Prestige? Selectivity?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm applying to schools next year and I was just wondering about the prestige and selectivity of some of them. Now obviously, I can look up the facts and admissions rates and average scores for all of them (and I have), but I just wanted a few opinions about these schools. A lot of them probably wouldn't be recognizable to the average person, and I'm fine with that I was wondeirng more about the prestige and respect they have from graduate schools and employers. Also I was wondering about selectivity and how hard they actually are to get into.</p>

<p>Here are the schools. (Yes, I realize they're all very different, I haven't visited many schools yet and I'm still completely unsure of what I want).</p>

<p>Vanderbilt University
Wesleyan University
Vassar College
Tufts
Johns Hopkins
Georgetown
Boston College</p>

<p>So which of these colleges is the hardest to get into, which has the most prestige etc.?</p>

2

<p>Vanderbilt University -- I get the feeling that some overestimate the difficulty of getting in. On the whole, though, Vandy is definitely one of the hardest schools to get into.
Tufts -- Many people underestimate poor Tufts. Its SAT scores are comparable to Ivies. There's also rumor of the "Tufts Syndrome," wherein students who don't appear to show much interest in Tufts are rejected, despite having stellar stats.
Johns Hopkins -- some overestimate the selectivity, some underestimate it. I'd say on the whole, it's very selective, on par with some of the Ivies.
Georgetown -- many underestimate its selectivity. It's pretty selective.</p>

<p>As far as prestige goes, they will all be advantageous in grad schools/employers. They're all well-regarded. (Though general prestige is another matter in itself.)</p>

3

<p>From my own biased and worthless opinion, I'd value Georgetown and JHU above the rest.</p>

4

<p>Wesleyan - highly unpredictable, especially for women applicants; prestige in the entertainment industry is running pretty high right now; tends to skew the results a bit when it comes to more traditional pursuits like pre-med, pre-law and business.</p>

5

<p>Pretty much agree with ilovebagels</p>

6

<p>Prestige? Selectivity? Visit and see where you fit in. You will more than likely find one that stands out above the rest. Prestige means nothing if you are not happy.</p>

7

<p>I know that. I was just asking about the prestige and selectivity of the schools. It's not going to play a role in my decision, I'm just curious about how people perceive these schools.</p>

8

<p>I have the most respect for Wesleyan, Vassar, and Tufts, less for JHU, less for Georgetown, with BC and Vanderbilt at the bottom.</p>

<p>I obviously have a strong preference for LACs and northeastern schools. Not coincidentally, those are the schools I investigated and applied to. I'd imagine most people are biased toward the schools they personally considered.</p>

<p>Objectively, all of these schools are very high quality, all would provide you with an excellent education, and all are highly regarded by employers and grad schools (regardless of what the general public may think). bandnerd91321 is right on the money - with a list like that you should be focusing on fit, not prestige.</p>

9

<p>I think people underestimate Vanderbilt because it's a southern school and so a lot of people from up north don't know much lot about it. However, from all the schools you listed, Vanderbilt is the most difficult to get into/ has the most prestige I would say.
I would also put Georgetown up there for prestige/ selectivity.
Tufts is also selective however doesn't have as much prestige, same with John Hopkins.</p>

10

<p>But "prestige" can mean a lot of things. If you are an engineer and are competing for jobs against GA Tech or Purdue, Vandy is not going to be considered prestigious. I think prestige has to be considered from the point of view of how good a particular program is at that school. When I think great pre-med programs, Vandy doesn't come to mind. See what I mean?</p>

11

<p>As an Ivy brat I can say that Georgetown and JHU have more overlap students with the Ivies.</p>

<p>I'm not saying this is justified or rational (prestige equations rarely are) but in the words of Bruce Hornsby, that's just the way it is.</p>

12

<p>Prestige</a> Versus Education by [url=<a href="http://www.tsowell.com/%5DThomas"&gt;http://www.tsowell.com/]Thomas&lt;/a> Sowell<a href="Rose%20and%20Milton%20Friedman%20Senior%20Fellow:%20The%20Hoover%20Institution:%20Stanford%20University">/url</a>:</p>

<p>
[quote]
...Some students may feel flattered that Harvard, Yale or M.I.T. seems to be dying to have them apply. But the brutal reality is that the reason for wanting so many youngsters to apply is so that they can be rejected. </p>

<p>Why? Because the prestige ranking of a college or university as a "selective" institution is measured by how small a percentage of its applicants are accepted. So they have to get thousands of young people to apply, so that they can be rejected.</p>

<p>While we are on the subject of reality and prestige, one of the tragic misconceptions of many students and their parents is that you have to go to a prestigious, big-name academic institution to really get ahead and reach the top...</p>

<p>...Stop and think: What is an academic institution's prestige based on? </p>

<p>Academic prestige is based mostly on the research achievements of the faculty. Places like Harvard or Stanford have many professors who are among the leading experts in their respective fields, including some who have won Nobel Prizes. </p>

<p>Good for them. But is it good for you, if you are a student at Prestige U.? </p>

<p>Big-name professors are unlikely to be teaching you freshman English or introductory math. Some may not be teaching you anything at all, unless and until you go on to postgraduate study. </p>

<p>In other words, the people who generated the prestige which attracted you to the college may be seen walking about the campus but are less likely to be seen standing in front of your classroom when you begin your college education...</p>

<p>...By contrast, at a small college without the prestige of big-name research universities, the introductory courses which provide a foundation for higher courses are more likely to be taught by experienced professors who are teachers more so than researchers. </p>

<p>Maybe that is why graduates of such colleges often go on to do better than the graduates of big-name research universities. </p>

<p>You may never have heard of Harvey Mudd College but a higher percentage of its graduates go on to get Ph.D.s than do the graduates of Harvard, Yale, Stanford or M.I.T. So do the graduates of Grinnell, Reed, and various other small colleges...

[/quote]
</p>

13

<p>That presumes that getting a PhD is held as a universal goal of all undergraduates--which it is clearly not.</p>

<p>I would argue students who opt to go to LACs are more predisposed to wanting a PhD than students who go to universities.</p>

14

<p>^^ agreed.</p>

15

<p>StitchinTime:
EXACTLY!</p>

16

<p>imaginationpower. it is johnsssssssss hopkins. vanderbilt is a great school, but it is consistently ranked lower than jhu, and higher than tufts.</p>

17

<p>interesting article. but LACs are more expensive than public state U like UCLA if you are CA resident</p>