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

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 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.