<p>Can you compare all of the Nescac schools?</p>
<p>Well, the NESCAC is an athletic conference comprising 10 liberal arts colleges and one small university in New York and New England. A full comparison would require pages. On what basis would you like them to be compared? The search function can take you to quite a lot of material already written on each school, or on various groups of them. </p>
<p>They are all selective. Some (especially Amherst and Williams) are among the very most selective schools in the country. Some (such as Trinity and Wesleyan) are in urban locations; others (such as Williams and Middlebury) are in small rural towns. Most attract significant numbers of “preppies” and scholar-athlete types, but a few (Wesleyan in particular) also are known to have strong artsy subcultures. Connecticut College has a waterfront location; several of the others are set in rolling hilly locations. They are old by American standards and tend to have picturesque campuses. Winter weather at these schools ranges from cold (Conn) to colder (Midd). They all offer small classes and lots of faculty attention. They all are academically respectable (at least) but some are noted for particular areas of excellence (Middlebury for languages; Williams for Art History; Wesleyan for film and “world music”; Tufts for International Relations).</p>
<p>They are all very expensive, but aid to students with demonstrated need is good to excellent. Generally, the ones that are even more selective than the others (Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Wesleyan) will have better aid, slightly better facilities, etc. Which is why more applicants flock to them and they become (or remain) more selective. However, they are all selling pretty much the same product (except that Tufts is a small university with engineering, med/dental/vet schools, etc.)</p>
<p>tk21769 that was actually what I was looking for. Thanks! I’m applying to Hamilton, Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, Trinity and Conn out of the Nescac schools. I can’t really decide which one I like. I feel that they’re all quite similar. I know that out of the bunch that I mentioned, Bowdoin, is the hardest to get into, but other than that I’m not too sure about the others. I actually applied ED and got deferred. I have visited all of the schools, and they are picturesque campuses. Do you have an opinion among the schools that I am applying to? I plan to study economics and I’m a lacrosse player and cross country runner. I was recruited by Hamilton, Colby and Trinity for athletics.</p>
<p>You’re right, they are quite similar. Bowdoin is the most selective one on your list, but none of the others leaps out at me as being clearly superior for a lacrosse-playing econ student. I suggest you wait and see what your options are in April, then do a couple of overnight visits to your final picks.</p>
<p>tk21769 - the one minor thing I’ll point out is that Wesleyan is not in an “urban” location (and I’m not sure why college search sites and guidebooks list it as such). Middletown (48,000 pop) is a fairly ordinary southern New England town, not even close to a New Haven or Hartford, and even smaller than New Britain and Greenwich. It doesn’t even crack the top 10 largest CT towns/cities. </p>
<p>everything else sounds spot on :)</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I imagine it is categorized as Urban because Middletown is actually a city. But I do agree that that descriptor is kind of misleading – I do find Middletown an odd blend of small-town charm and urban grittiness. But it is no NYC, obviously, or even New Haven, as you so.</p>
<p>the silly part of it all (not to drag on a trivial subject) is that a city in CT is defined by how it is governed, not by population or some other measure. you can have a town of 80,000 and a city of 500 haha… but yes, Middletown does have an odd blend of small-town charm and urban grittiness</p>