Data comparing liberal arts colleges in the sciences

College Search & Selection
21

This table shows the number of Rhodes, Marshall, Churchill, Truman, and Goldwater Scholars per school. Only the Goldwater and Churchill Scholarships are specific to the sciences, but I show the others for interest’s sake.

Rhodes = Rhodes Scholars since 1980. Before 1976, the Rhodes was only open to men. For study at Oxford.
Marshall = Marshall Scholars since 1980. For study in Ireland.
Churchill = Churchill Scholars for study of the sciences at Cambridge.
Goldw = Goldwater Scholar for study of the hard sciences
Truman = for leadership, includes leadership in science but not at all specific to science.
Total = sum of all
per.cap = 1000 x Total/Size

The Truman and Churchill awards are oddly distributed. Some schools have many and other similar schools have none. I suspect that there is a sponsor effect, so some of these small schools have a faculty or two who were scholars and who sponsor/promote it.

SizeRhodesMarshallChurchillTrumanGoldwFulbrightTotalper.capSchool
25262651423358534Pomona CA
1542785259237750Swarthmore PA
2045101131717167436Williams MA
17926791410247039Amherst MA
2563100811456525Smith MA
__29613551817136121Oberlin OH
2323480209185925Wellesley MA
20403801411185426Occidental CA
17704201114134425Davidson NC
2526540115184317Middlebury VT
1805250186114223Bowdoin ME
2057626410134120Carleton MN
__2928240158124114Wesleyan CT
1301220191164031Clar McKenna CA
3034410110233913St Olaf MN
804211601713746Harvey Mudd CA
__2189161116123717Mt Holyoke MA
1734230121093621Grinnell IA
__2179200111763617Lewis and Clark OR
__207351014583316Macalester MN
__107610022273230Pitzer CA
11942437863025Haverford PA
__138720033223022Centre KY
241811074152812Vassar NY
281020020602810Furman Univ SC
__250300001892711Lafayette PA
__15873509372717Wheaton-MA MA
__189030067112714Wash and Lee VA
13082519262519Bryn Mawr PA
__29372106412259Coll of the Holy Cross MA
__237501017432511Willamette OR
__38940000185236Calvin MI
__166203021532314Kenyon OH
__34321300142206Hope MI
__2100213265199Reed OR
__2050510661199Colorado College CO
__134811031311914Hendrix AR
9720003971920Scripps CA
__149810012231812Whitman WA
__25730000711187Barnard NY
__2216100376178Depauw IN
__2497000970166Augustana SD
__2135050803167Spelman GA
__2255000664167Trinity College NY
__20311005100168Rhodes TN
__2553200472156U of Puget Sound WA
__1773000528158Bates ME
__19000101121158Hamilton NY
8341101481518New College of FL FL
__1631700314159Sewanee: U of the South TN
__2875121136145Colgate Univ NY
__20660003110147Coll of Wooster OH
__2456110642146Gustavus Adolphus MN
__2364000067135Dickinson PA
__3565020523123Bucknell U PA
__1893020154126Connecticutt College CT
__1847100631116Colby ME
__2297100442115Trinity Univ TX
__2451100154114Gettysburg PA
__2242100271115Union NY
__2109340310115Morehouse GA
__1932100433116Rollins FL
8731204311113Agnes Scott GA
__1461100522107Kalamazoo MI
__1681100072106Ursinus PA
__1815000163106Eckerd FL
__1417110431107Drew Univ NJ
9262107001011Wabash IN
99301060299Earlham IN
917000405910Mills CA
238530102283Luther IA
__205900010784Bard NY
__151910030375Lawrence Univ WI
__173401013274Ohio Wesleyan OH
__263200012473Skidmore NY
__228000023273Denison OH
__139601050175Alma MI
2209_00012363Franklin & Marshall PA

22

Fulbright is the Research Fulbrights for all areas (not just sciences) from 2011-2015. Fulbrights for teaching English are excluded.

Rest of the table.

