Haverford posted pictures of students celebrating Holi on campus that @tedschmosby might enjoy. Haverford College on Instagram: "Celebrating Holi with @sas_haverford during “spring pause.” Photos by Bilge Nur Yilmaz ‘21. #haverfordcollege" Also, it’s much easier to get to Haverford from California; Philadelphia International Airport is only 18 miles away.
1 Like
Colby’s academic atmosphere may be enhanced by its slightly greater selectivity in relation to UCB, however.
Best of luck. Go with your gut as to what feels like it fits you.
The commute would likely involve a flight to Boston and the bus from there directly to campus. Not a nightmare but certainly an ordeal is Berkeley is a short drive.
My own feeling on this is that the ratio of travel to time on campus is a such that this should not be a deciding factor. You’re going to spend so much time at school-- get that part right.
It sounds like you have narrowed it down to two schools. One thing you might want to think about is how you learn best. Small classes with engagement? Lectures? Are you good at finding and getting opportunities or would you prefer having profs who make you aware of them? Do you want to know your profs personally? People feel really different on those things.
Also, it sounds like you will have a post-grad academic experience. It will have to be at a UCB type of school. Do you see value in having a different kind of experience undergrad than grad or doesn’t that matter?
Maine is at the most northeastern state of USA and the winter is very brutal and long. Have several friends’ kids went to schools at the east coast (I am from California as well), could not endure the long cold winter there. Those kids used to wear flip-flops all year long, end up depressed (lacking of the usual California sunshine).
Also, a friend told me her Asian son went to a LAC at Maine (either Bowdoin or Colby, not 100% sure) got the cultural shock of “white privilege” because there are so many rich white kids in school.
Scripps College is such a great option, you
can study among Claremont Colleges like Pomona and Harvey Mudd, if Scripps allows. The research opportunities around the areas are also amazing like City of Hope. 
3 Likes
My son also accepted by Cal this year. Nothing can beat the world renowned faculty and the research opportunities. Yes, you will need to work so hard to access the opportunities for internship and research, but this is how the real world is like. If you can survive Berkeley and you can survive any place, Harvard/Stanford/Caltech will be easy for you.
Both have students who are about 60% White, and both have a very high family income skew, but Colby appears to be skewed even higher than Bowdoin in the family income area, based on a larger share of students attending without financial aid.
Both are in towns whose populations are about 90% White, but much lower income than that of the students’ families (Colby’s town Waterville is lower income than Bowdoin’s town Brunswick; both towns’ median incomes are lower than that of Maine or the US). The town people would probably resent the idea of “White Privilege” applying to them, because they probably have rather low levels of privilege overall (compared to the college students – the median Colby student came from family income probably around five times the median household income in Waterville), although what little privilege they have may include some crumbs of “White Privilege”.
1 Like
Maybe I should rephrase to “Rich Privilege”. instead of “White Privilege.” As discussed with my friend, arguing we have seen enough rich people in California, she said “Yah, their wealth (Californian) is the single digit of those old money families’ wealth.” I shut up.
Both are fine schools and, in terms of the actual education you’ll get, you can’t go wrong with either. You are lucky to have great choices. It is really going to come down to what type of environment suits you best. Berkeley has much better diversity and it goes without saying that the weather wins hands down. While probably not as progressive as Berkeley, most Colby students are on the liberal side; it certainly isn’t conservative. Colby will be more intimate, classes will be small and you will know your professors personally, including outside the classroom - that is one of the best parts of any LAC education in my view. On the other hand Berkeley has the better “brand name” and has a breadth of offerings no LAC can match. Best of luck with your choice!
I’m not sure you’re aware that Caltech generally doesn’t admit students for a terminal MS degree in most of its majors (including at its Institute of Neuroscience). It will grant an MS degree along the way to a student who’s pursuing his/her PhD.
On the other hand, Caltech has a 3+2 program with Haverford on your list that will give you the opportunity to apply for a transfer to Caltech after completing certain requirements. A 3+2 program isn’t suitable for everyone, but it’s another option for the right student.
I’m not sure why a student would choose a situation where they have to fight to get opportunities they’re guaranteed elsewhere, or where “if you survive here you can survive anywhere” is seen as a positive, because what if you don’t survive, and even if you do, at what cost?
This doesn’t necessarily apply to OP, because apparently some students relish that, but I personally would never voluntarily enter this type of atmosphere if I had a choice, not even now as an adult, and as an 18 year old, it’d have been devastating.
8 Likes