Preppy/Wealthy-Stereotyped Schools

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I'm thinking of applying to, among other schools, SMU (Southern Methodist University) and Vanderbilt. </p>

<p>I come from a New England boarding school and my family is affluent, but I don't really like the idea of a college atmosphere that is dominated by wealth and status. </p>

<p>These schools in particular seem to carry that stereotype. Are they really like that? And for these and similar schools (UVA, GWU, GU, etc), how much of a big deal is it really?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Emory is the biggest prep school, I believe.</p>

<p>Kids at Vanderbilt are rich, but I'd say they're down to earth.</p>

<p>Is GU, Gonzaga U? If it is, I can help you there.</p>

<p>Interesting- I didn't know Emory was like that, too. And no, GU is Georgetown (I should have been clearer, sorry)
Thanks!</p>

<p>Coming from an affluent southern prep school that sends a ton of kids to both and views both as equal academically (even though I personally think Emory has the edge), I would say that a lot of people from my like picked Vanderbilt over Emory because it has more of a southern (and maybe elitist...I know a lot of "Vanderbilt families"...less so with Emory) feel. Emory, I believe, attracts more students from outside the South. For an example of difference, at Vanderbilt, a portion of the student population dresses up for football games, much like many schools in the SEC. At Emory, dressing up for sporting events would probably seem odd. Emory is possibly more preppy, however.
I'm basing this off what facebook and people from my high school have told me, so you might get a different perspective from someone else.</p>

<p>For one particular perspective on SMU, you might want to check out the earlier stuff on the Phantom Professor's blog. (Her employment woes were pretty high-profile, and the blog gets a lot less interesting -- at least I think it does -- after them.)</p>

<p>For a somewhat different approach to Emory, you might want to check out Patrick Allitt's book "I'm the Teacher, You're the Student."</p>

<p>As you can tell, these are faculty perspectives. And they are both controversial -- both of them have supporters and both of them have detractors. But you may be interested.</p>