actually, it does. Harvard’s SCEA admit rate is around 14%, while their RD rate is around 3-4%. Yale’s and Princeton’s SCEA increases vs. RD are similar. That increase cannot be entirely attributed to hooked applicants.
The only schools where applying early does not appear to increase one’s chances at all are Georgetown and MIT.
That would be a pretty decent tour of the US, in addition to giving you the chance to visit all the schools. If I forgot any, just plug them in where it makes sense.
@prezbucky -it’s an excellent itinerary, but that’s a lot of traveling and at some point the colleges are all going to start sounding and looking the same (holistic admissions, a quad, the library being the basis of Harry Potter said on every tour e.g.). And of course how affordable is this, NYC, LA, Boston not exactly the cheapest cities? I’d cut this in half and focus on what I think are the three schools the OP would fit in the best - Chicago, Columbia, Swarthmore. I’d visit those three, the neighboring colleges (Yale, Dickinson et. al.) and Boston area schools because of the density of colleges there and if something doesn’t click expand to Reed, Pomona.
Northwestern is superb of course but greek life and sports are big there. JHU maybe too STEM for OP.
@theloniusmonk Why should I, if I do apply ED, only use it on Columbia, Swarthmore, or UChicago? Does Brown not give ED much of a boost? Someone mentioned that UChicago is becoming almost impossible during RD, but do they give EA a boost?
Brown does give a big boost for ED as does every school that offers ED. I don’t think Chicago gives an EA boost, but then again, most schools don’t. I think Chicago accepted over half its class from ED1 and ED2, so that would be they way to go if Chicago is your top choice.
“none of them say anything about EA II.”
I’ve not heard of EA II, who offers that?
Yeah, that would be a lot of traveling and $$$$. It sounds like the OP’s fam might have the funds, but probably not the time.
I think in two weeks she could probably see about 10 schools fairly comfortably – maybe more. And in some cases, two in a day. (like Barnard/Columbia and Haverford/BMC)
I do see your point about them all becoming a blur after a while. I think taking a “break day” now and then during the trip would help to fight that. Also, keeping a journal and taking good notes every night – writing down pros and cons, maybe giving a brief summary of each school. That way if she can’t remember which school had that awful food or which one had the cool professor, she can rely on her notes to keep her memories straight… keep them tied to the correct schools.
I figure in two weeks – with at least three full days of travel (home to USA, east coast to chicago, chicago to Britain) – she’d have 11 days to see schools. Maybe they take three “break days”, leaving 8 days. to visit schools. I’m thinking that’s enough time to see about ten schools. Anyway – whether it’s five or ten schools, it’ll be much more manageable than trying to see 25 schools in a month.
(I suppose even if they don’t do all this traveling, our talking about it may help her to start forming a map in her head, if she hasn’t already begun…)
Probably the best thing for her to do now is to read everything she can find about these schools. That will help her to rank them.
@outofkantrol, Your writing accomplishments and debate involvement add up to a strong extracurricular profile. Many colleges allow you to submit writing samples with your application, and in any event your interests should be highlighted in your essays and recommendations. I would suggest assembling a supplemental writing package with a resume featuring courses, awards and other information that reinforces your involvement.
I’m glad that you’ll be able to visit colleges before November. Go for quality over quantity. Spend time walking around campus on your own, eat in the dining hall, sit in on a class, interview if available. (I like on-campus interviews because you usually get members of the admission committee and/or recent graduates.) If you can manage to visit 10 schools you’ll walk away with a good sense of your options in environment and culture.
As tempting as it is to concentrate your visits on colleges that you love, it’s better to devote your limited time to schools that you’re not sure about, especially those that are less selective and/or are located in places that don’t immediately appeal to you. Visiting the best way to get comfortable with potential tradeoffs like size and location. Or, conversely, solidify what’s definitely not for you.
Everything that you have control over is strong – grades, scores, ECs, finances. The problem is that your demographic – White, female, UK, upper economic strata – works against you in international admissions, especially at LACs where the total number admitted from that demographic is miniscule. Visiting can help you decide which items on your wish list are “must haves” and which are negotiable. As much as I admire the LAC experience, I think the best strategy would be to balance your list with more mid-sized (non-Ivy) privates.
@theloniusmonk, while JHU has superb sciences, it also has terrific programs in humanities and social sciences, particularly art history, international relations and increasingly philosophy (as @SouthernHope pointed out in post #118).
And, don’t forget we drive on the right-hand side of the road, here.
@theloniusmonk Knox, Beloit, Simmons for example have EA II, but not many places do.
@circuitrider I have to pass my driving test in England before I can even worry about that. I’m not very good, as well; I probably spend a fair amount of time on the right-hand side anyways. Oops.
@prezbucky Yeah, I’ve pinned them up on my USA map in my room and used coloured pins to demonstrate how important I think visiting is and string to show the route. I have a thing for maps.
