I think you are right taking Hamilton, Middlebury and Bowdoin off the list. Too sporty, too rural.
I don’t think JHU is a good add. Too competitive and STEM focused.
Tufts seems like a great match on all levels.
@suzyQ7 I haven’t taken Middlebury or Bowdoin off my list yet, but I’m strongly considering doing so. The fact that they’re rural doesn’t bother me, but I am worried that they’re too sporty/outdoorsy for me. I actually really like Hamilton, and think that there’s a good chance I’ll end up applying. My impression of the school is that there are some sporty/outdoorsy as well as preppy people there, but they are definitely not the majority. However, if someone who knows more about Hamilton than me, then feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
I’m still considering Tufts and definitely like it, but I wouldn’t say I’m mad about it. What specifically makes you say that it’s such a good match?
Tufts: intellectual vibe, in a very cosmopolitan city with easy access to the arts, museums, and other top notch universities. The easiest/fastest access (of any US city) to London. Strong in the humanities.
Hamilton’s distinction lies partly in its history of once having been two colleges of complementary characteristics and emphases. Academically, socially, architecturally and spatially, aspects of this legacy can still be discovered.
With 29 varsity teams, Hamilton clearly supports athletic participation for a good percentage of their students. And in sports such as women’s and men’s hockey, their teams are prominent and excellent. However, an arts center, with museum, comprises the center of campus, while the science hall stands as the largest academic building. Ideally, these aspects describe overlapping attributes of the college, rather than distinct components.
Even beautifully rural colleges can offer access to an array of amenities. Hamilton provides regular shuttle service to nearby suburban areas that include an indoor mall and movie theatre (within five miles).
LACs have nuanced personalities and distinguishing features, but as a general statement I would say that there’s very little discernible difference among the type of kids who are drawn to Hamilton, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Kenyon, Amherst and Williams. They’re all academically intense environments with intellectually engaged, active and confident students.
Definitely look at St. John’s College - sounds exactly what you are looking for.
I agree to take Hamilton off the list. I’m an alum, and I think you could get the same if not better experience at Haverford, which is in a suburban setting. Hamilton is too rural and isolated. I definitely see Swarthmore, Wellsley, Williams, and Brown on that list. Maybe Middlebury? But again, that’s in the middle of nowhere.
"Jesuit schools tend to be more liberal than Catholic schools like Boston College and Notre Dame.
Just to clarify @LoveTheBard, Boston College is a Jesuit University.
@2mrmagoo - thanks for the clarification. My bad.
If you are looking at Kenyon and Grinnell (love both of these especially Grinnell) I’d add in Oberlin. Based on your comments I think it would be a good match. Low reach for you but its a low reach for anyone these days.
@Veryapparent Oberlin is a school on my radar but I’ll definitely really look into it now. Thanks.
Now AS exams (finals) are all over and summer is nearly here, which means time to start writing essays so I’m trying to finalise my list. So far this is what it’s looking like:
I’ve decided to go the EA instead of the Princeton REA route to stay away from the ‘dream school’ mentality.
Definitely applying to:
Princeton
Brown
UChicago (EA)
Columbia
Yale
Swarthmore
Wesleyan
Carleton
Kenyon
Grinnell
Wellesley
William & Mary
Mount Holyoke
NCF (EA)
Most likely applying to:
Reed (EA) - I feel like it’s one of those places I need to visit before deciding if it’s definitely right for me but I’m fairly confident it will be.
Barnard
Smith
Maybe applying to:
Whitman
Lawrence (EA)
Scripps
Hamilton
Macalester
Williams
Vassar
Pomona
Tufts
Still considering but probably won’t apply:
Bryn Mawr
Haverford
Brandeis
Bowdoin
Oberlin
Dickinson (EA)
Notre Dame (REA)
Colleges mentioned that I won’t be applying to:
Harvard
Stanford
Georgetown
Boston College
Middlebury
Amherst
Johns Hopkins
Sarah Lawrence
Clark
St. John’s
Rhodes
Maybe visiting in early September:
Reed
Whitman
Hamilton
Williams
Pomona
Scripps
Maybe visiting in October to make sure I show demonstrated interest:
Wellesley
Kenyon
Grinnell
Carleton
William & Mary
Smith (as long as I apply)
Any other colleges I apply to that I haven’t visited
I’m going to be adding either Whitman or Dickinson, and then 2-5 from my maybe list (or probably not list, if I change my mind) depending on whether I go for Barnard, Smith, and Reed or not. Anyways, I could really use some advice on which schools to pick. My head is literally swarming over the panic of having to finalise my list soon so I can start writing all those essays and I could really use some help.
I think you can clarify your selection criteria with a confident approach. With a sincerely crafted application, you will get into a lot of schools. You’ve earned this position. If you first concentrate on your favorite colleges, you will see how they naturally fall across a selectivity array. If your chosen schools were to all land in the ultra-selective category, you could then add some strategic selections based upon your likelihood of admission. As it appears, based on your “Definitely applying to” schools, you may already have mostly accomplished this.
Btw, regarding a rural environment, you may have only one opportunity to experience an exclusively undergraduate-focused college while also living in an area that economic considerations might preclude in the future. Though @Trixy34 appears to have made the wrong choice for herself, I’m glad you seem intrigued by a range of options at this point.
