Which Liberal Arts Schools to Apply to?

Hi Everyone,
I am looking to apply to some liberal arts colleges. I don’t want my whole college list to be just liberal arts colleges
Some colleges I am looking into are Williams, Amherst, Vassar, Wesleyan, Swarthmore
However, I want a bigger college where you don’t necessarily run into someone you know every step you take
Also, I hope that that college will have a lot of things to do and is somewhat fun, and that the student body is not overly competitive or “cutthroat”
Any suggestions? Which schools should I cut down?

What are your stats? All the colleges you’ve listed thus far are very competitive so reaches for everybody for the most part. You’ll need safeties/likelies and matches as well to build a rounded list.

Any majors you have in mind? Any extracurriculars you want to pursue?

Do you prefer urban, suburban, rural? Certain parts of the country?

So when you say bigger, how big do you want it to be in terms of student body?

Do you qualify and are looking for need based aid? Or will you be full pay? Is merit aid something you need to make it affordable?

So many colleges but we need more info to give you suggestions that would be a good fit for your profile and preferences.

Wesleyan - 3000/200 grads
Vassar - 2400
Williams - 2000
Amherst - 1850
Swarthmore - 1550

Of those five, Swarthmore has a reputation for having a kind of self-imposed intensity that to the uninitiated might feel cutthroat-ish. also, beware of schools that describe themselves as “outdoorsy” which, IMO, is a euphemism for, “There’s not much else to do here during the winter except hiking and drinking.” (Just sayin’, @momrath.)

But, yeah - what @doschicos said, you need more matches. Smith, if you’re a woman; Oberlin (OH), St. Olaf’s (MN), and URichmond all tip the scales north of 2500 students.

agree with @doschicos – helpful to know what rural, suburban or city and what parts of the country you’re open to. Also, what intended major, any passions around ECs you’d like to do in college, where you see yourself after (if you have any idea0)

Don’t forget about LACs outside of the NE. Ohio has a ton – Kenyon, Oberlin, Denison (bigger – which you might like), and others. Washington and Oregon have a lot as well. Or the South?

Since you mentioned not wanting to run into the same people, maybe you want a mid-sized school? How big is your HS?

Check out the Claremont Colleges consortium: Claremont McKenna, Pomona, Pitzer, Scripps, and Harvey Mudd. The schools are all directly adjacent to each other and have about 5500 undergraduate students in total. All are very competitive (CMC, Pomona, and Mudd more so).

It sounds like you might want to look at some midsize national universities. These have approximately 5-10k students and often offer some of the advantages of bigger schools together with more of a smaller college feel. Many of these are very competitive in admissions, and many will be expensive. But it’s a class of schools that might work for you.

Most competitive: William and Mary, University of Rochester, Wake Forest, Tufts University, Rice University, Washington University in St. Louis, Lehigh, Brandeis. All, I believe, are in the 4-8k undergrad range

Other excellent ones: SMU, Creighton University, University of Dayton, University of Vermont (10-11k students), Santa Clara University

Good luck!

Hi, my main focus for the college search is not liberal arts colleges, but I am simply interested in some. (I’ll probably do another thread for safeties)
I am looking for LACs on the East and West Coast

My stats are:
GPA 4.4 on a 5.0 scale
SAT 1490/1600

@doschicos @circuitrider @AlmostThere2018