The American Liberal Arts Colleges, also known as “博雅教育学院” in China, cultivate students’ social ethics and cognition as well as personal characters while focusing on academic learning, in order to ensure they are equipped with necessary skills as well-rounded, successful and competitive persons. Although the majors they have are not as many as national university do, they emphasize undergraduate education and award at least half of their degrees in the liberal arts fields of study.
#1 - Williams College
Williams College – located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, at the foot of Mount Greylock in the Berkshires – is one of the oldest colleges in the country. The school was originally a men’s college; women were first admitted in 1971. Williams College has three academic branches – arts and humanities, social sciences, and science and mathematics – and graduate programs in the history of art and economics. Williams has small class sizes, with a student-teacher ratio of 7-to-1. The school also has Oxford-style tutorials, which rely heavily on student participation. The college has seen many firsts: Its alumni society is the oldest in the world; it hosted the first intercollegiate baseball game; and its class of 1887 was the first in the U.S. to wear caps and gowns at graduation. The school has a tradition at each graduation to drop a watch from the top of the college chapel. If the watch breaks, tradition holds that the class will be lucky.
SAT Critical Reading Avg Score: 715
Avg ACT Composite Score: 33
SAT/ACT scores received by: Jan. 1
Application Deadline: Fall - Jan. 1
4-yr graduation rate: 86%
#2 - Amherst College
Amherst College, located in Amherst, Massachusetts, is known for its rigorous academic climate. Amherst is a member of the Five Colleges consortium, which also includes Smith, Mount Holyoke, Hampshire and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Students may take courses at any of these colleges. Amherst offers more than 100 student organizations; the college banned fraternities in 1984. Amherst claims to have the oldest athletics program in the nation, along with the third oldest football field. The Amherst Lord Jeffs participate in NCAA Division III sports in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. The school is also part of the unofficial Little Three athletic conference with Williams and Wesleyan, which has lasted more than 100 years. Freshmen are required to live on campus in one of seven residence halls.
SAT Critical Reading Avg Score: 726
Avg ACT Composite Score: 32
SAT/ACT scores received by: Jan. 1
Application Deadline: Fall - Jan. 1
4-yr graduation rate: 86%
#3 - Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College is located in the coastal New England town of Brunswick, Maine. The Bowdoin Polar Bears compete in 31 varsity sports in the NCAA Division III New England Small College Athletic Conference. Bowdoin has nearly 100 student organizations. One of the largest and most active groups is the Outing Club, which offers 100 excursions each year. Peucinian Society, founded in 1805, is one of the oldest literary and intellectual societies in the country, with alumni including poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Bowdoin abolished fraternities in 1997 and replaced them with a system of college-owned social houses. Freshmen are required to live on campus and are assigned to a college house that provides residential social activities.
SAT Critical Reading Avg Score: 696
Avg ACT Composite Score: 32
SAT/ACT scores received by: Jan. 1
Application Deadline: Fall - Jan. 1
4-yr graduation rate: 89%
#3 - Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is located 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia – far enough away to have a 425-acre campus that is designated as an arboretum. The school was founded by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), but has no religious affiliation today. The school has more than 100 organizations that students can get involved in on campus, and about 40 percent of students study abroad.
Swarthmore College students can take courses at Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College through the Tri-College Consortium. Unlike most other liberal arts colleges, Swarthmore also offers an undergraduate engineering program. Swarthmore has many unique traditions, including the Crum Regatta, where students race homemade boats down Crum Creek; and Worthstock, which features live music, dancing and food.
SAT Critical Reading Avg Score: 706
Avg ACT Composite Score: 32
SAT/ACT scores received by: Jan. 1
Application Deadline: Fall - Jan. 1
4-yr graduation rate: 88%
#3 - Wellesley College
Wellesley College, located 12 west miles outside of Boston in Wellesley, Massachusetts, has a scenic campus encompassing a lake, woodlands, an arboretum and open meadows. It is a liberal arts college for women and is one of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, which includes Mount Holyoke, Vassar, Smith, Radcliffe (now part of Harvard), Bryn Mawr and Barnard. Students can choose from more than 150 student organizations on campus.
Wellesley has a cross-registration program with MIT, offering students a greater range of courses. Also, students can spend a semester in another college in the Northeast as part of the Twelve College Exchange Program. The college has a strong science program, including the nation’s second oldest physics lab.
Wellesley has a program called the Davis Degree Program, which allows women older than 24 to attend college. The school also has many traditions, including an annual hoop-rolling race between the seniors, and stepsinging, when the academic classes try to out-sing each other. Notable alumni include former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; and ABC news anchor Diane Sawyer.