Interesting list – I think you will have a lot of acceptances, and a very difficult decision in about 10 months 
Over the next five months you might want to rethink your early application strategy. I believe that you would get a boost from an early scheme, whether it’s ED, EA, REA or SCEA. I also believe that you would be happy at any one of several of your top choices (e.g., Princeton, Brown, Chicago, Columbia, Yale, Swarthmore) and I know that you can only attend one.
So why not pick one and apply ED or SCEA/REA? Not doing so only exports the decision to the future and increases the likelihood of not having one of your top choices on your admit list. Applying ED/SCEA/REA would mean you may not be able to apply EA to another school, but, to me, the advantage out weighs the downside. You don’t need to make this decision just yet, but you should realize that the risk runs both ways: there’s risk in applying ED/SCEA to a selective school and risk in not applying.
I would suggest visiting Carleton, Kenyon, Grinnell, Williams and Hamilton sooner rather than later as they are very different in environment from the other schools on your definite list. If you’re in MN, I’d suggest you visit Macalester too: High percentage of international enrollment (15%), excellent academics and a lively urban campus.
Is NCF the New College of Florida? If it is, add it to the “must visit” list.
I think you would like the intellectual environment at Reed, but I’m not sure about its political and activist culture.
I would move Barnard and Smith to your definite list.
Among your maybes the following LACs enroll few internationals. This is just one factor, of course, and there’s no reason that you wouldn’t be one those chosen, but if you’re looking for reasons to eliminate, commitment to enrolling internationals should be a consideration…
Number of first year internationals enrolled / total enrollment
Scripps 12 / 270
Hamilton 31 / 480
Lawrence 33 / 353
Reed 34 / 354
Kenyon 36 / 413
Whitman 37 / 389
Williams 41 / 548
As an altenative idea you may want to look at Reed and Lewis & Clark. Both schools are very intellectual and strong in the humanities. Both are small LAC’s in Portland Oregon, with great mass transit in a gorgeous city. Both schools are not Greek and not typical party schools. Very outdoorsy and lots to do. Students back in my day sat around and debated everything in deep discussions on a Saturday evening while drinking local brewed beers. Reed in particular is known to send its students to stellar graduate programs creating lots of PHD’s. Reed is big on a classical education.
@momrath I am not sure that the listing of which schools admit few internationals is based on a commitment to admitting internationals. Hamilton has stated with pride their growing percentage of international students and I am sure many of those schools would welcome more qualified internationals.
@OutOfKantrol Regarding your demonstrated interest, some of the schools on your maybe visit list (like Hamilton) definitely track visits and strongly prefer applicants who interview. Some on that list don’t track interest (Pomona, Williams) so a visit before admittance is optional. I think for certain schools that are looking for geographic diversity (Carleton, Kenyon, Reed) as an international you have a bit of leeway in showing demonstrated interest. You have a very ambitious visit list and you might experience burnout towards the end. For many schools on the less selective side you can apply and visit once accepted. Do you have a cap on the number of schools you are planning to apply to? You are a highly qualified applicant and your list seems quite large; it’s a herculean undertaking to write sincere and meaningful supplementary essays for so many schools.
look at Colgate University
I went back to your original criteria to see if that might help whittle down your list.
NCF??? New College of Florida or something else?
Upthread, you said you didn’t really feel it at Swarthmore, did something change?
Upthread you said you loved Wesleyan. Often students that love Wesleyan also gravitate towards Reed and Oberlin. I am admittedly biased towards Oberlin as my intensely intellectual, non-partying daughter is very happy there. It is in a small town (but not as small as Gambier) and no more rural than Kenyon, Carleton, or Grinnell. Cleveland is close at hand. It’s also more of an admissions match and might be worth adding to your reach heavy list.
You moderated your views on rural location but as this list is too long, that might be a means to exclude. Kenyon and Grinnell are quite rural and Grinnell might involve lots of travel complexity from abroad.
Given your wish list, I would think that Smith might be a better option than Mount Holyoke as it’s right next to a town of decent size. I know you visited both and I’m curious why Mt Holyoke edged Smith out.
I haven’t reread the thread but do you have a preference between heavy core requirements (Chicago, Columbia) vs. open curriculum (Brown, Wesleyan)? That might be one way to differentiate.
I think now is the time to dig down into faculty CVs and course catalogs to see if the kind of philosophy that most interests you is well supported. Try to figure out how often certain courses are offered. At LACs, given departments might be as few as 6-8 people. Add an unexpected retirement, a sabbatical, a prestigious grant that takes a professor away from campus for a year, or taking a job elsewhere, and your options can shrink. It takes at least a year to hire a replacement professor, sometimes longer.
In sum, LACs that have less than 2K students that aren’t members of a consortium might be too small to support your interests. When you first started this thread, I envisioned you at a mid-sized selective university like Chicago, Brown, or Princeton or a larger (2K+ students) LAC like Wesleyan, Vassar, or Wellesley.
I think that 10-12 schools sounds like a reasonable target. More than that would be burdensome and even 10-12 will involve considerable effort.
Being an ardent supporter of Whitman, I’m happy to see it remains on your list. Just to make an observation, I don’t think the same person would be interested in both Reed and Whitman in the end. Reed is intense, people speak with pride about never getting out of the library. If you live and breathe intellectual pursuits and the life of the mind, then Reed may well be the right place. Whitman by contrast is a challenging college where everyone takes academics very seriously, but they also enjoy themselves quite a bit in the surrounding natural world, rousing intramural sports, and a tight knit student community. If you get a chance to visit both you’ll see that most people prefer one over the other.