Hi. Im going to be applying to colleges next Fall, and as of right now, I think my top choice is Dartmouth. I have good stats, 1520 SAT (760 on each section) and pretty good ECs, Eagle Scout, leadership roles in my youth group. However, I know admission to schools like Dartmouth can be a bit of a crapshoot. Some things I liked about it were its outdoors scene, its greek life, good balance between work and play, school spirit without too much obsession over sports and great academics and job prospects. Which of the New England LACs or other schools would be a good alternate choice for me? I don’t wanna sound annoying, but I’m not one of those stereotypical posters on here who is scared of drinking and greek life, that is generally a plus
Colgate
Colby
Bucknell
^^Adding Trinity
Hamilton
And for what its worth, my intended major is either History, Econ or possibly Government. I want to go into business
St. Lawrence University is worth a look. It would be a safety and you’d likely get merit aid.
No greek life at Middlebury, Bowdoin, Bates, and Colby but they’d fit for outdoorsy and a student body that knows how to have fun.
Hamilton is very highly ranked in History, Econ and Gov.
My twin DD’s profile very similarly and have applied to Dartmouth, but won’t know those results until next week. So far, Middlebury was a waitlist and Bowdoin was a denial so I expect those will be just as difficult to get into as Dartmouth.
They have been accepted to Bates, Colby and Hamilton which are similar, although Colby and Hamilton have much larger endowments with Hamilton considered by many to be the best of the three. Another option could be Colgate which they also got into.
No Greek life at BC or Holy Cross, but both have good social scenes.
Oh yeah one more thing I am Jewish so preferably no Christian schools, and I would like a school with some Jewish presence (doesn’t have to be 25% like Penn, but having some would be nice, even if its just 5-10 percent)
Williams is another NESCAC school that would fit that description – but Williams may be comparable in admissions difficulty to Dartmouth.
Colgate, Hamilton, St Lawrence, and Bucknell are in rural NY/PA (not New England), but do have Greek life.
Williams is a lot like Dartmouth (small, rural, outdoorsy, etc), but no Greek system (since the '60s) and not appreciably easier to get into.
Lafayette could be another option.
Bowdoin, Middlebury, Hamilton, Williams, St. Lawrence, Bucknell and Lehigh share at least some Dartmouth attributes, but I’d say Colgate comes the closest to what you generally seem to be seeking, and would be excellent for both history and economics:
I’d say all the NESCAC schools, plus Holy Cross, Colgate & Hamilton, maybe BC. But closest to Dartmouth overall… Probably Williams, Colgate, Middlebury, Colby, Bowdoin.
University of Richmond has a good social scene. Greek life, great academics, nice vibe to the campus! Not in NE or up North, but a lot of kids from NY/MA/NJ go there.
Hamilton has been a member of NESCAC since the founding of the conference in 1971.
My twin DD’s, who have both been accepted to the Hamilton Class of 2021, felt like it was a great mix of students. They are politically liberal “Bernie Sanders” kids, who are socially down the middle - wouldn’t ever wear preppy clothes, feel more comfortable in sporty clothes as both were student athletes in high school and one will continue as a Varsity student athlete in college. While they both have several great schools to choose from and are still waiting for a couple more decisions from Ivy Day and a few waiting lists, they both feel like Hamilton is a great fit.
Union would seem to hit all the right notes for you, and I would guess you’d get some merit aid there as well.
Agree that Colgate seems like a good option.
This is technically true, but it’s actually more complicated than that. Hamilton is an outlier in NESCAC, since it is located in upstate NY. All of the other NESCACs are in New England (although another NY school, Union, was in NESCAC at one time).
In 1995, a group of NY schools formed the Liberty League (originally the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association). Hamilton became a founding member of that group too, and put many of its sports there until 2011, when everything was finally moved into NESCAC. So for many years, Hamilton was only partially in NESCAC.
Hamilton won numerous Liberty League championships between 1995 and 2011, in prominent sports like basketball, lacrosse, and soccer. Those teams weren’t in NESCAC at the time (although other Hamilton teams were).
http://libertyleagueathletics.com/sports/2013/12/18/GEN_1218130108.aspx
Hamilton as mentioned.
Brandeis (Jewish).