<p>Why does everyone wreat wiscosnin sohigh =- thas my safety i was already admitted</p>
<ol>
<li>Vanderbilt</li>
<li>Wisconsin</li>
<li>William & Mary</li>
<li>Amherst</li>
<li>Middlebury</li>
<li>Colgate</li>
<li>Bowdoin</li>
<li>Carleton</li>
<li>Colby</li>
<li>Hamilton</li>
</ol>
<p>William and Mary (this is the only one on your list that I actually applied to. I'm out of state, too, and that's why it's at the top for me--because it's cheaper. <em>shrug</em>)
Amherst (Yay little ivies. Except... I applied to Swarthmore, but still!)
Middlebury (I actually have been kicking myself that I didn't apply. Oh well.)
Colgate (Rural NY.. hm... but otherwise it's okay.)
Colby (I'm not really that into Maine, but they send me letters all the time and I think they're pretty cool. But I had to cut someone so...)
Bowdoin (See above.)
Vanderbilt (I'm not that into the Vanderbilt culture, or rather, since I don't go there, what I've heard about it. I don't think I'd fit in.)
Wisconsin (I would put this higher but a)it's too far, and b)it's too big)
Carleton (far)
Hamilton (I'm not sure why, it just didn't seem like it was for me.)</p>
<p>That's my preference.</p>
<p>god explanations meesh!!!!</p>
<ol>
<li>Amherst</li>
<li>Middlebury</li>
<li>William & Mary</li>
<li>Bowdoin</li>
<li>Carleton</li>
<li>Vanderbilt</li>
<li>Colgate</li>
<li>Colby</li>
<li>Hamilton</li>
<li>Wisconsin</li>
</ol>
<p>interesting yall really seem to like willaim and mary - why?</p>
<p>^It's a hella good school, especially for the humanities. There's probably no better place to go for American History. Also, the campus is pretty, and it's a good size...not tiny like some of the schools on that list, but not huge either. Good connections in the DC-area.</p>
<p>I'd probably go with Wisconsin over all of those, though. They're all too small, and a lot of them are too preppy or conservative :P.</p>
<p>William and Mary is generally kind of 'nerdy' -- atleast compared to UVA. Out of the private schools, Vanderbilt, Middlebury, and Colgate have reputations for good-looking, social undergraduates. However, Amherst is probably the "best" LAC academically and Carleton has good diversity. Wisconsin is a large state school with good academics, but personally I like mid-sized campuses better (you can always meet new people, yet still always see your friends).</p>
<ol>
<li>Colgate (beautiful campus, reputation for being fun, D-I sports, not as tiny as other LACs)</li>
<li>Middlebury (beautiful campus, larger than most LACs, home of the beautiful people)</li>
<li>Amherst (has the strongest student body and will open more doors than any of the other schools, but to me wouldn't be as enjoyable as the top 2, and really too small for me). </li>
<li>Bowdoin (I like this school a lot except for the size)</li>
<li>Colby</li>
<li>Hamilton</li>
<li>William and Mary</li>
<li>Vanderbilt</li>
<li>Wisconsin
10 Carleton (home of the ugly people, doesn't sound like a lot of fun, little network on the east coast)</li>
</ol>
<p>How are these different choices than your other list?</p>
<p>About W&M being nerdier than UVa...I actually didn't really see that when I visited. In fact I consider myself kinda nerdy, and felt more out of place on the W&M campus. I didn't run into a single girl wearing jeans. It was really awkward. I don't think one was nerdier than the other...W&M actually seemed /preppier/ but less jockish. If that makes sense at all.</p>
<p>The campus and the students were quieter, though, I guess. In UVa, a lot of kids hung out in huge groups whereas at W&M there seemed to be quite a few people just by themselves on the lawn sunning or whatevs. The quietness of it actually kinda scared me :P. I think maybe a lot of students were in class.</p>
<p>So in sum, W&M = preppy, but calm & sedate
whereas UVa = big, jockish, exciting and sunny</p>
<p>I think you're right. But there's more partying at UVA, and that might have been what nymets meant.</p>
<ol>
<li>Amherst (best school academically, most prestige)</li>
<li>Colgate/Middlebury (prestige is equal, both have nice campuses and good looking people, colgate has slight edge in sports (D1 vs. D3) but can be ignored if you don't watch sports</li>
<li>Bowdoin (great school, good alumni network)</li>
<li>Vanderbilt(hot girls, great academics, best sports out of all the schools)</li>
<li>William and Mary (second oldest institution, lots of history and great alums)</li>
<li>Colby (eh... decent) </li>
<li>Hamilton (inferiority complex with Colgate)<br></li>
<li>Carleton ( far and people dont seem fun)</li>
<li>Wisconsin (far and too big)</li>
</ol>
<p>IMHO, Middlebury and Bowdoin have more prestige than Colgate (if that is a concern of yours). But then again, it may just be the circles that I run in (more heavily composed of NESCAC grads). Colgate is a great school, but the D I sports and frat scene give it more of a party school vibe than Midd, Bowdoin, and Carleton.</p>
<p>I live in New York, obviously not New England, and Colgate has the same prestige as Middlebury does. Brody's prestige rankings agree but they do say that Bowdoin has higher prestige than both. So I would say prestige is negligible and the OP should decide on size, student body, and campus.</p>
<p>PR lists Colgate as a school that Midd applicants "rarely prefer" and Midd as a school that Colgate applicants "often prefer." The schools themselves provide this data based on cross-admit stats.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, I don't live in New England.</p>
<p>I wasn't from New York or New England and my stance at the time of applying was similar to the Brody rankings: Bowdoin>Colgate=Middlebury. I don't think any of the three are that far apart from the others to not base decisions completely on other factors instead.</p>
<p>Arcadia...you seem to really like to pur down Colgate from previous posts I've seen. Get over yourself and your obsession with proving that Middlebury is so above other schools. The SAT scores of matriculated students is 2 points apart and the acceptance rates are very similar. I don't get your reasoning.</p>
<p>well if u go by usews colagte is way below middlebury (5) and bowdoin (7) - but id go to colgate b4 i went to bowdoin.</p>
<p>I only EVER mention Colgate when I see a claim (usually made by gellino) that I disagree with. I'm allowed to have my opinion (last time I checked).</p>
<p>To CollegeClueless,
I know ive posted before, but you really have to look at what you want in your college experience. Most of the Liberal Arts colleges are smaller, and have a closer knit community, and i know from experience that half of those colleges have beautiful campuses. You will most likely know more of your professors, and have smaller class sizes. However, except perhaps amherst, they also do not have as much name recognition compared to schools like Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, and, less so, William and Mary. Im not saying name recogition= how good a college is, im merely stating that some people want to go to a school that when they tell people they say "wow". For most of the smaller schools only the most educated know how truly good they are. For the rest most people are going to ask, for example, "Carleton, wheres that?" Another aspects is sports. If you want to play sports, unless your an amazing athlete, Division III LAC"s would be a great place to go if you want to play competatively. If you'd rather watch sports, you cant be the atmosphere of a Big 10 (Wisconsin) or an SEC (Vanderbilt) school in sports.</p>