<p>Its certainly not only liberal arts colleges in competition for these students. W draws pretty well from California, so there are a number of kids who choose Wes over Berkeley and UCLA (and of course, vice versa). S’s good friend for one choose W over Berkeley. S was ED1 so he chose W over everyone and no one – although prior to his ED acceptance he was accepted early at U. of Michigan which he had no regrets turning down (and withdrawing his other apps) when he got his ED acceptance. To respond to a prior poster who talked about the rankings, I’ve no doubt rankings are a thought in the mix, but as I’ve talked to parents whose kids turned down Hamilton, MIT and Georgetown, I think there is often a very personal decision as to fit with the kinds of kids attacted to Wes and simple numbers - espicially when dealing with fine institutions - are not necesssarily going to carry the decision.</p>