<p>What's Carleton's alumni giving rate? (I do agree it belongs high on the LAC list).</p>
<p>Carleton's alumni giving rate has averaged around 65% for some time - #1 among all LACs and universities for several years now. Courses are rigorous but campus quality of life is exceptional, beautiful 1,040 acre campus with Minneapolis-St. Paul just 35 miles away, PhD production is near the top of every subject category, less selective than Williams or Amherst mostly by virtue of its upper midwest location.</p>
<p>I think Wesleyan should be a bit higher... I'd say around where Middlebury and Bowdoin are. just a thought. not that I'm biased or anything:)</p>
<p>Wellesley has an exceptionally strong alumni network. It is close to both Harvard and MIT as well. It ought to be reckoned on the same level as Williams and Amherst.</p>
<p>I don't know anything about Swat except its self-prescribed academic rigor and reputation</p>
<p>kaleigh I know that the college search is about fit, as I have already said three times in this thread. Thanks for reading.</p>
<p>bingle the reason I say that about Carleton is the fact it has grade inflation.</p>
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<p>Ha - pretty much all of the top private LACs and unis have huge grade inflation, which is part of the reason it is a good idea to attend one if you are able. Carleton's average GPA is certainly no higher than that of Brown or Wesleyan, two of the leading inflators.</p>
<p>Are you guys sure....I have read countless threads about how Carleton and Swathmore are know for deflation and how they are really tough grade wise.</p>
<p>iim pretty sure that it is deflation not inflation</p>
<p>
[quote]
1. Kenyon and Bates should be on it.
2. Bucknell and Hamilton shouldn't be on it.
3. Colby is too low.
4. Carleton is way too high. They are highley overrated.
5. Davidson should be higher.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I would say Bates and Colby are about the same, so maybe they should be around #20, 21. </p>
<p>Carleton and Pomona have historically been higher than Middlebury and Bowdoin.</p>
<p>Maybe, it's an east coast bias, but I don't think that Kenyon or Colorado College should be on the list before Hamilton and Bucknell. </p>
<p>If anything, I think Davidson is too high and Wesleyan and Colgate are too low.</p>
<p>I feel that USNWR rankings places too high an importance on school wealth and nebulous reputation in comparison to student and faculty profile, which results in over-ranking Wellesley, Middlebury, Grinnell, Davidson, Vassar.</p>
<p>National</a> Trends in Grade Inflation, American Colleges and Universities</p>
<p>Somewhat dated data, but it does give you a rough idea of which schools inflate more than others and how average GPA has increased pretty much everywhere over the past few decades. Any school where the average is above 3.3 has pretty high grade inflation in my book, regardless of the qualifications of the students. Carleton's average was listed as 3.35 in 2001, which is pretty darn high. I think any rumors of "deflation" there are partially attributable to the fact that the school is on a trimester-type system, so the work is fast & furious (a la Chicago).</p>
<p>Grinnell's ranking should be much higher. the only reason it isn't top 10 is because it's in Iowa and that scares away some ppl therefore its acceptance rate is higher. I've visited 2/3 of the top 25 colleges and Grinnell has got the best facilities, a really high endowment, the professors are AMAZING.....okay well i can go on an on, clearly i am very biased haha</p>
<p>Country Day, I did read your comment about fit and if you really believe "that it is all about fit", I do not understand why you are angered over this list. Amherst and Williams have always been LAC "stand outs" in the NE and Davidson and W&L are LAC "stand outs" in the South. I am not as familiar with LACs in the Midwest or Western regions but I am guessing that each has its "stand outs". All the schools on this list are fabulous schools and there are definitely some additional schools that probably should be included. But to be concerned about ranking them is silly. Everyone values certain qualities differently and when asked to rank schools will come-up with a different ordered list of schools.</p>
<p>We are probably all biased gellino, but you are leaning heavily towards the north east schools.</p>
<p>Hamilton, Davidson & Carleton are all outstanding schools. Although Bates & Kenyon are good schools, they are not better than Davidson, Hamilton or Carleton by any reasonable standard of measurement of which I am aware. My opinion is that both Bates & Kenyon are highly ranked in their current Top 35 positions.
Although I disagree with the OP, USNews' High School Counselor Rankings places Bates tied at #15 along with Colby, Colgate, Macalester, Smith & Wesleyan; and places Kenyon at #21 tied with Carleton & Oberlin.</p>
<p>Kaleigh3--you have intelligent and less emotional responses. People should reread them.</p>
<p>Mcawesome is right on point in her assessment of Grinnell. The biggest drawback to Grinnell is location. At least those who attend are there because they want to be there. It helps make a great college experience.</p>
<p>I've read for years that Oberlin (#19) takes a hit on these lists because they won't break apart statistics on the College and the Conservatory of Music, since the two have been a seamless unit for much longer than USNWR decided to rank schools. They don't always play the game. Very Oberlin. </p>
<p>As for Amherst and Williams, they seem to trade places every year for first place. </p>
<p>If I were looking for schools today, I'd try to pay less attention to the rank order number, and instead learn from the subscores to get some hints about personal fit. </p>
<p>For example: since I enjoy small classes, I'd look for that piece of data. I care about how many go on for PhD's as evidence of developed scholarship, so I'd compare that data point. I'm always interested in numbers about faculty, such as how many are fulltime professors or have the highest degrees in their fields. Since diversity matters to me, I'd look there. Others would have different personal priorities. Comparing numbers of volumes in the library is a statistic that doesn't move me, but if my major required many unusual books, or I imagine browsing through unfamiliar titles in open stack libraries, that might become a meaningful difference.</p>
<p>I'm not sure why, but, Wesleyan seems to outperform its USNWR expectations. Every few years some alum has a major impact on the culture (a Tony Award here, an Emmy or an Oscar there -- the phrases "a perfect storm" and "politically correct" were popularized by Wes alum.) My impression is that they have a very consistent approach to the liberal arts and sciences that is shared by its faculty and draws applicants from around the country and world who want that unique experience. Every LAC tries to get across the same message, that the liberal arts are relevant to modern times. Wesleyan has been doing it somewhat longer.</p>
<p>Paying3,</p>
<p>That is exactly the point I was trying to make. Many students start their college search at the top of the various ranking lists and in doing so they may miss their true dream school. My daughter loved several of the schools at the very top of the USNWR LAC list on paper but after visits and careful consideration about what was really important to her, she moved a few notches lower and she couldn't be happier!</p>
<p>Eh I want to go to Kenyon, but I'm probably going to wrestle for Northwestern.</p>
<p>Bucknell and Holy Cross should be ranked higher due to alumni prestige. HC also has one of the highest alumni giving rates. Bucknell and Holy Cross have great school spirit.</p>