<p>I think all the schools sound great- I do wish that two of the three schools in the Northwest that are listed, weren't so difficult for admission, as I think that was part of the point of the original emphasis on lesser known schools.</p>
<p>( ok I left out Evergreen- but TESC isn't for everyone. or even any of the students I have spoken to who have attended in the last few years- everyone has transferred out- which makes me sad as I think it could be a great school- but when I looked with older D, I was wary of the " overall " academic standards lack of)</p>
<p>But D #2 has a good friend who is going to be attending Earlham after her year off - that has always been one of my favorites</p>
<p>Beloit was on S's list, but at the bottom. When we visited, it zoomed to the top of the list: he loved the people, he loved what he heard about the courses, he loved the campus, and as an added attraction, Beloit has a science fiction theme house (we call it the D&D dorm). It was raining, with the last of the snow just melting, when we were touring the campus, and even under those conditions he felt at home.</p>
<p>Kalamazoo is another contender for him, and he will visit in the fall. He's also considering Earlham and Lawrence. He's looking for a school that welcomes quirky and nerdy students, and that has a strong community, and that has an intellectual atmosphere.</p>
<p>I think Humboldt would qualify possibly- I haven't visited it- but D applied and was accepted- we are going to visit this summer
They have their own boat for their marine bio program and also have a good emphasis on undergrad education- struggling with CA budget though.
Also perhaps Mills?
I have heard a lot about that too.</p>
<p>My son is just finishing his first year at Kalamazoo and he is very happy there. The kids work hard but always have other things to do and there seems to be a great sense of community. So far it has been a great college experience for him.</p>
<p>Among the CTCL schools he applied to and we visited Lawrence, Knox, Beloit and Kalamazoo. My wife and I both loved every one of those schools. We kept remarking that we wished we could have our own college "do-over" to experience one of these terrific LACs instead of the big universities we attended.</p>
<p>I visited Rhodes with my child and thought it is a terrific school. It has a beautiful campus and really nice adcoms. (Not crazy about the lack of cafes and bookstores in the immediate vicinity though. Another thing that gave me pause was that all but a couple of the license plates in the parking lots on movein day were from the South and my girl has a northern edge to her so I wondered about how she might fit in.) In the end, it wasn't the very best school for her and she was admitted to her first choice. I would still recommend Rhodes. Their grad school admission stats sound pretty good.</p>
<p>Did you get the impression that a kid who had no particular interest in music would thrive at Lawrence, MilwDad? Would a kid like that be disadvantaged in admission?</p>
<p>Fang, DS and I visited Lawrence, and while the music conservatory is amazing, it is definitely not all-encompassing of the school as a whole. I'd highly recommend a visit. I agree that many of the the CTCL schools are NOT for "B" students in today's world. </p>
<p>We'll be visiting Clark and Beloit this summer, and will try to get to Goucher and McDaniels.</p>
<p>Which CTCL schools are not for B students? Are we talking about schools which are not for B students because they can't be admitted, or because they wouldn't succeed once admitted?</p>
<p>I don't think Whitman is taking B students these days. Reed might take a few B students, but they'd better be ready to study all the time (like all Reed students).</p>
<p>I don't think non-interest in music would make any particular difference, Fang. The Conservatory at Lawrence is very good but it doesn't dominate the school. When we met with the director of admissions I don't think the subject of music ever came up at all. And the "connie" kids and the non-connies get along very well. </p>
<p>However, from what you've said about your son, my guess is that your son is a slightly better fit at Beloit or Kalamazoo. I surely wouldn't want my guess to dissuade you from visiting Lawrence, however, if you planned to do so. It's a terrific school in a lovely setting, and as your son's experience visiting Beloit shows, you never know.</p>
<p>CardinalFang- "It was raining, with the last of the snow just melting, when we were touring the campus, and even under those conditions he felt at home.".
This def. describes how I felt about Earlham. We visited when the Midwest got hit with the freak blizzard ( 14- 25 inches of snow) and my dad said if you still like it now.. lol</p>
<p>D2(currently a HS sophomore) and I went to the CTCL tour/college fair when it was in our area recently. Although D was rather skeptical, at first, about the schools within the group the opnening presentations did pique her interest. The college fair, itself, was quite crowded, with lengthy lines at the various college booths. My D (who's very intent upon majoring in English, particularly creative writing) was particularly impressed with Knox, and especially Whitman, so I really am on the lookout for any info about these two schools. </p>
<p>My older D had visited Goucher and Clark(she applied and was accepted at Clark, with a generous merit aid package). Goucher seemed like it would be a good fit for her academically and socially, and it had a good location, but unfortunately their foreign language course offerings were too limited for her. (She's an International Relations major). While I liked Clark--very diverse student population, a lot of personal attention, her major was popular there--my daughter only applied to it as a safety school, because it was too small(in her opinion)and the location in Worcester, MA was a drawback. (she felt that there wouldn't be enough access to internships in her field of study.)</p>
<p>SherBear - I would say that as far as Rhodes goes for your nephew if he has decent SAT or ACT scores he should be alright. My son is on the basketball team there and I remember the coach telling us when we visited that they definitely place weight on those scores and that my son should take them seriously. ( I appreciated him saying that because up until that visit my son was not putting in a lot of effort preparing for those tests!) If your nephew is really interested in Rhodes I definitely urge him to visit and meet some of the guys on the baseball team. Most of my son's closest friends are his teammates.</p>
<p>There are so many colleges out there that change kid's lives. The book focuses on discussions with a few kids from each college who all seemed to say they were getting so much better attention and education than elite college X. I too was disappointed in the lack of western (especially CA ) schools. One could probably go to many smaller schools all over the states and find kids saying exactly the same things as kids in the book said. My kids didn't attend or even look at any of the colleges in the book and both attended colleges that changed/are changing their lives. Shoot, I attended UC Davis in the 70s and it changed my life alot.</p>
<p>csleslie51: You’re right, of course. There are many, many amazing small colleges from one coast to the other. But I think that the CTCL consortium acts as a nice springboard for families who are looking for something “offbeat” and aren’t quite sure where to begin. That’s how it worked for us, anyway. We received a postcard in the mail listing the CTCL colleges, and thus began our college search adventure.</p>
<p>D visited, liked, applied to, was accepted by, and seriously considered attending Rhodes, Hendrix, Centre, Denison. She had already been interested in R,C, and D before reading CTCL. Hendrix would never have been on her radar without CTCL! It's a great resource for students. D also liked the book "Harvard Schmarvard," which gave some more interesting ideas for schools.</p>
<p>csleslie51, what other schools would you recommend to students who are looking for a CTCL kind of school, that is, a small school with a focus on teaching and a strong unified college community?</p>
<p>My son is looking at the CTCL schools Beloit, Kalamazoo, Lewis and Clark, maybe Earlham, maybe Lawrence. Other schools he's considering are Macalester, Bates, Oberlin and Bowdoin.</p>
<p>It is kind of a shame that there are no California colleges on the CTCL list. I wrote to the executive director of CTCL (a former admin. at McDaniel College, where I got my masters degree - a wonderful school) and asked her what she thought of Pitzer, where my D will be going in 2008. She thought Pitzer was a wonderful school, but said it didn't make the CTCL list, because it is too well known. Pitzer is also getting more difficult to get into - 2004 acceptance rate was 56%; this year it's down to 22%. I hope it changes my D's life.</p>