<p>The three LACs I'm mostly looking at are Williams, Bennington, and Reed. I know Bennington isn't up there with Williams, but where does Reed fit into all this? Are they top-ten like Williams, or what?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Any other suggestions for LACs? I'm looking for a good school that isn't full of elitists who think they're better than everyone in that, "Are you one of us, or one of THEM?" kind of way.</p>
<p>You may wish to look into New College of Florida. While NCF is not as old or as well-known as Williams, Bennington, or Reed (NCF became an independent state university in 2001), it has has a great deal of success graduating Fulbright scholars and sending graduates to business, professional, and graduate schools.</p>
<p>Reed should be top ten. They were one of the first colleges to publicly take a stand against the U.S. News college ranking and they have never agreed to cooperate with the surveys, so U.S. News historically sort of punished them by calculating their scores (in the absence of any self-reported college data) on each of the criteria in a way that reflected the worst on Reed. Several years ago, they appeared in the U.S. News third tier, which is preposterous and brought criticism and ridicule on the magazine. So little by little, U.S. News has been gradually easing up on its dissing of Reed, allowing them to now be #37 - still nonsense. Princeton Review, which only surveys students and has no personal axe to grind rates Reed’s selectivity at 97 on a scale of 60-99 (think “D” to “A”), 93 on campus quality of life, and 99 - highest in the country - on academics. Yeah, Reed is a quirkier, more countercultural Top Ten LAC.</p>
<p>Carleton is another Top Ten that’s easier to get into than Williams, but comparable in academic reputation.</p>
<p>Reed is a great school, as is Bennington. I would caution you on making any decision based on whether or not a school is “top-10” and just apply to places where you feel you would be happy. If you work hard, any of these colleges will prepare you well for whatever you want to do in four years. A note on Reed - you are going to be working very, very hard your whole time there. Just make sure you really research the school before making a decision.</p>
<p>Other schools to look into: Beloit College, Colorado College, Kenyon College, all the Claremont Colleges, Dickinson, Colby… and the list goes on and on.</p>
<p>Sometimes grouped with Reed due to similar students are Carleton, Grinnell, Oberlin, Swarthmore and U Chicago.</p>
<p>I agree with Vossron, if you like Reed, it is a very different school then Williams and I think you should research them more. In addition to Carleton, Grinnell, Oberlin, Swarthmore and U Chicago, look at Macalester, Beloit, Kenyon and maybe Vassar.</p>
<p>Maybe take a look at Haverford and Wesleyan too.</p>
<p>Williams and Bennington are only about 18 miles apart, but there is relatively little academic or social interaction between the two schools. They don’t have much in common, apart from location, and do not attract many cross-applicants.</p>
<p>Bennington has a relatively funky and alternative campus culture. No sports teams, except intramurals. Letter grades are optional, although students do receive “narrative evaluations”. Strongest in creative arts. </p>
<p>Williams, in contrast, has a relatively mainstream college culture (except for the absence of a Greek system). High participation in NCAA Division III sports programs. Letter grades are taken for granted. Sciences, social sciences, and art history are strong; creative arts not so much. Significantly more selective than Bennington.</p>
<p>Reed has a funky alternative reputation like Bennington, but is located in an urban setting. Again, more selective than Bennington.</p>
<p>Reed is on the outer edge of a large city, so it feels suburban. Urban makes me think of NYU/Columbia/Barnard/Lang/Berkeley.</p>
<p>I’m going to double-major in Political Science and History. Or, possibly, a minor in History. So, does that give you guys any help on selections?</p>
<p>I have read a lot about kids who chose between Bowdoin and Williams.
So you might want to look at Bowdoin</p>
<p>Bowdoin is actually known for its government department and has a very strong history department too.
A couple years ago the London School of Economics rated the Bowdoin Government DEpartment as the best small college political science department</p>
<p>My son is a graduate of Williams. I’ve never visited Reed, but from reputation, I would say that it is the cultural opposite of Williams. Academically, they may be equivalent (and I agree Reed is an excellent school), but in personality/character they are very, very different. The physical environment is, I believe, completely different as well.</p>
<p>So if you want some other LAC suggestions maybe you should think more about the ambience that you prefer. If you like Williams, then you would probably like Amherst, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Skidmore, Middlebury, Kenyon. Wellesley if you are female.</p>
<p>If you like Reed you might look at Swarthmore, Grinnell, Bates, Oberlin, Wesleyan. Smith if you are female.</p>
<p>The categories are not black and white and there’s a lot of overlap. My son, for example, really liked Wesleyan and Swarthmore and didn’t like Amherst, even though Amherst is more like Williams than the others. He wouldn’t have fit in at Reed.</p>
<p>So, culturally, what are Reed and Williams like?</p>
<p>Reedies are known for burning out academically , or, at least a significant number of them take time off and do not return. Williams has a significant jock and drinking scene and people seldom suffer burns of any kind unless its from being on the ski slopes for too long. Williams encourages outdoor activities. Reedies tend to conduct all of their activities through the internet. As has been said, the two schools tend to represent two poles along the geek/athlete continuum.</p>
<p>This article describes the Reed admissions process, including a bit on its culture:</p>
<p>[Reed</a> Magazine: Many Apply. Few are Chosen. (1/5)](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/spring2008/features/many_apply/index.html]Reed”>http://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/spring2008/features/many_apply/index.html)</p>
<p>
Bennington would be an unusual choice for these subjects. Bennington’s strengths are in the arts, such as drama or dance. Their [list</a> of faculty](<a href=“http://www.bennington.edu/go/academics/curriculum-and-areas-of-study/social-science/faculty]list”>http://www.bennington.edu/go/academics/curriculum-and-areas-of-study/social-science/faculty) shows only 11 professors to cover all social science fields. There appear to be only three professors specializing in history, and three more in fields like political science, political economy, and international relations.</p>
<p>Also note that Bennington doesn’t offer traditional majors. Students develop their own “Plan Process” for their studies.</p>
<p>It’s almost impossible to image two colleges that are more different than Reed and Williams. I guess Williams and Bennington are even more different. Seeing those two grouped together is so jarring I had to push the reset button on the back of my head and wait for my brain to reboot. I guess that seeing Reed and Washington & Lee together would be even more different. I’m really struggling beyond that.</p>
<p>impm5150:</p>
<p>I really think you should back the truck up, get out a pad of paper, and start thinking about what kind of school you are looking for beyond one that has a history and a political science department.</p>