<p>I was accepted at both schools with similar financial aid info and am having a hard time deciding between the two. I am planning on visiting both schools for the SOC but wanted to get some more info. Any comments, input are much appreciated!</p>
<p>The weather is the same and they are only about 15 minutes apart. You will get a good education at either. But otherwise, they are very different places.</p>
<p>Start with the gender thing. Since you applied so Wellesley, you obviously have thought about the pros and cons of single sex education. There are advantages of a women’s college for some but, clearly, it is not for everyone. And Brandeis is certainly not the kind of place that any woman would feel uncomfortable or intimidated because of sex. I think that co-education is a plus unless you are the type of person who would really benefit by not having to compete with men.</p>
<p>Wellesley is a very good LAC. Brandeis is a very good but very small research university. There is research occuring at Wellesley but obviously much more at Brandeis. And Brandeis will have graduate teaching assistants. Very few graduate students teach courses at Brandeis (except for freshmen writing seminars) but many lecture courses (as opposed to seminars) will have graduate students leading discussions in sections. I generally consider this an advantage but it can be argued either way. Wellesley doesn’t have graduate students.</p>
<p>Professors at Brandeis will be hired and promoted more on their research than on their teaching, although teaching counts more at Brandeis than many other R1 universities. But at Wellesley, teaching ability is really the only criteria. Which is better? Take your pick. Supporters of university education argue that participating in research and expanding knowledge (as opposed to just passing it on) is the best way to learn. Supporters of LAC’s say that professor’s don’t have to divide up their time between undergraduate and graduate teaching and research. But the teaching load is usually higher at LAC’s which takes away some of the advantage. </p>
<p>Wellesley’s campus is gorgeous–mostly traditional academic gothic. Brandeis’ campus is starkly modern (except for the Castle, which is a little weird but funky). Most people will prefer Wellesley’s campus. Most architects prefer Brandeis’. Some people really dislike modern architecture and think that Brandeis is ugly or resembles an office park. Others love it. Take your pick.</p>
<p>Both schools are non-religious. But Judaism is clearly the dominant culture at Brandeis while Wellesley sports a decidedly White Anglo-Saxon Protestant culture. I think that most people (or more accurately most women) would feel comfortable at either place but the dominant culture does have an impact. In which do you feel more comfortable?</p>
<p>The bottom line is that you should visit both and go to the place you feel most comfortable. BTW, I know a young women (a friend of my son) who just got her PhD from Brandeis. She did her undergraduate work at Wellesley. She loved both places. Go figure :)</p>
<p>Both are fine schools, but very different experiences. Wellesley is a small women’s liberal arts college. Brandeis is a small liberal arts college functioning wihin a world-class research university. It’s a trick to pull that off, but they do and the undergraduates benefit from that special combination.</p>
<p>As an admittedly biased Brandeis alum who chose Brandeis over two other liberal arts experiences, Tufts and Colgate, here’s my take. Brandeis is truly an amazing school. Its small student body- the smallest I believe (about 800 in a class) of any top tier national research university–is matched with high-powered professors who actually teach in small classes. So, the research opportunities are tremendous. Plus, like Wellesley, it’s very close to Boston, but on its own suburban campus.</p>
<p>Its intellectual environment is comparable in many ways to its University Athletic Association sister school, U Chicago (perhaps no coincidence that the President of U Chicago is a Brandeis alum). Yet its students are down-to-earth, friendly and non-competitive with one another. </p>
<p>Despite its small size and relative youth, Brandeis’ alumni are very distinguished–to name just a few: Nobel Prize winner for chemistry Rod Mackinnon, Fields Medal winning physicist Edward Witten (often called “Einstein’s successor”), 3-time Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Friedman of the NY Times, The Earth is Flat etc; Mitch Albom of Tuesday’s with Morrie (about his Brandeis professor), the Creators/Producers of Friends; actress Debra Messing; Robert FX Sillerman (billionaire businessman–currently owner of American Idol and Graceland) and Christy Hefner, former CEO of Playboy). Also, if you’re into social justice or theater/music/art, it’s a very exciting place to be.</p>
