I’m a rising Junior and have gotten pretty deep into the college search process. I’ve found that I’m a big fan of LACS, preferably in a rural setting or in a small town, and I believe I’m most interested in majoring in International Relations/Foreign Language. So far, I’ve looked at and have been interested in Colgate, Colby, Middlebury, Bucknell, and Hamilton, but I’m planning on looking at other schools such as St. Lawrence, Dickinson, and Centre. I’m a good student from a suburban Virginia public school, and I wish to play lacrosse in college, but that is not the most important factor in looking at schools. Geography doesn’t matter too much, although I’d prefer to go to school on the East Coast or Midwest. I also want to go to a school that is fairly diverse, both socially and demographically, because I’m from a pretty homogeneous town.
If you can leave suggestions on schools, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!
Denison outside Columbus, more racial, ethnic, economic and political diversity than many LACs. Lax recruiting could be an unknown since its team is highly ranked. Poli Sci dept includes the Lugar program, which has an international track.
You already have identified a lot of my “go-to” schools, such as Dickinson, St Lawrence and Centre.
Vassar is on the edge of Poughkeepsie but it seems more rural – as it has a farm and is huge. Good with languages and poly sci etc.
Bryn Mawr – diverse small town outside of Philly and not rural–more suburban. Full consortium of other schools to find courses that suit you including Haverford (also a great school for you), Swarthmore, and UPenn.
Mt. Holyoke tiny town and feels that way – consortium schools include Smith, Amherst, UMass Amherst and Hampshire.
Earlham–especially Japan program–edge of small town and has a large rural campus
Thank you so much @Dustyfeathers for the suggestions! Obviously, I have to rule out Bryn Mawr and Holyoke because I am a guy, but a lot of those schools I haven’t considered/looked in to. I’ve looked/toured Bates, Colby, and Vassar, and St. Olaf seems neat. Also, isn’t Earlham going through a lot of financial problems?
If you are looking for something more like a safety (assuming your other schools are even a possibility) look at Beloit. Their NPC will give you an estimate of merit aid if you are looking for it. Beloit is in Wisconsin.
It looks to me like you’ve done some great research, which is terrific, and bodes well for success in college!
Yes, I think you have a terrific list. I’d just suggest maybe Kenyon, which is in a very small town. And I’d particularly second Carleton, Colby, and Bates, although other suggestions are good as well. We visited Colby and Bates a few years ago. Both are terrific. Colby felt more traditionally New England to me. It’s up on a hill and I was imagining it would look spectacular when the leaves are changing in the fall (it was summer). Bates felt a little more progressive, hippie, casual, however one would best describe it. I really liked both schools. They are way up there, and cold, and towns are not quaint college towns.
Would you consider William and Mary? 6000 undergrads, so larger. But really does feel like an LAC. Like all these others, it has a beautiful campus and is immediately adjacent to a nice college-town type area with several restaurants, bars, delis, coffee shops, etc. Weather is much warmer than lots of the schools on your list, which is probably a plus, unless you are a skier. W&M is terrific for your area of interest.
Foreign Policy magazine has been assessing college IR programs for over a decade.
FWIW, the two LACs that show up in their top 25 undergraduate programs are Williams and Swarthmore.
You might also want to consider some relatively small research universities with well-respected IR programs, such as William & Mary, the University of Denver, or Dartmouth. Although, keep in mind that many students do change majors.
