Vassar College

 Vassar College is  small liberal arts college in upstate New York's scenic  Hudson Valley area in Poughkeepsie. Vassar College is one of the first of the Seven Sisters, a group of historically women’s colleges in the northeast including Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, Smith, Radcliffe (now part of Harvard), Bryn Mawr and Barnard( now  part of Columbia). In 1969, Vassar became the first of the Seven Sisters colleges to open its doors to men. Vassar  chose not to merge with Yale and remain independant.Vassar isknown for being  a highly selective, , liberal arts college. Consistently ranked among the top liberal arts colleges( currently #12) in the country, Vassar is renowned for pioneering achievements in education, for its long history of curricular innovation, and for the beauty of its campus ( over 1000acres). Vassar also has one of the largest libraries of an purely undergraduate institution.The great majority of Vassar graduates plan to pursue advanced study within five years of graduation. Graduates are regularly accepted at top-ranking schools of law, medicine, business, and education. Vassar is a leader in producing PhD candidates.

Acceptance rates are around 25% and Vassar requires a "why Vassar" essay  in addition to the common application.  Try to  show   how you connect to vassar - mention specifics - such as   the college newspaper, the a capella group and the  opportunities to study abroad. This essay is all about establishing how you  fit  with Vassar.

Colgate University

Colgate is a highly selective liberal arts institution that aims to provide a demanding, expansive educational experience to talented, intellectually sophisticated students who are capable of challenging themselves,
  Colgate is a  toip ranked ( #12) liberal  arts school that has strong programs in the physical sciences.  as well as humanities.
 However regardless of your major - you will be asked ( especially if you are an international student) if you plan to study Dentistry.



 Sdmission is competitive with acceptance rates below 25%. Colgate requires a supplementary essay. that you can choose from several  prompts-one prompt is: 

you have asked your faculty adviser to write a letter of recommendation that describes your impact on the Colgate community. Please write that l- etter. 

 Please describe your involvement within the community for this.  talk to students and learn the campus culture. There are many quirky aspects to Colgate  for example
The number 13 is lucky for Colgate: It is said that the school was founded by 13 men with "13 dollars, 13 prayers and 13 articles."

Reed College

Reed is a   small, very academic liberal arts  college in Portland, Oregon.
 Reed is known for its high standards of scholarly practice, creative thinking, and engaged citizenship. Reed is considered to be one of the most intellectual colleges on the west coast.

 Reed stresses a very collaborative learning experiemce with  a conference classroom setting.  What  differentiates Reed is the involvement of the faculty in the learning experience. All coursework is  structured to optimize the lesrning experience and the grsding is not merely lettder grades or  short comments, A  professor will  explain why she thought  a paper was poor or good  and provide ideas on how to take the work further  A students coursework often gets  incorporated into the required senior thesis.. In the words of an alum-  Reed is  hard but worthwhile.



 Reed's ranking fluctuates  each year as the college prefers to  opt out of rankings and does not  release full data about its applicants. Admission rates are around 40%. There is a strong element of self-selection among  the students who apply.
 Reed requites a few short answr questions such as " Who has influenced your life"

  As with all short answer questions-  its best to keep the  answer s limited to a paragraph and   direct.

Grinnell College

 Grinnell is a  small ,  highly top ranked( #19)allenging its students.Professors will expect thorough research, thoughtful analysis, and creative thinking. Students are  responsible for co-creating their curriculum with an adviser, and will have a voice voice in a self-governing residential community.

Grinnell's mission statement  is  to educate its students "for the different professions and for the honorable discharge of the duties of life." The College pursues that mission by providing an education in the liberal arts through free inquiry and the open exchange of ideas. As a teaching and learning community, the College holds that knowledge is a good to be pursued both for its own sake and for the intellectual, moral, and physical well-being of individuals and of society at large.
Grinnell actively recruits  diverse campus community with students from different  countries,  economic backgrounds, faiths and school experiences.  This along with a very cohesive campus environment makes peer learning a key aspect of the Grinnell experience.


 
Admission is competitive , with an acceptance rate around 25%.  Grinnell prefers the common application and has recently  eliminated a supplementary essay requirement.