<p>On the question of whether Brandeis is the right fit for you, I believe the kind of person who would feel comfortable at Brandeis is an intellectual and/or creative sort who is friendly and comfortable with himself or herself and not competitive or pretentious. Intellectual but down-to-earth and friendly I think is an apt description of the student body. Unlike some preppy place or frat-oriented environments where social interraction is based on the “exclusivity” of the frat system, Brandeis has a welcoming, relatively-nonjudgmental environment–yet there are some off-campus frats for those who like what they have to offer. There is no pressure to party, but parties are there if you want them. Often social interaction centers around the numerous clubs and other terrific extracuriculars like theater and music. </p>
<p>Finally, the school is very diverse undergraduate and graduate, with a strong international flavor (in fact the majority of its International Business School is international students). With respect to the issue for some of the school’s Jewish population, you should understand that less than 50% of its student body is Jewish. Brandeis is a non-sectarian school that embraces students from all types of backgrounds based on merit. The school has no religious affiliation, although it was founded and is funded signigicantly by the Jewish community. </p>
<p>Forgive my enthusiasm, but I loved it.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision!.</p>
<p>Thank you both!</p>
<p>B77- I see you turned down Tufts. My d has to choose between Tufts, Brandeis and Smith (+ 4 other schools). Why did you go for Brandeis instead of Tufts? Would you say those two schools are on par with each other?</p>
<p>Upstatemom, I view Brandeis as more intellectual, artsy, socially conscious/active, less preppy and more quirky (in a stimulating way) than Tufts. Brandeis student are so bright and talented but down to earth. I liked the more intimate environment (3000 versus 5000 undergrads). Also, the history and Theater departments and undergraduate theater groups where I spent much of my time were and are terrific. If you haven’t seen the recent rankings of some of Brandeis’ strongest majors, the article linked below may interesting to you. Remember that at Brandeis doctoral students and undergrads work side-by-side with the same professors. So this ranking of doctoral programs is very relevant to potential undergrads. Here’s the link:</p>
<p>[Brandeis</a> doctoral programs rate high in national survey | BrandeisNOW](<a href=“http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2010/november/nationalresearchcouncil.html]Brandeis”>Brandeis doctoral programs rate high in national survey | BrandeisNOW)</p>
<p>Also, if you haven’t read it, this Newsweek article featuring Literature professor, Bill Flesch gives a sense of how the intimate Brandeis learning environment can make a real difference: </p>
<p>[Four</a> Great College Professors - Newsweek](<a href=“http://www.newsweek.com/2009/08/11/in-search-of-great-professors.html]Four”>Four Great College Professors)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I think one my D’s biggest concerns is Brandeis’ location-suburban. She really wants to be IN Boston. I looked at your links and explored Brandeis’ website more and for the areas she is interested in, it looks wonderful. I can totally understand why it is so hard for her to choose!</p>
<p>
Have you been to both Tufts and Brandeis? Just asking because Tufts is not in Boston, it’s in Medford. It will be easier to get into Boston from Tufts than Brandeis but neither is IN Boston. </p>
<p>We are going to the Brandeis admitted students open house on Monday, but there’s a good chance my S will end up going elsewhere. He was offered no merit aid, and at this point I just don’t see the justification to float $20K/year in additional student loans to go to Brandeis when he has other perfectly good options that will be a lot more affordable.</p>
<p>hammer1234-- if I remember correctly-- you all went to the Clark open house last weekend, too–we were there. We are all on the same track it seems! Yes, of course, we have been to Tufts and yes we know it is not IN Boston but it’s a heck of a lot closer than Brandeis–15-20 min walk to Porter Sq red line and in a flash you are in Harvard Sq. Porter Sq is a lively place too. </p>
<p>We won’t be able to go to the open house at Brandeis, unfortunately–we’re going to Smith on Thurs. and Tufts next week–only so many va-ca days I can take. For us the costs between Smith, Tufts and Brandeis all fall within a few thousand $ with Brandeis actually being the cheaper, only because their tuition is the lowest of all three. If D picks Tufts, I’m thinking of seeing if I can get them to up the aid a bit (probably futile though; don’t know if they consider Brandeis a “peer” school). They didn’t offer her the unsub stafford and will probably just say she should take that to reduce costs. The beauty of Smith’s and Tufts offers is that they “made it work” without the unsub staffords.</p>
