Hi! Does anyone have any input to offer to help make a decision between Dickinson and Rhodes? Cost is basically the same and is not a factor in this decision, including extra travel expenses for Rhodes as we are located in PA. We have a sense of the obvious similarities (small LAC of similar size, similar rigor and reputations, low-key Greek, pretty campuses) and differences (small town Carlisle PA vs. Memphis, and the crime statistics that go with it, but also all that Memphis has to offer, culture and activity-wise).
They both seem great for class size and professor to student ratio, connections between students and faculty, down-to-earth students. My daughter isn’t sure what she wants to major in, so we’re wondering if either school is better equipped to help students like her identify a major. Unclear whether either school has an edge re: career services and job placement.
We love Dickinson’s extensive study abroad program, Rhodes’ seems more limited. At Rhodes they kept talking about internships at Fedex, St. Judes, International Paper, and AutoZone, like those are the main opportunities. Dickinson seems to offer more internship opportunities. Also wondering if either school is more favorable in terms of their financial stability. If anyone is familiar enough with both schools to offer their perspective we would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
Internships today are found moreso on indeed, etc. Yes, colleges list jobs and have “target” companies that come - but most jobs today are found on line - they post through the career center. My son has been offered several internships - none had anything to do with his career center.
My question about Rhodes is - yes, downtown Memphis has “culture” - bbq, music, booze, etc. but how often are you going to realistically access it? it’s not next door.
Thanks. Yes, that’s been the internship experience of my junior son, and he came up short unfortunately. I had hoped it would be different at a smaller school. I think my basic question about my daughter’s choice (and yes this question is for me while ultimately it’s her choice) is, what are some reasons to choose one over the other? I think perhaps it comes down to the feel the prospective student gets when they visit both, which can be impacted so much by factors that don’t necessarily have a bearing on the actual experience of being a student there. I agree with you about whether students use the city or not. I have a son at Tulane and I’d say Nola is about 10% of his experience if that.
With emphasis increasingly being placed on students’ readiness to be employed after college, I expect both schools will have proactive career centers, but it’s ultimately up to the kid to take advantage of it.
I don’t know much about Rhodes so can’t advise you about it. I really like Dickinson and would have no hesitation in my kid choosing it. Your child can use a website such as Niche to compare the schools on other factors such as student body and partying.
I was just re-reading your response and laughed about “culture” being in quotes. Certainly different from how Rhodes promotes it. We spent a couple days in Memphis and pretty much hit the highlights in that amount of time. I think there’s a bit more to it than just BBQ, booze and music - Peabody duck march! The Pyramid! . So yes, it shouldn’t really be a decision factor.
My senior was also between Rhodes and SLACs closer to home. My impression with internships is that at Rhodes your child can participate in internships during the school year as either a paid internship or an academic credit internship. The other avenues to enhance classroom learning includes fellowships, working with professors, and volunteering
Being near a city, IMO, opens up more possibilities to get those experiences during the school year BUT your child has to want to take advantage of it and they have to work through the practicalities of transportation to get off campus. My understanding is for Rhodes, it is easier if your student has a car to get off campus, but career services will work with your child (I.e. maybe being at a site where they have multiple students) if they have an interest in a particular area so having a car doesn’t become a limiting factor in participating in experiential learning.
As for advice for the final decision, for my child it came down to the distance/needing to travel by plane home for school breaks (and experiencing the reality when there are delays and connection issues) and looking at outplacement for students not going to grad school - what cities/regions are they finding jobs and does that line up where my child wants to live/work after college. For my senior, all of the schools were near a city so that wasn’t a factor in deciding.
And Graceland which is fascinating, a really great and worth visiting tourist trap btw. But it, the Peabody, etc are one time things. I go fo work. It’s reasonable to stay downtown but I always stay east. Maybe just me.
@Lindagaf I’m not saying some don’t come to campus. Career fairs are back etc. but most stuff seems to be via handshake, indeed, and LinkedIn. At least that’s what I see at my kids’ schools. Perhaps at the higher echelon schools they still come but I can tell you as a corporate person, travel is way down, concern for covid is still there meaning no one is masking anymore, etc but we won’t do things like plant tours or large meetings or unnecessary meetings (such as visiting campus) so we can avoid shutdowns, etc. but obviously a lot of hiring folks and I’m sure different methods work.
Even jobs that come in make them apply on line. My son even had to fir his return internship.
But as you know there are multiple sides or perspective to every statement
The schools are academic peers and it sounds like they are similarly priced so that does make it difficult. I have no first hand information about Rhodes but I was impressed when we looked at Dickinson with my D.