Careleton College

Along with Macalaster , Carleton is a    top ranked libdral arts college in  Minnesota. Carleton is located in the historic river town of Northfield, Minn., 40 miles south of Minneapolis/St. Paul. It  is  best known for its academic excellence and  tight knit  and welcoming campus community,  Carleton students "carls
' are a very  cohesive community and are known for a intellectual   mindset driven by   curiosity and a desire to learn.Carleton is a place where students are likelier to cooperate than compete. The College supports more than 200 student organizations.


 As expected from a school ranked #7 amingst liberal arts colleges , admission is competitive with an acceptance rate of about 20%.
 Carleton requires a personal statement  essay - do try to  discuss and highlight something about yourself that is not in yiur application.
 

Macalaster College

    Having looked ar a few southern liberal arts schools, I am going to  look at a few  Midwestern schools.

 Macalaster is a  highly regarded  liberal artd school in St.Pail, Minnesota.
 What makes Macalaster unique is its interntional  worldview.
 Macalester has a long history and tradition of providing an international education in a global community. That core value was strengthened over six decades ago when the president of the college wrote that "the high task of every returning Macalester student and every new student is to prepare for the duties of world citizenship. 
The most popular majors at Macalester College include: Social Sciences, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics and Psychology.


 Admission tp  Macalaster is  selective with an acceptance rate  around 40%.
 The supplementary essay is as follows:
 
What factors have led you to consider Macalester College? Why do you believe it may be a good match, and what do you believe you can add to the Mac community, academically and personally?

Feel free to draw on past experiences, and use concrete examples to support your perspective. Additional writing samples (e.g., class papers or creative writing) are welcomed as supplements, but are not substitutes for either essay.

 A tip i s to connect  of your experiences   with the  global focus at Macalaster.
If you have travelled internationally talk about your   trips and what you learned , if you have not  travelled talk about  your lack of  first hand experience makes Macalaster even  more attractive.

Washington and Lee University

Washington   and Lee is the ninth oldest  college in the USA and its history is intimately linked with  that of the country. It is a    highly ranked liberal arts college ( #11)  and also includes a graduate program in Law.
WU  is divided into 3  colleges, the College, and the Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics and the School of Law. The College is  home to most undergraduates and is a  traditional  liberal arts school.  The Williamd  college houses  programs often fpund ina business school. setting
All students start and spend 2 years in the in the College. The
Admission is competitive  with an acceptance rate around 25%.  There are a few supplementary essays ( one for a scholarship)

Supplement #1: Please elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or meaningful life experiences. (250 words maximum)

Supplement #2: Please elaborate on how you have familiarized yourself with Washington and Lee University and what led to your decision to apply. (250 words maximum)
Supplement #3:  for scholarship
Respond to one of the essay prompts below and submit your completed writing supplement by December 1, 2015. (1,000 words maximum).

• ”Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or to keep one.” (Robert E. Lee, President of then-Washington College, 1865-1870) Discuss a time when you were tempted to do a wrong thing or when you actually did a wrong thing. What was your motivation? What lessons did you draw from this experience? Do you believe that there is always dishonor in doing a wrong thing? Why or why not?

Davidson College

Many people mistakenly assume that all liberal arts colleges are located in  the Northeast .  The Claremont colleges  are a great example of Californian liberal arts schools.

Davidson is an excellent  example of a top ranked ( #9)liberal arts program located in the South.  Located in suburban Charlotte, NC,  Davisdon is a  excellent liberal arts institution  that prides itself on creating a "community of scholars"  environment. Close contact with professors brings an unusually high number of students into graduate-level research and publishing. Nearly 74 percent of students study abroad.  popular majors are  political science,  biology, environmental studies  and  premed courses.


    Applying to Davidson is   competitive with an admission rate of  about 20%.   The application requoiresd a  peer recommendation  and 3 short answer questions:

1.The Davidson community abides by an honor code that governs academic as well as personal life. Please refer to the Honor Code literature included with the application. As a prospective member of our community, discuss the benefits and drawbacks of the Davidson Honor Code and your role in it.

2.What are the qualities and characteristics of Davidson that appeal to you, and what contributions do you anticipate making as a Davidson student?

3.List the books you have read in the past year for school or leisure. Place an asterisk by those books required for classes you have taken.

