<p>I saw a bunch of comparisons of these two schools in discussion, but all of them were in the Colgate thread. Betcha can't guess which school won over there. I visited both and I decided to come to Hamilton. Here's why:</p>
<p>When I visited Colgate, one of the things I noticed during my tour was that everyone - EVERYONE - was wearing a sweatshirt from another college. This is a red flag to me. It suggests that Colgate was nobody's first choice.</p>
<p>Hamilton sits on College Hill, but when we're talking hills, let's talk Colgate's 30% grades all over friggin' campus. I'm in shape, but I don't want a workout every time I walk to the student center. Hamilton's campus has rolling hills and is more spread out. It feels better.</p>
<p>Colgate is D I. 'nuff said. They have a crappy old 5-story building for a gym for the non-athletes and a brand new, state-of-the-art field house limited strictly to the varsity programs. Non-varsity is non-welcome. That kind of jock-elitist mentality rubbed me the wrong way. Hamilton is D III. I'm going to college to get a degree in philosophy. Or History. I haven't decided yet. But what I'm sure I'm not doing is majoring in "eligibility". I want to be a student first.</p>
<p>Distribution requirements. Colgate has 'em. Hamilton doesn't. I'm an adult now (at least, I want to think I am). I can be trusted to take a full liberal arts spread. When I get to class, I can be assured that the other students are there because they want to be - not because they are fulfilling some stupid distribution requirement.</p>
<p>Everyone I met when I was at Hamilton was nice to me. Like, REALLY nice. If I looked lost, someone stopped and asked where I wanted to go. I didn't have to work to start a conversation with someone, indicating to me that they actually wanted to talk to me. Colgate was more aloof. No one asked if I needed directions and the few times I stopped someone (invariably wearing a Cornell or Bowdoin sweatshirt), they didn't seem to want to help.</p>
<p>Hamilton's interview was evaluative. Colgate's is optional and informational. This says to me that Colgate wasn't really concerned with who I am as a person. The forms are the only things they'll use to tell my story. I felt like I had a real connection with my Hamilton interviewer.</p>
<p>Colgate's bookstore isn't on campus. It's in town (the town of Hamilton, by the way, which is something that's already steaming my clams). That's dumb. I don't want to schlep over to town every time I need more erasers.</p>
<p>Colgate is more pre-professional. If you're looking to hit the ground running on Wall Street, maybe it's a better choice. Hamilton felt more like what I expected from a liberal arts school to me.</p>
<p>Colgate has a higher profile and gets better guest speakers than Hamilton does. That is their one mark in the win column from my perspective. The Dalai Lama spoke a few weeks after my visit. That's pretty cool.</p>
<p>In closing, I decided I didn't even want to apply to Colgate. I'm coming to Hamilton and I can't wait for orientation week.</p>