What are some colleges with extremely connected/family-like alumni?

Applying to College
1

I know that Notre Dame is definitely one. Whenever I wear my ND apparel out, people are constantly striking up conversations about ND with me and yelling “Go Irish!” across the grocery aisle or whatever. It’s so great… I love the feeling of always being connected to people no matter where you go. Also, I know for a fact that not every school is like this because when I wear my Bowdoin, NYU, Kenyon and Penn t-shirts, people don’t react the same way.

What are some other schools where alumni are this close to each other?

Also, can someone tell me if Michigan State University is like ND in the family/community sense? My history teacher told me that ND and MSU are very similar when it comes to this but Michigan State has so many more alumni… 120,000+ vs. 500,000. So, can anyone confirm? Thanks!

2

Penn State likes to think their alumni network is this way. I certainly get a lot of "WE ARE"s from family friends whose kids are alumni.

3

USC is known for its very strong alumni network.

4

Wisconsin.

One of my nephew’s first words was ‘badger.’ When he was about 2, we were walking down a hallway in a hotel and as a man approached my nephew pointed at his shirt and said “Badger.” The guy just started laughing.

5

One difference may be that Notre Dame alumni are more dispersed around the country, so even though there are fewer of them, you’re more likely to run into them outside the school’s home territory.

6

I would think some of ND response relative to Penn, Bowdoin, NYU, Kenyon is due to a football/sports connection as much as if not more than tight alumni networks.

7

Clemson University.

8

Agree with @doschicos the ND response may be more from sports enthusiasts than alumni. The general population has some familiarity with ND were as most people in the grocery store could not tell you where Kenyon and Bowdoin are even located, never less know how to pronounce Bowdoin. That doesn’t mean the alumni aren’t loyal.

9

I feel like at least on the east coast BC has a strong alumni network. I have a bunch of family members who are eagles so from experience it seems their network is pretty strong.

10

LOL. Notre Dame, USC, Penn State. These are all schools known for their sports teams. You don’t think that might have something to do with it? They are all huge compared to Bowdoin, Kenyon, etc. too. Based on sheer numbers alone, the odds of running into someone at a Grocery Store (unless it’s in the Brunswick area) that went to Bowdoin or Kenyon are small enough that you may as well buy a lottery ticket while you are at it. Besides, the general public for the most part hasn’t even heard of these small liberal arts colleges unless they had kids on a competitive college track or went to one themselves. I still meet people every day that have never heard of Williams, Pomona, etc. Just ask the Williams kids who get asked where they went to school and then they say, the response might be, “Oh, Williams and Mary, great school.”

11

Agree on the sports/size thing. I will tell you that as a Swarthmore Alum I have been greeted warmly by other alums if they see my sweatshirt or bumper sticker-- but it’s something that’s only happened a handful of times in my life!

12

From what I can tell as an outsider, I would say that Wellesley and Smith have very active and close alumnae networks.

13

Also Michigan - I have had alumni yell “Go Blue” or come speak to me whenever I’m rocking Michigan apparel.

14

Virginia Tech!

15

Villanova…in NYC anyway.

The saying in my office goes “If Villanova folks spent half as much time with clients as they did with each other, they’d do twice as much business.”

This is not a criticism, just an observation. It think it’s a good thing.

16

William & Mary… fun fact: did you know a quarter of William & Mary alumni end up getting married to one another?Also the school’s motto is literally “One Tribe, One Family.”

17

Hm… yeah I guess it may be the football thing and the fact that schools like Clemson, ND, Michigan, USC, Penn State, etc. all have large student bodies. Drawing from this, I’m guessing Michigan State (because of a HUGE student body and a large football following) would not be very different. I’m excited!! :smiley:

18

@shawnspencer, IIRC, the W&M stat was arrived at by mistakenly counting individuals as couples, effectively doubling the percentage. If so, that would make W&M’s percentage similar to that of many LACs.

Many schools have a 60% or 50% intermarriage myth but the reality is usually closer to 10-15%.
At Colby, the myth is 50 percent and the reality 11 percent, while at Carleton it’s 60 and 15 percent, respectively. At Middlebury, the numbers are 60 and 13 percent. Bates is 60% and 12.5, slightly more if you count deceased spouses.

There are many ways to assess engagement. The “man on the street” reaction is one. My sense is that it depends a great deal on the size of the school and its sports prowess.

Another way to assess engagement is alumni giving. Alumni who feel close to their college tend to give to the annual fund. Percentages don’t differentiate by the amount of alumni gifts, so they shouldn’t depend (or at least not to a significant amount) on that amount alumni earn. According to USNWR the top 10 are,

Princeton University (NJ) 62.9% 1, National Universities
Thomas Aquinas College (CA) 58.3% 82 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges
Williams College (MA) 56.9% 1, National Liberal Arts Colleges
Florida College 54.4% 54 (tie), Regional Colleges (South)
Bowdoin College (ME) 54.2% 4 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges
Middlebury College (VT) 53% 4 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges
Davidson College (NC) 52.9% 9 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges
Wellesley College (MA) 51.4% 4 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges
Carleton College (MN) 50.6% 8, National Liberal Arts Colleges
Amherst College (MA) 49.2% 2, National Liberal Arts Colleges

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2015/10/20/10-universities-where-the-most-alumni-donate

Here’s a rating of the most powerful alumni networks. It only includes universities (so no LACs) and includes measures of job outcomes, not necessarily answering the family-like environment question, but it does give some information about alumni engagement.

http://www.bestcollegevalues.org/top-alumni-networks/

19

My S and H went to ND so I’m a fan of the school and I understand what you are saying. But keep in mind that many who shout out “Go ND” are not alums but are fans of the football team. Many many schools have a close-knit alumni base but not many schools have the “subway alumni” reach of the national sports powerhouses. I think you need to differentiate between those two things.

20

^^^^ Exactly.

My alma mater has a super-tight got-your-back alum network, but it is very unusual to have anyone comment when they spot the name of that place on my sweatshirt. If they do, it is because they know someone who attended.