<p>based on whatever…(prestige, academics, social life…)
My opinion:</p>
<li>Williams</li>
<li>Amherst</li>
<li>Bowdoin</li>
<li>Bates</li>
<li>Midd.</li>
<li>Hamilton</li>
<li>Colby</li>
<li>Connecticut</li>
<li>Trinity</li>
</ol>
<p>are there others?</p>
<ol>
<li>Williams</li>
<li>Amherst</li>
<li>Bowdoin </li>
<li>Midd.</li>
<li>Hamilton</li>
<li>Connecticut</li>
<li>Colby</li>
<li>Bates</li>
<li>Trinity</li>
</ol>
<p>I don't think very highly of Bates and Colby.</p>
<p>sorry, i forgot Wesleyan and Tufts.
You don't like Bates or Colby? I like Bates a lot, not so much Colby-- Bowdoin's probably tops for the Maine school, but I know people who have chosen Bates over Bowdoin.</p>
<p>Revised List
1. Williams
2. Amherst
3. Bowdoin
4. Midd.
5. Wesleyan
6. Tufts
7. Hamilton
8. Connecticut
9. Colby
10. Bates
11. Trinity</p>
<p>I don't think that Bates is better than Midd.</p>
<p>I think the Maine colleges go Bowdoin, Colby, Bates</p>
<p>Yes. I agree.</p>
<p>Williams,
Amherst,
Bowdoin,
Midd,
Wesleyan,
Tufts,
Colby,
Hamilton,
Bates,
Conn,
Trinity</p>
<p>from my experience, anyway</p>
<p>my rankings (in terms of overall academics, selectivity, and people that i know who got accepted vs rejected to these schools. NOT prestige to the average person):</p>
<p>williams
amherst</p>
<p>bowdoin
middlebury
wesleyan
tufts</p>
<p>hamilton
conn coll
trinity
bates
colby</p>
<p>amherst(barely)
williams</p>
<p>bowdoin
middlebury
tufts
wesleyan</p>
<p>hamilton
colby
bates
conn coll
trinity</p>
<p>ouch, that hurts huskem =); why such a low opinion of Colby?</p>
<p>I don't think there is doubt the Bowdoin is the best in Maine, but I think that Bates is better than Colby. Bates is more selective than Colby (in terms of acceptance rate). Bates also did better in the Wall Street Journal's ranking in the 'Best Feeder Schools.' Bates was rated the best value last year by the Princeton Review, and has a really good study abroad program (better than Bowdoin's too). Bates' nature preseve (Morse Mountain-- on the coast of Maine) sounds really cool, it's huge. I guess it is a matter of opinion, but I think Bates is quickly moving up in the rankings-- this year US news ranked it one below Colby, but I think next it will be just ahead. Bates is just a cool school-- the campus is actually much more historic than Colby's-- Colby is an older school, but the Campus was moved to where it is now in the early 1900s. Bates is just cooler, I think. They are really similar, though-- I just like Bates better.</p>
<p>amherst/williams
wesleyan/bowdoin/middlebury
tufts
hamilton
colby/bates
trinity/conn college</p>
<p>Bates has a pitiful endowment.</p>
<p>"From 1991 to 2003, the Bates endowment grew 131 percent while Middleburys grew 156 percent, Bowdoins 180 percent, and Colbys 352 percent. The four schools began the 1990s less than $140 million apart in endowment (Colby and Bates were just $10 million apart), but right now the Bates endowment is $186 million while Middlebury is at $703 million, Bowdoin at $514 million, and Colby at $357 million." (bates.edu)
Yeah, it's true, Bates has a very small endowment campared to most of the NESCACs. It's like, according to the website, Bates' first priority to get it up to its peers's. BUT Bates is still spending the same amount of money as the other schools on the things like financial aid (44% of Bates' students recieve finaid while 40% of Bowdoin's do). AND, this year Bates was ranked 19th in "alumni giving rate" by USNews, the endowment is growing quickly. Go to this link to look at other good aspects of Bates: <a href="http://www.bates.edu/national-rankings.xml%5B/url%5D">http://www.bates.edu/national-rankings.xml</a></p>
<p>But seriously, as a student, who cares about things like endowment??? Let's not get too snobby about all this stuff.</p>
<p>aluotak,
I agree with you, I like Bates better than Colby. I actually like Bowdoin the best out of three, I really want to go there. I just think Bates seems really laid back and comfortable-- although they have enough prestige. My sister goes to Bates and loves it. But I don't know about ranking them, it's really just a matter of preference. I like Bates better, but I'm sure plenty of people think Colby and Bowdoin are 'better.' It's hard to say. It's not like any of us really know anything about most of the schools we're ranking anyway. We probably just have an opinion of them based on the U.S. News ranking, and stupid things like endowment. That stuff really doesn't have anything to do with education. But, whatever, I'll rank them anyway-- just my point of view.</p>
<ol>
<li>Amherst</li>
<li>Williams</li>
<li>Wesleyan</li>
<li>Bowdoin</li>
<li>Middlebury</li>
<li>Tufts</li>
<li>Bates</li>
<li>Hamilton</li>
<li>Conn.
