<p>just got accepted off the waitlist at vandy? would it be comparable to williams in terms of academics? i'm looking for a solid liberal arts curriculum probably majoring in poli sci. also is the student body pretty cohesive?</p>
<p>Tough choice. I would choose Vandy but Williams is a great school I have family that went there. The student body is extremely tight-knight but there is some apparent self-segregation on campus.</p>
<p>This isn't really that tough of a decision because the schools are almost complete opposites. If you want to go to a college with 2,000 students, go to Williams, and if you don't, go to Vandy.</p>
<p>i can do 2000 or 6000. i do prefer vandy with regards to size. however, is it comparable to the academics for my interests?</p>
<p>Overall, Williams has a more "intellectual flavor", but assuming you were accepted into A&S at Vandy, there would be no trouble finding that niche especially in poly sci.</p>
<p>Go to the iTunes store and type Vanderbilt University podcasts into the search function. There are several political science professors with work on the site. I have only heard two or three, but my favorite would be #77 which is the 2007 version of what I heard in person for Parents' Lectures at Commencement 2006. While the discussion of the election is dated at this point, I think you can get a sense of the intellectual level of the faculty.</p>
<p>aside to palmettotree:</p>
<p>
[quote]
poly sci.
[/quote]
</p>
<p><em>poly sci</em> is short in the academic world for "polymer science", which bears no resemblance to <em>poli sci</em>, short for "political science". What a difference one letter can make.</p>
<p>FG13: I hope you have visited both campuses. The physical settings are so different it is hard to imagine that one does not appeal much more to you than the other. The size difference is much greater than 2K vs 6K, since Vanderbilt contains a full range of graduate programs as well as a law school and a medical school, with a large medical complex on campus. Hence, it is not a 6K school. The feel of a full-service university is very different than a small LAC in a remote setting.</p>
<p>A friend of my son is at Williams. He is very happy with the intellectual level of the classes, but he finds the size of the school and the town a bit hard to take. However, there are many opportunities for travel and study abroad, many of them financed by the school, so the size-related limits are, to some extent, canceled out. </p>
<p>Based on the students I know at Vanderbilt (a small and possibly not representative sample?), I think you would be pleased with the intellectual level of the student body, over all.</p>
<p>Have you looked at the main page of the Vanderbilt web site, where they announce visiting and guest speakers? I guess now is a slow time, since summer break has arrived, but most weeks feature a long list of outside speakers, many that would be of interest to a political science student.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>(By the way, I lived in western MA for many years. I loved it, but from the perspective of an undergraduate, I would choose Nashville. There is just a lot more to do, a lot more going on.)</p>
<p>reputation with law schools and academic prestige are really the two main factors which is why i'm not fully considering size...
i have visited williams and the small and isolated fear was definitely overcome. it is a good point though that vandy includes grad school facilities.. and thus is much larger than a 6K school. my main concern is whether it's academically comparable. if so i would be willing to spend the money to go visit and consider it over williams for the college environment i perceive it to be better in.</p>
<p>I would much rather go to Williams, buttt I didn't get in so I'm headed to Vandy. I guess its all a matter of personal choice, I think Williams is a better school overall...</p>
<p>Who wouldn't want to go to Vanderbilt and experience the South at it's finest. Warmer weather and as far as academics go you can't compare the two. Williams is a small liberal-liberal arts college and Vanderbilt is a major-major University. The resources for all things are far outweigh a place like Vanderbilt over a place like Williams.</p>
<p>williams is considerably more selective and prestigious, even though the common joe shmoe in the south probably hasn't heard of williams
but vanderbilt is very good in political science, i think.
I'd go to Williams.</p>
<p>Williams. In terms of resources the endowment $ per student is much higher at Williams, better student teacher ratio, higher admission stats, better grad school admission, no classes taught by ta's, Vandy is a great school but a better question would be Williams or Harvard Williams or Yale not Williams or Vandy. I only put it in these stark term because you are faced with a choice or either. Both are great schools that any student would be fortunate to attend.</p>
<p>i also find it interesting that you got into Williams but was waitlisted at Vandy</p>
<p>I think there was another thread where the op asked Williams or BC. Not sure about the comps being made! Some of these schools in question are not really comparable. But hey it's a free country.</p>
<p>If you look at the Common Data Sets for both schools for school year 2007-2008, enrolled students, you will find that the statistical profile for enrolled freshmen is pretty similar. If you consider that the Vanderbilt data includes students in Blair (music) and Peabody (education) as well as engineering and A&S, then the difference between students in A and S at VU and Williams is even smaller.</p>
<p>CR: Vanderbilt: 640-740 Williams 670-760
M: 660-740 670-760
W: 640-730 660-760</p>
<p>ACT: identical for the two schools: 29-33 composite</p>
<p>There are plenty of differences between the two schools, and plenty of differences, overall, between the student bodies of the two schools, but suggestions that there will be a clear-cut difference between the academic quality of one's fellow students is not borne out by the numbers.</p>
<p>There are plenty of reasons students would choose Vanderbilt over Williams, and plenty of reason Vanderbilt would reject or wait-list students accepted at top LACs. Choose a school according to how it best serves your overall needs. A few points on the overall SAT or ACT rubric is not a very good reason to choose one school over another.</p>
<p>i really understand williams' superiority with respect to all the schools i compare it too. i was just confirming this notion though. here in the midwest, no one has heard of williams and it seems that the reputation of these other schools is greater. however, i think it's evident that williams is recognized highly where it counts (law schools, employers...)</p>