Five colleges

  Now that  I have completed looking at the Claremont Colleges,  we have seen most of the liberal arts consortiums except the 5 College Consortium whivh is arguably the best known college consortium.
 Located in the   Pioneer valley of Western Massachusetts, The 5 colleges comprise of 4 liberal arts schools ( two ofthem being womens;colleges) and the University of Massachusetts.



 The 5  colleges are

• Amherst College 

 Amherst One of the   premier liberal arts schools schools and is one of the little 3 and considered a "little ivy"

• Hampshire college

 Another   well rounded liberal arts school  with a focus on inter disciplinary research

•  Smith College
•  One of the premier womens'  colleges.   Highly selective and often ranked in the top 10 of liberal arts schools.  It is known as one of the original" Seven Sistrs schools"
• Mount  Holyoke College  

 Another  Seven Sister Institution.  A small and very  avademic womens'college.

 The University of  Massachusetts - Amherst 
 the flagship State university. Has excellent research facilities an resources that  are available to the other 4 schools. 

Scripps College

 Scripps  is the  womens college within the Claremont  consortium.

   Scripps is one of the best womens'  colleges in the USA. Only   Wellesley  and Smith  have equivalent   academic  reputations. 

mission of Scripps College is “to educate women to develop their intellects and talents through active participation in a community of scholars, so that as graduates they may contribute to society through public and private lives of leadership, service, integrity, and creativity.”

 Scripps  is well known for a strong liberal arts core  with ezcellent programs in the biological  and medical sciences.  Along with its own excellent departments , students at Scripps have access to the  Claremont colleges. Students at Scripps also have an opportunity to complet a suprtvised senior year  research thesis.





 Admission t Scipps is higly competitive with an acceptance rate of raound 25%. The supplementary essays at Scripps are:
 
Supplement #1: What about Scripps College has inspired you to apply? (200 words)

Supplement #2: Choose one of the following (150-300 words): (1) You have the funding for your own start-up or organization. What will you launch and why? (2) Tell us about a memorable conversation you have had this year. (3) You have just been invited to give a TED talk. What is your topic and how would you engage the audience?
 

Pitzer College

nd critically examine the effects of social and environmental policies. Students actively participate in college governance

 With an enrollment of about 1000 students Pitzer  is one of the smaller Claremont colleges.  Pitzer College is a top-ranked liberal arts and sciences college. The College emphasizes environmental and interdisciplinary studies, the arts, humanities and social, behavioral and natural sciences.
Pitzer  encourages sstudents to  shape their own college experience. Focused educational objectives guide undergraduates as they plan their academic careers. Students can work with faculty advisers to create their own special majors. They are encouraged to collaborate with community members on local projects and critically examine the effects of social and environmental policies. Students also actively participate in college governance

 Pitzer mission statement is that: Pitzer produces engaged, socially responsible citizens of the world through an academically rigorous, interdisciplinary liberal arts education emphasizing social justice, intercultural understanding and environmental sensitivity. At Pitzer, five core values distinguish our approach to education: Social Responsibility, Intercultural Understanding, Interdisciplinary Learning, Student Engagement, and Environmental Sustainability. The meaningful participation of students, faculty and staff in the shared governance model embodies Pitzer's commitment to community and inclusivity.


  While Pitzer does not require any standardized tests, admissions is very  competitive with an acceptance rate of below 20%.
 The  Supplementary essay for Pitzer is as follows:

Pitzer Writing Supplement

The Pitzer Writing Supplement section of the Common Application gives you an opportunity to demonstrate your writing ability and illustrate your passion and creativity in responding to a particular question. Because we want to get to know you and discover what you have to offer this community, your essays are invaluable. The Writing Supplement has a maximum length of 650 words.
At Pitzer, five core values distinguish our approach to education: social responsibility, intercultural understanding, interdisciplinary learning, student engagement and environmental sustainability. As agents of change, our students utilize these values to create solutions to our world’s challenges. Please answer only ONE of the following prompts.

• Incorporating one or more of our core values, how would you contribute to solving a local or global issue of importance to you?

