Hi I got accepted into my three top schools which are Boston College Colgate and GW in D.C. I still have no idea where I want to go. I would like to major in International Relations and I know that GW has one of the best programs. However, at Colgate I am a Benton Scholar which would give me the opportunity to travel my freshman and junior year with a special program. But Colgate is a really small school. I also really enjoy Boston College due to location and therefore am super conflicted. Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.
Those colleges aren’t even in the same league. Colgate is half a hair down from an IVY league type school. BC and GW are far less prestigious. Unless you hate Colgate, or there are financial considerations, go to the best, particularly with the neat scholarship you got.
@PNW I disagree with out 100%. BC is just a hair down from ivy leagues and is on par with Colgate.
@bintamira You can’t go wrong with either of them so I would pick Colgate because of your special program.
Good luck with the decision.
Forget the ranking/prestige factor at this point; you got into three wonderful schools, any one of which can help you achieve your goals. All are strong academically. However, their environments/ characters are very different. Which do you like the most? Compare the schools two at a time and imagine accepting one and rejecting the other. Which one do you have the most disappointment “letting go” of? Pick that school.
@acron611 That is soooo funny. I think most would agree that BC is a very large, thick braid down from Colgate – I wager that most would agree that they are not even in the same pool. Colgate is considered a “junior IVY,” so it is as prestigious as Duke and Cornell in most circles where it matters. If you want to be a nurse, high school teacher or actuary, school may not matter so much as your skills will quickly set you apart. If you want to be a professor, white shoe lawyer, think tank author or investment banker, school matters. It will follow you forever. So it depends on your goal, but if you’re uncertain, you’ll never regret choosing a school like Colgate. Unless there’s a nice scholarship that sways you, BC and GW will not have the alumni network, prestige or opportunities of a junior IVY.
All of these schools can get you where you want to go. Do you want a LAC in upstate NY, a Jesuit university outside of Boston, or a university in the heart of DC? Assuming they are all affordable, I’d go wherever you feel is the best fit.
PNW , you are magnifying what you perceive way out of alignment with reality.
mooop, my perceptions align perfectly with reality, and these 3 schools are apples and oranges. Run a search on colleges that are worth the cost. Only Colgate is on that list from among these 3 options. And of the three, only Colgate has an alumni network that will take good care of you. Happy1 is right – all these schools can get you where you want to go; heck, any old school can get you any place if you have the right personality, motivation and skill set. But not all will get you there as quickly. Colgate is well-connected, and considered a baby IVY. In professions where it matters, among these 3, only Colgate is on equal footing with the Yale and Princeton folks. No one will look down on you for a school as prestigious as Colgate (and, yes, there are people who will judge you based on where you went to school). Colgate offers many study programs/internships in and ties to DC – call and ask them. For me, the choice is super easy (again, assuming no juicy scholarship from a place like BC or GW, which would change the dynamic). Why would you pick a 2nd tier or 3rd tier school when you have a 1st tier option?
This tendency to label schools as some type of ivy really needs to stop lol. Southern ivies, Jesuit ivy, public ivies, little ivies, etc. it’s not like the Ivy League is the gold standard. There are several schools that are better than the ivies for certain majors or even better overall.
To answer the prestige question, I’d say it would be Colgate > BC > GW. However, the difference in prestige between BC and Colgate is being vastly overstated. When taking your prospective major into account, I think the prestige factor matters less as your “least prestigious” school of GW is really strong for your major.
I do agree it’s comparing apples and oranges in respect to the type of institutions. Liberal arts college in a very isolated area vs two universities by major cities.
Isn’t GW really good for International Relations?
Junior ivy is right up there with public ivy, Catholic ivy, Canadian ivy, southern ivy etc. etc.
@PNW Why are you attending UCSD if Colgate is such a great school?? In another thread you call Colgate a “baby ivy”. Time for it to grow up then.
Colgate is full grown, and “baby ivy” means that it is almost as good as an IVY in reputation. It is as prestigious as Duke and Cornell in circles where it matters. As I’ve mentioned before, if you get a free ride, or great scholarship, that changes the equation of where to go to college (hence, my selection, not that it’s any of your business TomSrOfBoston). But if you’re paying full fare, you might as well go to the best. And for a specific major, there may be a reason to pick one school over another. But of the choices presented by the original poster, hands down, Colgate is the way to go. Sorry TomSrOfBoston – your name says it all. I know desperately want BC to be in the same league, but it’s nowhere close to Colgate. If you’re paying full fare, get the benefit of prestige, an amazing alumni network, etc. The Colgate name will open doors (assuming you do the rest) for your resume and future. Neither BC nor GW offers that.
“Colgate is full grown, and “baby ivy” means that it is almost as good as an IVY in reputation. It is as prestigious as Duke and Cornell in circles where it matters”
LOL. Colgate is not as prestigious as Duke or Cornell and is in BC’s league. Its a fine school, but I don’t get the fanboy/girl rah rah for Colgate.
LOL. If pedigree matters, and all schools otherwise have what you need in terms of education and price tag, only one on your list has that pedigree. I think a lot of BC folks are responding, but BC ain’t no Colgate. Ask around among your parents’ and aunts’ peers – that’s what I did. Those are the folks who will be hiring you, which I guess is why Colgate (and other junior IVY’s) make the list of “schools worth the money” based on opportunities and employment following graduation, and BC doesn’t.