A rate of 78% is excellent for state schools, but Sewanee has the second lowest 6 year graduation rate of any LAC listed in the top 50 in US News (and it’s also lower than any National University listed in the top 50 in US News). By comparison, Holy Cross has a 91% 6 year graduation rate and St. Olaf’s is 87%
Jmbakh - I don’t have any children or relatives at Brandeis, so I don’t think I’m particularly biased about it and if you go to Sewanee, I hope you have a wonderful, special experience. However, I think you’re making way too much of Brandeis’s differences in size and style. Having an intro bio lecture class that is relatively large is fairly common everywhere, but by the time you get to more advanced classes, they will be much much smaller. Just a quick glance at the Brandeis bio classes showed that the vast majority of spring classes had enrollments of 30 and under.
I wish you nothing but the best - goof luck with your decision.
@midaltmom thank you! I am very impressed by Brandeis and Holy Cross for graduation rates. Holy Cross seems especially impressive because incoming student stats aren’t quite as high as Brandeis. I do feel like Sewanee is likely to improve like I said before(they did hit 79 for the most recent but that’s not worth mentioning haha) and I also felt like there was a lot of support for students when I just did my campus visit. It is definitely something to consider though. With the class size I know that most classes at Brandeis are small and the faculty seems very impressive. Still I plan to be a pre med and I feel like most of the pre reqs are going to be a fair amount larger than at my LAC options from what I’ve heard. Once I get deeper into the major the classes will probably be similar in size to LACs and I bet my humanities classes will be small to start. I mean I could be off the mark but it’s easy to worry because I haven’t gotten to see it. I do recognize that Brandeis has an emphasis on undergrad teaching but it seems like a combination of research and large class sizes would take away some from teaching at least for intro science courses. I’m not saying that’s bad or uncommon but it’s just a bit different than the LACs.
Yeah I really have no idea. I do recognize how important it is to limit the loans especially if I stick to pre med. I also see that Brandeis is fantastic and the students seem great on the Facebook page and just based I everything I’ve heard. Then St. Olaf seems like it has everything I’m looking for and a student body more like me and Brandeis(less diverse but some similar social views). I won’t get too excited until I see aid of course. I still feel like I loved it at Sewanee and it was important I actually experienced it. I definitely hear about schools seeming perfect on paper but not feeling right in person. I know I’m just totally ranting now. I also wonder if it’s worse to go to a school like Brandeis where it’s full of pre meds and my stats are average vs schools like Sewanee and St. Olaf where the academics have the reputation of being very rigorous and excellent but where my stats are above the 75 percentile. That’s probably not even something I should think about.
@green678 Thanks for the input! I’m glad you loved it there. I was 90% sure I was heading to Brandeis before the visit to Sewanee but I’ll probably follow your advice. I shouldn’t overthink this but it’s such a huge decision.
@jmbakh, you have done such a great job of navigating college admissions with an unusually mature understanding of how FA works. All the effort you have put in has been, and will continue to be, absolutely worth it.
I apologize for my overly biased comments about Sewanee vs Brandeis. I think unless you have experienced Sewanee, it is difficult to explain how wonderful it is. A once in a lifetime experience.
You will figure out what the best choice is for you. I just think you “get” Sewanee, and the slightly higher rankings at B should not be the deciding factor.
Good luck to you, and congratulations, you really deserve all these great choices.
See if you can get a fly-in to St Olaf. Based on what you said about Sewanee, I think you’d also really like it there. Both have access to nature and are strong academically, with lively classes. The main differences are that St Olaf is very international-minded (you can even study abroad as premed), has no greek life, and is in a college town, whereas Sewanee owns a mountain ( !), has Greeks, and is about 1 hour to the nearest town. Both can be appealing to you so to compare them, visiting would be a must.
Also, if your EFC is zero, recontact Denison to see whether they made a mistake in your financial aid package. Cite their NPC. It, too, is located in a rural area. Like at Sewanee the Greeks aren’t residential and Denison has tried (harder than Sewanee) to rein them in due to excesses (both colleges have had problems with drinking.) Academically Denison is excellent, it’s located in a natural setting near a charming town, and I think you may like it too if you liked Sewanee. However, if their FA package sounds out of whack with what the others offered, there may have been a mistake, so you better check.
@jmbakh You have excellent college choices and a good head on your shoulders.
I know you are from TX. One thing to consider if you haven’t experienced a northern winter full time is the weather. Having grown up in MN, I can attest that winters there are long and cold. You may choose to go home to TX during breaks, but your college experience will be throughout the entire winter at St. Olaf. I’ve also lived many years near Boston, and the winters in MA are much more bearable compared to MN. Snow does melt during the winter because cold days are interspersed with milder days. St. Olaf will be covered in snow continuously from November through March, and there will be long stretches of time with cold temps. MN winters can be great for the right person but think this through. Sewanee is a great college in the perfect setting for an outdoor enthusiast. I understand the Domain is famous for its fog. Winters are mild, not warm like TX.
@4kids4colleges thanks for the kind words and input. I won’t let ranking influence me. The student body, aid and opportunities at Brandeis make it tough but I do feel like I want a true LAC even if that’s being silly. Sewanee was fantastic so I’ll probably decide to go there it the official revised aid package matches what the financial aid representative told me.
@MYOS1634 When the St. Olaf admissions representative contacted me he mentioned that it would be likely be difficult for me to visit because of how little time is left. I think he meant for me to get my own flight it would be hard so I doubt they would fly me. Maybe I should have tried harder to arrange flights from these schools but I feel like they know my income and I mentioned my difficulty visiting in the common app so the opportunity probably isn’t there. Anyway I am emailing a St. Olaf student now so that may help.
@dadof1 That is a good point. I feel like I will like the cold and I’m ready to get away from Houston weather. That said I know it would be a big change and the more mild climate of Tennessee would be less of a shock. It would also allow more time outdoors more than likely.
They don’t provide fly ins unless you ask, so go ahead… It’s risk free and it’ll give you more opportunity to compare/contrast. It’s very possible the admission officer was wording things this way to see if you had time to come visit
As for the cold, I had a friend from Texas who relocated to very cold climes for college. For the first couple months he said his arms itched all the time because he’d never worn long sleeves but in the end he preferred that wweweather as well and waso enthusiastic both of his siblings went to college in that state… He much preferred the cold with clear blue skies to the weather he was used to during his youth, and he liked the culture better.
@MYOS1634 well the two fly ins I have I didn’t ask. Denison just gave me the offer with the admissions. Sewanee I mentioned that I really wanted to visit but couldn’t so I guess I indirectly asked but I had pretty good contact with the admissions rep. Nothing to lose though you’re right.
@NROTCgrad I agree. I more meant that Brandeis seems to really strive to provide that LAC experience and it is relatively small so maybe the academic experience would seem similar. I just feel like the combination of the academic experience being different at Brandeis and having no feel for the campus make it even more of an unknown than the LACs I haven’t visited.
I just wanted to thank everyone for their help again. I’ve officially committed to Sewanee! It was tough when I considered how great the other schools were as well. Sewanee is a special place though and I know I’ll be happy there.
!), has Greeks, and is about 1 hour to the nearest town. Both can be appealing to you so to compare them, visiting would be a must.