Reflecting on your involvement throughout high school or within the community, how have you engaged with one or more of Pitzer’s core values

  It  is best to be honest in this answer- if you  think you share these values but have not done  anything concrete - do not invent stories -    just say 
" While I believe in thes values , I have not had the opportunity to really act on them. This is what attracts ne to  Pitzer because I can act in this manner without being the "odd one out"



 

Claremont McKenna College

  Like Harvey  Mudd, Claremont McKenna is a liberal arts college with a  particular focus. CMC was founded with the mission to foster leadership in its students in the fields of government, economics, and international affairs.The college focuses primarily on undergraduate education, but in 2007 it established the Robert Day School of Economics and Finance, which offers a master's program in finance.
 

 Admission is highly competitive with acceptance rates aound 10%
 The supplemental essay is:
 What influenced you the most in your decision to apply to CMC?

Pomona College

Pomona  is arguably the best known of the Claremont Colleges.

 It is known for a  very academic   atmosphere and a rigorous liberal arts program.  Located in suburban Los Angeles, Pomona has recreated  many of thr bet features of the traditional New England Liberal Arts college.  It features small  very  interactive  conference-format   classes,  and a lot of options for inter disciplinary study.   Being a part of the claremont cosortium   only increases the opportunities Pomona provides.

 Admission to Pomona is very competitive  with an acceptance rate of 10%.   Like  Harvey  Mudd Pomona is more interested in the students  motivation and intellectual aspirations rather than test scores or grades.

Pomona-specific Supplemental Questions

SHORT ANSWER
Most Pomona students enter the College undecided about a major, or they change their minds about their prospective major by the time they graduate. Certainly we aren't going to hold you to any of the choices you've made above. But please do tell us why you've listed the major or majors (or Undecided!) that you have (in no more than 250 words).
ESSAY PROMPTS (please complete one prompt only)

1. Each year, the Pomona Student Union hosts a “Great Debate.” Thought leaders with opposing views on a certain issue are invited to make their case in front of the student body. What is an issue that you think has two or more sides and what views would be important to capture in order to understand the nuances of the debate?  Why do you think it would be important for the Pomona student body to be exposed to this debate?


2. Tell us about a subject that you couldn't stop exploring, a book you couldn't put down, or a Wikipedia rabbit hole you dove into. Why did it fascinate you?


3. Pomona has a long history of bringing together students of diverse backgrounds who want to push intellectual limits and who want to engage in a community that values difference. Write about a time when you were aware of your difference.  How did it change you and what did you learn from the experience?

Harvey Mudd College

  Harvey Mudd College is a unique  college.  Ir is  a  member of the Claremont colleges. Harvey Mudd is an  Liberal Arts engineering college.  It may seem like a contradiction but its one that  the school embraces .At Mudd, the goal is  to educate engineers, scientists, and mathematicians well versed in all of these areas and in the humanities and the social sciences so that they may assume leadership in their fields with a clear understanding of the impact of their work on society.    There is an underlying belief  that  an understanding of economics, history, political science and other humanities enables one to be a better engineer or scientist  .


 Harvey Mudd is consistently ranked as one of the best  colleges for a STEM  education.  ranking alongside Caltech, MIT, CMU and Stanford.  While an undergraduate only institution students still have ample opportunity to get involved in research and the college's Clinic Program provides students with an opportunity to work as part of a team on projects sponsored by entrepreneurs, companies, and national laboratories. Of the students in the graduating class of 2015, over three-fourths were engaged in either internship programs or undergraduate research. Mudd is also unique in that it is a  fully residential college and   the small college  structures creates a very strong sense of community.  Being a part of the Claremont colleges gives  Mudders  access to many  other courses and  student activities.


 Admission to  HMC is very competitive  with an acceptance rate  below 15% 

 Mudd actively seeks out students who share their ethos of Engineering and science 
 taught  within a liberal arts framework.

Short Answer Response

Please answer the following (500 word limit)
What influenced you to apply to Harvey Mudd College? What about the HMC curriculum and community appeals to you?

Essay

Choose any one of the essay topics below (500 word limit)

1. “Scientific research is a human endeavor. The choices of topics that we research are based on our biases, our beliefs, and what we bring: our cultures and our families. The kinds of problems that people put their talents to solving depends on their values.” -Dr. Clifton Poodry.  How has your own background influenced the types of problems you want to solve?
2. What is one thing we won’t know about you after reading your application that you haven’t already reported in the Common Application “Additional Information” section?

