. Whitman comes out with a slightly higher ranking in Forbes, Washington Monthly and Start Class: http://colleges.startclass.com/compare/664-4527/Colorado-College-vs-Whitman-College