Congratulations! S22 is also interested in CS and trying to decide between Hamilton, Middlebury, Davidson, and Colorado College. Planning to visit all 4 over the next couple of weeks to help him decide.
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good luck!! when it comes to lacs, i think double-majoring is a great idea. perhaps looking into other possible academic interests (cs + ?) will also help!
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What does it make you commit Hamilton over other LACs?
First, I’ll just say Hamilton, Middlebury, and Colby are all pretty similar. I’m not sure if I want to get into pure tech or pure finance or “tech in finance” right now so I was looking for a balance. I looked at those schools’ “Outcomes Reports” and other statistics. I’d say objectively, Hamilton and Middlebury are better than Colby in finance (the alumni network and Hamilton’s NYC program really stood out to me). Hamilton also has a pretty strong maths program and a decent cs program (there’re more people doing cs in Middlebury though, but Middlebury is a bigger school) (I don’t know if I want to do maths+cs or cs+econ right now). Most importantly, I think Hamilton fits me better. Those LACs have different “vibes” and as far as I’m concerned, I like Hamilton’s “not taking themselves too seriously” vibe more than Middlebury and I prefer a smaller community. I know everyone will say “you’ll find your crowd everywhere” but I really don’t think my background is a fit for Middlebury (yes, they have a strong alum network and an amazing investment banking student committee or something, but I’m looking for a place that’s less “preppy” - sorry if I offend anyone but that’s genuinely how I feel after talking to alums and doing my own research)
As for competitiveness/rankings: Hamilton has an overall 11.8% acceptance rate, Middlebury has an overall 15%, and Colby has an overall 7%. What’s more interesting is that the average standardized testing score at these schools are pretty different as well. This doesn’t have a big impact on my decision but I just find it interesting.
As a comment on your son’s choices, I really like this list of acceptances. In these schools, he has shown a decisive preference for a certain type of college. In support of this, all of these colleges appear on the CC peer schools page, which may interest you: Peer Institutions - Colorado College.
Wishing your son good luck with his visits and final decision.
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Withdrawn as superfluous.
thank u! (this is my second account) I’ve already committed to Hamilton and I’ve read literally everything regarding finance opportunities at Hamilton haha. it’s not technically a target school like Williams but it’s still got a decent number of opportunities.
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I’ll say that I don’t know the definition of a finance target school, or even how this might be clearly defined. Nonetheless, I’m surprised that Hamilton, with the CEO of Goldman Sachs as an alumnus, wouldn’t be considered one.
In any case, beyond its excellent math, CS and economics departments, Hamilton’s academic strengths extend across varied fields, such as literature and writing, classics, history, philosophy, physics and geosciences. I hope you explore widely while there.
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I’d say Hamilton is a target for banks where Hamilton’s alum presence is strong (Deutsche for instance). However, according to WSO & other reports, Hamilton would be categorized as a semi target at best for most investment banks (especially Bulge Brackets like Goldman. Hamilton did annually send 6-8 graduates to GS but I guess that’s much lower than other schools). Another thing is that Hamilton is pretty transparent with their career outcomes while I didn’t find anything specific on Middlebury’s/Williams’/etc websites.
The most typical tier 1 target schools are undergrad business schools like Stern/Marshall/etc, Ivies, other T15 like UChicago, and Williams/Amherst.
I’m really excited about studying in Hamilton and taking as many academic/working/volunteering opportunities as possible!
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Planning to or accepted student?
Congratulations! I am a Swarthmore grad who studied a humanities subject long ago, and even though corporate work wasn’t what I was looking for from that education, I have ended up with a successful corporate career.
I will say that, no matter what field you are in, unless your goal is just to do the very technical/executional side of work (say, hard coding in CS), you cannot underestimate the value of top-notch written and oral communication skills as well as critical thinking/problem solving to employers.
When I hire candidates, I look for evidence of intellectual resilience. Anyone seeking to ride to a leadership position should be able to: take in other people’s viewpoints and prepare to adjust their own assumptions, write and speak well, problem-solve in live meetings. In my opinion, liberal arts colleges and similar programs do the best job of preparing nimble and articulate thinkers.
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Totally agree with you! Thanks for this input!
Here’s an analysis of IB target schools. FWIW, Middlebury is the only LAC on the list.
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yep! middlebury is def the more recognized one in finance. that’s why i said hamilton is semi-target at best but is target for a couple of banks (for instance, deutsche). but still this list is interesting…no williams/amherst? i find that hard to believe because it’s obviously not the case.
As a financial aspect to consider, Hamilton graduates earn more in their early careers than those than those from any of the other nine NESCAC LACs based on information in U.S. News. By an actual figure for this, Hamilton grads earn $4,500 more annually than those from Middlebury, as well as more than those from Williams and Amherst. As with other statistics, this may be of interest to a level in relation to your personal goals.
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/hamilton-college-2728
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/williams-college-2229
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/amherst-college-2115
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/middlebury-college-3691
This is a great post.
hi! where did your son decide to attend?
In case that poster does not return soon, I believe their son chose an in-state public university.
got it! all great choices
This is phrased as a question but sounds more like an assertion, and it’s wrong fwiw.
Another question that sounds like a statement and it’s also incorrect in my experience.
Congratulations. Hamilton is fantastic in many respects and it sounds like you’ve really thought through the “fit” piece, which is particularly important at a LAC, especially one that is in a very rural location. Though there will be more people than you can befriend at even the smallest LAC, the “vibe” will be hard to avoid if you don’t like it.
I personally also like Middlebury quite a bit, but agree that it has a different feel than Hamilton (though both have in common beautiful campuses smack dab in the middle of nowhere). If your finance interest means Wall Street (and of course it need not), I would have probably leaned more towards Middlebury, which I perceive as one of the two top LAC feeders in the NE for Wall Street recruiting (along with Williams). But you can certainly get there with Hamilton too.
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