<p>Has anyone out there visited these three schools and come away with a feeling or vibe that they can share? I'm talking a gut feeling as opposed to curriculum or ranking. Had a definite good feeling about muhlenberg and have not visited the other two. Thanks!</p>
<p>Wheaton is a lot smaller than the others. Maybe too small. And why pick a college that has the exact same name as a religious fanatic college in Illinois? Those two things alone would eliminate Wheaton in my book. </p>
<p>As for Skidmore and Muhlenberg, flip a coin. Skidmore might be more openly liberal. Muhlenberg is more Jewish (and Center Left). Neither school has much in the way of minorities, although Skidmore is doing pretty well with its Asian representation.</p>
<p>Plainsman – The Wheaton Female Seminary was founded in Massachusetts in 1835. The Illinois Wheaton was not established until 25 years later. Better to ask why the first President of Wheaton College (Illinois) chose to rename the Illinois Institute after a women’s college and seminary in Massachusetts.</p>
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<p>^^^</p>
<p>Valid question hudsonvalley51, but it doesn’t change the reality. The two colleges have IDENTICAL names. Fortunately, there is only one Muhlenberg.</p>
<p>True story… when we first visited Muhlenberg, my daughter really, really liked it. However, as we toured the campus, I noticed her getting a bit quiet, so I later asked her what that was all about. It ends up that Muhlenberg is just about the same size (student-wise) as her high school. Her high school mascot was a mustang, very similar to the Muhlenberg Mule. Both schools have the same school colors, and there were a couple of other similarities that just stood out as being just like her high school. When you’re a senior in high school, looking at colleges, the last thing you want is to find out a college you’re interested in does nothing but remind you of high school. I’m glad she didn’t rule the school out based on those similarities.</p>
<p>Thankfully, she was able to move past all that. ;)</p>
<p>Plainsman, the reason we are looking at schools other than Muhlenberg is that Muhlenberg has a small international relations program and NO asian languages. Wheaton has a young but existent asian language program and international relations. S and I loved Muhlenberg and now use the feeling we came away with as a point of comparison with other schools. That’s why I’m asking… anyone else get a “feel” from Muhlenberg that they also found at a school with international/asian studies? Thanks!</p>
<p>Definitely has the arts focus (2/3 of the visitors we toured with yesterday were future arts majors), but Wheaton also has an emphasis on sports. Top teams in numerous sports. We watched the softball team crush MIT and the track and baseball teams are highly competitive.</p>
<p>Muhlenberg had a more urbanish buzz - prob from the % of NJ/NY students… Wheaton seemed a bit more laid back - guitar playing students hanging in the dimple… </p>
<p>Consider the geographies too… Wheaton gets few kids from PA, but tons from Maine… could depend where you may want your future connections to be…</p>
<p>Stainglass, I think you should’ve looked at Dickinson College. They have a strong East Asian Studies Program that includes languages (Chinese and Japanese). Dickinson also has the best study abroad programs I’ve seen in an LAC. Presidents of other LACs visit Dickinson to learn how they do it. One of the keys is the fact that unlike other schools which use third parties that run their study abroad programs, Dickinson runs 13 study abroad programs wholly from within Dickinson. They use third parties for only a few.</p>
<p>I think you should make it your business to visit Skidmore and Wheaton. D visited both Muhlenberg and Skidmore (including overnights with students in her field of interest), applied to both, was accepted at the former and waitlisted at the latter (not a surprise–Skidmore is more selective and we also suspect D’s financial aid needs were a disadvantage). I think she would say the vibe was rather different between the two schools, but the differences in location were the most significant to her. She loved Saratoga Springs, but is finding Allentown a big negative in her decision making process. </p>
<p>I have to add that I think it’s pretty silly to worry about Wheaton having the same name as a religious college in the Midwest. People in the Northeast only know of the Massachusetts Wheaton, while I’m sure the people in the Midwest only know of the Illinois school; few people anywhere else have heard of either. I suspect the confusion between U Penn and Penn State is far more widespread, but applicants to the former don’t seem to be concerned that people will think they attend a state school instead of an Ivy.</p>
<p>My son is at Muhlenberg and also applied to Wheaton. I was really surprised that he did not get into Wheaton when he was accepted to places like Union and Muhlenberg. We did like Wheaton although it is smaller than M. Campus is great. I had recommended that he apply to W because I had friends there when I was in college and it was a great campus with really nice kids. It seemed to be that way still. We do like M very much. Our son has gotten to know his professors outside of class and the I have seen the work required. I think you have a good problem if you haven’t already made a decision.</p>
<p>Anybody have any thoughts about Muhlenberg v Gettysburg?</p>