Rank the NESCAC schools

Academics

Willams

Amherst

Middlebury

Wesleyan

Bowdoin

Colby

Tufts

Hamilton

Bates

Conn College

Trinity

XC/Track (Mens)

Williams (Contends for titles every year in XC & Track)

Middlebury (Stronger in XC than Track)

Tufts (Stronger in Track than XC)

Bates (Most balanced program across all event groups)

Bowdoin (Program is always competitive in Track and XC)

Colby (Has surpassed Amherst and Wes in XC, better in Track)

Amherst (4yr avg 7th in league, 10th in region-Train Wreck)

Wesleyan (Better than Amherst in Track, worse in XC)

Hamilton (Always forgotten, never competitive)

Conn College (Great guys, one star, nice coaches)

Trinity (If Amherst is a train Wreck,this is the apocalypse)

Women

Williams (Contends for titles every year in XC & Track)

Middlebury (Maybe a 1A with Williams on the womens side)

Tufts (Stronger in Track than XC)

Bates (Most balanced program across all event groups)

Bowdoin (Program is always competitive in Track not XC)

Colby (Has surpassed Amherst XC, better in Track)

Amherst (Sprinters and Jumpers have surpassed distance prgm)

Wesleyan (About equal to Amherst in Track, worse in XC)

Hamilton (Ok in XC, very weak in track)

Conn College (Not competitive in Track or XC, nice coach)

Trinity (If Amherst is a train Wreck,this is the apocalypse)

Your women's xc/track rankings are dead on, but I'd say that the academics should be split into tiers.

My picks:

Willams

Amherst

Middlebury

Bowdoin

Hamilton

Wesleyan

Tufts

Colby

Bates

The Cornell's of the NESCAC:

Trinity

Conn College

Thank you so much! I wonder why some programs do better in track than XC, and vice versa. This information is very helpful

Seems like Williams is just at the top for everything...although I do love the area around Bowdoin.

I would think most would agree with these academic "tiers" - athletics are actually a pretty close match, but there are some differences.

Williams

Amherst

Bowdoin

Middlebury

Tufts

Wesleyan

Bates

Colby

Hamilton

Conn College

Trinity

owl wrote:

Your women's xc/track rankings are dead on, but I'd say that the academics should be split into tiers.

My picks:

Willams

Amherst

Middlebury

Bowdoin

Hamilton

Wesleyan

Tufts

Colby

Bates

The Cornell's of the NESCAC:

Trinity

Conn College

Agree almost entirely, except I think there's a gap between midd/bowdoin and williams/amherst.

Tufts also doesn't really fit in/ is kind of impossible to rank in comparison with the rest of the NESCAC because it's so different - almost twice the size, more urban, etc. Thus it's ranking really reflects what you're looking for. If you want a small-feeling liberal arts school in a rural setting, then for you Colby or Conn College are better schools than Tufts, because it does not bring that to the table. If you're looking for a bigger school, more of a city, or to study engineering, then for you Tufts is a better school than Williams or Amherst, cuz they don't offer any of those things.

Basically with any school "rankings" are a somewhat flawed way of looking at things, it's much more about finding a school with the right fit for what you need. And as far as running goes, prettymuch any of the NESCAC programs are well coached enough for you to succeed if you put in the work. Conn College currently has a 2 time national champion, 3 years ago Amherst had 2 4:07 milers, Wesleyan has had multiple all-Americans in the past few years, and Hamilton had one of the best runners in d3 history a few years back. As recently as 7 years ago Trinity was a regional and national powerhouse, and now they're in the doghouse. Colby may have the second best returning XC team in the region next year.

So talk to coaches, visit schools, go on overnights, and find out where will be a good fit for you academically and socially, and the running will be what you make of it.

Academically, Amherst is better than Williams - the 5 college area offers a broader range of classes, and the Pioneer Valley is much more interesting vs Williamstown (which is lovely but isolated). I agree that Amherst and Williams are a cut above. That said, listen to your gut re culture - they are both great academically. I defer to others on the running.

