<p>My D has been accepted to Saint Louis University and Furman. She is waitlisted for Rice so must decide between these two schools. Can anyone who has experience give me a comparison/contrast between Furman and SLU or I at least information to choose one over the other.</p>
<p>Furman has an awesome campus life and one of the most beautiful campuses in America. SLU is quite urban and much larger. If the frame of reference is similarity to Rice then I’d clearly take Furman.</p>
<p>Well, let me chime in here. First of all, CONGRATULATIONS! Both are fabulous schools. </p>
<p>Saint Louis University is not the same SLU of old…many new buildings, a revitalized “mid town” and a new Basketball arena going up near campus. Its Jesuit and that speaks for itself (a positive.) It has its own highly respected Medical School, so the chemistry program is strong at SLU. It has a gorgeous Cathedral on campus. Its Saint Louis, which is vibrant and really doesnt deserve the rap it gets…and its on the other end of the park from Washington University-St. Louis and you can cross matriculate in various classes, with approval.</p>
<p>Furman is a quintessential southern liberal arts college, on a beautiful campus. I am not knowledgeable about its chemistry department specifically, but I wouldnt say kids go to Furman for the sciences generally speaking. Its a fabulous school, very small, and in lovely Greenville, South Carolina. There may be some ties between their chemistry program and the textile business in Greenville. </p>
<p>They are two very different schools, different focus and such. SLU often gives generous scholarship money, did your D get some of that? I am a big fan of Jesuit colleges and I think SLU is a fine school, particularly for the academic minded student who is focused. The Jesuits are extremely well connected. SLU Medical School is rated number one in the nation for Nutritional Science. </p>
<p>I like Furman a lot and know people there who love it. Its a “happy school” meaning kids there are generally all happy and doing well. But I get the impression, because of your posting, that your daughter is more interested in deep programs and academics and less of a country club setting like Furman. Thus, I would recommend without hesitation to go with SLU, particularly if you got a nice scholarship.</p>
<p>And if you are Catholic its clearly the preferred school.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Gotta disagree here. A student who is competitive at Rice is probably looking for a more select, competitive set of peers. Furman is significantly more selective than SLU w/ median SATs in the 1300/1600 range, and in particular, a strong record of MCAT and med school acceptance success.</p>
<p>Did she get money from either? Where would she like to live and work after college?</p>
<p>D wants to to be a Research Chemist. She has not indicated where she would like to live but has serious thoughts of working on her PhD. Rice was her first choice, so the school most similar I would think would be her choice. We are Midwesterners and D is slightly concerned about getting to Furman since it is not in a city with a major airport. She got good money from both. Furman was more expensive but comes out cheaper than SLU by about 2-3 thousand after aid. D was interviewed for Presidential Scholarship at SLU, no such luck at Furman.</p>
<p>gadad, well, I appreciate your attempt at objective analysis. And you are certainly entitled to your opinion and its not a problem for me if we disagree. However, SAT scores are all about selectivity for admission, not selectivity for actual scholarship. For the record I know kids at private prep schools that get into Furman all the time, with legacy and other connections who have scores well below Furman’s standard median. If the OP is a midwesterner, his D may be more comfortable at SLU anyway. </p>
<p>For the record, my kid was accepted at SLU and was offered a lovely scholarship. She ultimately selected another Jesuit school. Money was not a huge factor but was a factor. The people at SLU are very friendly and we liked several of the professors we met. </p>
<p>Nothing wrong with Furman, but its a very small school and is very cliquey…very, very southern. She may want a different social scene from the midwest. I like Furman, but its important she knows what it is before she commits to going there.</p>
<p>For the record OP: people can fly into Greenville/Spartanburg Airport which is served by many major airlines, or they can fly into Charlotte Douglas International and make the 90 minute drive into Greenville. Charlotte will likely save you lots of money as airfares there are cheap because its a major hub.</p>
<p>Being waitlisted at Rice is an honor…sort of. Its a credit to how competitive she is. On the other hand, its like always being a bridesmaid and not the bride. (pardon the pun). I dont know what the likelihood of getting off the waitlist is at Rice…if they are taking anyone? Did they tell you her standing? Some schools will tell you up front…“hang in there, we may have room in May or June”. </p>
<p>We were impressed with SLU’s new buildings, ambitious administration, very positive student body and faculty and we just liked St. Louis as a city. (We got waitlisted at WashU…lol.) </p>
<p>Here is what I would do, frankly: get her to make a list of her personal objectives, personality traits and social interests. Be honest. Then make a matrix with the two schools and see if that helps. Also, I would get online and do some deep investigation of faculty credentials, programs and course offerings. </p>
<p>I have my own bias because I like Jesuit schools. But its her decision, obviously.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Endlessrecession,
I confess to knowing nothing about SLA, but do love Jesuit schools such as BC and ND. After reading the opinions expressed above and as a parent of 2 students completing their freshman year at Furman, I feel compelled to respond. There are a number of students who do select Furman for the sciences-The Townes Science scenter opened this fall and is an incredible venue for undergraduate research. Ditto with GaDad, Furman has a >75% acceptance rate for students to their first choice of medical schools, which as a medical person I can tell you is nothing to ignore. If a student is interested in working as research chemist the data on Furman relative to other top schools that produce PhD.'s in the sciences is listed below:</p>
<p>Top producers of PhDs in physical sciences, comp sci, math
This is a ranking of the top 20 baccalaureate schools of PhDs in physical sciences, computer science, and math. Physical sciences include chemistry, physics, astronomy/astrophysics, earth sciences, atmospheric sciences, and marine sciences. PhD number also includes math and comp sci.
This information is from the NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates 1995-2006 and from IPEDS. Furman ranks 25th among schools nationwide - immediately behind Amherst and ahead of Davidson, Willliams, Bowdoin, UC Berkeley and College of William and Mary. So, I don’t think OP’s D would be at any type of disadvantage from a major perspective.</p>
<p>While I don’t doubt there are kids who get into Furman who are legacies with scores below 1300-11600 range ( M+CR), I am reminded that the mid range does not reflect the 25% of students who score below the mid 50 percentile and are admitted. Our kids, with SAT’s in the mid range, numerous AP’s, etc. have found Furman to be academically rigorous-much more studying than partying. Furman is known for grade deflation and application and admission data for 2009 seems to pointed in overall acceptance rate of 35%- . And the major scholarships at Furman-The Lay, Holllingsworth and Townes have score requirements of minimum 1380-1400, comparable ACT’s, GPA’s, etc.</p>
<p>I do agree with you that the students can be cliquey, the Greek scene is more dominant than some people imagine and the campus does give one the feel that you are driving into a resort. But our kids’ experience from an academic POV is quite different than the quintessential southern LAC. </p>
<p>Good luck, ChemDad and understand I am expressing our family’s current experience with Furman.</p>
<p>Son want to study Biology and Chemistry and is currently trying to decide between Saint Louis and Marquette. (Endlessrecession, maybe you have an opinion here, we love Jesuit schools also. He hopes to attend medical school eventually). We were very impressed with SLU and had the best campus visit there of any school we looked into, I would echo the earlier posts.</p>