The Claremont colleges

 

I have looked at a couple of  the smaller regional college consortiums- the CBB colleges, the Ohio5 and  Great lakes schools, this is a good time to look at the  most prominent college consortium- Claremont,
a consortium of five undergraduate liberal arts colleges, two graduate institutions. The undergraduate colleges include Pomona College, Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, and Pitzer College. The two graduate institutions include Claremont Graduate University and Keck Graduate Institute. Each academic institution has its own campus, its own students and faculty, and its own distinctive mission.
 Each institution offers  small, highly interactive classes , rigorous academic curricula, highly rerouted faculty and a  deeply personal  individual experience.  In total Claremont has 7700 students and  3600 faculty.  The consortium   offers students over 2000 courses.

Great Lakes Colleges Association

  I have completed looking at  the   Ohio 5 College consortium,  it is worth noting that these five are part of the bigger Great Lakes College   Association which is a group of 13    liberal arts schools across Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and  Pennsylvania, namely:

• Albion College
• Antioch College
• Allegheny College
• Denison University
• DePauw University
• Earlham College
• Hope College
• Kalamazoo College
• Kenyon College
• Oberlin College
• Ohio Wesleyan University
• Wabash College
• College of Wooster

 All 13 ollege share academic resources  to encourage research and interdisciplinary studies.
 

College of Wooster

 Wooster is the fifth of the Ohio 5 college consportium  that I am looking at.
 like the others Wooster is an  intellectual  campus which  stresses a community environment.
 Wooster offers a compehensive and intense liberal arts education.  What makes Wooster special is that each student spends his or her senior year  working one-on -one with a faculty mentor to think of , and complete a significant research project on a topic chosen by the student.  Wooster can legitimately call itself Wooster is America’s premier college for mentored undergraduate research.  By going through this rigorous project, Wooster grads are highly regarded by graduate schools and  recruiters . Wooster has excellent programs in research opportunities in   the natural sciences particularly biology and chemistry.Wooster is a   rather international campus  and  foreign students are eligible for merit scholarships.
 This research orientation requires students to be responsible for their education.


 Admission is competitive with around 50% of students accepted. 

Denison University

Denison is  a smal lliberal arts college  in  Granville, Ohio , a suburb of Columbus.
It is a independent  minded  socially liberal campus that focuses  on   teaching  students  to be independent thinkers.
 Economics, political science and psychology are the most popular majors. It is known for its progressive and interdisciplinary   Denison has also introduced   programs in Big Data and   the digital global economy.   By  basing these in a liberal arts cirriculum ,  it allows  students to create new interdisciplinary links  and experiment.

 Admission  to Deniion  is competitive and the acceptance rate is below 50%,  Denison  is currently ranked in the second tier of liberal arts colleges though ot has a stronger reputation in the mid west  region. The application also requires a personal statement essay.

 

Ohio Wesleyan University

 Ohio Wesleyan is  also a member  the Ohio 5 college consortium.  OWU(or Oh-Woo)  is a  smal lliberal arts school located in Delaware ,Ohio  a small town   30 miles away from  the  state capital Columbus. OWU is a very liberal and politically active campus.   It also prides itself on being a very international campus. Almost half of all students will study or volunteer in  a foreign country.   It is ne of the few colleges to  offer   financial aid to international students, therefore OWU has one of the largest proportions of foreign students among the  liberal arts colleges.

While OWU has  strong programs in the sciences ( particularly chemistry and biology)  as well as humanities but its real strength is the   freedom to do interdisciplinary work in diverse fields such as Art and Chemistry. OWU also allows and encourages undergraduate student research.

 Ohio Wesleyan  has an acceptance rate of over 50%  but tis is mostly because   the applicant pool  is small and consists of students looking for a   interdisciplinary liberal arts education.  The application involves an additional personal statement essay.


 

Kenyon College

Kenyon  is a  smal liberal arts college in rural Ohio.   Kenyon is a reputed liberal arts school and a member of the Ohio 5 consortium

 Kenyon's campus is over 1000 acres in size  and has a large  280 acre nature preserve forested area -  this allows Kenyon to offer excellent research opportunities in ecology, environmental science and conservation.  Other strong programs at Kenyon are Political science, Math, economics, English and psychology.

