And I think many publics too. The large pool of students looking to go OOS to college is looking more and more to the south or west coast IMHO.
Useful article. I think it is indicative of yet another aspect of this admissions cycle. There seems to be a mania for both coasts right now. I predict maybe another year of craziness, then people will perhaps start being a little more realistic.
Thanks for posting. Interesting though, that some Midwest schools like Wooster and Denison had good years, while some higher ‘ranked’ ones, Kenyon, Grinell did not fare as well.
Yes, some did very well. Oberlin seems fine, Wooster looks like they’ll be scrambling for housing for their overage, and Denison had a great year.
I wish come colleges would just reset the price instead of discounting.
@momofthreeboys: Discounting allows most school (other than the schools who discount for 99% of their students) to maximize revenue.
It may be a general trend for middling LACs throughout the country. Would like to see data on other regions.
Cost may really be a factor for many families. Even with a bit of merit aid, these schools may be too expensive for many families.
This article provides some good insight into why so many colleges, and not just in the midwest, are eager to be known nationally. It helps to be less vulnerable to local trends, whether it’s falling numbers or softer economics. It also points to what may be a sweet spot for applicants in coming years. If it’s getting a little easier to get into some of these schools, that’s a good thing - the education and opportunities are still excellent.
Yes, @gardenstategal , excellent point. People have to stop equating acceptance rates with quality. There are so many kids desperate to get into Berkeley for example. Why? My kid has a friend at Berkeley. One of her lectures has 1100 students in it. How is anyone supposed to learn anything in that kind of environment? All the CA colleges have seen their numbers rise because, well, they are in CA and it’s sunny. Big deal. It makes me laugh, because now, I probably could not get into the CSU I graduated from. Sure, Berkeley does great research, but I sometimes wonder about the quality of education undergrad students actually get at some of the most popular colleges.
Upcoming students would do well to think about other factors besides acceptance rates and rankings. I personally think retention rates and numbers of Fulbright and Rhodes Scholars should be considered more. If a college is producing good numbers of them, that’s a good indication of teaching quality, IMO.
@hzhao2004 , Grinnell and Kenyon are not middling.
I would say the same thing about University of Toronto. Known for it’s large, impersonal lectures.
@Lindagaf , I started out on CC by reading your posts on your D’s college search. The one long thread about her admission journey and your observations was so interesting and helpful. I would love to hear your list of best colleges in the Midwest and elsewhere. 8->
@MACmiracle I am not the expert on anything but thanks for the compliment. I will summon @mamaedefamilia , who might be a better person to ask about the Midwest. She did a ton of research and her D applied to quite a few excellent Midwest schools.
However, I like to be challenged. If anyone cares, this is my own totally biased and not-realistic list of the ten best colleges in the country. Actually, the Midwest is well represented.
- Carleton. Practically perfect in every way. Except the trimester system is not great, IMO.
- UMichigan Ann Arbor. I reckon for a big college, it's the best. It's seems to do everything well.
- MIT. Let's face it, they do incredible stuff there. Extra points for the Lotto scam several years ago.
- Bates. Because D is there and I think they do an amazing job for a small college.
- U Chicago. Any school that can almost get a kid to apply with very clever mailings alone deserves to be on the list. Plus, I know it's filled with super smart nerds.
- Brown. It's the only cool Ivy.
- Kenyon. Because it's lovely and has more top Princeton Review profs than Harvard. True.
- Whitman College, in Walla Walla. I have literally never heard anything but praise for this school, and it regularly makes lists for happiest students.
- U of Rochester. Vastly under appreciated, deserves more recognition.
- Swarthmore. Small and perfectly formed. Honorable mention: Smith. Good friend went there, and she's super cool. Still holding its own.
I can hear the guffaws already. 
Every person will have a different list. I looked at bates with number 2 and my takeaway was there is a Bates equivalent or two in every region of the country for kids who want to experience a different state or area and that is a good thing!
Thank you, @Lindagaf. Just starting our journey with D19, and really value the thoughts of other experienced parents. Hope others weigh in.
Interesting list- shows how some colleges are known and others as good or better simply not heard of. Most of the listed schools were never on the radar nor could they compete with ones that were. One size certainly does not fit all who have high stats/ability… Perhaps I could get interested in researching Bates now that I’ve heard of it a second or so time…
Addenda. No wonder never investigated it. So many limited course options compared to what am used to.
@wis75 that’s the beauty or curse of the LAC, depending on how you look at it. As many of the schools on my world-renowned list are LACs, there are no prizes for guessing where my biases lay:-)
NASDAQ and STEM enrollment have been soaring for years. This makes LAC admission relatively difficult. But cycle comes and goes.
The relative lack of interest from international applicants on LACs is also the beauty and curse of LACs, particularly for those in rural parts of Midwest. Unlike UIUC can fill some of its accounting classes with 80% internationals (read it from a Chinese website), Midwest LACs are less known internationally.
@prof2dad I think that there has been a slight shift in how international students and their families look at US colleges nowadays, especially since so many of the better known colleges and universities have become more difficult to get into. Many international students are now looking at a wider range of institutions. Earlham College, for example, has a high percentage of international students.
Not necessarily.
Many LACs have been known internationally for a long period due to famous alums and/or academic links to particular countries. Especially among the educated elite(especially academics).
For instance, my father knew about Oberlin and its renowned academic reputation since he was a small child growing up in China in the '40s. That was one key reason he tried dissuading me from accepting the admissions offer as he was concerned I wouldn’t be able to handle its academic rigor. Thankfully, I ignored his concerns and did fine.
Also, some famous international alums are LAC graduates such as Nationalist Chinese Politician and Economic Minister H.H. Kung(Oberlin class 1906). Even when I was studying abroad in Mainland China in the late '90s, whenever I was asked where I was attending undergrad, all I needed to do was to mention the name of my LAC and the one asking would automatically bring up H.H. Kung.
However, the effects you’re seeing is much more likely the effect of a greater number of students applying to US colleges who just 2+ decades ago would have been considered candidates for vocational schools/apprenticeships under the more restrictive educational examination regimen in that society back then and also the fact many of their parents/older relatives/grandparents may not have completed their educations due to being from the lower SES stratum before the '80’s economic reforms and/or were part of the generation whose K-12 educations were disrupted by the Chinese Cultural Revolution*.
- Some of my aunts whose parents were persecuted for being university academics during that period were affected and ended up having to complete their educations later in their lives as non-traditional students in China and the US.
The youngest aunt from this group still has one child in college currently. Ironically, she ended up becoming an accountant as a “fallback” occupation after finding her initial plans of being a Literature Prof wasn’t viable as a result of that tumultuous interruption in her education as an adolescent/young adult.