SizeRhodesMarshallChurchillTrumanGoldwFulbrightTotalper.capSchool
126810041065Albion MI
__130302030165Beloit WI
__178901031163St John’s U MN
__202020040063C St Bene. MN
__193200011353Clark Univ MA
__326400031152Sea. Pac. U WA
__139410021043Ran.-Macon VA
__143700040043Sarah Lawr. NY
__240600020131St Lawr/ U NY
__143500012032Coe IA
__184000010232Pacific Univ OR
__166520000132Whittier CA
__162200030032Simmons MA
__162100020021Berea KY
__139900000111Knox IL
__160700000000Lake Forest IL
4575_00000000Lee Univ TN

23

The following are national liberal arts colleges that have produced at least one Apker Award recipient (for undergraduate research in physics):

Amherst
Bucknell
Colgate
Franklin & Marshall
Hamilton
Haverford
Harvey Mudd
Macalester
Middlebury
Mt. Holyoke
Oberlin
Reed
Swarthmore
Wesleyan
Williams

Augustana College (SD), though technically not an NLAC, should also be mentioned.

Of these schools, the following have graduated at least one Nobel Prize winner in a science field (check for possible omissions):

Amherst
Hamilton
Haverford
Oberlin
Swarthmore

(Source for AA information: the American Physical Society.)

24

@merc81 Thanks for posting that. Williams stands out for sure with 6 awards.

Since 1994. One Ackerd given to non-PhD granting institution and one to PhD granting. Here’s the list for the former.

Hamilton 1994
Williams 1995
Haverford 1996
Swarthmore 1997
Harvey Mudd 1998
Williams 1999
Swarthmore 2000
IL State 2001
Williams 2002
Harvey Mudd 2003
Williams 2004
Bucknell 2005
Harvey Mudd 2006
Oberlin 2006
Colgate 2007
Haverford 2008
Mt Holyoke 2009
Wellesley 2009
Williams 2010
Wesleyan 2010
Augustana 2011
Franklin & Marshall 2012
Wesleyan 2013
Loyola Univ MD 2014
Williams 2015

25

Re the Apker, note that the separate categories were first used for the 1995 award. This would appear to make Hamilton (1995), Reed (1992), Macalester (1980) and Amherst (1979) the only LACs to have produced recipients in entirely open fields. Wesleyan, it should be noted, has produced its recipients in the PhD-granting institution category.

26

Pomona definitely does not have 2526 students. The largest total enrollment has been ~1650 students.

https://www.pomona.edu/sites/default/files/cds-2013-2014.pdf

27

So, to be clear, since 1995, Wesleyan is the only LAC currently eligible to compete for the Apker in what could conceivably be called, an “open” field (open to research universties) and have won twice?

28

Thanks, this is very interesting. Any chance of getting your SS, or a link to a G. sheet if that’s where you did the crunching?

29

Useful info thanks @liska21

30

@nostalgicwisdom Thanks, that was a typo. Hit 2 instead of 1. I’ll fix and re-post Pomona’s #s. However I sorted by total so Pomona’s place on the tables won’t change, but per capita #s will be more like Swarthmore.

31

@nostalgicwisdom @otisp Here are the corrected Pomona numbers. Just the ‘per capita’ entry changes

Table of the PhD production in hard sciences
per.cap = 1000*PhD.Prod/Size
Adm.Rate__SizePhD.Prodper.cap%Need% MeritAve.MeritSchool
21.0205744921810042000Carleton
18.2__804309384100188300Harvey Mudd
30.4_29613001011003714900Oberlin
14.3154228818710000Swarthmore
17.0204528313810000Williams
48.5210026112410000Reed
59.2303424982992013300St Olaf
20.9292823781100147200Wesleyan
13.916502301391000____0Pomona
…

Table of Goldwater Scholars, NSF Graduate Student fellowships and Fulbrights. Hard Sci only.
per.cap = 1000Total/Size (Total = Goldwater+NSF)
SizeGoldwaterNSFTotalper.capFulbrightSchool
__804175067831Harvey Mudd CA
1542_95564426Swarthmore PA
2057__105363_317Carleton MN
1650__2338613716Pomona CA
2961__17385519__2Oberlin OH
2045_173653264Williams MA
…
Table of major awards
per.cap = 1000Total/Size (Total = sum columns 2 to 7)
SizeRhodesMarshallChurch.TrumanGoldwFulbrightTotalper.capSchool
16502651423358552Pomona CA
1542785259237750Swarthmore PA
2045101131717167436Williams MA
17926791410247039Amherst MA
2563100811456525Smith MA
__29613551817136121Oberlin OH
…

32

I don’t see any leg lamps listed.