Admission is competitive and  the acceptance rate is around 25%. Kenyon is consistently ranked among  the best liberal arts colleges, currently 27th

 Kenyon does npt have a supplementary essay but rather several short answers   questions intended to guage ones  interest in the  college:

• Please list names and relationships of any relatives who attend or attended Kenyon and their years of attendance.

• To which other colleges are you applying?

• Are there activities you did not do in secondary school but might try at Kenyon?

• If you have spent a recent summer in a service project, study program, or work or travel opportunity, please describe.

Briefly tell us about an academic class, teacher, research

How did you first learn of Kenyon, and how did your interest develop? If your response goes beyond 500 characters, please use the

additional information page provided.

• Have you visited Kenyon? If you have, please give the approximate date(s) and describe your visit(s). If you have not, do you plan

to visit? When?

• What is there about you—your values, goals, interests, experiences, talents, style—that makes a good match with Kenyon? Why

• are you attracted to Kenyon? What do you want the Admissions Committee to know about you?

 As  is clear , the Kenyon  is interested interested in you as a person , nit just a applicant or student..

Oberlin College

 The first of the Ohio 5 I am looking at is Oberlin. Oberlin is probably the best known college in the group.   It is considered to be a"little ivy" and is regularly ranked as one of the top liberal arts schools ( #24 currently).
 Apart from being a having an acadenically strong liberal atrs   college , Oberlin also has a highly reputed college of music



Admissip to  Ober;in is competitive. The acceptance rate is 29%.  As with most liberal arts schools, Oberlin is looking for people that share a similar mindset.
 Its worth keeping in mind that Oberlin is a very progressive place , being amongst the forst to accept women and minorities.
The required Oberlin writing supplement asks for a response to the prompt: How did your interest in Oberlin develop and what aspects of our college community most excite you?

5 Colleges Ohio

 Having just looked at the CBB( Colby, Bates and  Bowdoin) college Consortium of  Maine,  I want to look to another State. A similar group of selective , academic liberal arts schools ha formed the 5 colleges of Ohio Consortium.   The 5 colleges of Ohio is a more formal consortium which not only links the 5 schools with each other but also has connections to Ohio State University and a common inter college digital library resource funded by the Mellon foundation.


 The 5 colleges are

• Oberlin College
• KenyonCollege
• Denison University
• Ohio Wesleyan University
• College of Wooster

 I will be  looking  at each one individually  as well.

Bowdoin College

 Bowdoin is the third member of the  CBB consortium and is considered to be a "little ivy".  Baudoin  is  consistently ranked as one of the top liberal arts schools . The most popular majors are political science , economics, mathematics and English.

 The inclusive nature of Baudoin can be seen in the University Offer( equivalent  to its mission statement)
The Offer of the College": To be at home in all lands and all ages; To count Nature a familiar acquaintance, And Art an intimate friend; To gain a standard for the appreciation of others' work, And the criticism of your own; To carry the keys of the world's library in your pocket, And feel its resources behind you in whatever task you undertake; To make hosts of friends ... Who are to be leaders in all walks of life; To lose yourself in generous enthusiasms, And cooperate with others for common ends. This is the offer of the college for the best four years of your life.

 Admission to  Bowdoin is highly selective  with only 15% of applicants accepted.   The supplementary essay is as follows:

Bowdoin students and alumni often cite world-class faculty and opportunities for intellectual engagement, the College’s commitment to the

Common Good, and the special quality of life on the coast of Maine as important aspects of the Bowdoin experience.

Reflecting on your own interests and experiences, please comment on

one

of

the following:

1. Intellectual engagement

2. The Common Good

3. Connection to place

 

 Bowdoin looks for smart, intellectually inclined students who want to be socially and personally connected to their communities.

 

 

Bates College

Bates is another member of the CBB consortium. Bates is located in Lewiston, Maine.
 A rigorous liberal arts school    with a focus on interdisciplinary learning. The small student - faculty ration means classes are taught in a   discussion oriented seminar setting.  Bates shares academic resources with  its two instate neighbours - Colby and Baudoin  improving what is already a very  well rounded liberal arts experience.

S

BBates is a very  intellectual atmosphere  and it fosters  a culture of learning. This is clearly echoed in the mission statement:

 

SSince 1855, Bates College has been dedicated to the emancipating potential of the liberal arts.

