I’m thinking about transfering from Davidson College for a number of reasons. I want to be in a larger town, preferably closer to a city. I also want to be an Enviro studies major, and the major here is fairly new so courses and interdisciplinary options are more limited. Food here is also not the best for me because I’m vegan. Not to mention the cost of attending is putting a burden on my family, and I don’t think, for what I’m interested in, it’s worth it. I also would like to have a more politically aware/engaged and more sustainable campus.
My grades here are good, i have mid to high 90s in all classes I’m currently taking, and for reference I got a 33 on the ACT.
I’ve been looking at Macalester, Wesleyan, and Amherst for next fall. But Amherst, MA is still rather rural and I’d be worried about the safety at Wesleyan. And Macalester doesn’t offer merit scholarships for transfers.
I’ve been focusing on smaller colleges because I do best in small classes, but i wouldn’t mind the size being medium so long as classes are rather small (i know, high hopes lol) If I transfer Id want to stay away from the South–not just for culture but also because of the heat/humidity
If anyone has suggestions as to where to look that’d be great, thanks!
Haverford? Close to Philly.
Safety at Wesleyan? It is a perfectly safe school and suburban town. Nothing to worry about.
Middletown as a whole is pretty safe, but, it’s also one of many old-fashioned New England mill towns which, contrary to stereotype, have always included different socio-economic groups living in close proximity to one another. People arriving from suburbia may be surprised by the presence of a soup kitchen a few minutes walk away from the President’s House or by public housing next to a dormitory, but, Wesleyan students take it all in stride.
Other northeast LACs in or practically in cities include–
Trinity
Connecticut College
Vassar (on commuter train line into NYC)
Union
Skidmore – in a smaller town but faaaaairly close to upstate cities.
Marist
Swarthmore (consortium includes Haverford and train/bus into Philly. Swarthmore is more isolated than Haverford)
Muhlenberg
Lehigh
LaFayette
Bates
Ithaca
Quinnipiac
The various Boston-area schools – BU, BC, Brandeis, Tufts etc.
LAC-like universities in cities beyond Wesleyan–
UVM (public but small)
Brown
Clark
UMass-Amherst – a bit bigger but still part of the 5-col consortium
What is a comfortable cost for you? I would be surprised if Amherst College is any less expensive than where you are now, although it is a good school and for you might be worth it. I agree with @Dustyfeathers that UVM and UMass Amherst are good schools, although quite a bit larger than where you are. Burlington VT is beautiful. Depending upon how far you want to go, Acadia University in Nova Scotia has a very strong Environmental Studies program (which is separate from their also very strong Environmental Sciences program) and would be quite a bit less expensive than similarly sized US schools. It is however in a relatively small town.
My concern for Wesleyan is that they have a high rate of sexual assault, especially in comparison to other LAC schools.
Currently I get about 50% of the total cost paid by need-based aid, but for the program I can’t justify the cost. If the program at another school were significantly better then costing the same would be ok, otherwise cheaper is better because I’d like to take out the minimum amount of loans possible… I know that’s a vague response but my parents and I don’t have a set cost because what we can’t fill will be paid in loans.
Thank you for the list @Dustyfeathers that’s really helpful. Do you happen to know the strength of the environmental studies programs there?
Not so sure that’s accurate. In 2015, the most recent year available for rape statistics reported by Wesleyan, Amherst and Williams, Wesleyan has a slightly higher rate per 1000 full-time students than its country cousins, but only slightly so. And, remember, these are reported rapes, not convictions or cases resulting in disciplinary action:
Wesleyan - 6.05
Amherst - 5.01
Williams - 4.15
You can run your own analysis at https://ope.ed.gov/campussafety/#/compare/details
Which could mean one of two things. It could mean that there is more sexual assault at Wesleyan. But it could also mean that Wesleyan students are more likely to report sexual assaults, instead of remaining silent. Many experts would draw the latter conclusion, not the former.
Some more rates of reported rapes in New England:
UNH - 2.61
UMaine - 1.46
UConn - 1.41
UMass - 0.58
URI - 0.42
Some pretty striking differences there.
So would you conclude that LACs must be far more dangerous – by as much as an order of magnitude – than big state universities?
Or would you suspect that there must be a lot of issues that go unreported at big state universities?
“Some pretty striking differences there.”
Yes. This is scary for a dad (and presumably for a mother or daughter). One thing that I wonder about, UMass Amherst and Amherst college are not very far apart (less than 2 miles). Why are the rates so very different?
It is my impression that the economics of the most selective LACs means that their student bodies include a relatively high number of students from high income or high net worth families. I wonder whether this means that there are a few arrogant bad students who commit horrid crimes and think that they can get away with it, or if relatively wealthier students means that victims are more willing to report rapes.
Look at the transfer acceptance rates and policies for these schools. Amherst College, for instance, strongly favors CC transfers and veterans (or both), not good students from other elite colleges. I would think many selective LACs probably have little turnover and thus low xfer rates also.
You’re missing the point. The reality is that the rates probably aren’t very different. However, Amherst College students are much more likely to speak up and report such incidents, so their numbers appear to be higher, as per Post #8 above. It’s like this comparison between UMass vs. Hampshire, another neighboring school with a seemingly high rape rate:
According to the published numbers, UMass has the lowest reported rate of sexual assault of any school in the 5-College Consortium. Does this really mean that UMass is the safest campus for women – safer than Mt. Holyoke and Smith?
I don’t think so. If you were to collect anonymous surveys about the campus climate, instead of relying on officially reported stats, the results would be very different.
Does UMass Amherst have dorms? I thought that I had heard that all students have to live off of campus. If this is true it would definitely affect the reported rates…
It has dorms, yes.