33

@Cazwax I crunched in R. However these tables didn’t require much crunching. The work was getting the data. In any case, you can download my raw data and R code here

The data
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/31164092/College_Data/Table%20of%20Oberlin50%20Awards/Oberlin_Group_STEM_Scholars.csv

The R code
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/31164092/College_Data/Table%20of%20Oberlin50%20Awards/make_oberlin_scholars_tables.R

34

More crunching of the Baccalaureate origins of PhD 2004-2014 data. See previous posts on where this comes from. This time I downloaded the detail on the PhD field of study so I could break out CS vs Math. The numbers are a little different than before because I aggregated the subfields a little differently than NSF did in their aggregation. I added a bunch more small liberal arts colleges. In particular, Allegheny College was not in the ‘Oberlin Group’ and many of their alums go on to get PhDs in the hard sciences.

total = total of columns 1 to 6
size is enrollment 2015-2016 from USNews

First half of table

GeoSciLifeSciChemPhysics_CSMathtotalSTsizename
8818155312130406MN2057Carleton
125733685466290CA804Harvey Mudd
301602014829261OH2961Oberlin
3111426311536253MA2045Williams
__914417332225250PA1542Swarthmore
51253338725233OR2100Reed
81263712336222MN3034St. Olaf
23124239328210CA1650Pomona
71313017913207IA1734Grinnell
221281614711198CT2928Wesleyan Univ
231212271112196MA2563Smith
__712345746192PA2023Allegheny
29103151489178NY2875Colgate Univ
__810324171015177PA1194Haverford
21949201516175MA1792Amherst
1310020181013174PA3565Bucknell Univ
1311917869172MA2189Mount Holyoke
_71091910811164MA2323Wellesley
23742691311156MN2073Macalester
159626755154ME1847Colby
1793167810151ME1805Bowdoin
2788141236150CO2050Colorado
2469229421149WA1498Whitman
2185121286144VT2526Middlebury
1170361645142OH2066Coll of Wooster
__876212077139NY2418Vassar
1078241097138TX2297Trinity Univ
13652517313136WA2553U of Puget Sound
9653110118134MI3432Hope
965348611133SC2810Furman Univ
165741_7110132PA2209Franklin & Marshall
197817719131ME1773Bates
__964212328127MN2456Gustavus Adolphus
__9681714215125PA1308Bryn Mawr
26832858123MI1461Kalamazoo
__363238812117PA2503Lafayette
37020967115MI3894Calvin
_177194212115NC1770Davidson
1053182149115WI1519Lawrence Univ
__2868653110OH1734Ohio Wesleyan Univ
116220817109CA2040Occidental
__18218241108PA1681Ursinus
__57419314106NY2573Barnard
135926404106PA1615Juniata
__248339210104MA2937Coll of the Holy Cross
461118144102IN2216DePauw Univ
0641412_111102OH1662Kenyon
106412_41798IL2497Augustana
2457554196FL1815Eckerd
3612136296PA2451Gettysburg
74018811892MA1587Wheaton
_8_60982289PA2364Dickinson
15471562489NY1900Hamilton
868703389NY2632Skidmore
1681035188MA1932Clark Univ
15418113087NJ1417Drew Univ
147151031086FL834New College of FL
__8432064586NY2242Union
361782485OH2280Denison Univ
0586161182GA2135Spelman
_359945080IN993Earlham
1462214579OR2375Willamette Univ
14118102678PA2509Grove City
24218421078IL1399Knox
__53427_53377MI1268Albion
1244836477WI1303Beloit
3431574577AR1348Hendrix
9391506776VA1890WA & Lee Univ
6461613375CT1893Conneticutt
148876474OR2179Lewis & Clark
2501541274PA2440Muhlenberg
1421460972MN2381Concordia-Moorhead
04017121070NY2868Canisius
_0371683569KY1387Centre
831947766TN1631Sewanee: U of the South
1381415766CT2255Trinity
236767765NY2059Bard
2341481665MN1789St. John’s Univ,ville
1138145564MA1410Hampshire
0401154363MI1396Alma
23212104363GA2109Morehouse
03017101462PA1683Lebanon Valley
7301234662NY2406St. Lawrence Univ
4371611362WI2112St. Norbert
1311630758KY1621Berea
141813458PA2789Messiah
4221491656OR1683Linfield
235634555TN2031Rhodes
0241980253IN926Wabash
730823252IA1077Cornell
039353252OH1235Hiram
5251025552MS771Millsaps
0381100251MA2401Stonehill
1251531348GA2085Berry
4181581248CO3751Fort Lewis
0251164248NY3139Siena
2251151347IA1435Coe
335530147IN1145Hanover
0211834147IL1607Lake Forest
1221542246PA1138Westminster-New Wilm
1241421345TX1278Austin
228920445CA1301Claremont McKenna
02512404_45MI1472Hillsdale