I’ve been looking a bit at some rural colleges that have been recommended which I originally discounted based on their location and I must admit I’m really glad that I am considering them. I think part of my hesitation stems from the importance of where you go to college in the UK, although I think part of that is because everyone generally moves out of university housing after their first year and most colleges don’t have much of a campus. I’m really starting to fall in love with Hamilton and Kenyon at the moment, and Bard, Middlebury, and Grinnell sound really nice as well. Other posters also mentioned Bowdoin and Colby. I was just wondering what you guys thought off these schools. Middlebury and Colby sound a bit homogenous, though, and I’m guessing this would negatively impact me during admissions.
Well, this begs an important question. Who will be doing the driving this time round and as a corollary to that: how comfortable are you with having to depend on classmates with cars in order to get around, once you’ve enrolled? Presumably, that was part of the calculus that went into eliminating rural colleges from your radar in the first place. Williams is a great place, with its share of intellectuals, but, keep in mind that when Ephmen say they’re taking a road trip they mean, Montreal.
If you’re looking at LACs, I would look at Grinnell, Carleton, Davidson and Macalester. Yale’s DS (which we’ve already discussed) and its Political Union (debate) sound right up your alley.
As for location, Grinnell is in the middle of a cornfield in Iowa; Macalester is in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, which Carleton is in its suburbs, and Davidson is in a sweet college town in North Carolina just outside Charlotte.
And I’d pick among Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, and Haverford (but not apply to them all); likewise, I’d select one or two of the Claremont Colleges (Pomona as a reach and Scripps as a safety? Claremont McKenna also has a PPE program, but I think the school as a whole lacks the intellectual vibe you crave)
@circuitrider I just turned 17 at the beginning of this month (if you didn’t know in the UK you can’t drive until you’re 17) and I’ve only had 2 lessons. I was speaking half in jest. I’m certain I’ll be a confident driver by the time I go to college. But this does open a bigger question: is it necessary to have a car at a rural college? Can you, say, get dorm supplies at the local Target easily enough without a car?
Grinnell is a couple hours west of where we (wife and I) live. It’s between Iowa City and Des Moines, cities of about 200,000 and 80,000, respectively. The U of Iowa is in Iowa City.
Grinnell itself is small town/rural. Iowans are known for being nice. The school is known for its somewhat hippie culture and is quite far left generally, but not militant. It’s excellent academically.
Here are my impressions of the other schools you’ve just mentioned:
Middlebury - Outstanding in the languages, maybe the best. Strong all-around as well. Beautiful location. Balanced student body (for a LAC) between jocks, nerds, artsy types, crunchy types (I’m a bit out of my depth with these adjectives…).
Bard - I’m sorry but what has stuck out the most to me, based on reading years’ worth of comments, is the amount of smoking that goes on here – cigarettes and other things. I’m sure it has redeeming qualities too.
Kenyon – Another humanities powerhouse. At least as rural as Grinnell, maybe moreso. At least Grinnell is any easy/short car ride away from Des Moines and Iowa City.
Hamilton - This school was once two different schools, so there’s a sort of “two halves” feel to the campus. Hamilton is known for developing writing skills and is strong academically all-around. Like Middlebury, it seems the student body is fairly balanced for a LAC.
Bowdoin - I spent an hour dinking around the campus with my wife on our honeymoon (Boston/Bar Harbor/Lake George and places in between). I liked how flat it was and enjoyed some of the cool buildings enough to photograph them despite the drizzle we encountered. There is an Antarctica museum, which is neat. Bowdoin and Middlebury are age-old peers and of similar quality overall, but reside in differing environments.
Colby is another pretty Maine college. Like your other NESCAC entrants, they are strong academically. Also a fairly balanced student body.
The school’s teams are called the Mules, an obvious endorsement of interspecies breeding.
In terms of rigor, I would say none of them is as hard as Reed, Swat, Chicago or Carleton – at least based on what we read on these boards. In terms of intellectualism, being LACs, they have their fair share of it. But again, none is probably more intellectual than Reed or Swat, or even most of your other LACs. Of course, the only way to know for certain would be to look at the course syllabi for similar courses, and to read student reviews.)
I am going to second all of the Chicago shout outs. It really is an intellectual school. Yale and Chicago would be my two cents. I would be careful of the LACs that are so remote because there is not much to do on the weekends except drink (think Dartmouth Animal House). I was pretty shocked when I did some visits, and I’m no Puritan. At one LAC there was even a screw party. I’m at Vassar and there is drinking (I wish there was less), but there is no frat culture (it’s been mentioned elsewhere but some sports teams have taken on the role of frats). Maybe that’s because it was once a woman’s school. Admittedly, many student-athletes are intellectual and responsible, but I think a lot of parents on CC have no idea, and drinking really was rampant. Chicago is not a sporty school. It is an intellectual powerhouse. If I was going to choose an intellectual LAC that’s not mine, I would say Bowdoin, Pomona, Hamilton, Swarthmore.
I think Amazon has pretty much solved that problem. You get an Amazon prime membership with a student discount and then just order what you need online, free 2-day delivery.
And Uber and Lyft.
