<p>My friend has been accepted to both schools and must choose between them. She is looking into majoring in languages/ internation relations. Pros/cons to picking Wake? Which school is more prestigious?</p>
<p>Two excellent choices in my opinion. Both academically equivalent. I visited both schools. Both campuses are VERY beautiful. Both seemed to have excellent study abroad options. Both well respected as far as reputation. </p>
<p>My personal experiences from my visit with each:</p>
<p>Colgate:
- In a very rural area (town size is around 3K) - it feels very isolated
- Get's cold, snowy, overcast, etc. for a good portion of the academic year (I visited in February).
- On my tour it felt like the students were trying to impress me with how smart they were. It just didn't feel the kids were relaxed - it felt very competitive. In all fairness, it was a testing week when I was there.
- Very sports focused, but compete on a lower level than Wake for most sports</p>
<p>Wake:
- Students felt less competitive and way more friendly to me
- Weather a definite plus vs. Colgate (BTW I only live about 2 hrs from Colgate)
- Campus does not feel as isolated
- Higher level of sports competitiveness</p>
<p>Again, both excellent choices. I think it's best to visit and make the decision on how it feels for the individual.</p>
<p>If it came down to them being very equal, I would have to choose Wake, just because of my dislike for the name 'Colgate'. The name of each school should also be a factor in your decision IMO. Colgate and Wake Forest are just on two totally different levels as far as that is concerned.</p>
<p>When you say she's looking into majoring in languages, I take it you mean foreign languages? Along those lines, I'm almost done with my German requirement at Wake, and I've loved the department enough that I'm considering a minor in it. I really can't speak enough about how impressive it is: tiny class sizes, passionate and qualified faculty, interesting class selection.</p>
<p>However, I really know nothing about the other foreign language departments.</p>
<p>Also, I would take Wake over Colgate every time for the sports criteria. Some people may find that slightly degenerate and whatnot, but there's hardly anything as fun as rallying behind a good sports team. Ask anyone who went to the Orange Bowl this year.</p>
<p>I know that most people at Wake really like the language departments. I know tons of people who hadn't intended on majoring or minoring in their language, but who decided to after they got here and had some of their language classes.</p>
<p>In terms of an undergrad education, the strength of any school's department shouldn't matter as much as the overall reputation of the school. As with foreign languages, most colleges require that you take one. Even if Wake's or Colgate's language departments are not in the top 100 (those rankings are for graduate school anyway), the reputation of a degree from either school should outweigh it. If I were an engineering major and I got accepted to Virginia Tech and UVA, I'll pick UVA because it is a downright better school overall and more recognized, even though Virginia Tech is better at engineering (it is, but then again, if I really wanted to go there, there's always grad school).</p>
<p>With that said, I'd pick Wake over Colgate because it is a better known in general. Colgate is great, but I also like the nearby city atmosphere too.</p>