<p>Good luck to your S. What schools are his top choices?</p>
<p>
Good that you went…and you are correct that it’s closer, it just isn’t in the city like BU or NU (I’m an alumnus at both).</p>
<p>My S is not quite in the same situation…for him Brandeis and Tufts were reaches, and we were very pleased to see that he was accepted to Brandeis until we saw the aid situation (unfortunately he was not accepted to Tufts :(). We have the open houses at UMASS and Brandeis to go to this weekend and then he has a few weeks to make his choice. If you were to ask me today I’m thinking he will choose UMASS…but anything can happen at this point.</p>
<p>Tufts is closer to Boston than Brandeis (5 miles v. 9 miles) but we are not talking a huge difference here. From Tufts, its a 10 minute walk to Davis Square, then you take the Red Line to Porter Sq. and beyond. At Brandeis, there is a commuter train stop on campus which gets you to Porter Sq. and the Red Line in 12 minutes. </p>
<p>The difference is that you have to plan more from Brandeis because the commuter train does not run as often as the T. It is also more expensive. </p>
<p>But unless you are going into Boston everyday (and most Tufts and Brandeis students are not), the difference should not be a deal breaker.</p>
<p>just fyi re brandeis’ location and ease of getting into boston.</p>
<p>on weekends there is a shuttle that runs from brandeis to harvard square and then into boston – [url=<a href=“Campus Shuttles and Van Routes | Vans and Shuttles | Public Safety | Brandeis University”>Campus Shuttles and Van Routes | Vans and Shuttles | Public Safety | Brandeis University]Van</a> and Shuttle Service | Brandeis University<a href=“scroll%20down%20for%20boston/cambride%20shuttle%20info”>/url</a>.</p>
<p>also there is a commuter rail line stop just outside of the brandeis campus – about a 15-20 minute ride to Porter Square (10 minutes more to North Station); you can transfer at Porter Square for the T into boston also.</p>
<p>we looked at both brandeis and tufts for both our kids (one ended up at brandeis, the other at a third school) – they just have very different feels to them – its too bad you can’t visit brandeis. is it possible, even if you can’t do admitted students day, to just swing by brandeus when you visit tufts and visit the library, union, dining hall, just stroll around campus just so your D can do the “can i picture myself here” test? you may even be able to learn more than at the formal admitted students day just by her turning to kids in the dining hall and striking about a conversation about the school. (just fyi – they have off the week of april 18, there will be some students around campus that week, but certainly fewer than a week when classes are in session)</p>
<p>something else you may want to think about – if i recall correctly, tufts had a pretty hefty core curriculum requirement. my impression is that meeting the core requirements at brandeis is fairly easy and it is not unusual for brandeis students to end up double (or even triple) majoring or minoring in subjects outside of their major.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the information. We did visit Brandeis last fall during an open house. I think D got a bit turned off by the “secluded” feeling of Brandeis. We are actually planning on swinging by the campus on our way to Tufts. It is such a hard choice! My D loves the philosophy of Brandeis. She’s interested in Women’s/Gender Studies, sociology, psych and cognitive science (which is a major that not a lot of schools have specifically-- Tufts does, as does Brown, Vassar, MIT, Upenn). Can anyone let me about those majors at Brandeis? Smith has the great open curriculum (like Brown’s). </p>
<p>My D hasn’t really gotten into the specifics of each major or the core req. but she is interested in double-majoring. It’s been tough getting her to deal with this or get excited. She can’t make decisions.</p>
<p>Your D seems to be really interested in a lot of subjects. I don’t know how big this is at other schools, but Brandeis does the make your own major, and there are events where you will find others who created their own majors. This may be similar to the Open Curriculum that you mentioned. Not sure though. </p>
<p>Also, Brandeis makes it easy to complete major requirements alongside general education requirements, which may be attractive to your daughter since she is planning to double major.</p>
<p>upstatemom,</p>
<p>My DD has similar interests and seems to have considered similar schools (except Smith). At this point she is leaning toward Tufts. Has your DD attended an admitted student day at Tufts yet? or gone on the Tufts facebook page? I will pm you.</p>