SAT Critical Reading Avg Score: 701
Avg ACT Composite Score: 31
SAT/ACT scores received by: Dec. 30
Application Deadline: Fall - Jan. 1
4-yr graduation rate: 83%
#6 - Middlebury College
Middlebury College is located in the Champlain Valley between the Green Mountains and the Adirondacks in the small town of Middlebury, Vermont. The Middlebury Panthers have 31 NCAA Division III varsity teams and are members of the New England Small College Athletic Conference. Students can join more than 150 organizations on campus. For skiers, Middlebury has 17 trails on the Middlebury College Snow Bowl ski area. The school also competes in "Muggle Quidditch" and founded the International Quidditch Association based on the sport from the "Harry Potter" novels. Middlebury also hosts the country's oldest Winter Carnival, featuring a ski competition and music. All freshmen are required to live on campus and are assigned to one of five Commons, which provide academic and social activities.
SAT Critical Reading Avg Score: 684
Avg ACT Composite Score: 31
SAT/ACT scores received by: Jan. 1
Application Deadline: Fall - Jan. 1
4-yr graduation rate: 85%
#6 - Pomona College
Pomona College is located in Claremont, California, 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles near the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Pomona’s founders envisioned "a college of the New England type" when they created this school with small classes and strong student-faculty relationships. Pomona offers more than 200 student organizations. A well-known secret club called "Mulfi" has left cryptic notes with social commentary around campus since the 1940s. Students can also get involved with the three campus fraternities. "Ski-Beach Day" takes advantage of Pomona’s unique location: Students ski at a local resort in the morning, and spend the afternoon at a beach in Orange County.
SAT Critical Reading Avg Score: 711
Avg ACT Composite Score: 32
SAT/ACT scores received by: Jan. 1
Application Deadline: Fall - Jan. 1
4-yr graduation rate: 92%
#8 - Carleton College
Carleton College is located in the historic river town of Northfield, Minnesota. Carleton offers more than 170 student organizations, many with creative names, including the Carleton Juggling F.I.S.H., the One Knight Stands cabaret troupe and the Knightingales a cappella group, to name a few. Intramural sports like quidditch, broomball, dodgeball and sand volleyball are also popular among students. All freshmen are required to live on campus, and about 90 percent of students choose to remain on campus in one of the residence halls, shared interest houses or campus townhouses.
Carleton College offers close to 40 undergraduate majors. The college has many unique traditions, including stealing and periodically displaying a plaster bust of the German poet Friedrich Schiller that dates back to the 1950s. A newer tradition is the "Silent Dance Party" during study days prior to finals when students don headphones and dance together in the library. The Goodsell Observatory on Carleton’s campus houses three historic telescopes as well as several modern telescopes available for classes and open houses.
SAT Critical Reading Avg Score: N/A
Avg ACT Composite Score: N/A
SAT/ACT scores received by: Feb. 1
Application Deadline: Fall - Jan. 15
4-yr graduation rate: 88%
#8 - Claremont McKenna College
Claremont McKenna College is located in Claremont, California, at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. The school is part of the seven-college consortium known as The Claremont Colleges, which includes Scripps College, Pomona, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, Claremont Graduate University and Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences. Students can take classes at any of the member institutions as well as enjoy the social activities, athletics and dining services at the five undergraduate and two graduate colleges.
SAT Critical Reading Avg Score: 695
Avg ACT Composite Score: 32
SAT/ACT scores received by: Jan. 15
Application Deadline: Fall - Jan. 1
4-yr graduation rate: 86%
#10 - Davidson College
Davidson College is located in Davidson, North Carolina, 19 miles north of Charlotte. With more than 200 student organizations on campus, there are a variety of ways for students to get involved. In addition to clubs and organizations, students can also join one of the school's eight national fraternities, four eating houses or two sororities on campus. The school has many traditions, including the Freshmen Cake Race – started in 1934 – which consists of a 1.7 mile race for freshmen, with the winners receiving freshly baked cakes.
SAT Critical Reading Avg Score: 670
Avg ACT Composite Score: 30
SAT/ACT scores received by: Jan. 2
Application Deadline: Fall - Jan. 2
4-yr graduation rate: 90%
#10 - Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University is located in historic Lexington, Va., three hours southwest of Washington, D.C. Its men’s and women’s tennis teams have both won national championships. There are more than 120 student organizations, including several secret societies, such as the Mongolian Minks, the Cadaver Society and the Sigma Society. Approximately 80 percent of students are involved in Greek life, which comprises nearly 25 fraternity and sorority chapters. Washington and Lee University has two undergraduate divisions: the College, and the Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics.
SAT Critical Reading Avg Score: 689
Avg ACT Composite Score: 32
SAT/ACT scores received by: Feb. 15
Application Deadline: Fall - Jan. 1
4-yr graduation rate: 88%