<p>[Inspired by a similar thread posted by Unalove for UChicago]</p>
<p>When I was looking for colleges, I found the “other colleges to consider…” things in books very helpful, but limited. I figure we here at CC could probably make longer and broader lists. So, I decided to make such a list for Wesleyan, since that’s obviously my best point of referance. Hopefully someone who is interested in Wes and is still searching for schools will find this thread helpful. </p>
<p>I want to stress that this list is purely a bunch of suggestions of schools that someone who liked Wesleyan might also like (maybe as much or even more than Wes!). I’m not trying to evaluate these schools or say that they are better than other schools or inferior to Wes, because they aren’t. They are just schools that I (and in many cases others) think share certain qualities with Wes. </p>
<p>Obviously, one person who likes Wes won’t like ALL of these other schools…I didn’t! But there are many reasons to look at Wes (or any school), so many different kinds of schools someone who likes Wes might also like. In fact, some of these schools (say, Dartmouth) might seem like the kind of schools that a “typical” Wes student would not like at all, but I know people who found the decision between Wes and these other schools very hard, so I decided to include them. </p>
<p>I’ve split these schools into categories, so that my thinking on why I included them will hopefully be clearer, and the categories might help guide someone when figuring out which schools they might like off of this list.</p>
<p>*Note: There are obviously schools that fit into more than one category. I’ve put each school into the category that seems to be its strongest point of resemblance. So, for example, Vassar is close to Wes in feel, so it goes in the “hippy/alternative” vibe category, even though it is obviously also top Northeast LAC. Williams, OTOH, has a very different feel from Wes, but it does share the location and type of school, and I know people for whom that was a main factor, so I think it should be on this list. Therefore, it goes under “Top NE LAC.” So, basically, these categories aren’t the be-all-end-all of resemblance, they are just a guide for why I chose to put these various schools on the list. *</p>
<p>Also note that this list covers a wide range of selectivity. Some of these schools are harder to get into than Wes, some about the same, and some could serve as matches and safeties for many Wes applicants. I’m not going to try to denote what goes into which category, because that will depend on each person’s individual stats. </p>
<p>*Schools with a hippy/artsy/alternative feel: Bard, Beloit, Bennington, Berkley, Brown, Evergreen State, Goucher, Hampshire, Lewis and Clark, Oberlin, Pitzer, Reed, , Sarah Lawrence, Skidmore, University of Vermont, Vassar, </p>
<p>*Schools with a quirky and intellectual feel: Barnard, Bates, Bryn Myer, Carleton, Colorado College, Connecticut College, Grinnell, Haverford, Kalamazoo, Kenyon, Macalester, NYU (esp. Gallatin), Pomona, Smith, Swarthmore, UChicago, Wellesley</p>
<p>OTher top LACs in the Northeast: Amherst, Bowdoin, Colgate, Middlebury, Williams</p>
<p>Other unis with an undergrad focus: Dartmouth, Brandeis, Rice, Tufts, Yale</p>
<p>I know I’m missing many schools that could be here (esp. Unis, since I personally didn't look at that many). Feel free to recommended others! In fact, please do, the point of this thread is to get different people’s imput so that people still looking for schools can get lots of ideas :D</p>
<p>**Note that there’s a lot of intersect/crossover between the two stared categories, esp. in that the “hippy/alternative schools are also in many cases intellectual, and often quirky too. But the schools listed in the quirky and intellectual category don’t fit the hippy/artsy/alternative category as much, making them like Wes in a different way. That is, people who like Wes specifically for the alternativeness might not like the quirky/intellectual schools as much, so I thought the split made sense. There were definitely some schools where I wasn’t sure quite which of the two to put them in, though.</p>
<p>Also note that there is a stress on the AND in the quirky and intellectual category. Many schools listed in other categories here are also intellectual, but not so much with the quirky/intellectual combo that might be especially appealing to people who like Wes particularly for that combo. *</p>