35

Second half of table

GeoSciLifeSciChemPhysics_CSMathtotalSTsizename
1331000044PA1342Cedar Crest
032810344PA1788Elizabethtown
225822342MN2020Coll of St. Benedict
1261121142MD1471Goucher
3231221142NY2421Hobart & William Smiths
0251201442PA2002King’s-Wilkes Barre
026920542MD1706McDaniel
0261310242MS1984Mississippi
223751341SC1608Wofford
1191152240SD1671Augustana-Sioux Falls
328601240NY1540Hartwick
028533140IA1661Wartburg
1231231040PA1362WA & Jefferson
026522439AL1185Birmingham Southern
021823337NY2849Le Moyne
1161361037PA1612Moravian
030500237IN1519St. Mary’s-Notre Dame
026500435GA873Agnes Scott
122162335IN774Goshen
126700135NY2057Nazareth
2161410235VA1394Randolph-Macon
0251000035NH1968St. Anselm
119730535CA1313Westmont
2141102534WI2873Carthage
227400033PA2360Albright
1171021132VA1105Hampden-Sydney
125401132MD1359Hood
115821532NY1048Houghton
027410032CA972Scripps
119602331MT1430Carroll
024430031LA553Centenary of Louisiana
117731231VT2123St. Michael’s
0171011130PA1357Lycoming
0161040030PA1626St. Vincent
122402130CA1665Whittier
117920130MO1043William Jewell
120320329ID1120Coll of Idaho
316351129NC2137Guilford
120420229NYNAManhattan
016801429IA1215NW-Or. City
021231229WA3264Seattle Pacific Univ
022501028MN2859Coll of St. Scholastica
018411327PA1417Geneva
413900127WI584Northland
017900127WI840Ripon
018603027MS900Tougaloo
0121211026MA2008Assumption-Worcester
014710426IA1490Loras
017800126NY2857St. John Fisher
016720025SC591Erskine
214422125VA2054Roanoke
123000125MA2171Springfield
116510225MD1467WA
010812324IA1411Central
112141423MA1736Gordon
019112023MA1622Simmons
016111322SC1146Presbyterian
016110321CA1076Pitzer
011511220FL1932Rollins
_19611119FL2172FL Southern
114120018NY1437Sarah Lawrence
010400115CA917Mills
2__9100214IA1399Dordt

36

To put these numbers in perspective, you should look at the same tables for all schools, including large research universities. Posted here:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19567189/#Comment_19567189

Some background on the role of small LACs in STEM. These publications analyze similar data but different years and a smaller set of LACs.

Strengthening the STEM Pipeline: The Contributions of Small and Mid-Sized Independent Colleges
http://www.cic.edu/research-and-data/research-studies/documents/stem-report.pdf

Science at liberal arts colleges. A better education? by TR Cech
https://www.hhmi.org/sites/default/files/Programs/cech_article.pdf

Here is an article analyzing the same data but focused on PhDs in Computer Science
http://cra.org/crn/2013/01/exploring_the_baccalaureate_origin_of_domestic_ph-d-_students_in_compu/

37

Last table for tonight. This one shows the total number of alums who got a PhD in the hard sciences 2004-2014, but now I’ve sorted by the # of PhDs per 100 enrolled. This is how the # was normalized in Science at liberal arts colleges. A better education? by TR Cech
https://www.hhmi.org/sites/default/files/Programs/cech_article.pdf
but I’m showing many more schools. Cech just looked at the top-ranked 20 or so LACs.

total is sum of columns 1 to 6 (GeoSci+LifeSci+Physics+CS+Math)
size is size of school 2015-2016 per USNews
per.100 is 100*total/size

