<p>For those of you who have gone through the college search process...</p>
<p>My daughter (rising senior) and I are visiting schools this summer and we recently took a trip through NY and visited Colgate as well as Hamilton, Skidmore, Vassar and Trinity (CT). Of these schools, she very much liked Colgate, with Hamilton close behind (liked size, rural setting, strong academics). However, Colgate probably will be a reach for her when she applies.</p>
<p>Any suggestions for schools to look at with a similar feel as Colgate but a little less competitive in admissions?</p>
<p>Denison, like Colgate, has a quad-oriented campus nestled in rolling hills with farms and cows nearby, plus a quaint village. Entrance standards much lower.</p>
<p>Not sure what you mean by “a little less competitive.” Hamilton is just that, and would seem to fit the bill. Of the schools you’ve named, Vassar is very close to Colgate in SAT selectivity, closely followed by Bucknell and then Trinity. Hamilton’s SAT-optional, so its statistics are a little misleading. I know of several kids accepted at Hamilton but not at Colgate. </p>
<p>Gellino’s list is a good one. Union is on the border between urban and a residential neighborhoods in Schenectady, a somewhat seedy upstate city. Hobart has a beautiful rural setting. Bucknell is in a suburban area, but if I recall the campus itself has a rural feel. F&M is not really rural. I don’t know about Layfette or Colby.</p>
<p>In terms of SAT selectivity, those schools rank, top to bottom:</p>
<p>Colby (very close to Colgate)
Bucknell (same)</p>
<p>Whenever possible, to find out about how your daughter might fare in the admissions game, go to the College website and search for their common data set. It will have a wealth of information.</p>
<p>Yes, Dension is in Ohio, but in a part that is not the Ohio “flat-land” sterotype…beautiful rolling hills east of Columbus. I attended Denison many years ago. My S currently attends Colgate, & I now realize that one of the reasons why I find Colgate so appealing is its similarity to Denison in its physical feel…I believe both Colgate & Denison (among other campuses like Stanford & Vassar) were partially designed by Olmsted, of NYC’s Central Park fame.</p>
<p>Dension is significantly less selective than Colgate & is SAT optional. USNews LAC ranking in the 50’s. I’m biased, but its a great place…got that friendly midwestern vibe going. My D applied there this past season, loved it & was accepted with lots of merit aid (she is, however going elsewhere out to the westcoast), so Hoobert, if Dension is in the ‘safety’ category for your D, merit aid is possible & regardless, it might be worth a visit there this summer. [FWIW, my D had been to Colgate many times to visit her bro, and really liked the place, but did not want to apply because of his presense; of the other comparable schools mentioned thus far in this thread, she visited Skidmore, Vassar, Colby, Hamilton, Union, Tufts, and Dension, and only kept Colby, Tufts & Denison on her apply list. Of course, every kid’s tastes are bound to be different.]</p>
<p>My daughter looked at and applied to many of the schools mentioned. Denison gave her quite a bit of merit aid, but in the end she chose Dickinson College. No hills, but a lovely small campus with a truly global perspective. Did you consider Kenyon, also in Ohio? It is also lovely, and a terrific school (but hard for girls to get into.)</p>
<p>Hoobert, we have two at Colgate, and a third who turned down Colgate to attend Denison. Denison is definitely worth taking a look at, as it has the same rural, small liberal arts college feel. Granville is very comparable to Hamilton. Denison is not quite as isolated as Colgate (Columbus, Ohio is much closer than is Syracuse). Weather is nicer in Granville (but it’s still the north).</p>
<p>My S just graduated from Colgate. His younger Sib (my youngest D) just completed her first year at Bucknell. She was amazed at the number of people she met at Bucknell who had siblings at Colgate. She saw a few of her classmates at our sons graduation.</p>
<p>An interesting story-- My D at Bucknell was getting a ride home for a break from someone she did not know. She got the name from a ride board. Another BU student rider in the car was a freshman like her (actually same dorm but they didn’t know each other)). </p>
<p>My D found out this rider was from California. My D asked why she was traveling to upstate NY. The girl said her brother attended Colgate and she was going to stay w/him rather than travel back to California. </p>
<p>After conversation, it was found that my S ( D’s brother) and this girl’s brother were in the same fraternity. So on this ride for break, the rider calls her brother to tell him when she is getting in and she asks about whether he knows my S. Her bro replys, “Yes, he is sitting next to me right now, why” The B’s (brothers literally and etc. ) had no idea.</p>
<p>2 siblings went to Colgate, I went to Denison. Campuses at both schools are truly beautiful! Rolling hills, well kept grounds and integrated architecture. ~ 1 hour to Syracuse and Columbus. Greeks at both have a strong presence but are going through transition.</p>
<p>A few differences as well. As mentioned, Colgate addmissions are more competitive. Student body is larger. Setting is more rural. Alumni relations at Colgate does a great job of staying in the mix and being inclusive. …Think Colgate Calendar, C-gate Club NYC etc.</p>
<p>Denison was a good fit for me. My circle of friends is strong and most have established lives/careers. The town of Granville is quite a bit more affluent then Hamilton. I’m told that the school has pumped millions back into the campus and building has been fervent. I wasn’t the most astute student, but academic/leadership opportunities were abundant and the study abroad option was transformative. The endowment is strong and Denison leadership does a great job with keeping tuition down and doling out merit based aid. …I was a NE kid who had visited a few campuses. During my visit to Denison, I knew almost instantaneously.</p>
<p>I don’t know Denison, but it sounds like a lovely suggestion.</p>
<p>Some of the suggestions here seem unusual to me. Tufts is more selective than Colgate.</p>
