<p>
[quote]
Harvard: We're serious students with all the resources (and overwhelming-ness) of Cambridge, Boston, and the oldest university in the US at our feet. We like our school and everything, but we're stressed and at times feel like we're in a fishbowl.
[/quote]
sorry to be so nit-picky, but Harvard isn't the nation's oldest university...it's the nation's oldest college
the University of Pennsylvania is the nation's oldest university :)
Fighting Quaker '09</p>
<p>I don't think they're even number two. (William and Mary?)</p>
<p>Harvard was the first college, followed by (in which order I'm not sure) Yale, Princeton and William & Mary. Then Penn came, and it was the first to be called a "university" - something to do with the medical school, I believe, which was the nation's first; and also that it was the first the break away from the religious stuff and focus on secular, practical education. </p>
<p>see ya at Penn, LAgal!</p>
<p>Have fun at Penn, guys! Sorry for the mixup... anyone have any impressions on Wellesley?</p>
<p>Harvard was first, william and mary second, yale third, princeton (originally called something else--the college of new jersey, i think), and penn fourth...you're right, weirdoone...penn had the first med school; i'm not sure, though if that's the reason why it was the first university
i'll see you there, too! are you on myspace, btw?</p>
<p>how about carnegie mellon u?</p>
<p>Illinois Wesleyan: sporty and artsy in the same time... indifferent student population; 90-95% white middle class kid from midwest states</p>
<p>Don't be too quick to stereotype Skidmore as artsy, fringe and apathetic. The College attracts a vastly different, more well-rounded student body than it did 10 years ago.</p>
<p>Sports at Skidmore are thriving (men's and women's lacrosse and men's baseball had their best season's in the College's history and golf, tennis and equastrian are consistent champions) and student-driven clubs (debate, cycling, and European Union) won competitions against many of the Ivy's in the past year. </p>
<p>What DOES differentiate Skidmore from a Colgate, Hamilton or Colby, however, is the infusion of "creative thought" in all the College's affairs.</p>
<p>Thank you to all who have posted on this thread. i am interested in a brief but broad description of Howard University, its strngths, weaknesses (apart from being predominantly black), etc. thanks</p>
<p>What about University of Texas at Austin?</p>
<p>LL, I'll give you two for one, Smith and Wellesley:</p>
<p>A prof at Smith walks into the room at 9am and says, "Good morning, class." One student says, "What do you mean by 'good'? How do you know my values align with yours?" A second student says, "Isn't your statement awfully Western Hemisphere-centric?" A third says, "What do you mean by 'class'? Aren't we supposed to be eliminating classist language?" </p>
<p>At Wellesley, a prof walks into the room at 9am and says "Good morning, class." Twenty students furiously scribble in their notebooks, "Good morning, class."</p>
<p>Wellesley probably, as a whole, seems to be both more pre-professional in orientation and tightly wound in temperament. Both schools have ferociously effective alumnae networks with great loyalty. They were D's #1 and #2 schools.</p>
<p>LOL, TheDad!</p>
<p>Haha, thanks, TheDad! =)</p>
<p>rockyno1-</p>
<p>Re: Howard aka "The Mecca".</p>
<p>Along with Hampton, Spelman and Morehouse, Howard continues to attract black scholars from old guard families. Many of the Hampton, Spelman and Morehouse students will go on to attend graduate school at Howard.....especially when Medicine and Law are the focus. </p>
<p>A couple of years ago, Howard was able to boast that their student body consisted of more National Achievement Scholars than any other college in the country - including Harvard and UVA. </p>
<p>Howard lays claim to more more prominent, professional blacks than any other college or university. Today, nearly one-third of all black physicians, dentist and one-fifth of black attorneys are Howard alums. The network is extraordinary and full of opportunities. Even though my own son will attend Penn in the fall, most of his opportunities (summer internships, job offers, special programs) are a result of our family members who are Howard alums linking him with others in their Howard networks. He was recently offered a very elite, competitive summer internship in DC via a Howard connection. </p>
<p>As for the "reputation" of Howard, it's students are serious...but have fun. It's long been known for being heavily greek (as are it's fellow HHSM members). Partying is common and sports are serious. Females are 68% of the population, which is similar to the sitation at Hampton (64%).....very sad to see this continual decline of black male enrollement. They aren't ALL going to Morehosue.</p>
<p>I think Howard has broken away from some of the old guard ways of HSM (again, Hampton, Spelman, Morehouse) and has become a little more broad in it's student-body and draw. For some, that's a wonderful thing. For others, it's a drawback. </p>
<p>It's also much larger than the HSM....so that lends to a different air about it. </p>
<p>Howard is the most competitive of the HHSM pack....hardest to get into, highest SAT medians, etc.</p>
<p>At face value, comparing a school like Howard to a school like Harvard (picking these two because they are both at the top of their respective packs), one would assume that Harvard would surely be the better option. But, of people I know (and I know enough Ivy alums and Howard alums to feel comfortable in making this anecdotal comparison), Howard alums are more successful and leading better lives, have more career success and a financially better off. For that reason, I would have been comfortable if my own son would have chosen Howard over Penn.</p>
<p>As one of my Howard alum friends said (he's a surgical oncologist), paraphrase- "put him in a place where he can touch and smell his interests.....if it's medicine, let him be somehere where he can touch the blood, if it's law, let him be in a place where he can smell the old law journals and shake hands with the politicans, etc".... For him, Howard offered this, where Hampton, Spelman and Morehouse didn't.</p>
<p>Comparing Mount Holyoke to its sister schools, Smith and Wellesley, I would say that "tightly wound", "furious" and "ferocious" (see TheDad's post) would not apply but effective and loyal alumnae abound. When the prof walks in and says "good morning", I suspect the students gaze out the window, take in the view of gorgeous fall foliage , ivy covered walls, or the distant hills and respond with an enthusiastic, "it is a good morning, isn't it?"</p>
<p>Yale - Nonchalantly socially disambiguating.</p>
<p>Pomona College: Swarthmore, Amherst and Williams...but with FAR BETTER WEATHER and waaaaaaaay more laid back</p>
<p>Pomoma--is there anyplace deader than Claremont, CA?</p>
<p>Yeah. Hockessin, Delaware.</p>
<p>Pye, thanks for the MHC anecdote. I'm stealing it to add to the riff. Fwiw, it confirms that my D wound up at the right one of the three.
Hmmm...wonder what the analog for Barnard would be?</p>