<p>Hi all,
I am in the fortunate position of deciding between Brandeis University and Wake Forest University for transfer Fall 2009. I am having difficulty making a definitive choice between these two fine schools; both have great repuatations, high rankings, prestige, etc. Could anyone give me any feedback, insight, etc. into these two schools to make my choice a little easier? It would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.</p>
<p>please…any feedback is greatly helpful! thanks a lot</p>
<p>How is each school’s financial aid. Personally, I would choose Wake Forest just because I like the school campus.</p>
<p>both have the same financial aid. BUT what school do you think has a better reputation for placement into top law schools? I would like to go to law school in the northeast (Boston, New York) and clearly that’s where Brandeis is. Do you think getting an econ/poli sci degree from Brandeis will be better for law school than a business/econ degree from Wake? What’s more prestigious?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>dubcongress, I don’t know about Wake Forrests’ student acceptance rates to top law schools, but I do know that Brandeis students have excellent rates of acceptance at top law, medical and other graduate schools. As an interesting example from elsewhere on this site, a list of colleges with the highest placement ratios at Harvard Law School in 2006 puts Brandeis in the top twenty. Wake Forrest is not on the list. See:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/662310-ranking-undergrad-highest-acceptance-rates-law-school.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/662310-ranking-undergrad-highest-acceptance-rates-law-school.html</a></p>
<p>Although You really need to visit each school in person to judge for yourself where you’d be most comfortable, as a Brandeis alumnus, here’s my view. I’m not personally familiar with Wake Forrest, but my impression is that it’s a more sports and frat-oriented school than is Brandeis (DIV I versus Div III sports), and a significantly larger school. I believe that 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 Brandeis student body. I’d compare its intellectual atmosphere most closely with its UAA sister school, the University of Chicago, although Brandeis is more undergraduate-oriented (perhaps it’s no coincidence that Chicago’s President is a Brandeis alum). 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>As I like to describe it, Brandeis is a special combination of small liberal arts college and world-class research university-with the smallest student body I believe (less than 800 in a class) of any top tier national research university matched with high-powered professors who actually teach in small classes. So, the research opportunities are tremendous. Plus it’s very close to Boston, which is the world’s best college town, but on its own suburban campus. Few other schools can quite match Brandeis’ special combination of attributes. </p>
<p>Most college rankings don’t emphasize undergraduate satisfaction and accomplishments. One that recently did, the Forbes Magazine national rankings, placed Brandeis 15th among research universities and 30th overall among all private univerities and LAC’s–a testament to its focus on undergraduate education. Larger schools, including some Ivies, were ranked much lower. </p>
<p>As evidence of the cool students that go there are the cool alumni who were of course students at one time–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). I went to school with several of these folks and can tell you that it’s no coincidence that these fascinating alumni have emerged from the stimulating brew that is Brandeis. Also, if you’re into social justice (Angela Davis, Abbie Hoffman, I could go on, are alums as well) or arts/theater/music,Brandeis is a very exciting place to be.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>thank you for your help… any other feedback in comparing the prestige/pedigree of the two schools? is one school DEFINITIVELY superior in sending kids to top grad schools (law, business)? etc… anything helps! thanks</p>
<p>any thoughts? greatly appreciated…</p>