Stay away from Bowdoin if you want to develop at all

Their coach was a pole vaulter back in the day and randomly makes up the distance workouts on the spot every day. He doesn't even send out workouts for winter break so the athletes are on their own when practice is not in session.

May be why they have about 4 distance runners actually competing on the womens side

This topic comes up every year. Seriously, just search for it. Also, letsrun is rarely a "good way to get other perspectives"

Anyway, people generally conclude that you could get a quality education at all of these schools, but that they are best ranked in tiers, as follows:

Williams/Amherst

Bowdoin/Middlebury

Wesleyan (Tufts?)

Bates/Colby/Hamilton

Conn/Trinity

As previously stated, Tufts is a research university, so it's hard to rank in comparison to the small liberal arts schools.

I am a guy and don't know much about the women's programs. I would assume that Williams is a perennial power, since they have a massive team (you may or may not like this). Hamilton is in the Atlantic Region, which is weaker than the New England Region. I think Midd is traditionally very good, I think I heard something about a FL finalist going there years ago.

Really, if you're going D3 and choosing among the NESCAC, it should be all about fit. Most of these are rural, but Wesleyan, Tufts, Conn, and Trinity are not. There are also differences in the size and stereotypes of the student body. Some are "preppy," others are "hipster."

If you live in the Northeast and are checking out these schools, I'd definitely recommend Haverford and Swarthmore, by the way.

Good luck!

I'm going to assume your a distance runner

Academically

Williams and Amherst are a notch above the rest. Middlebury and Bowdoin are in the next tier.

Athletically

Williams and Middlebury are powerhouses on the regional and national stage. Then Tufts, Bowdoin and the rest are usually fighting it out for the 3-5 spots and a shot at nationals. Amherst used to be a power (won nationals in 07 or 08 I think) but there's been some turmoil there the last couple years. Friction between the coaching staff and the athletic department has hurt both the men's and women's programs.

1. Bowdoin

2. Bowdoin

3. Bowdoin

4. Bowdoin

5. Bowdoin

6. Bowdoin

7. Bowdoin

8. Bowdoin

9. Bowdoin

10. Not Middlebury.

Goes for both academics and athletics.

By mid-range SAT scores M+CR

Tufts 1350-1520

Amherst 1340-1530

Bowdoin 1340-1520

Williams 1330-1540

Wesleyan 1300-1480

Hamilton 1300-1470

Midd 1270-1480

Bates 1260-1430

Conn 1240-1410

Colby 1260-1430

Trinity 1190-1390

got the order of colby and conn wrong

Omars Comin' wrote:

1. Bowdoin

2. Bowdoin

3. Bowdoin

4. Bowdoin

5. Bowdoin

6. Bowdoin

7. Bowdoin

8. Bowdoin

9. Bowdoin

10. Not Middlebury.

Goes for both academics and athletics.

Goddamit, you can't respond to your own threads.

KappaKappaKappa wrote:

Omars Comin' wrote:

1. Bowdoin

2. Bowdoin

3. Bowdoin

4. Bowdoin

5. Bowdoin

6. Bowdoin

7. Bowdoin

8. Bowdoin

9. Bowdoin

10. Not Middlebury.

Goes for both academics and athletics.

Goddamit, you can't respond to your own threads.

Yo dawg, we heard you like responding to your own threads, so we responded to your own response about responding to your own thread.

YoDoge wrote:

KappaKappaKappa wrote:

Goddamit, you can't respond to your own threads.

Yo dawg, we heard you like responding to your own threads, so we responded to your own response about responding to your own thread.

Hey, stop facebook messaging me.

Pretty hard to masturbate to Steam when you guys are over here posting so loud.

You guys wanna meet up for the tempo tomorrow?

Only if you promise to hold me at night when it's raining outside ;)