totalper.100sizename
29036.1804_Harvey Mudd
40619.72057Carleton
25016.21542Swarthmore
17714.81194Haverford
21012.71650Pomona
25312.42045Williams
20711.91734Grinnell
23311.12100Reed
8610.3834New College of FL
1499.91498Whitman
175_9.81792Amherst
1259.61308Bryn Mawr
1929.52023Allegheny
2618.82961Oberlin
1518.41805Bowdoin
1238.41461Kalamazoo
1548.31847Colby
808.1993Earlham
1727.92189Mount Holyoke
196_7.62563Smith
1157.61519Lawrence Univ
1567.52073Macalester
1317.41773Bates
2227.33034St. Olaf
1507.32050Colorado
1647.12323Wellesley
1426.92066Coll of Wooster
1986.82928Wesleyan Univ
526.7771Millsaps
1066.61615Juniata
115_6.51770Davidson
1086.41681Ursinus
1106.31734Ohio Wesleyan Univ
1786.22875Colgate Univ
1026.11662Kenyon
876.11417Drew Univ
776.11268Albion
13862297Trinity Univ
13262209Franklin & Marshall
77__5.91303Beloit
925.81587Wheaton
1445.72526Middlebury
1395.72418Vassar
775.71348Hendrix
535.7926Wabash
785.61399Knox
315.6553Centenary of Louisiana
1365.32553U of Puget Sound
1095.32040Occidental
965.31815Eckerd
1275.22456Gustavus Adolphus
6951387Centre
1744.93565Bucknell Univ
524.81077Cornell
1334.72810Furman Univ
1174.72503Lafayette
894.71900Hamilton
1024.62216DePauw Univ
884.61932Clark Univ
274.6584Northland
644.51410Hampshire
634.51396Alma
354.5774Goshen
524.21235Hiram
254.2591Erskine
1064.12573Barnard
54__4.11327U of Dallas
474.11145Hanover
7641890WA & Lee Univ
75__41893Conneticutt
66__41631Sewanee: U of the South
46__41138Westminster-New Wilm
35__4873Agnes Scott
1343.93432Hope
983.92497Augustana
963.92451Gettysburg
893.82364Dickinson
863.82242Union
823.82135Spelman
853.72280Denison Univ
623.71683Lebanon Valley
653.61789St. John’s Univ,ville
583.61621Berea
1043.52937Coll of the Holy Cross
453.51278Austin
453.51301Claremont McKenna
893.42632Skidmore
743.42179Lewis & Clark
793.32375Willamette Univ
563.31683Linfield
473.31435Coe
443.31342Cedar Crest
393.31185Birmingham Southern
323.3972Scripps
653.22059Bard
273.2840Ripon
783.12509Grove City
453.11472Hillsdale
323.11048Houghton
11533894Calvin
74__32440Muhlenberg
72__32381Concordia-Moorhead
63__32109Morehouse
27__3900Tougaloo
662.92255Trinity
622.92112St. Norbert
472.91607Lake Forest
422.91471Goucher
402.91362WA & Jefferson
322.91105Hampden-Sydney
302.91043William Jewell
552.72031Rhodes
352.71313Westmont
622.62406St. Lawrence Univ
402.61540Hartwick
292.61120Coll of Idaho
442.51788Elizabethtown
422.51706McDaniel
412.51608Wofford
352.51394Randolph-Macon
702.42868Canisius
402.41671Augustana-Sioux Falls
402.41661Wartburg
372.41519St. Mary’s-Notre Dame
322.41359Hood
292.41215NW-Orange City
482.32085Berry
372.31612Moravian
312.21430Carroll
302.21357Lycoming
582.12789Messiah
512.12401Stonehill
422.12020Coll of St. Benedict
422.12002King’s-Wilkes Barre
422.11984Mississippi
2121076Pitzer
27__1.91417Geneva
221.91146Presbyterian
351.81968St. Anselm
301.81626St. Vincent
301.81665Whittier
421.72421Hobart & William Smiths
351.72057Nazareth
261.71490Loras
251.71467Washington
241.71411Central
151.6917Mills
481.53139Siena
31_1.52123St. Michael’s
331.42360Albright
291.42137Guilford
231.41622Simmons
481.33751Fort Lewis
371.32849Le Moyne
261.32008Assumption-Worcester
231.31736Gordon
181.31437Sarah Lawrence
341.22873Carthage
251.22054Roanoke
251.22171Springfield
2812859Coll of St. Scholastica
20__11932Rollins
14__11399Dordt
29__0.93264Seattle Pacific Univ
260.92857St. John Fisher
190.92172__FL Southern

38

Alice T. Schafer Prize for Excellence in Mathematics by an Undergraduate Woman
https://sites.google.com/site/awmmath/programs/schafer-prize/schafer-prize-awardees

2016-1990
36 awards (winner, runner-up or honorable mention) given to undergraduate women at LACS
5 Harvey Mudd
4 Bryn Mawr
3 Swarthmore
3 Haverford
2 Smith
2 Grinnell
1 Williams
1 Reed
1 Bard
1 Carleton
1 Scripps
1 Mount Holyoke
1 Franklin & Marshall
1 Agnes Scott
1 Wellesley
1 Amherst
1 Bowdoin
1 Colorado College
1 Kalamazoo
1 Spelman
1 Santa Clara
1 Amherst
1 College of the Holy Cross

