<p>Out of McGill University (Quebec, Canada), Notre Dame (Indiana), WashU (Missouri) and Oberlin (Ohio), which has the best overall reputation? Best academics? How would you rank these four schools?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<ol>
<li>Notre dame </li>
<li>Wash U</li>
<li>McGill</li>
<li>Oberlin</li>
</ol>
<p>Riley727- just curious, why is that? I’m pretty surprised, actually. Isn’t McGill ranked #18 worldwide, whereas WashU and ND aren’t even on the list? And you always hear about doctors and lawyers coming from McGill, and they have better alumni, better grad schools, right?</p>
<p>I probably would have guessed McGill and WashU to be about on par with each other, followed by ND and then Oberlin… anyway, would you mind giving your reasons? I’ve got to decide, ASAP…</p>
<p>To me, they all have very good academic reputations, in their own way. To the point where I wouldn’t really make a decison among them on that basis. I would go more for fit, where you see yourself thriving over the next four years, and heading afterwards.</p>
<p>Probably McGill has the best academic reputation internationally, I would guess.
Notre dame’s reputation has not always been primarily based on academics, but the academic profile of its student body has changed very significantly over the years. And IMO few universities have improved their selectivity and student body profile vs. years past more than Wash U has. For some years now Oberlin has slipped out of its former traditional spot as a perennial “top 10” LAC, however I believe its academics are still held in very high regard, as evidenced by its continued high “peer assessment” scores in the US News surveys, and it continues to churn out a sizable number of future PhDs. It is the only LAC in this group, if you prefer that environment.</p>
<p>As for “overall” reputation, not sure what that is. To me, reputation depends on criteria, ie reputation for what? </p>
<p>Just as a hypothetical, if one school had a huge reputation for incredibly loyal sports team followers and affiliation with a particular religious group, and students who want to get jobs in corporate america, and another had a reputation for students who largely don’t care for sports, or religion for that matter, want to save the world or become academics, which has the “better” reputation? Depends on how much one happens to like sports and [that] religion, and which future paths you most value, seems to me.</p>
<p>To give an example, there was a TV show some years ago called Dharma and Greg. Dharma and Greg were married. Greg’s parents were wealthy conservatives, and Dharma’s were unreformed hippies. In one episode, there was a sequence where both sets of grandparents fantasized about where their infant grandson would someday go to college. Greg’s parents dreamily said Stanford and Notre Dame. Dharma’s parents equally dreamily said Berkeley and Oberlin. Not that a TV show necessarily accurately describes any of these schools, but the point is that reputations may be assessed differently based on the different individual criteria of the assessors.</p>
<p>You’ve got a group of schools with different environments, locations, settings (eg relation to cities vs. campus based), sizes, proportions of undergrad vs. grad, average class sizes, # of available course offerings, differing curricula and requirements probably, distance from home, social mores, prevailing campus cultures,etc. There’s enough to consider besides what some hypothetical imaginary “other” person thinks, especially given that they are all “good” academically.</p>
<ol>
<li>WUSTL, McGill </li>
<li>Notre Dame </li>
<li>Oberlin</li>
</ol>
<p>Very subjective question! The only school of those I would even consider would be Oberlin, but obviously for different reasons than riley.</p>
<p>Reputation </p>
<ol>
<li>Washu</li>
<li>Notre Dame</li>
<li>Oberlin</li>
<li>McGill</li>
</ol>
<p>Quality of Undergrad Education</p>
<ol>
<li>Oberlin</li>
<li>Washu</li>
<li>Notre Dame</li>
<li>McGill</li>
</ol>
<p>Reputation:
- McGill
- ND and Wash U.
- Oberlin</p>
<p>Quality of Undergrad Education:</p>
<p>1.Wash U., ND, Oberlin*
4. Mcgill</p>
<p>*Oberlin is only in the conversation at all if you LIKE being fed standard left-wing propaganda.</p>
<p>I would definitely choose Oberlin. IMHO, it offers the best undergrad education of that group.</p>
<p>Lol- based on the fact that basically everyone has had different answers and there’s no total consensus, I’m going to say that they’re all pretty equal in reputation and academic success. (Maybe Oberlin’s a bit behind the other three, based on what everyone has said).</p>
<p>Anyway. Thanks, guys!</p>
<p>WashU>>Oberlin, ND, McGill</p>
<p>I would choose Oberlin over all the others. It’s the only school of these at which I’d want to be an undergraduate, and its academic reputation is stellar. (I don’t know where others on this thread are getting their information.) But, as monydad said, it all depends on what you’re looking for.</p>
<p>All very different schools. I’d personally choose WashU for being the most balanced school but all are very strong schools with different environments. If prestige is the issue I’d put WashU at the top followed by ND.</p>
<p>I would agree with schmaltz. Wash U, ND and McGill are pretty much on par, but as far as name recognition goes, ND and McGill definitely rank higher. Wash U’s an up-and-comer in that regard.</p>