Bates educates the whole person through creative and rigorous scholarship in a collaborative residential community.With ardor and devotion —Amore ac Studio

— we engage the trans formative power of our differences, cultivating intellectual discovery and informed civic action. Preparing leaders sustained by a love of learning and a commitment to responsible stewardship of the wider world, Bates is a college for coming times.

 

 Admissin is competitive with   les than 25% accepted. The supplementary essay  is as follows.

select one phrase from the Bates mission statement and comment on how it inspires you and draws you to Bates

 

Colby College

Colby is the next liberal arts school  I am looking at.   Colby is located in  Waterville, Maine.
 Along with two other Maine based colleges -  Bates College and  Bowdoin College - it forms the unofficial Colby-Bates-Bowdoin or CBB consortium.
 The three schools compete in athletic events  and make use of  each others' faculty and library resources
The CBB competition often draws comparisons to the football games of the Big Three of the Ivy League, with Bowdoin often drawing the connection to Harvard, Bates to Princeton, and Colby to Yale.^[14] Just as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are initialized as HYP, so too are Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin as CBB

Colby is a  highly reputed liberal arts school  often ranking amongst the top 10.Admission is highly competitive with admission rates below 20%. Colby recently  dropped the supplemental essay requirement  and has seen application numbers increase.

Wesleyan University

Wesleyan is  one of the  best known little ivies and along with Williams and Amherst    forms the "little three"
Wesleyan is well known for its social sciences programs along with a very global  mindset with almost half of all students studying abroad  at some point.

  Admission is highly competitive and is more based on your interests and  "fit" within Wesleyan.  Students  are expected to have a strong base in both the  sciences and humanities.The acceptance rate is below 20%. Wesleyan only requires a supplemental essay for international students.

Middlebury College

Middlebury is   the next "little ivy" I am looking at. Located in  rural Vermont, it has an isolated feel  which only results in a very close knit campus community.  With its  location in the Champlain valley in Northern new England, Middlebury can be cold and snowy for much of winter.  However    students have taken  the winter as a season to celebrate.
 Despite its rural and i relatively isolated setting , Middlebury has an excellent international studies program and many students spend summers or semesters abroad.
 Middlebury is well known for  the Middlebury   Language  Schools which offer immersive  Summer programs in several  languages. Middlebury  also  runs the Middlebury Bread Loaf  School of English and a international studies program in Monterrey
 Admission is highly competitive with acceptance rates  below 20%.Middlebury College only requires the common application essay.  The topics have already been discussed on this blog

Swarthmore College

'
 The next little ivy  I am looking at is Swarthmore.  By liberal art college standards Swarthmore is quite urban, located just 12 miles from   central Philadelphia. However the  campus is still rather suburban and  quiet.
 Another unique aspect of Swarthmore is that it is one of the few liberal arts schools that offer a program in Engineering.  In recent rankings , Swarthmore was ranked third amongst liberal arts schools behind Williams and Amherst
 Swarthmore  admissions  is about finding students that match and fit in with the  campus  ethos:
  this are the qualities  that  they look for:

What We Look for in a Swattie

While no individual student can epitomize all of Swarthmore's values, these are qualities and attributes that we elevate in our application review process: 

• Intellectual curiosity and an enthusiasm for learning: We are looking for students who genuinely enjoy learning and are uncommonly curious. Students relish the opportunities presented by our selection of 40+ academic programs, an extraordinarily devoted faculty, and a one-of-a-kind honors program. 
• Creative and proactive problem-solving: We are intrigued by students who are flexible in their approach to learning, who are comfortable with experimentation, and who are willing to take intellectual risks that move them out of their comfort zone.
• Generosity toward others: We are looking for students who want to work with their peers, embrace collaboration, have a strong sense of empathy, and look for ways to support each other. 
• Civic engagement: We appreciate students who have had a sustained commitment to service, who express a genuine interest in moving our world forward, and who demonstrate an interest in improving their school or local or cultural community in a collaborative way. 
• Willingness to work hard and to seek help: The volume of commitments you will face at Swarthmore will demand a strong sense of organization. We are looking for students who have developed reliable work habits, an ability to focus on the task or commitment in front of them, and a willingness to use the support resources we provide. 
• Potential contributions to campus life: Whether you are from an urban center or a rural outpost (or somewhere in-between), we value your point of view. We are looking for students who will contribute their talents, interests, perspectives, and distinct voices to our community. 
• Sustained commitment: We are more interested in your focus on a few activities over time (such as work, care for parents and siblings, service, or athletics), rather than membership in a long list of clubs—although we understand that some students can balance an assortment of activities. 
• Open-mindedness in general and to the liberal arts writ large: Our most popular major tends to be “undecided,” and we welcome everyone to the liberal arts tradition. We admit students to Swarthmore College, not a specific major. The ideal Swattie values humanities, the natural
•  sciences and engineering, and the social sciences as lenses through which they can learn and grow.

