<p>Swarthmore
Bowdoin
Middlebury
Vassar
Haverford
Wesleyan
Carleton</p>
<p>Of the colleges on this list, how would you rank them in terms of hardest to easiest (yet still very hard, obviously) to get into?</p>
<p>Also, what LACs are slightly (just slightly) easier to get into than these? (again, I use easy as a relative term)</p>
<p>In general, Swarthmore will be the most competitive for most comers. But you have to consider how an individual fits what a given school is looking for. One's resume (constituting academic strengths/weakness, extracurricular interests, geographic origin, sex, race, even personality traits as they come across) may be well received at one, less well at another despite seemingly similar selectivity. Overall, the remaining six schools are pretty similarly "competitive" and I would discourage letting this factor come into play in decision making about where to apply. Think fit, visit, follow your gut.</p>
<p>Definitely Swarthmore. Williams, Amherst and Swarthmore are like the Harvard, Princeton and Yale of LACs.</p>
<p>I'd rank them this way:</p>
<ol>
<li>Swarthmore</li>
<li>Middlebury</li>
<li>Carleton</li>
<li>Vassar</li>
<li>Haverford</li>
<li>Bowdoin</li>
<li>Wesleyan</li>
</ol>
<p>Just my opinion. You really can't go wrong with any of those schools. My D has visited Swarthmore twice, including an interview. She hasn't visited any of the others even once, although she has an interview appointment coming up in a couple of weeks at Haverford. She was also impressed with an LAC you don't have on your list: Oberlin.</p>
<p>My post was out of curiosity more than anything else - not as a guide for which ones I will ultimately apply to (in fact, I'm only sure of applying to Wes, Vassar, & Bowdoin). Although I've been getting the impression that 1190 gave - the preferences of each school makes it tough to rank them on one all-encompassing, objective list.</p>
<p>I do have to look more into Oberlin. I probably won't have a chance to visit but I like what I've seen from it.</p>
<p>for slightly easier but similar schools:</p>
<p>schools like trinity, lafayette, colgate, holy cross and colby would be more similar to middlebury and bowdoin</p>
<p>bates, connecticut college, bard, kenyon, hamilton, macalester would be similar to vassar, wesleyan and haverford</p>
<p>reed would be similar and safer than swarthmore. bryn mawr or barnard if you're female</p>
<p>I think post #2 had it about right; after Swarthmore, you'd be splitting hairs. The term "selectivity" masks a lot of internal details. For example, Wesleyan receives more applicants from URMs than any of the schools on your list, thus historically it's been the most selective if you are African American. Also, by the time a college fills up on legacies, sports teams, and high-flying board scores during the ED process (up to forty % of the class in most cases), the RD process becomes highly unpredictable for even the most highly qualified applicants. Visit any of the CC boards for the above-mentioned colleges around mid-April and see the enormous number of posters who get wait-listed.</p>
<p>Post # 5 " schools like trinity, lafayette, colgate, holy cross and colby would be more similar to middlebury and bowdoin"</p>
<p>This group has pretty broad range of acceptance rates, with Midd and Bowdoin at 20% and the rest, with the exception of of Colgate, at > 30%.</p>
<p>2007 ACCEPTANCE Rates US News and World Report
Swat 17.7%
Bowdoin 19.0%
Middlebury 20.6%
Haverford 25.1%
Colgate 26.6%
Wes 27.4%
Vassar 28.6
Kenyon 29.2%
Carleton 29.8
Colby 31.8
Holy Cross 32 %
Trinity 34.2%
Reed 34.3%
Conn 34.5%
Lafayette 35%</p>
<p>Best</a> Colleges - Education - US News and World Report</p>
<p>
[quote]
Post # 5 " schools like trinity, lafayette, colgate, holy cross and colby would be more similar to middlebury and bowdoin"</p>
<p>This group has pretty broad range of acceptance rates, with Midd and Bowdoin at 20% and the rest, with the exception of of Colgate, at > 30%.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I think she meant the personality of the schools are similar as opposed to particularly the acceptance rates, which is why she broke them into three distinct groups of schools.</p>
<p>Daffy mom: It think that was Huskem's point: those school would be similar to Middlebury and Bowdoin in terms of fit, but are a bit less selective. Unless I'm missing your point?</p>
<p>I don't really understand plainsman's list...Vassar and Wes are definitely closer in selectivity than that. In general, I agree with post #2. </p>
<p>Your GC might be able to give you a better sense of how these things go at your school. For instance, while Carleton is a highly selective school, it had always wanted kids from my high school, but never got them (it’s hard to get midatlentic kids to go to Minnesota). So, for qualified kids from my school, it was a much better bet that the other schools on your list, just because it was trying so hard to recruit from us (and, indeed, at least once girl got in there but not other schools on your list). Of course, someone in the Midwest might have a very different experience. </p>
<p>Some other slightly less selective schools you might want to consider are:</p>
<p>Grinnell (GREAT school, but location makes it less selective than its Peers), Kenyon, Skidmore, Occidental (if you don’t mind a city). </p>
<p>I also agree with the schools Huskem lists, though I would add that while I totally see why she connected Reed to Swarthmore (both are known for especially intense academics), it also has a lot in common with Vassar/Wes in terms of the kind of students it attracts, so it’s definitely a good one for you to check out even if you decide Swarthmore is not a fit.</p>
<p>yes, the OP asked for similar schools that were slightly easier to get into..</p>