I am a current junior soon to be senior, who is looking at colleges. Some ones high on my list right now include Swarthmore, Carleton, Haverford, Brown, and Pomona. I like more academic focused and less sporty/fratty schools. Small classes are super important to me which is why Liberal arts colleges are top of my list, but some schools like brown that are similar to liberal arts but bigger meaning more class options also sound really cool to me. I don’t know my major but I think I’m more interested in humanities. Swarthmore, Pomona, and Brown are probably top of my list right now, Pomona would be #1 but it is next door to my house so that makes it a bit less interesting. Carleton and Haverford seem great too but I know less about them. Are there any students/alumni from those colleges that have any advice? Any information about college culture/life there, and how open are the curriculums? Thanks!
As a preliminary suggestion, consider Vassar and Kenyon for their strong humanities programs, as well as Amherst, Hamilton, Smith and Grinnell for their notably flexible curricula and other attributes.
“Pomona would be #1 but it is next door to my house”
Great school. If you live on campus the experience will be very different from living at home. You will wake up on campus surrounded by other students regardless of whether you are right down the street from home or on the opposite side of the world.
If you go through a bad experience such as a nasty breakup, help will be nearby.
Swarthmore and Brown were my top choices for my daughter, but Pomona was one of her top choices. Swarthmore was hands down my favorite college visit because I was charmed by the student intellectual curiosity, irreverence, and down-to-earthness, while feeling that the college really nurtures students and their unique interests. Both Brown and Swarthmore gave me a sense of a comfortable environment for those with an insatiable desire for knowledge, someone like my daughter. I did really like Pomona and the other consortium colleges and what they can all offer, but I understand your desire to move somewhere new. All are fine choices. I agree with merc81 that you could round out your LAC list with other great colleges. Really research each college before you apply for classes, faculty, amenities, and activities that really spark your interest, and then you can narrow your list. And look for safety and match schools that you could see yourself attending to round out your choices. As we discovered, some of the extremely selective colleges have looong supplemental applications. Good luck, @zkreines!
Not sure why this is being framed as a choice you have to make now. You’re a rising senior. Apply to all of them.
Acceptance rates for most of the colleges are in the single-digits, so choosing between them should not be high on your list. Swarthmore, Carleton, Haverford, Brown, and Pomona are all reaches for anybody, so choose your favorite 3-5, and start spending your time looking at the colleges which you are most likely to attend.
Consider adding schools with higher acceptance rates, like Oberlin, Reed, Whitman, Rhodes, etc.
Oh yea I am looking at some schools like Connecticut college for safeties, I’m more so just trying to get a list of top schools right now and get some advice about what life at those schools are like.
I heard Amherst is very fratty/sporty. Is that true or just a stereotype?
Amherst certainly supports a variety of intercollegiate and intramural sports programs in which many of its students participate. As you probably know, fraternities and sororities are prohibited there. With respect to its institutional values, students with a wide range of backgrounds and interests are encouraged to apply and, if accepted, attend. As would be my recommendation with Amherst, NESCACs in general represent a group of colleges that are too strong academically for them not to be worth further research by a student seeking a top-notch liberal arts college experience.
Well, “fratty” would be a misnomer simply because Amherst has banned fraternities and sororities. However, that doesn’t prevent sports teams which are an integral part of campus life from substituting as fraternities. For a less sports dominated NESCAC college, look into Wesleyan (in addition to the aforementioned Conn College.)