<p>I know that Sewannee's a bit isolated but I've heard its a beautiful campus. Rhodes is in Memphis? What's the difference in campus culture and reputation? I guess Sewannee's pretty small (1700?) enrollment, and is "mostly Episcopalian" according to the Princeton Review. Any other observations from CC'ers?</p>
<p>I've visited both, and had the impression that they were the same college in different settings. Sewanee has more of a drinking atmosphere (there's not much to do in the area), and Rhodes is more service-oriented. Not to say there isn't drinking at Rhodes or service at Sewanee, but one is a bit more than the other. Sewanee is slightly more well-known nationally, but Rhodes is making up ground quickly. Sewanee has some very interesting traditions (wearing academic gowns), but it is very, very, very isolated. You really have to visit to get a sense of the setting. Sewanee is owned by several southern Episcopal dioceses and has an Episcopal seminary, so it does have a presence. But we're talking Episcopalians here - they're pretty tolerant and low-key.</p>
<p>Rhodes is a traditional small liberal arts college. It's urban and students have access to all that Memphis has to offer, good and bad.</p>
<p>Sewanee is pretty isolated and it has a particular "culture." If you don't buy into that culture, you won't be comfortable there. Many male students wear coats/ties to class and many female students wear skirts/dresses to class. Also, faculty and student members of "the Order of Gownsmen" wear academic gowns in class. It's very southern, Greek life is dominant, drinking is big, and the school has LOTS of kids of alums. In short, it's very country-club-like.</p>
<p>I don't know much about Rhodes, but I'll tell you what I know about Sewanee (both of my parents went there). Sewanee is in the middle of nowhere. It's gorgeous though. It feels like you are walking around a castle. It's surrounded by great places for outdoor activities. It's close to some rivers for rafting. I've gone spolunking (caving) on Sewanee property. Plenty of places to bike. Etc. If you aren't really into those types of things, then you probably won't like it. It has sort of a "bubble-feel." The town is quite small and really only exists because of the college. You have to like the campus because there really isn't anywhere else to go. I guess you could go to Chattanooga, but Chattanooga isn't that great of a town. Personally, I would hate to go to Sewanee, but that's just me. Some people absolutely adore it. I am not the type of person that enjoys just hanging out with friends 24 hours a day. If you are interested in being isolated from the rest of the world, then hey, you might like it.</p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>THanks, guys. We're trying to get our kids OUT of the bubble that we're already in, so I think we'll cross Sewannee off the list.!</p>
<p>Both are small LACs located on opposite sides of Tennessee. The average freshman retention rate for Sewanee-The University of the South is 88%; the avg. freshman retention rate for Rhodes is 86%. Sewanee is almost 50/50 male/ female, while Rhodes is about 60% female. In my opinion, it would be hard to spend four years at either school without a year abroad or a year spent at another college on an exchange program (e.g., similiar to Claremont McKenna's option to spend a year at Haverford). What does your son or daughter intend to study & what are his or her interests?</p>
<p>I had always hoped one of my kids would go to Sewanee. Neither would even visit it before undergrad, although my daughter will likely spend a year there for seminary in the future. She loves the campus as do I. It is serene and, as noted, isolated. There is a HUGE drinking culture (hey-it IS the Episcopalians). Whenever three or more are gathered, there's a FIFTH. Academics are good, but doesn't have the reputation of Vanderbilt. If you have the stats, I would pick Vanderbilt over Sewanee unless you really want an insular environment. Sewanee is the type of place you want to go for a retreat or to spend a month hiking and writing. Four years would be tough.</p>
<p>Its early for us as our son's only a freshman, but he does a sport and probably wants to do it in college so people are saying that you need to be organised by Sophomore year which makes me very nervous!! We're not from the Southeast but he wants to stay down here so its like being in another country as neither H or I really know alot about these schools and haven't really met grads from them, either. Our son's English teacher is very sophisticated academically and she's a Rhodes grad. Being an Episcopalian myself, Momof, I'm all too familiar with the culture you're referring to! I'm just sort of doing broad brush strokes here because we don't even have SAT scores yet, but want to be familiar with these schools somewhat as we go down the road. When we travel we stop in at colleges (he wouldn't even get out of the car at Middlebury, not sure what that was all about). So my husband's saying, "Harvard would be great! " (he went) and I'm saying, "How about Elon?" so there are disconnects which will be ironed out as time goes by. Thanks!</p>