<p>Reed has always impressed me. It seems to be a school with a well-defined sense of its mission, one more resistant than many other schools to academic fads and market forces. The druggie reputation is so persistent I assume there is some truth to it. How much? If it is otherwise a good fit, you might want to dig into this.</p>
<p>In my opinion (and several informed posters would disagree), PhD production is one of the best outcome-based quality metrics we have for liberal arts & science programs. If relatively many students are choosing PhD programs, and succeeding in them, it suggests the faculty are motivating and preparing students well for the highest levels of academic work. This suggests that the rest of students probably are getting a good classroom experience, too. Of course, several confounding factors can depress the rates, but I don’t think it’s a concidence that small, private LACs tend to dominate the list of top PhD producers per capita.</p>
<p>pdkof13–So if I understand your situation, you have twins both considering going to schools on the east coast. It might make your life a lot easier if they were in close proximity to each other–such as Hopkins/Goucher or Wellesley/Wheaton.</p>
<p>I didn’t have twins but had a boy and girl close in age. Both went to Hopkins and they both loved it. They also loved being able to see each other whenever they wanted. But Hopkins was also big enough that they each had their own space. And it certainly made life easier for my wife and me on parents’ weekend.</p>
<p>As for the reputation for competitiveness at Hopkins that others have alluded to–I woldn’t be overly concerned about it. First of all, that reputation primarily concerns premeds, and the reputation is far worse than the reality. What happens is that freshman are all thrown in together and all these very smart kids start seeing that some of their peers are working harder than they are and they start to panic. They see their dreams of going to medical school being held hostage by this kid in the dorm who is studying all the time. This leads to a chain reaction with students filling the library so no one gets a leg up on them. After a while, the panic subsides and students learn to adjust to the workload. Hopkins is a challenging place academically but, after all, one goes to college to get an education so what’s wrong with being challenged? The average GPA is a 3.3 so it clearly is not impossible to do well.</p>
<p>By the way, kids who went to boarding schools are largely immune from this; they have seen it all before. Kids in the humanities and social sciences generally don’t fall into the panic mode to begin with. Despite the reputation for competitiveness, Hopkins students are generally pretty cooperative with one another–even the premeds.</p>
<p>The twins tell me that it doesn’t matter to them if they are geographically close - in fact, my D said I shouldn’t try to make them pick schools near each other.</p>
<p>From what some of you have told me about read in PMs, I do think it is worth her visiting. Which of these schools do you think will give her the most confidence? She’s fairly quiet, except in her quirky/nerd cool social circles.</p>
<p>As someone with my own D strongly considering Macalester, I think many posters here have not given this school enough props. The one argument that MAY hold some water is the niche/limited offerings one IF that is true. Otherwise, superb school (especially for someone who also was seriously considering Reed), great city(ies), and potentially where a kid might the happiest. JHU doesn’t strike me as a happy place. With BMC and Wellesley really have to know if really want all-female. For undergrad, I would not compromise on fit and happiness. There is time for specialization later. My own D fyi was also accepted NYU, Bryn Mawr, Rochester, Brandeis, etc.</p>
<p>Thank you, you are all providing a wealth of information. Please keep it coming. My D has now compared the Barnard/Columbia class schedules with Bryn Mawr/Haverford/Swarthmore class schedules, and finds them very similar in terms of offerings, if not class sizes. She is next going to look at Wellesley/MIT, and then look at Reed and Macalester.</p>
<p>I don’t feel she can really go wrong anywhere; she has a wealth of choices, I know. I am concerned about the JHU isn’t the happiest place comments, but does that apply more to the STEM and pre-med folks? Is it also true of the humanities/social sciences students?</p>
<p>Fully agree. These are all great schools so of course it boils down to fit. I would think an overnight visit at a number of her top choices would be key in helping her select the school where she would feel the most comfortable.</p>
