<p>i think midd has a lower acceptance rate and higher middle sat scores. however that is never the defining characteristic of prestige. so what does anyone else think?</p>
<p>yea id say so</p>
<p>Middlebury's SAT range is misleading. It doesn't require SATs. Guess who applies there? Not the 2400s, you can bet. If you blow the SATs and have a high GPA, apply there. If anyone asks your SAT scores, mumble.</p>
<p>i think a more pertinent question is "does it matter which one has more "prestige" ?" mull this one over, seriously</p>
<p>"i think a more pertinent question is "does it matter which one has more "prestige" ?" mull this one over, seriously"</p>
<p>Are you saying prestige should be irrelevant? It does matter in this world, and no point to deny it.</p>
<p>vassar has a... more solid image. as in, people associate certain things with vassar. i love vassar while middlebury is my second choice school so i think i'm being pretty fair. both are great schools. both have great campuses. both are prestigious. vermont vs new york can change a few application figures here and there. ranks differ this year and the general characteristics of the student bodies may be different. and this is in MY personal experience - as an international student, when i say the two schools' names - most people over here tend to recognise vassar immediately and midd after a "oh, where's that again? oh.. right." but that's here and i don't know how it goes over there. :)</p>
<p>mensa- yes, to an extent. "prestige" should be an irrelevant factor in the original poster's search for a college. liking a college for its "prestige" is such a fake, and appearance-concerned way of going about selecting the proper school(s). however, you may not understand what i am saying, as many people here share your's and the original poster's foolish view of the importance of "prestige". then again, with "mensa" in ur cc name, u gotta be a straight genius, right.</p>
<p>uffh, you people, don't fight on the vassar forum, at least. this is my ED college forum and it must be the nicest forum on CC :D</p>
<p>Mensa's right about Middlebury's SAT I reporting. If you look at the Middlebury website, they report much lower SAT scores than those reported to USNews&Report (1315 median, and lower than Vassar's). Only the SAT I scores of the 50% - probably the top scoring 50% - of matriculants who asked that their SAT I scores be used in their evaluation are reported in USNews&Report. It's kind of misleading.</p>
<p>They are both great schools.</p>
<p>Also, schools that don't require SAT Is probably get more applicants than those that do. People with high GPAs but low SAT Is would feel they still had a chance at Middlebury, but would know they would probably not at Wellesley or Vassar, for example. That gives (apparent) selectivity a boost at schools that don't require SAT Is.</p>
<p>For getting a job or getting into a good grad school or professional school, whether you went to Middlebury or Vassar would make no difference--except for random factors like someone there knows a really good graduate of one or the other school and you can never predict that.</p>
<p>holden: you immediatly jump to conclusions when i ask about which school is more prestigious. why one would choose one school over another is really none of your concern. the question was whether people thought middlebury was more prestigious than vassar. your opinion that to choose a school based on prestige is a poor way to decide on a school is frankly useless. if you choose a school because of one quality over another, that's your business, but please don't try to impose your will on others. either you believe middlebury is more prestigious than vassar or you don't, but noone gives a crap about whether you think that is a bad way to choose a school. also, when did my original posting say i was choosing either school? also, why do you think most people apply to and attend harvard? for their grade inflation? for their intimate class size? for their caring and nurturing professors? no, because it's prestigious to attend harvard.</p>
<p>on a more postitive note, kee's input regarding the fact that vassar is more well known is good to know, although well known does not always translate to more prestige. usc and their trojans are very well known but they are not more prestigious than say williams.</p>
<p>pyewacket: what about graduate schools? is one school looked upon more favorably than the other when applying to top grad schools?</p>
<p>I agree with all of you that both are fabulous schools, but I need to present my own view to somewhat balance out the discussion. Middlebury ranks above Vassar in every major ranking (U.S. News, Princeton R*view, Atlantic Monthly, Wall Street Journal, Revealed Preference, Laissez-Faire, etc.), and Middlebury's U.S. News peer evaluation score is higher (closest thing we have to a comparison of prestige). SATs aside (we all agree we can't compare apples to oranges), Midd's percentage of students in the top 10% of their high school class for '09 was 84% compared to 65% at Vassar. Midd's acceptance rate is lower, and yield higher.</p>
<p>Like I said, both are excellent. Let's not dilute the discussion by focusing on Middlebury's SAT optional policy, which has been in place since the early 80s. And I'm also not so sure about Vassar having a better reputation internationally. Middlebury is well known for its foreign language and international studies programs, and has a higher percentage of international students than most of its peers, including Vassar.</p>
<p>BlacknBlue - first, my post was directed at Mensa, in response to a question he or she asked. second, "your opinion that to choose a school based on prestige is a poor way to decide on a school is frankly useless." - you have to be joking, right? maybe not. no, this opinion is not useless at all. in fact, it is quite useful. choosing a school based on its "prestige" factor will, in all likely hood, not lead one to a school that is the best fit for them. students should be concerned with real aspects like location, academic quality, size, demographics, public/private, etc. when choosing a school. using these aspects will lead one to a school that is truly right for them. in addition, i am not trying to "impose my will" upon anyone, i am simply trying to enlighten people; make them think. seems i failed, as you are not willing to accept my idea that really is undeniably correct. also, you asked "when did my original posting say i was choosing either school?" um, ya, you didn't, and neither did i. i simply said in your "search for a college", never saying that either of the two colleges were ones you were choosing...? but hey, good try. finally, yes, many people do apply and attend harvard because of its "prestige". so what? does that make it right just because people smart enough to get into harvard do it? no, it doesn't. think about it. do you really think that everyone at harvard loves attending it because of how prestigious it is? yes, perhaps many do, but i think that just as many, if not more, would have been happier at another school with less of a "prestige" factor that was more of a fit for them. regardless, have fun attending the most prestigious school you get into. im sure it'll work out great, and you'll have lots of fun boasting about where you're headed next year. everyone will be VERY impressed, and you will look very intelligent.</p>
<p>At the graduate school level, the overall selectivity of the school would play some role--but Middlebury and Vassar are close enough as to make no difference. More important would be the reputation of a particular department and whether the recommending professors were well known to the graduate school in question. Probably Vassar and Middlebury each have their share of strong departments. In my experience, the quality of previous grad students from a particular school influence admission of future grad students from the same college. Again the difference is not possible to predict with any great accuracy and not significant between these two schools. Much more important for grad school are grades in you major field and strong references from well known and respected professors. If you are choosing between Vassar and Middlebury, factors like "good fit" and attractive course offerings in your field of interest should be your main concern. Prestige has a value but differences that show up only in "the third decimal place" are negligible.</p>
<p>so the bottom line is still, which school is more prestigious? i am very impressed that posting this on the vassar forum did not immediately bring in the vassar boosters.</p>
<p>"SATs aside (we all agree we can't compare apples to oranges), Midd's percentage of students in the top 10% of their high school class for '09 was 84% compared to 65% at Vassar. Midd's acceptance rate is lower, and yield higher."</p>
<p>Of course, if you bombed on your SAT and have a high GPA, where else do you go? Middlebury has a niche. Hi GPA, low SAT.</p>
<p>I think the bottom line is that both are so close in selectivity, programs, etc. that it makes no difference for anything. Prestige can be subjective and if you have to argue over it, and there's no clear choice, then it doesn't matter, the schools are equal, it just depends on personal preference. Different people have different measures for figuring out prestige. You're not going to get a clearcut answer, and I'd hope you'd realize that by now.</p>
<p>Vassar still has trouble attracting men.</p>
<p>ALL liberal arts colleges have trouble attracting men. Vassar's ratio is about 60-40, not bad for an LAC.</p>