All of the USNWR 25 to 30 top rated LACs have rigorous academics, academically serious student bodies and accessible faculty with credentials from top universities. The personality overlaps are significant, and I believe you could find what you’re looking for at most all of them. (Exceptions would be of course the military academies and niche schools like Mudd and CMC). The differences in culture and environment will become apparent as you begin visiting.
My son never felt the need to have a car at Williams. When he wanted to get somewhere off campus it was easy to find someone offering a lift or to hire a car service. (His Williams’ years were pre-Uber/Lyft. I imagine it’s a lot easier to get around now.) Getting to and from the airport is always a schlep, but students cope. He managed to get to Boston or New York once or twice a semester, either for social events or class related trips. Amazon is your friend.
I think what differentiates Williams from other rural LACs is that Williamstown is a town (well, kind of, a mountain village really) with a handful of restaurants, coffee shops and miscellaneous shops and services. The campuses of some rural colleges, for example Kenyon and Hamilton, are separate from their nearest towns and getting to town would involve driving.
My observation is that the students who are happiest at rural colleges are those that embrace the insular, close knit aspect of the campus community. A lot of time is spent hanging out with friends in the common room and taking advantage of on-campus events.
I spent some time looking at the Common Data Sets for several of LACs that have been suggested here. The actual numbers of enrolled first year “non-resident aliens” are illuminating. They range from very low (Bowdoin, Rhodes, Davidson, Hamilton, Reed) to quite high (Middlebury, Macalester, Grinnell, Skidmore, Wesleyan). The women’s colleges (with the exception of Scripps) fare very well.
These enrollment figures are just one piece of the puzzle. They don’t tell you how many non-resident aliens applied or how many were admitted, and it’s very difficult to get clear breakdowns by country. However, they are, I think, a good indication of a college’s commitment to admit internationals, and provide a reasonable guideline for editing the LAC list.
Enrolled non-resident aliens / total degree seeking first year students
Bowdoin: 24 / 503
Rhodes: 25 / 512
Davidson: 31 / 519
Hamilton: 31 / 480
Reed: 34 / 354
Kenyon: 36 / 413
Amherst: 38 / 471
Bates: 39 / 510
Haverford: 39 / 349
Williams: 41 / 548
Vassar: 47 / 624
Sarah Lawrence: 47 / 377
Pomona: 48 / 411
Swarthmore: 55 / 392
Carleton: 58 / 522
Colby: 61 / 508
Middlebury: 72 / 635
Macalester: 76 / 506
Skidmore: 81 / 661
Grinnell: 97 / 414
Wesleyan: 108 / 761
Women’s colleges
Scripps: 12 / 270
Barnard: 61 / 603
Wellesley: 81 / 603
Bryn Mawr: 90 / 354
Smith: 95 / 639
Holyoke: 151 / 529
Original question:
Various answers:
Unless, I’m missing something, the short answer is “No.” You cannot easily access a mall or big box store, in case you had any ideas of using them as a short-distance destination or hang-out, without a car (or, without calling a taxi service.) The one exception I can think of is possibly Swarthmore, but, even there, you probably wouldn’t want to navigate the Baltimore Pike on foot.
You may also want to ask yourself, is there more than one place to dine? Is there a cinema where I can see something other than Ingmar Bergman movies? How far do I have to travel to find someone who can cut/weave/braid my hair (especially, if you’re of African descent?) See an eye doctor; repair a bicycle; buy fresh produce (if you have any aspirations as a foodie?) Or, need a place for my parents to stay overnight? That last one may come into play fairly soon.
@Louis5: Your post above in this thread is one that OutOfKantrol should consider seriously.
Although I would suggest just Swarthmore & Pomona as intellectual LACs. Both give you access to other LACs nearby.
At Swarthmore yes you have to cross the Baltimore Pike “on foot” to get to Target. There’s a light. I did it dozens of times back in the 80s 
(But it was Macy’s back then, not Target) My son has even done it once or twice in his 4 years, but typically uses Amazon Prime. He went there a couple weeks ago to get his eyeglass Rx filled at a place there. The Springfield mall is a literal one mile walk along pleasant suburban streets until that scary crossing at the light
Pomona College is also within walking/bike distance to a Target and the Montclair Place Mall, as well as a Trader Joe’s. Not as convenient or scenic as Swarthmore to Springfield Mall, but Montclair Place is almost two and a half times larger.
There’s really no pressing need to go to Target or the mall anymore for items, though. At Pomona, they installed not 1 but 3 Amazon lockers where students can send items to be picked up 24/7. One’s by the gym and the other two are next to the dining halls on north and south campus, so you can go eat/workout and then pick up your item to head back to your room. There’s also one at CMC and another at Pitzer. Any other LACs with an Amazon Locker?
I used it and it’s so convenient! Just ship a book, or toiletries, or snacks (Amazon Prime Pantry), or clothes, or whatever you need, and pick up at your convenience without worrying about mail-room hours. My dorm was actually right next to the locker, so I’d have a bad habit of buying items.