Please write about why you are interested in applying to and attending Swarthmore.
  Do Keep the above characteristics in mind when writing this .

Williams College

 The next little ivy I want to look at is Williams college. Along with Amherst and Wesleyan, it is part of the "little three"

 Williams is arguably the premier liberal arts   institution in the USA.
 It is  located in  rural northern Massachusetts and its relative isolation only adds to a  more cohesive campus community.
 Williams is highly selective with an acceptance rare  of around 17%,.  Williams attracts students who are interested in  studying in a  close knit intellectual community.
 Williams is known for its Tutorial based approach  in   which a faculty member mentors a pair or small group of students . This is such an   integral part of the Williams  experience  they even  include it in the optional  essay ( see below).
  Williams  has a optional supplementary essay:

At Williams we believe that bringing together students and professors in small groups produces extraordinary academic outcomes. Our distinctive Oxford-style tutorial classes—in which two students are guided by a professor in deep exploration of a single topic—are a prime example. Each week the students take turns developing independent work—an essay, a problem set, a piece of art—and critiquing their partner’s work. Focused on close reading, writing, and oral defense of ideas, more than 60 tutorials a year are offered across the curriculum, with titles like “Biomedical Ethics,” “Women in National Politics,” and  “Extraterrestrial Life in the Galaxy: a Sure Thing or a Snowball’s Chance?”
Imagine yourself in a tutorial at Williams. Of anyone in the world, whom would you choose to be the other student in the class, and why? (Please limit your response to 300 words.)


 If up to me I would pick Neal deGrasse  Tyson.

Amherst College

Amherst is one of the little three and consistently ranked as  one of the ,  top liberal arts schools.

 What  distinguishes Amherst from  the other little ivies  is that is iis a part of the
  Five Colleges consortium which includes Hampshire college, Mount Holyoke College ,Smith College and the University of Massachusetts- Amherst. These institutions  allow students to cross register for courses   and  make use of shared resources such as libraries.


 Amherst  has an acceptance  rate below 10% and  while academically rigorous and challenging.it has one of the highest graduation rates  at at institution.
 The supplementary essays  for Amherst are  fairly involved  topics.
   Here is a link to the essays:
 https://www.amherst.edu/admission/apply/firstyear/writingsupplement

Little Ivies

I have already discussed the ivy league schools  i along with many national research universities ndividually.
 This is a good moment to look at the elite group of liberal arts colleges  known as the little ivies.

 Like the ivy league the little ivies are predominantly new England schools.
 The folowing can be thought of as little ivies

•  Williams 
• Amherst
•  Swarthmore
• Bates
•  Bowdoin
• Middlebury
•  Bowdoin
• Connecticut College
• Vassar
• Wesleyan

  Williams, Amherst  and   Swarthmore are consistently the top ranked liberal arts colleges. and are referred to as the "little three"

  Other excellent   liberal arts schools can be found in other states but are called little ivies. These include Pomona, Oberlin, Davidson, Grinnell,Macalaster amongst others.

 I will look at several of these individually.

Time to start

 There are ony 53 days to go  until the main January 01,2017 deadline


  This is the time by which you  need to sign up for any  standardised tests  you need to complete or retake.  If you are interested in Engineering, business or a pre-professional major do check the SAT II requirements carefully.

  Things you should be focusing on now

•  ask your teachers, counsellors  for recommendations
•   get your common app essay  in place
•   start your  supplementary essays
• sign up for and prepare for  college  interviews  especially voluntary ones
• go visit campuses  and take tours

Ge ta team of people who can help- your family, teachers, classmates  and start  working on   fine tuning  applications and essays.