<p>I never heard of any of them growing up in the NE. I live in NJ, and I get blank stares from my neighbors when I name where my D went (Wesleyan). I work at a college, so my colleagues know it, but they also know Carleton, Grinnell, et al. I would think it would be a tiny subset that know AWS but not the latter group.</p>
<p>It's funny how much misunderstanding there is about colleges:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Penn versus Penn State.</p></li>
<li><p>University of Chicago versus University of Illinois at Chicago (UofC versus UIC!) Even many Chicago residents don"t know the difference. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Back to the OP. Higher Ed is still very regional. The vast majority of college kids go only a few hundred miles from home. So in some respects, telling Newenglanders about great west coast colleges is a waste of time. That's why the LA Times article was west and mountain centric. They know their audience. A similar article could be drawn up for every other region of the country: If you are in the midwest, consider Earlham, Illinois Wesleylan, Hope or a number of others in addition to Carleton, for example. </p>
<p>Rather than debating why folks do or don't have knowledge, why not spend the effort developing some regional suggestions? There was a thread on this for the midwest not long ago. What about mid-atlantic? What about South-cental (Texas et al?) you get the idea.</p>
<p>See... another problem with NE readers not knowing much about these "sleepers" is that people don't want to go too far from home and the NE schools are very competitive. It's just not the "home-bodies" who want to attend a NE school but kids from West Coast want to get in too. And the exchange of students from both coasts is not even. There are too many going from West to East and too few from NE wanting to spread out.</p>
<p>It really takes a lot of guts, especially for Northwest.... I remember taking a bus through Oregon and thinking, "oh wow... I feel SO far away from home now!" </p>
<p>Will try to see if I can convince my brother to check these places out as he might be more desirable than going to a NE school. He does want to stay local but hey, at this era of admissions, just gotta apply where you can get in!</p>
<p>Here's a fabulous story about LAC obscurity that I hope you'll appreciate.</p>
<p>When I was a sophomore at Williams, I enrolled in Art History. One of the assignments was to go to the Clark Art Institute (a very well known musuem in Williamstown that attracts art lovers from all overthe world), pick a piece of art, and "study it." This particular weekend the Clark Art Institute was flooded with Art History 102 students who were familiarizing themselves with their chosen pieces of art.</p>
<p>Geographically, the Clark Art Institute sits about a half a mile south of the Williams College campus, and I don't know how one would find their way to the institute without driving directly through the Williams College campus.</p>
<p>As I was pondering the origins of this magnificent piece of art in front of me, I overheard a young couple's conversation. Husband says, "It looks like there are a lot of students in here. Is there a college nearby?" Wife, looking confused, responds "I don't think so."</p>
<p>At DDs high school, there was a small group of teachers who regularly encouraged the girls to go out of their element and go away. Ds closest school was UConn and farthest was UWashington. She is at NorthWESTERN (everyone asks "So how do you like Boston? When she explains that NU is near Chicago, they ask why she had to go so far away).</p>
<p>I'd always thought that the only reason someone would go to college in their home state was because of finances, but I realise down here that its completely cultural. "its perfect here. Why leave?" is the mentality but I'm telling my kids, "yes, its nice here, now leave!"</p>
<p>The article was definitely a let-down for me. </p>
<p>First, Carleton and Grinnell (and for that matter, even Macalester, Colorado College, Whitman and Kenyon) should not be on the same list as the others. This article is geared toward an audience that does not know much about LACs; and as such, it should not lead them to believe that all these colleges could quite possibly be on the same tier. I don't know, it just bothers me a bit.</p>
<p>Second, it is true that most people who have heard of Amherst, Williams, or Swarthmore have also heard of Carleton, Grinnell, Kenyon, Whitman, Macalester, etc., too. It is really unlikely that audience that this article addresses will know any of these places, and I'm sure that many of them are confused about the comparisons made throughout.</p>
<p>Third, because I'm biased towards Grinnell, as my sibling is a recent alum of the institution, I am slightly irked that its top-notch academics and rigorous curriculum were not addressed---only its endowment was touted. Yes, it's nice that it has a massive endowment and that undoubtedly contributes to a lot of things, but Mr. Author, at least praise its academics!</p>
<p>I do have to admit, however, that it is good that these names are at least being spread out there. Kudos to that.</p>
<p>What bugged me most about the article was that it completely ignored the Southern LACs. Golden State, the West, the Midwest, the Northeast, and then . . . ? Would it have been that hard to re-name the article "25 Sleepers" and include schools like Centre, Rhodes, Furman, W&L, Davidson, etc?</p>
<p>Why leave?" is the mentality but I'm telling my kids, "yes, its nice here, now leave!"</p>
<p>Who was it that said that one of the best things about living in a small town, is knowing that you have to get out of it. I don't think kids in liveable cities, feel that same compulsion.</p>
<p>When I look at the list o f schools, I think that the author had a kid who wasn't quite sure what they wanted in a college, and those were the schools they visited.
( and I agree about the South- they should have been represented)</p>
<p>We live in the northeast. DD is attending Santa Clara University. When she tells folks she gets blank stares. Then the comments and questions begin. "Is that in California." "Gee it must be fun to be going to college near Los Angeles." "Where is Santa Clara?" It was nice to see her college choice in this article. She is thrilled with her choice.</p>
<p>lonestardad - just drove through norman this week. you are correct. that is one "massive" football stadium:) </p>
<p>noticed nice looking older homes in an area northwest of the stadium. finally found a starbucks in a newer upscale shopping area west of the interstate. saw many students at the starbucks:)</p>