We’re going through a similar search for my rising Junior DD. In addition to IR, she has a specific interest in Arabic which is tough at liberal arts colleges (she just spent the summer on a NSLI-Y fellowship studying Arabic with the US State Department in Amman, Jordan). She’s also interested in swimming and will be competitive at D3, but less so at D1. We have a list of liberal arts colleges that she’d love to attend (most have been mentioned here, but one group that hasn’t is the Claremont Colleges) and we’re also looking at mid-sized (to larger) schools like American, DU, and GWU along with some of the Arabic flagships (Oklahoma, Maryland, Arizona, Mississippi, etc,). It’s tough to find liberal arts colleges with Arabic that goes to advanced levels (which she’ll probably need). She’s a strong student (and speaks French in addition to Arabic) with a rigorous class schedule with awesome ECs (4 sport athlete (3 Varsity, 2 Captain as Sophomore), High choirs/musical roles, class president, community service, etc), but I’m not optimistic about her test scores. A few liberal arts schools (selectivity range all over the place from reaches to safety) that she’s looked at include: Claremont Schools, St. Olaf, Middlebury, Wellesley/Smith/Holyoke/Barnard, Ursinus, Denison, Goucher, Davidson, Bowdoin, Williams, Birmingham Southern, Wheaton. We’re trying to just be in the info gathering phase at this point and we keep making lists and once we have some test scores back in the winter/spring, we’ll start assessing what might be a fit. Mostly just trying to settle into crazy Junior Year after just getting back from Amman and more focused on Junior Year at this point. Good luck and I’m looking forward to reading the replies to this post to add to her lists
Have you considered the Philadelphia-area Quaker colleges (Swarthmore, Haverford, BMC)? Consortium arrangements expand the number of available courses. Students apparently can take some courses at UPenn as well as at the other LACs.
To answer @tk21769, I have looked at Haverford, but those schools feel just a little too academically intense and not as fun as other schools. They are really interesting schools, though.
I have thought about Macalester a lot, but I’m concerned if I would fit in with the students there. I’m a very outdoorsy student and really likes sports, so I have many questions as to what the athletic/jocky scene is like at Macalester, because it seems more like an intellectual/academics-only student body.
And @oldcmcalum , I have actually run into a similar problem. I currently study French as well and am thinking about picking up Arabic along with IR, as well as I want to keep myself on the East Coast/Midwest, and being a guy, all of these factors limit quite a handful of schools.
@oldcmcalum
Definitely look at Middlebury
My sons swim/swam there and my oldest studied Arabic for his first two years. As you know Midd has a very good language program.
If you have not seen their pool you will be amazed.
Best of luck
Tufts is bigger than a LAC and it’s not rural but could be a nice fit for IR, Arabic, and D3 swimming.
There may not be a lot of glass slippers out there. I would also caution that if your language proficiency in an “unusual” language is already high, you may find that the course offerings at a LAC may be limited. I have known a couple of kids who transferred from LACS for precisely this reason so if the school doesn’t seem to offer a lot, explore up front how you will get around that so that you aren’t disappointed.
@Rudiger1 S1 almost went to Macalester. Baseball coach is great there, and there are definitely some active, athletic students there. Certainly compared to many other of the schools listed. It is known for it’s International studies. Mac is in a city neighborhood, albeit a benign, residential one, with nary a high rise in sight. It is by no means rural though, so if you’re looking for that you should cross it off the list.
If you want to play lacrosse, you’ll have to assess how good you are. If you are really good, you may be recruited to some of the schools you (and others) have mentioned, but most of them are top programs and you are either good enough to be recruited (and get help getting in) or you aren’t. If you are good, by all means go for it and get recruited!
I was going to suggest Smith but you aren’t eligible because of that pesky Y chromosome.
Denver U is very good in IR (two secretaries of state as alums) but the lacrosse is high level, so I think you’d know by now if you’d be recruited. They do have a club team and club lacrosse in Colorado is played at a very high level (CU and CSU have each won the national club championship in recent years). DU is a very athletic/outdoorsy campus. @oldcmcalum I think DU is a good fit for your daughter. The swim team is competitive D1 but not super high level.
Thank you so much @57special for the info! It seems like a neat school, so I shall add it to the list.
And @twoinanddone , not to sound cocky or anything, but I believe I have the capabilities to play at a elite D3 level, although certainly not D1. For me, lacrosse is not a main priority in looking at these schools, it is basically that if it is provided then I will willingly try to play at the program, and if by the end of my recruiting process I can’t have a spot on the team yet I still really like the school, then so be it, that doesn’t change my interest level in the school at all.
Most of the elite D3 lacrosse schools have many players who could compete at D1 top schools if they chose, and the schools themselves are full of kids who were top players in high school but either didn’t want to play in college or didn’t make the team.
You said in post 1 that you wanted to play so I thought that was a factor. At all of the schools you’ve mentioned (or have been mentioned), lacrosse is not a walk-on sport. Maybe at Centre.