<p>Swarthmore is a great LAC, but I wouldn't go as far as calling it the best. The best would be either Amherst of Williams. But the top 25 LACs are all very comparable in education.</p>
<p>Since Rice is looking to expand geographic diversity, NOT being from Texas would be to your advantage. If you're from Houston, you'll face stiffer competition just because so many Houston kids (and other kids from other parts of Texas) apply and because Rice wants more students outside of Texas as well as more international students; but if you are from Texas or Houston, if your academic record is Rice material then you should have no problem getting in.</p>
<p>Visit, visit, visit! I can't emphasize it enough, like it may sound really cliche, but sometimes when you visit a campus you'll get that certain epiphany that that college is definitely "the one" for you. Rice was that for me.</p>
<p>I'm starting to think maybe I should visit Rice.</p>
<p>You should definitely visit. In the meantime, you can view a 360 degree virtual tour of the Rice campus from this site: Rice</a> University - Virtual Tours</p>
<p>Wow. Rice looks beautiful.</p>
<p>Oh, Swarthmore's definitely the best. Either that or Reed College. St. John's college is also excellent.</p>
<p>Reed College is not one of the best LACs. St. John's also isn't among the best.</p>
<p>On the contrary, I think Reed and St. John's are among the most intellectual colleges in the country. Why do you say that Reed and St. John's aren't as good? Are you basing your whole opinion on the US News rankings?</p>
<p>
He's basing it on the prejudice inherent in one of the preppiest mid-western prep schools. Ask me how I know. ;)</p>
<p>dchow- I base most of my views about schools on usnews rankings too cause frankly I dont know how else to view them. How can you decide if it's a good school or not if you dont go by one of those ranking sites?</p>
<p>Use the information from those ranking lists, not the rank itself. The formula used to determine rank may not jive with what you're looking for in a school. It's not a simple choice but it well may be one of the most important choices of your life. Spend some time reviewing reviews, comparing comparisons, and talking with those who have experience with a wide range of schools. There are no bad schools within certainly the top 500 schools in this country, but there are certainly some schools that will fit your needs better, raise your comfort level, and challenge you to become more than others might. It's the fit that's important, not the rank. Looking at Country Day's list of schools he's applied to shows while you can quote the rankings as gospel, a smart kid will dig deeper and make choices based on his own wants and needs. I found the Princeton Review's free online information to be a good blend of conventional wisdom and opinions from the students themselves. It was a good start for my kids. </p>
<p>Anything worth doing is worth doing well. You all take your time and ask questions. And remember nothing is irrevocable; transferring can open up a world of opportunity, too, and in most cases your first school will have taught you more than this list ever could. </p>
<p>Good Luck! ;)</p>
<p>Yes. You should have in mind some things that you're looking for in a college, and see how the individual colleges match up to your criteria. The colleges that best fit your needs are the ones you should apply to. You can find information about schools from guidebooks, viewbooks, interviews, talking to people who go to the schools, and visiting the schools. I recommend The Student's Guide to Colleges and the College P rowler books. I know that the CP book for Swarthmore is accurate (because I go there and I've read the book), but not perfect. There's no way you can know everything about the schools you're looking for, but you should do as much research as you can to make an informed decision. It's like buying a house--you can't say, that house is the best because the US News people say it's the best. You've got to actually think about what you're looking for in a home, research a bunch of houses, go inside the house, stay in it for a while, reflect on everything, and then make a decision. You don't know exactly how it will be like to live in your house for 4 years, but you should make your decision based on research, not on what US News thinks.</p>
<p>Also--I use the rankings as general guides, so they're not completely useless. I actually looked at the schools on the list and crossed off the ones where the SAT mean was below a certain standard I set up, where the ethnic diversity percent was not high enough... I didn't really use acceptance rates. Not a perfect system, but there would be too many schools on my list otherwise.</p>
<p>proud dad how do you know about where I go to school?</p>