<p>schools like Colgate: Connecticut College, Smith, Wellesley, Brandeis, Boston College, Bowdoin</p>
<p>schools more like Dart: Williams, Middlebury, Amherst, Brown, Tufts</p>
<p>keep in mind tho that Colgate, and many of these other schools, get more selective every year</p>
<p>I would put Tufts in that first category....its not nearly as selective as the others there. Middlebury is halfway between both groups.</p>
<p>I would say that Tufts earns its position in the second category, or at least should place with Middlebury in the "halfway" group. Sure our admissions rate of 27% is higher than the others, but the quality of the accepted applicants is still very impressive, and those accepted into the class of 2009 boast a 1428 average SAT, with 85% in the top 10% of their class. In fact, I have several friends who were admitted to other elite schools, including Dartmouth, Penn, Williams, Amherst, Cornell, Georgetown, Columbia, Duke, Stanford, and yes, even Harvard, and happily chose Tufts (financial aid was not the deciding factor, btw). Tufts is definitely evolving and it is on a different caliber than it was even 5 years ago.</p>
<p>"Dartmouth ...is in fact more diverse than Brown, Cornell, etc also!"...</p>
<p>Where are you getting this information? From usnews:</p>
<p>Dartmouth: 67% white, 6% Afr-Amer, 12% Asian, 6% Hispanic, 3% Native Am, 5% international</p>
<p>Cornell: 66% white, 5%Afr-Am, 16% Asian,5% Hisp, 0% Native Amer, 7% international</p>
<p>Brown: 67% white, 7% Afr-Am, 14% Asian, 7% Hisp, 1% Native Am, 6% international</p>
<p>...they seem pretty close to me.</p>
<p>"they are at entirely different levels" (regarding Dartmouth and Colgate). I wouldn't say that. You list their respective SAT's. What about someone who scores 710 verbal, 720 math. That person is at the 75% at Colgate, still a quarter of his class is above him. If that same person is at Dartmouth, he is nearly at the midrange of their scores, or at maybe the 40%-ile. Still 40% of Dartmouth students have scores below him...the point I'm not making too well is how are they in different "leagues" when there is a fairly significant overlap in scores. I realize I'm only considering SAT scores and there's more to it.</p>
<p>I think plenty of Colgate kids are just as bright in all ways as Dartmouth kids. I think the real difference might be the result of being in a better school district, having more wealthy and/or savvy parents, or most importantly, having the hook. PS I have no Colgate agenda.</p>