<p>I have seen a few post regarding why many BS kids choose to attend large universities, often in urban environments, after being at BS. Often, parents say that their child feels that and LAC is just too much like BS.</p>
<p>So, I would be interested in hearing from parents whose child chose a small LAC. Once there, did they feel comforted by the similarity to BS or bored with it? On the other hand, did they find that a LAC really is not at all like BS?</p>
<p>I realize that the outcome would be very student and school specific, but curious as to those who have kids who liked the idea of continuing some level of the BS environment in college.</p>
<p>Even PA, one of the biggest BS, is quite small compared to many LACs. But as you’ve observed, I also fit the model. After years there, I was ready for something really different, and although I toured Williams & Amherst, Swarthmore and Haverford, they were never top choices and I was thrilled to go to a much larger school with a really diverse and inexhaustible social scene. The deal at boarding school of knowing EVERYONE you walk past on the way to the library, to the dining hall, back from the sports fields etc…after a few years of that, it can be time for a breathe of fresh air.</p>
<p>Boarding schools, bigger ones in particular, are VERY much like smaller liberal arts colleges. Whether you are reading the college profiles, or tour the campuses of LACs, you can’t help thinking this is all too familiar. Granted, even the undergraduate colleges of many universities are built on LAC models, but size here indeed makes a difference. For example, apparently the idea of the cluster system in Andover was inspired by Yale’s residential college system. However, the cluster is very much a “virtual” organization. Other than some events clusters throw from time to time which by the way students across the campus are invited to participate, students don’t feel their cluster is an essential part of their life, and don’t have that sense of belonging… At Yale, on the other hand, residential college is a “physical” existence, a group of buildings with a courtyard often with distinctive architectural styles, its own history and anecdotes over time, and facilities ranging from library, dinning hall to all types of entertainment and social space. Students spend so much time there that residential college becomes an essential part of a student’s Yale experience while at the same time the huge amount of resources from the university outside their RC are still available to them. It is quite different from a boarding school or a typical LAC.</p>
<p>Only 15 miles up the road, I’ve heard Choate kids refer to Wesleyan as “Choate North”*. We did a brief drive-thru last year but couldnt get ChoatieKid out of the car, said he couldnt tell the difference. Hell be looking at some very large schools next year.</p>
<p>*Funny, they dont seem to think of Yale as Choate South. ;)</p>
<p>I had read somewhere that the best progression of an education was from BS, then to small LAC, and finally a graduate or professional program a large university. But, the same phenomenon is happening with our son: currently at BS, but after visiting some LACs and seeing how similar they are to BS, now wants to go to large U. </p>
<p>As frequently happens on CC, it is nice to see that our situation is not unique!</p>
<p>Wesleyan is actually a larger LAC, which may be why it’s the No 1 LAC in terms of popularity at Andover. By “No. 1”, I mean over the 10 year period, 40+ students matriculated there, which makes it No. 20 in the number of matriculated students. I think it depends on where you are from. If you have attended a small private school with 2 or 3 hundred students, then a typical LAC with around 2000 students is a step up. If you have attended a one-building or a-few-buildings high school, then a LAC on 300 acres of land feels big to you. So, what Ruralmama said about the “best progression” may still be true to many private school graduates, but not so much to the graduates of those LAC like boarding schools.</p>
<p>Looking at the school profiles of Exeter and Andover, I really can’t discern a pattern, once one sets the Ivy League, Stanford and MIT to the side. Graduates of both schools attend LACs and universities in about equal measure.</p>
<p>After boarding school, many graduates will be prepared to thrive in either a college or a university. As they say, </p>
<p>Periwinkle, I have Andover’s 10 year college matriculation list in front of me. As I said, No. 20 in the sum of number of matriculated students over 10 years is Wesleyan, which is the highest ranked LAC. The top 20 includes all Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Georgetown, Duke, JHU, Chicago, USC, NYU, Tufts, etc.</p>
<p>And how many Andover students matriculated at LACs over the last 10 years? Online, I note Andover tends to have clusters of students at a relatively small number or schools. Many students choose to break from the crowd to attend LACs–and in the aggregate, their numbers add up.</p>
<p>I have the list of top 43 most popular colleges. It shows 1700 matriculated in universities and 220, LACs. The last college on this list matriculated 11 Andover students over 10 years, so I suspect the colleges left out of this list might not be able to make a difference considering the huge discrepancy we see between the two categories from the list.</p>
<p>Math to the rescue. 10 years x 300+ students/year = 3000+ students.
Benley’s total = 1700 Univ + 220 LACs = 1920 students.
Number of students missing from Benley’s math = 3000+ - 1920 = 1080+ students.
Yes, they can account for the discrepancy.</p>
<p>^^there are many other universities besides those included in the list. You wouldn’t expect all the other 1080 students matriculated to LACs would you?</p>
<p>My D at Exeter joins the crowd who absolutely refuse to look at LACs, because they are “just like boarding school.” Wouldn’t even walk around Pomona, and it is gorgeous. </p>
<p>On the other hand, went to some huge open houses and didn’t like 30,000 students either, so wants to stay with big (but not huge) universities.</p>
<p>In addressing the OPs question, yes, I think a BS student looking to continue the similarities of a BS would be more inclined to consider LACs.
I have a BS child who is considering mid size to large schools in urban settings. I think the main reason for this is to have more options for restaurants, entertainment and off campus housing with in walking distance. At this point he’s a student who does not want to spend a lot of time on campus or have a small community environment.
Most recently he used the “feels to similar to BS” excuse about a certain well known DC university and I just rolled my eyes because I didn’t see it but whateveeeeeeer.</p>
<p>Do you have a child at Andover or who graduated from Andover? I was reading your comments about the cluster system which appeared to be first hand.</p>
<p>@pwalsh: top 43 is not necessarily top tier. To some people, even top 10 is not. And I’ve read “Harvard or bust”. So, one can always use the college matriculation data <em>against</em> a school no matter how “good” or “bad” it is. Objectively though, we should keep in mind of the reality we live in, where top colleges are making efforts to diversify their student body and as a result a top BS is no garantee of a top college admission any more. In addition, boarding school admission is such that it is looking to build its own community instead of looking for the best elite college potential so while the majoirity of the kids at Andover are smart and motivated, they are not necessarily all “Ivy League material” nor is an Ivy League school everyone’s pursuit. As repeated many times on this board, boarding school itself is an invaluable experience, which prepares the right kids for life in and beyond college. That being said, I don’t know what baseline (e.g. your or your kid’s high school) you have there that makes you seem to be disdainful to Andover’s college records. Maybe your ideal is that one pays less or nothing, lives comfortably at home, and still manages to get in a top tier college? Well that’s many people choose to do (and I sincerely respect their choice), except most of us here on the prep school forum.</p>
<p>This may be giving Benley some ammo for future shots across my bow, but in our COMPREHENSIVE 2 COLLEGE TOUR OF SUMMER 2013, the LAC seemed just as appealing to my daughter as the Large Urban Ivy. Again, I think she’s at the very early stages of thinking about college, so perhaps they all seem appealing to her right now.</p>
<p>I know that eons ago, coming out of a graduating class of 68 people, I wanted to attend a large school…partially for the “really diverse and inexhaustible social scene” that another poster mentioned above.</p>