<p>I’ll let you know her reaction to Mac after her overnight and class visits there. She’s also going to attend the Spring Open Campus. I’m going to try to get her to Reed and JHU for an overnight also (although this means missing several days of school). Problem is trying to get her twin brother to the schools he needs to visit, too. At least one of his finalists is Goucher, so we will combine with JHU trip, and can drive up to Ursinus and Bryn Mawr as well.</p>
<p>Well, she really liked Macalester, felt she would definitely be happy there. But she’s not in love, and still wants to see Reed and will also do Wellesley’s Spring Open Campus. She sat in on two classes, did an overnight, and also met with a classics professor. She is still a little concerned that Mac doesn’t have enough offerings for classics, but it would be doable.</p>
<p>pkdof13…my D is visiting Macalester today and tomorrow. Very interested in whether this is going to be “the one.” I was wondering, given one of the concerns you expressed, whether Mac students can take any classes at Univ Minnesota? My D has some similar decisions…whether she wants all-women (Bryn Mawr), serious academics but maybe less “fun” (Rochester), NYU (too much $), Brandeis (no merit and maybe too close), GWU (sort of lukewarm feeling)…All in all, things appear to be tilting towards Mac.</p>
<p>Just read your #42 and saw reference to international studies/diplomacy and Wellesley/JHU. I was gonna say “hard to beat” Mac here but will amend to Mac obviously is no slouch in the international studies/international opportunities area.</p>
<p>My daughter is a politics/international studies major at Mac with lots of other interests. She LOVES it. Loves her classes, loves the twins cities (especially the Mac neighborhood), loves her professors - in fact she wants to live in Saint Paul over the summer. Parents make a big deal about the weather - doesn’t seem to be a big deal for the kids who choose Mac. And many are from warmer places around the world. Previous posts went back and forth about class sizes. Thirty students would be a large class at Mac. Daughter has a class with 12 students this semester. Classes are taught by full time faculty - not TAs. Although a small school doesn’t have the class offerings of a larger University, what it offers is a real sense of community and individualized attention. My daughter, a sophomore, has never had trouble getting into a class. I’ve not heard any complaints about bureaucracy or red tape. Daughter has been truly inspired by many of her classes and professors. She’s had dinner at professors’ houses several times in the last few years. We’ve been especially impressed with the academic advising offered - including extensive help deciding on junior semester abroad options.
Big Universities have more alumni, and therefore more boosters on these threads - but those schools could be reserved for graduate school.</p>
<p>thatsall, thank you for posting about your daughter. Mac was terrific, great kids, everyone we met whether admissions, academic department staff, professors, were all very nice and helpful.</p>
<p>finalchild, please do report on what your D thinks of Mac.</p>
<p>Visit went very well. Definitely in the final two. Initial drive by suggested might be too small but once actually on campus later in the afternoon the place was alive with students and people up and about in the neighborhood. The academic vibe and opportunities seemed great. Very impressive school with definite liberal bent but not strange or weird in any prevalent way. Students seemed very smart and very invested, but unpretentious. Daughter’s only concern was whether she could get any of them to be a bit frivolous and go with her a few times to Mall of America, LOL. And Minneapolis/St Paul are wonderful as my spouse already knew. Of course, there is snow forecast for tomorrow :).</p>
<p>I think Barnard is out of the running for good, she decided not to go to a local admitted students reception on Sunday. And I think Johns Hopkins is out too. So it is down to Macalester, Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, and Reed.</p>
<p>After our exhausting week visiting colleges, the winner is Wellesley. D’s ranking of the schools was Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, Reed, Hopkins, Macalester, Barnard. Wellesley had the best combination of depth and breadth of course offerings, smart and down to earth students, diversity, beautiful campus, great college location, fantastic professors, and amazing alumnae network.</p>
<p>Congrats! (My D is a soph there. She also had Bryn Mawr as her second choice. But you had a situation where there could really be no bad decision.</p>