<p>Isn’t the girls part of the school Williams Smith? Or am I wrong?</p>
<p>Drew, not rolling hills, but a lovely forested campus, would make a good safety.</p>
<p>Connecticut College does not have the hills or isolation of Colgate either, but it has a similar student body, and it is pretty. It has a view Long Island Sound rather than the hills.</p>
<p>I also don’t think Colby is significantly less competitive than Colgate.</p>
<p>However, D’s good friend had the GPA but nowhere near the board scores for Colgate. I mean seriously beneath. She desperately wanted to go to Colgate. There was no other school that came close for her.</p>
<p>She applied ED was was admitted. She used the Colgate “13” in every aspect of her application, signalling her sympatico with the school.</p>
<p>I think her essay began, I have tried twelve pens until I found the one I liked to write the rough draft of my essay. Lucky 13. It’s one o’clock in the afternoon, thirteen hundred in military time…</p>
<p>Or something like that.</p>
<p>So don’t give up. She may be accepted to Colgate. </p>
<p>Oh, I don’t think Vassar is less competitive either.</p>
<p>Colby and Vassar definitely not less competitive–on a par. And I agree, Conn is beautiful! The Denison folks may object, but has op looked at Kenyon? And, I may get squawked at by the CC community for this, but at least at our rural Massachusetts public HS, a LOT more kids get into Tufts (six are attending this year–more were accepted) than Colgate, Colby, Vassar, Hamilton. Don’t know if this is a geographic thing or what, but it is definitely not as hard to get into Tufts as is usually reported.</p>
<p>Agree with Mythmom. Tufts is more selective and harder to get into than Colgate. Tufts students also have higher SAT scores than Colgate students. Check the appropriate Hawkette thread, which I cannot find at the moment!</p>
<p>Cadence76: And I do think it’s a geographic thing because I bet there are lots of NY kids accepted to Colgate like there are lots of MA kids accepted to Tufts. I usually don’t judge a school by the “locals” that attend because often times these students are faculty and staff kids, local feeder schools, etc.</p>
<p>That being said, I love Colgate and think it is a fabulous place for the right person. My husband just loved it! </p>
<p>I would look at the other Patriot Schools for like-minded institutions.</p>
<p>Hobart and William Smith Colleges is one school now and it’s co-ed, although it offers single-sex dorms as an option. Its setting along Seneca Lake is absolutely beautiful. It is also much less selective than the other New York schools listed here.</p>
<p>I would guess with a strong frat presence, a beautiful upstate location, and a focus on both athletics and community service/global issues, it would work nicely as an alternative to Colgate. </p>
<p>I also think Union has a similar feel, but its location in an old upstate city is completely different. However, it’s sporty, fratty, pretty and wealthy.</p>
<p>Many of the other New York schools mentioned earlier are very close to Colgate in selectivity. Mythmom has a nice story about Colgate admissions, but the fact is most kids need to be at or above the mid 50%ile of a school’s SAT unless they have a special talent. Colgate values athletes. </p>
<p>FWIW - Colgate’s mid-50%iles on the SAT are V: 630-730 M: 640-730. Tufts are V: 670-750 M: 670-750. Colgate’s acceptance rate is 24%. Tufts is 26%.</p>
<p>Just a quick note on comparing the selectivity of Colby with Colgate. While for those who submit the SAT reasoning test, Colby’s attending students’ scores are just barely lower than Colgate’s, Colby has an interesting take on “required” standardized tests. </p>
<p>You have to submit standardized test scores, but they can be the SAT reasoning test (Math and Verbal), the ACT, or three SAT subject tests. I don’t know of any other school which offers this choice and I have no idea how or if its skews the data. There is no way to determine how many entering students chose the subject tests rather than the reasoning test.</p>
<p>Actually so does Middlebury, and Bates doesn’t require SATs. If she wants great facilities, and an excellent, accessible faculty, William Smith is a great option. The colleges(Hobart) are not merged, and each has their own Dean and Admissions.They share facilities and the faculty. It’s a unique arrangement which preserves the autonomy of each school.What do you think your daughter would like to study?</p>
<p>CollegeMom08–we’re not "local’ to Tufts in any way, except by being in the same state–though we’re out in the Western Mass. sticks! Still saying, they must accept Mass. kids at a higher rate–we tend to think of Tufts as “fairly hard” to get in, but not anywhere in the same league as top LAC’s.</p>
<p>oldbatesieDoc - There are plenty of SAT optional schools around - Hamilton, mentioned by the OP, is one of them. But I wasn’t aware of this other alternative - the 3 SAT subject tests. Maye it’s more common than I thought. </p>
<p>My main point was that when a school offers these alternatives for testing, the Common Data Set doesn’t consider them. The average SAT scores on the CDS for a SAT optional school are always inflated, because it’s the low scoring student who doesn’t submit them.</p>
<p>As I said before, the 3 subject test option may or may not skew the numbers the same way.</p>
<p>And Tufts is selective, no doubt about it. It’s a bit more selective then Colgate, but not in the same league as the “top LAC’s”: Williams, Amherst, or Swarthmore.</p>
<p>I agree completely, DadofB&G. Tufts accepted 26% of its Class of 2013 and Colgate accepted 31.5% of its Class of 2013. So Tufts is slightly more selective than Colgate. SAT scores are also slightly higher at Tufts. </p>
<p>However, do not tend to put Tufts in the “LAC” category, in the first place. With 5,000 undergrads, I put Tufts in the “medium-sized, research university” category. Therefore, generally, I don’t compare it with places like Colgate or even Williams, Amherst and the like. Different animal. Students are looking for a different, overall experience.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: D at Tufts. H went to Colgate. D would not apply to Colgate, though she did visit. Not her cup of tea. Husband sad. LOL.</p>