In comparison…
38 to Elite Universities
10 UC Berkeley
8 Harvard
7 MIT
4 Univ of Chicago
4 Princeton
2 Dartmouth
1 Yale
1 Stanford
1 Cornell

35 to large public research universities
9 Univ of Michigan
6 Univ of Notre Dame
2 Univ of Utah
2 Univ of Georgia
2 Univ of Massachusetts Amherst
2 University of Colorado at Boulder
2 UC Santa Barbara
2 Texas A&M University
2 University of Nebraska
1 University of Alabama
1 UC San Diego
1 University of Texas
1 University of Wisconsin
1 Univ of Washington
1 University of Montana

Full list by year posted separately

39

The only thing I want to say here is that folks should be careful interpreting this data, as it’s only descriptive (as opposed to inferential). There’s no information on whether these differences are statistically significant, and even if they are what the causes and drivers of them are. I think it’s safe to say that the average Carleton or Swarthmore student has more precipitating factors (initial desire, motivation, knowledge about PhD-level careers) and probably academic achievement/prowess than the average Beloit or Willamette student, but that says nothing about the outliers - for example, whether the same sufficiently motivated, superstar student would have better chances attending Carleton than Beloit.

This becomes important when students are comparing scholarship offers. For example, let’s say you’ve got a superstar student who has already started doing high school research and has a paper published and one in preparation. She’s got a full ride scholarship to Whitman and her family is full pay at Carleton. Would she necessarily have better chances going to get a PhD if she chose Carleton? No, that’s committing the ecological fallacy in statistics. A student who has a publication in high school could probably go practically anywhere and still come out on top.

The other thing these lists don’t do is stratify. Note that Spelman and Morehouse, both historically black colleges, are towards the middle of the list. Also note, though, that in other places analyses show that black science and engineering PhDs disproportionately come from HBCUs, and Spelman and Morehouse rank very highly when you take that into account (and also into account that very large proportions of their student bodies are low-income going by Pell recipients).

Would it be better for an aspiring PhD who is African American to go to Colgate or Morehouse, or Kenyon or Spelman? There’s no answer to that - it’s going to be very individual and depend a lot on the student. The same is likely true of many other minority groups - women, low-income students, Latinos, etc. (I can say that for my part, going to an HBCU - Spelman, in fact - was instrumental in my decision to get a PhD in a STEM, albeit not “hard” science, field. The fact that I had lots of black female professors in front of me in my classrooms, and a black female president and black female deans and black female alumni who were getting PhDs…it left a tremendous impression on me that could not have been replicated at a predominantly white school. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have gotten a PhD if I had gone anywhere else; I’m just saying it made a huge difference.)

Also, some colleges may either simply attract students who are less likely to want PhDs or foster a spirit in kids to go pursue other avenues. Note that Scripps, Claremont McKenna, and Pitzer, all elite LACs, are near the bottom of this list. Is there something about the atmosphere at the Claremont Colleges that encourages entering careers other than science & engineering research? Maybe! Would that mean that an aspiring PhD should attend Seattle Pacific instead of Scripps, Whittier instead of Pitzer, or St. Lawrence instead of Claremont McKenna? Eh, probably not.

40

The question of where an individual will do better is a very hard question to answer, and perhaps unanswerable. My intent was simply to show the numbers. What if I had asked you which LAC had produced the most alums who went on to get PhDs in mathematics: Bowdoin College (#6 on US News Ranking) or Spelman College (#72 on US New Ranking)? I think all would say Bowdoin, but that is not in fact the case. Bowdoin produced 10 and Spelman 11, though they are not that different in enrollment. 10 vs 11 is not a “significant” difference by any means. But if you were interested in math and weighing those two schools, then that bit of information might be useful.

Or consider the case of a student interested in Spelman and Morehouse. If I am interested in physics, it would appear that Morehouse has a fairly strong physics department. 10 is quite a large number for a school that size. Yes Carleton, Harvey Mudd, Swarthmore and a number of other schools are higher. But perhaps the student has no interest in those schools. It might be relevant to that student to know that Morehouse produced a similar number of alums who went on to get PhDs in physics as Wesleyan, Middlebury, Oberlin, Occidental.

GeoSciLifeSciChemPhysics_CSMathtotalSTsizename
__0586161182GA2135Spelman
__232121043_63GA2109Morehouse