<p>I wonder, why is it that most people that consider liberal arts colleges as their top choices, like Amherst, Swarthmore, or Williams, also usually include Yale, above any other top college or ivy, more often then say Brown.</p>
<p>Why is that? Does Yale lend it itself to be more of a liberal arts college than many other of the ivies or top colleges?</p>
<p>Some people view the residential college system as providing a LAC-esque feeling of small intimate communities. Other people simply figure it is Yale, QED.</p>
<p>Either way, odds are they're not getting in ;)</p>
<p>I would disagree with Yale being a liberal arts college.</p>
<p>Most likely, Yale's renown in the humanities, and its abundance of seminar classes make it attractive to people who are also considering liberal arts college.</p>
<p>Williams and Middlebury are usually assumed to have particularly high applicant overlap with Dartmouth, as far as the Ivies go. There is certainly overlap with other Ivies as well, including Yale. </p>
<p>But if Williams or Middlebury is your top choice, then you presumably are attracted to small colleges with good skiing in snowy little towns in rural New England. If you are also going to consider an Ivy, then Dartmouth is the obvious choice, not Yale.</p>
<p>well I tend to be concerned more about academics than environment.</p>
<p>I've heard that said of Princeton, Dartmouth and Brown, but not Yale (which has great grad programs)</p>