<p>I've lived in the 5Colleges area for a long time, and I love it, but now that my college years are approaching, I desperately want to get out of here! How can I find another place in the country with a similar quirky, fun, yet educated feel? Smith would be a great college for me (I mean, the weather could be a little better, and the campus could be prettier)--now I just need to find a school like it faaaar away from here.</p>
<p>Admissions difficulty aside, what good schools have a similar vibe to the 5 Pioneer Valley colleges (Amherst, UMass, Hampshire, Mt Holyoke, Smith) ... but aren't in the Pioneer Valley? I'd love to find a place like this in, say, California-- is that too much to hope for?</p>
<p>Have you looked at the Claremont Colleges in southern California? Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, Pomona and Scripps (women’s college). It is a consortium of five different schools all clustered together with the ability to cross-register at the various schools. I’ve noticed that both sets of schools (Claremont Colleges and the 5Colleges in Mass) seem to attract the same cross section of students. I can think of several students who had to choose between Pomona and Amherst or Smith and Scripps.</p>
<p>If you’re looking for a consortium, Claremont is really your best bet. A bit closer to home, you have Swarthmore/Bryn Mawr/Haverford.</p>
<p>However, there are plenty of cities that have a similar artsy, college-town vibe. A lot of the strict college towns that people think of (i.e. Ann Arbor, Ithaca) have schools that are much bigger than you want, though, if you’re interested in Smith. There are some smaller schools in more urban, artsy places, such as Macalester, Reed, and Lewis & Clark.</p>
<p>Yes, I thought Claremont might be a good fit!
Does anyone know if they are supposed to be any more or less prestigious than the 5colleges in either academics or reputation?</p>
<p>Pomona, the (arguably) best and oldest school in the Claremont Consortium, is less prestigious than Amherst, arguably the best school in the Five College Consortium.</p>
<p>Smith is excellent, but damned far away. Mt. Holyoke is no Wellesley, or even Smith. UMass is not Berkeley. And, Hampshire is… Hampshire.</p>
<p>However, the Claremont Consortium is significantly stronger than the Five College Consortium chiefly because of the presence of Claremont McKenna and Harvey Mudd. Pitzer and Scripps are good schools as well, each with their own strong departments.</p>
<p>With the Claremont Consortium, you have better academic/social resources and better weather, which both offer an overall better academic experience and quality of life. The prestige difference between Amherst and Pomona is not significant.</p>
<p>Not in California, but far from New England, Colorado College. Smaller, more liberal-arts feel, attracts the same quality and type of students that go to LACs like Amherst, Bates, etc. Plus the weather in colorado is incredible, it snows and gets cold-but it’s sunny 300 days a year and very few of the gross rainy cloudy days that the Northeast gets.</p>
<p>Claremont colleges are also great, and have a good reputation in the west.</p>
<p>The kids I know who went to Colorado College were pretty good students in high school, and most of them could have gone to better “ranked” schools. It’s more of a lifestyle choice… they’re going to be a little more “quirky” (by which I mean a little more awesome) than the general student body of somewhere like Amherst, and they’re going to enjoy being in the outdoors (lots of students ski, backpack, etc.). It’s also not for everyone because it works on a weird block-class schedule, which you’d have to research and decide how you feel.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t put it quite as high as Amherst or Wellesley, but it’s got really solid academics and it fits into the intelligent, quirky, small LAC criteria that you mentioned.</p>