Sorry to have highjacked the post a little bit, but I so appreciate the suggestions. Not sure if her scores will be high enough for Tufts and Midd, but they’re definitely on the list too. As far as swimming, a lot will depend on times this year. We’re definitely keeping DU high on the list and I’m definitely keeping in mind the Arabic levels at liberal arts colleges as she starts to develop her lists.
I don’t think Macalester’s rep is as an “athletic/jocky” school. It’s rep is for being a very (!) progressive school. Of course, rep is just that: rep. You’ll find a diverse group at Macalester. But good comps for Mac would be Oberlin or Carleton or Grinnell, not Williams, Colgate, or Denison.
@Hapworth - I think OP’s concern is that Macalester didn’t have a strong athletic culture.
It’s a fair assessment, but OP might want to consider making contact with the Mac lax coach anyway since the college is a strong fit for his IR interest and has the diverse student body he wanted. It might also be an easier admit than Middlebury.
I actually thought that Carleton had a jock vibe similar to Williams.
Oh, okay. I misread. This is the danger of skimming!
I don’t think there is a men’s lax team at Mac.
They do not have a lacrosse team, although that doesn’t really change my opinion on the school whatsoever.
Carleton is by no means a “jock school”. While there are some exceptions, they usually end up getting their butts kicked athletically in the MIAC, since they have the most rigorous academic standards in the conference. GREAT school, though. Mac has the second most rigorous standards in the conference. St. Thomas, which is a large LAC just a few blocks away from Mac, is the 500 lb. Gorilla in terms of athletic success.
S1 looked closely at both Mac and Carleton, and would have happily gone to either one as a student athlete. Very good to excellent schools, with little of the oppressive class consciousness that you sometimes find at other elite LAC’s. Bring your wool sweater and jammies, though!
Davidson has more of a sports culture (Steph Curry!!) than most LACs so you might want to look at it more closely. 75% study abroad, strong history & poli sci, long standing exchange program with Cambridge, first exchange program with India of any US college/university in the country (I just learned this last week at orientation.) Rigorous school but ‘well rounded’ vibe. Check out the Dean Rusk program which is the hub for international activities.
Davidson is D1 but I think for some (many?) sports they crossover recruit for students looking at D3, but I’m not an expert. For example, I know a kid who was looking at both Davidson and Middlebury for soccer and a track athlete looking at Davidson and Pomona.
Finally, you mention diversity – Davidson is making progress on this front but room for improvement like most LACs.
Skimming so I might have missed it, but has Dickinson been mentioned? My son’s friend is a great LAX player, heavily recruited and ended up there studying International Business.
Dickinson has been mentioned and is on my list, I have visited it and it seems like a really neat school.
As for Davidson, I haven’t really looked at Davidson before but I’m definitely gonna check it out now.