<p>referring to one of these posts. i don’t think the whole not being a par at of an entity plays into it really. it’s part of the nescac. anyway. i guess this conversation is kind of stupid anyway because this is a subjective matter in general. ALSO. Hamilton isn’t the 10th best college in New York. It’s more like the 3rd after Cornell and Vassar (which I think is just a weird place).</p>
<p>Hamilton is better than Columbia?</p>
<p>This thread from a current student might have some bearing on it: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1397729-there-top-colleges-whose-dominant-culture-not-drinking-partying.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1397729-there-top-colleges-whose-dominant-culture-not-drinking-partying.html</a>
I don’t know whether most or even a lot of good students might find it that way, but I think this is a complaint you wouldn’t find at some other LACs.</p>
<p>sorry i forgot about columbia. it’s after columbia too</p>
<p>“Hamilton College - last of the slightly crazy WASP colleges; the uncle in the attic of NESCAC”</p>
<p>more the uncle in the attic part</p>
<p>Agree that Hamilton ( and Colgate) are hard to reach by airplane and a bit tricky by Amtrak train. My son was dissuaded by the distance from Albany airport (Southwest is our official airline). BTW Oberlin (mentioned above as attracting distant candidates) is under 30 mins from the Cleveland airport–and the music conservatory is a special draw. IMO Hamilton has elevated itself when it joined the NESCAC sports league, which includes Williams, Amherst, and the Maine schools.</p>
<p>But at Oberlin, you’d have to live in Cleveland.</p>
<p>Oberlin is pretty far from Cleveland on my map!</p>
<p>Lots of great colleges have problem locations- Ham may not be an obvious vaca destination, but the area is beautiful.</p>
<p>Until a few years ago, it was not a “meet full need” school and didn’t promse much. That dropped it a bit off the usual radar. (Especially for parents on CC whose kids may have looked, before that change.) It acknowledged its own historic problems with Greek life- most recently, a few years ago. (I haven’t checked lately, but Ham was very upfront and detailed about that.) At one point, it had an anecdotal rep as a place for kids who didn’t get into Princeton- and brought attitude. But, things change. Everyone I know there is happy.</p>
<p>You have to check how kids get to/from any school that’s not on the usual beaten path. Some schools run busses to city locations or airports, at major holidays. Carleton itself talked of fly to Chi, transfer flight to MSP, 45 min bus to the town, then get over to the school.</p>
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<p>Can you elaborate on that?</p>
<p>I will Google, but any links?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p><a href=“http://students.hamilton.edu/documents/04-29-10.pdf[/url]”>http://students.hamilton.edu/documents/04-29-10.pdf</a>
What I saw was not from the college newspaper, but, I think, a Dear Parents letter. There was a chance of broader suspensions than just one frat. The article acknowledged parent and student complaints. If I can find it, will share.</p>
<p>Well, if people don’t want to visit because they think it’s too cold, that is their loss. Three years ago February I took my elder son on a weekday tour of Hamilton on his winter break (we are from California). We were the only family on the tour and he had a terrific interview with the Associate Dean of Admissions. We stayed over at a nearby hotel after visiting Colgate that afternoon–he was NOT impressed at all by Colgate, by the way–and the next morning he audited a Greek class. We both fell in love with Hamilton, but he chose Wesleyan for Early Decision and wound up never applying. We rented a Jeep SUV with 4WD and GPS and despite falling snow and the closure of the highway between Colgate and Hamilton the next day, we somehow made it down to Cornell the next day and were also the only family on the tour as a wet snow fell. As my jaw dropped, he told me he did not like Cornell, either! But making that snowy February trip to upper NY State schools was a parental memory I will never forget.</p>
<p>Hamilton is an awesome school, and is ranked 16th in the LACs (above Wesleyan, Colby, Bates, Oberlin, etc). However, a lot of the students do experience frustration with the fact that when we tell people we go to Hamilton it usually sparks the response of, “Oh…where is that?” It is definitely annoying, but when it comes down to it, you should go to a college for the quality of education/life.</p>
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<p>I have never responded to those posts but since you bring it up, I 100% agree.
I truly do not understand the “is it cold” questions about schools in the northern areas.</p>
<p>It’s not the 1800s any more.
No more pot belly stoves.
All colleges have central heating now.
What difference does it make if it is ten below outside or snowing?</p>
<p>Not to mention, random people who don’t know what Hamilton is are insignificant in the long run. Graduate schools know Hamilton, and so do employers.</p>
<p>Not enough marketing? Looking at the Oberlin visit calendar this fall, they had special days designated as ‘fly-in from ________’ for several coastal cities (both east and west coasts). We met several students from Oregon. My D signed up for information on Hamilton’s website, and they send much less mail than other colleges.</p>
<p>I think Hamilton suffers from small size, small town, cold weather and being 5 hours from any major metro area (NYC or Boston). If you’re flying in from San Fran or Chicago, the closest airport is Utica, and you don’t get a whole lot of direct flights into there. That said, I think it’s an excellent school that has tried to emphasize writing across the curriculum and small classes, and it has an out-size reputation in New York, especially among employers. Funnily enough, I think the name Hamilton also has some influence over how the school is perceived. It is seen as less liberal and more republican because of the name (for example, the Fiske guide for years cheekily suggested that Hamilton was more republican than Jeffersonian). People don’t realize that it did away with the residential greek system many many years ago and I would surmise that the student body is just as liberal as any other northeast liberal arts college today. But sometimes perception begets reality.</p>