<p>Since it seems to be list-making season again, I thought I'd revive an old idea that might help some people who are formulating lists of colleges. It's this: "If you like [highly selective college], you might also like [somewhat less selective college], because [of some way in which they are similar]."</p>
<p>For example:
If you like Yale, you might also like Rice, because of the similar residential college systems.</p>
<p>If you like Harvard, you might also like Cornell because they’re both in the Ivy League.</p>
<p><em>takes cover</em></p>
<p>If you like Vanderbilt, you might also like Wake Forest because they’re both Southern, small-to-moderate in size, highly residential, with big school spirit and Greek scenes.</p>
<p>But is Cornell really a good alternative to Harvard? Does Cornell offer an experience which is similar to Harvard? I don’t think so. I’d be more inclined to say something like Wash U.</p>
<p>If you like Wake Forest, you might also like Furman because they’re both Southern, small-to-moderate in size, highly residential, with big school spirit and Greek scenes.</p>
<p>If you like Furman, you might also like Elon because they’re both Southern, small-to-moderate in size, highly residential, with big school spirit and Greek scenes.</p>
<p>^^^ Harvard and Georgetown are good matches in terms of size, urban access, and trendy, popular neighborhoods.</p>
<p>So, would you say:
Vanderbilt>Wake>Furman>Elon? That sounds good to me. Maybe Tulane, Duke, and Emory could be in that progression, even though I think they are larger.</p>
<p>If you like Pepperdine, you might also like University of California in Santa Barbara because they are both similar in climate and are both close to the beach.</p>
<p>If you like William and Mary, you might also like the University of Mary Washington (Fredericksburg, VA) because it’s also a midsized Virginia public school (6K undergrads at W&M, 4K at MW) in an historic area, with a beautiful campus and a liberal arts required curriculum.</p>
<p>Indeed, how about:
Princeton>William and Mary>University of Mary Washington</p>
<p>By the way, I don’t mean “>” as “better than” but perhaps “more selective than, but similar to”</p>
<p>This is a great idea, Hunt. It’s almost like you’re creating a perceptual map of colleges. What schools cluster together – NOT in terms of selectivity – but in terms of overall look / feel / experience / values / ethos? </p>
<p>This isn’t really going down the selectivity scale all that much since both are very selective, but H and I were stunned by how much we felt Tufts “felt” like Northwestern in so many dimensions.</p>
<p>Caltech > Harvey Mudd. They have a very similar California intense techie feel.</p>
<p>I like this thread. Great idea.</p>
<p>My S needed to add a school to his list; he likes Kenyon, and everything I’ve heard / read suggests “If you like Kenyon, you’ll like Denison.” So now Denison is on there too.</p>
<p>UVA>UNC. Similar size and academics, both publics in nice college towns, both southern with a similar feel, although UNC is more laidback.</p>
<p>Anybody have ideas for Amherst or Williams?</p>
<p>Anybody interested in LACs might want to consider St. Mary’s College of Maryland as an alternative–it’s a state “honors” LAC, essentially.</p>
<p>Also, Columbia>NYU is pretty obvious.</p>
<p>
We felt that way about Brown and Tufts, so maybe:</p>
<p>Brown>Northwestern>Tufts</p>
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<p>Middlebury maybe?</p>