10.Colby
11.Trinity</li>
</ol>
<p>But, in terms of where I would want to go:</p>
<ol>
<li>Bowdoin</li>
<li>Bates</li>
<li>Amherst</li>
<li>Middlebury</li>
<li>Tufts</li>
<li>Hamilton</li>
<li>Williams
I wouldn't want to go to the others.</li>
</ol>
<p>Actually, endowment is quite important. It affects new building projects, prof salaries, maintenance of existing facilities, fin aid, and a number of other critical factors. It's no coincidence that the LACs with the highest endowments are also the highest ranked (with the exception of Grinnell). Look it up--it's true...</p>
<p>Yeah, but...
One of the factors that is considered when ranking a college (I assume you're talking about U.S. News) is endowment. I think Bates has everything all the others have to offer, and like aluotak said, has more of a budget for financial aid. Besides, colleges aren't alllowed to just tap into their endowment whenever they want-- most of the gifts are given for very specific reasons. I bet Bates has the same budget that Williams or Amherst has-- just not a bunch of money locked away in the bank that they can never use. I don't see, however, making a decision on which college to attend based on how much money they have (but don't use).</p>
<p>well I attend Colby, heh, and we keep pretty close relations with the other two maine schools. I'd say they are all incredible schools. I get a more artsy, maladroit (no, I don't mean that the two are synonomous), and inconsiderate feeling about the students at Bates from my experiences, Bowdoin is more interconnected with a city(which can be both a blessing and a curse), both bates and bowdoin have older campuses than Colby (which, I admit, is neat, but I still love the Colby buildings and their character-- sure, it doesn't have the antiquated, "wow, someone who's grandkids are probably dead sat right here 150 years ago" character, but it's got other character), and more famous alums have graduated from Bowdoin (though the author of Brokeback mountain did attend Colby, lol). The professors at all three seem very affable and approachable, and, all in all, the three schools all offer similarly amazing experiences and opportunities (such as Bates mountain reserve, colby's lake reserve, bowdoin and colby's huge outing clubs, and sweet orientation trips [which originated at colby]), though, the larger endowments of bowdoin and Colby mean more money for professorships, science equiptment (for example, Colby has a resident quartet [the Portland Quartet, or soemthing] for use in Music classes, the only electron microscope in Maine, I believe, and a ton of other amazing instruments like mass-spectrometers, infrared mass spectrometers, expensive CaCF-windowed glass cells, etc.), club funding, etc.</p>
<p>All in all, I'd say Bowdoin truly is the best, but all three are very, very similar</p>
<p>I agree, you can get pretty much the same experience at all three. Bates does have the the oldest outing club (I believe in the US) and is also huge, though. Lost Valley is also about ten minutes from the campus, a mini ski mountain. Bates kids ski for free-- I think that is a plus if you're the outdoorsy type. But Bowdoins right on the ocean and Colby is closer to the mountains. They're all some of the best school in the nation, consider yourself lucky to attend any of them.</p>
<p>personally...</p>
<ol>
<li>Williams
1.00001 Amherst
---------</li>
<li>Bowdoin</li>
</ol>
<h2>4. Middlebury</h2>
<hr>
<ol>
<li>Colby</li>
<li>Hamilton</li>
</ol>
<h2>7. Bates</h2>
<ol>
<li>Connecticut</li>
<li>Trinity</li>
</ol>