Preppiest of the Three? Hamilton vs. Vassar vs. Wesleyan

Colleges and Universities A-Z Hamilton College
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<p>Hey guys-</p>

<p>I'm a high school senior who is currently deciding which school to apply to early decision. My three choices are Hamilton, Vassar, and Wesleyan. I live in the northeast and I am really preppy. Although this may seem superficial to some, I want to know where I will fit in best. Which of my 3 top schools is the preppiest? Which school has the most affluent student body? Do all of them have elements of prep or are they more laid back or focused on the arts? Any help is appreciated! Thank you!</p>

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<p>Vassar and Wesleyan definitely aren’t preppy, they are more arts focused. I know that Vassar has a very wide spread of students. Hamilton would probably be your best shot if you want a preppier environment but you could probably find a preppy contingent anywhere.</p>

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<p>As you can tell from my handle, I’m more attached to Colgate than any other school, but I’m very familiar with nearby Hamilton and I’d call it pretty preppie compared to Vassar and Wesleyan which are anything but preppie. In fact, Vassar and Wesleyan are very much not preppie, having more of a countercultural vibe in many respects. To that extent, if you’re looking for a preppie (preppy?) college, you have a strange threesome there. I’d say Colby or Bates or Trinity is a whole lot more preppie, WASP and generally J.Crew looking than Vassar (60% women in any case) or Wesleyan which does do the ever-so occasional marijuana party. </p>

<p>A close friend of mine attended Hamilton, and while I don’t mean this to sound bad, I always thought Hamilton had a kind of prep school feeling to it. That may be a good thing, it’s a pretty school, older looking, smaller student body, and so on, and it’s semi-isolation up that long hill (you try walking back from town to campus without breathing hard!) just makes it feel that way to me. </p>

<p>Do you have a large wardrobe of Brooks Brothers polo shirts you’re dying to wear? Seems a strange criterion to consider in choosing a college, frankly. Of course, Colgate has enough of a preppie element to make a couple of people I know say it looks like either a J.Crew catalogue or the window displays at Abercrombie at times. That last one on a warmish day, of course. Give it a look, you wild prepster, you. Anyone for lacrosse? </p>

<p>Good luck with colleges.</p>

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<p>The “top ten” preppie ratings in 1980:
1 Babson
2 Hamilton <++++++++++
3 Hampden-Sydney
4 Hollins
5 Lake Forrest
6 Pine Manor
7 Princeton
8 St. Lawrence
9 Sweet Briar
10 UVA</p>

<p>“Runners Up”
1 Amherst
2 Colby
3 Colorado College
4 Connecticut College
5 Georgetown
6 Reed
7 Trinity
8 Vassar
9 Williams
10 Wheaton</p>

<p>Unfortunately, USNWR hasn’t continued with these ratings. </p>

<p>Vassar may still be preppie for women. However, a man who goes to Vassar is still a fruit, even today.</p>

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<p>Vassar is achieving more parity. For last couple/few years, the freshmen enrollment has been ~ 55 percent women.</p>

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<p>“Preppie” covers such wide cultural territory . . . </p>

<p>I like the Entitlement Index, which ranks schools by the % of students who came from private high schools and the % of students whose families were well off enough to not qualify for any need based aid . . .</p>

<pre><code>Scores show % students from
private schools
no need based aid then
</code></pre>

<p>the total “Entitlement Index”

  1. Davidson 52 67 119
  2. Washington and Lee 40 73 113
  3. Trinity 57 53 110
  4. Bates 48 60 108
  5. Middlebury 45 60 105
  6. Kenyon 46 59 105
  7. Williams 46 58 104
  8. Univ. of the South 48 55 103
  9. Connecticut 48 54 102
  10. Colby 40 60 100
  11. Skidmore 40 58 98
  12. Bowdoin 43 55 98
  13. Haverford 39 57 96
  14. Furman 39 57 96
  15. Wesleyan 44 52 96
  16. Amherst 44 52 96
  17. Barnard 47 48 95
  18. Swarthmore 40 51 91
  19. Pomona 40 49 89
  20. Whitman 30 58 88
  21. Scripps 37 51 88
  22. Franklin & Marshall 34 53 87
  23. Colgate 30 56 86
  24. Colorado 30 55 85
  25. Dickinson 38 47 85
  26. Sarah Lawrence 31 52 83
  27. Hamilton 40 42 82
  28. Vassar 34 47 81
  29. Wellesley 37 43 80
  30. Denison 30 49 79</p>
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<p>The origination of the Entitlement Index is interesting. Only Mini could have conceived it.</p>

<p>Post #6 <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/wellesley-college/10113-chances-mount-holyoke-smith-wellesley.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/wellesley-college/10113-chances-mount-holyoke-smith-wellesley.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Vassar and Wesleyan are not in the least “preppie”. Hamilton is just a bit but every year it is becoming less and less so as its applicant pool expands–with the greater recognition due to its rising USNWR ratings–ans as it admits a more diverse class each year. All three are terrific schools–go visit them and see for yourself.</p>