Thank you for your input. Yes we’ve devoured Niche and Unigo, always with a grain of salt, and there’s no clear “winner”, as they’re quite similar. And putting aside the internship/job issue, I was just very curious what others could offer in terms of insight, especially if they had a similar choice to make. My husband and I feel good about both schools, daughter is on the fence at the moment, so we were wondering what the reasons might be to add the extra complication of travel (one nonstop flight/day, making it extra inconvenient) and we’ve already been through this with our son in Nola, through hurricanes and covid, not to mention other times it would’ve been so much easier if he was closer. For Tulane it made sense, there were specific things he liked about it, with no other school ticking all the boxes for him, whereas Rhodes and Dickinson seem very similar besides geography.
Thank you, I appreciate your input about Dickinson. This is what we hear from parents, both at accepted students day and online. Yes, it’s a tough decision, and as they say, probably can’t go wrong with either. If Rhodes didn’t entail the flight (and only one nonstop/day from our city) then I’d say flip a coin/go with your hunch. The travel adds an extra wrinkle, for her parents anyway. She won’t really appreciate that until she experiences it.
Travel is infrequent so, other than cost - Memphis was once rated the most expensive city to travel to - but they have Southwest now so it may not be anymore - but other than cost, I don’t think travel is a huge issue. I say this in the sense that it’s just maybe 3 times a year, etc. so while it stinks, it’s not going to alter the experience.
My daughter goes to a school that’s an hour and ten minute flight away - and do to the unforseen (couldn’t cope at the beginning with her boyfriend 1500 miles in the other direction), our dog nearing the end of his life, etc. so she’s been home 4 or 5 times - and while it is expensive for me, I think the kids get past it - where it won’t impact their overall experience. but yes, it can hit the budget.
We did go to Graceland. It was interesting, not really our thing but we figured since we were there, why not. Where else can you go to see a (green shag) carpeted ceiling? Went to Beale Street, enjoyed music and dinner there. Had dinner and ice cream at Overton Park, lunch at the E cafe which is near campus. So we got a decent taste of the area, I think.
My son is in college in Nola so we’re experienced with being a flight away. Lots more flights between our city and Nola than Memphis, and much cheaper. We don’t have Southwest as an option. The main issue is when there’s a problem, it’s that much harder to assist (hurricanes, serious illness, car accident - these things have all happened). But that’s part of becoming more independent, I know. I was just curious to hear any compelling reason for choosing the far away school besides a hunch.
Wow, thanks so much for this info! We’ll inquire about that enrollment drop, that’s a great question. you’re good at this!
D visited Dickinson in the fall, and again for accepted students day last week, and felt good about it. We had already booked our trip to visit Rhodes, a last minute add to her list because her cousin came home for Thanksgiving break and told us how much she loved it and why. So of course when we visited a few days ago, seeing it through her cousin’s eyes, meeting her friends and also having her cousin there as a bit of a safety net next year probably gives it a bit of an edge. She’s going back to Dickinson this week to sit in on a class and connect with a current student and try to get a sense of what it’s really like on campus. It was hard to get that feel on accepted students day and our tour day was late afternoon on Friday so campus was pretty quiet, whereas Rhodes was buzzing, on a Wednesday afternoon, which gave it a nice energy. Thanks again, really appreciate your research!
I don’t think the schools are comparable on safety. Read the Niche reviews and other strings here re Rhodes. Rhodes came off the list for D22 because of the violent crime right outside the gates, but it is still on the list for S24 because of his geographic and weather requirements; S24 wants to stay in the South forever. Unless your D wants to live in the South or be far away from home, I would go with Dickinson. My sense is Rhodes is highly regarded in the Deep South, but not really known elsewhere; same with Dickinson re the Northeast.
I do agree that if you D ultimately would like to settle in the Northeast that Dickinson would be better known, would have a stronger alumni network etc. as compared to Rhodes. (If she wants to settle in the south then the advantage would switch to Rhodes.)
Yes I don’t think I said they were equal safety-wise, I think I stated that as a difference, or at least I meant to. It’s clearly a concern, with the student shot and killed in October right near campus inside his apartment. We prefer Dickinson for the reasons you stated, I just posted in case there was some info anyone might have that would clarify. Thanks for your thoughts, you summed it up well with your last couple of sentences!
We enjoyed Memphis very much - there is a lot to do there. My daughter had a research position in Memphis and lived on Mudd Island (which is gorgeous).
. So yes, it shouldn’t really be a decision factor.