So confused! URichmond v Denison v SUNY Geneseo v Skidmore

College Search & Selection
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<p>I am more confused than ever. I am trying to decide between these schools and not sure how. I am interested in the biology (possibly premed or research), but really like political science and literature so a liberal arts school is what I am looking for. I have visited them all, but first impressions can be deceiving. </p>

<p>SUNY Geneseo-I am OOS, but still an unbelievable finiancial deal. New science facility, kids seem less pretentious and less preppy (and I mean that in a good way). Concerned about so few OOS students and fact that many kids are from upstate NY and whether a significant number of them leave on the weekends. I like small towns, but Geneseo seems really small. I am thinking about premed and at biology department meeting they specifically said they had great relationship with SUNY med schools, but limited experience with "other" school. This is probably the most selective and has highest academis profile on my list.</p>

<p>Denison-just visited and it was a beautiful campus and biology faculty seemed great. Worried about being a bit too preppy and frat oriented. Statistically not as academic and because of this have merit aid, so cost is pretty reasonable. Claim to have great success in med school admisssions.</p>

<p>URichmond-visited once in summer and only a few students around. Not sure how their science department is, seems fine. They brag about good med school acceptance rate. Beautiful campus but is it super preppy or frat oriented? Very expensive and haven't heard from FA yet, is it worth it?</p>

<p>Skidmore-campus seemed so-so and biology tour folks blew us off. Admissions spokes person seemed great and philosophy of creativity sounded good. Did not get a good feel for what the student body is like.</p>

<p>If anyone can confirm my impressions or has different ones, please let me know.</p>

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<p>Denison: Good rep from Ohio residents, strong sciences
Univ. of Richmond: great international business and political science, ok sciences-bio, more pronounced frat scene than other choices, preppy in the sense of well healed financially
Skidmore: good lit, ok sciences, more liberal than the other above choices</p>

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<p>Thanks, any other opinions out there...</p>

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<p>While SUNY-Geneseo may have the strongest student profile currently, I'm not sure that this will continue and I would also think about how much range these colleges can provide post-graduation. SUNY will undoubtedly be best in NY state and the experience will be heavily focused that way given that 99% of the students are in-state and relatively low student diversity (7% Asian, 3% Black, 4% Hispanic). It's also about twice the size of the other three. </p>

<p>Skidmore is about 60% women and this is a critical factor for many students as they make their college selections. It's also only a 33% IS (from NY) and with greater diversity (7%, 3%, 4%). It is the only one of the four that has no Greek life and I would say that it is the most liberal campus of the bunch.</p>

<p>Denison has very similar selectivity with Skidmore with similar numbers of IS numbers (from Ohio) and less diversity than the others (3%, 5%, 2%). Denison is probably the most preppy of these four colleges and Greek life is big with 19% men and 26% of the women participating. </p>

<p>For U Richmond, this school probably has the most momentum of this group of colleges. I have posted on this recently and, in the event that you did not see those comments, I repost below:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>The campus might be the single prettiest college campus in the country. If you’ve visited there, then you already know it, but if not you really should know about the wonderful job that the planners at U Richmond have done. Most (all?) of the buildings are constructed in a uniform gothic style using red bricks and laid it out around a lake and on hillsides for a setting that is truly beautiful (which is an overused word on CC, but U Richmond is the real deal). </p>

<ol>
<li>Beyond the landscape beauty, the facilities of the college are first-rate, including a spectacular new science center and as attractive a student center and nearby cafeteria as you’ll find anywhere. Coupled with top athletic facilities for students to use and another major arena in which to watch their Spiders play basketball, U Richmond’s got a lot to offer. I hear that their football team plays its games off campus, but that a new on-campus stadium is planned.</li>
<li>As far as studies, perhaps the best known is the undergraduate business school (Robins School named after the school’s major benefactor who also gave the $ for the Robins athletic building). U Richmond also received a major gift for the creation of an undergraduate leadership program and they have developed a strong program for this (Jepson). </li>
<li>While the faculty may not currently have the historical reputation of places like Hamilton or Colby or Bucknell, I would consider U Richmond as a peer or near peer to each of these. The students come out of there well prepared and there is a great fundamental underpinning to the education to the educational offering. This is central Virginia after all, so there is a bit more of a conservative, traditional slant than you’d find in northern climes, but I think most students would find the faculty and the educational offering to be outstanding. </li>
<li>Money: The school is wealthy and currently has the 44th largest endowment of ALL colleges (and a per capita level of over $500k per student which is better than 4 of the Ivies) in the country which I think is pretty impressive for a school of its size (about 2800) and bodes well for their financial ability to deliver a high quality experience to their students now and in the future. Expect to see more great facilities and more great faculty hires. </li>
<li>Leadership: They hired away from U Virginia one of the rising stars of American academia in Ed Ayers. Everything I’ve ever heard about him is good and it looks like U Richmond is in good hands that will steer the college to a stronger and stronger undergraduate offering (and a higher and higher national reputation). </li>
<li>The city of Richmond is a medium-sized city (about 1 million metro area) with some nice parts to it. U Richmond is located in the wealthy western area of the city, but still relatively close to the downtown areas (about 15 minutes away) and some nice restaurant areas (about 10 minutes away). The city experiences all four seasons and springtime is spectacular. There is a certain southern charm and friendliness to the city and to the college that is unmistakable and highly appealing as a place to go to live and/or go to college. </li>
</ol></li>
</ol>

<p>U Richmond is definitely on the rise and provides an undergraduate experience that will surprise those who have not looked at the school recently.</p>

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<p>Skidmore--very liberal, artsy, nice fun school, 60/40 female male ratio.</p>

<p>Denison--good academic school, preppy, not too much diversity</p>

<p>Richmond--very good academic school, preppy, huge greek system (approximately 35% of students are in frats and 50% are in sororities)</p>

<p>Geneseo--lots of New Yorkers, the biggest of the schools (approximately 5,000), excellent liberal arts school, good value.</p>

<p>I think that Geneseo and Richmond are the two best choices, but they are vastly different schools. Richmond has much more money, has a beautiful campus, is located near a major city, is pretty much evenly divided between men and women, and, as Hawkette as noted, has a very well-known undergraduate leadership program. However, Richmond is a very Greek school and has a definite preppy slant, so whether you like it or not may depend on who you are and what type of campus atmosphere you prefer. </p>

<p>Geneseo is of course, filled with students from NY. However, I think that NY is a very diverse state and so that would not make it as homogeneous as it may seem. It has a fairly low percentage of Greek life, but the female/male ratio is 59/41. It is also considered the NYS SUNY Honors College and it attracts hard-working, academically-oriented really nice kids. It is sort of in the boonies, but the campus life is fairly strong and I haven't heard that it empties out on weekends (I know two kids who go there and they love it). It has been hailed by Kiplingers magazine as one of the best values in the country.</p>

<p>I think that Geneseo is about $24,000 a year cheaper than Richmond. Unless you get significant financial aid from Richmond, I don't think that I would choose Richmond over Geneseo.</p>

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<p>hawkette and midatlmom, thanks so much. Your insight is very helpful.</p>

<p>Finances, of course, are very important and I haven't heard from Richmond yet (still needed a form...) but I am not optimistic it will come close to Geneseo's ($24,000 or so). This is important because I am pretty sure some sort of grad school will be in the future. </p>

<p>While I will likely focus on science, you never know, I might change my mind and want to got a different direction. My interests in political science and philosophy make Richmond's leadership and international programs at real plus.</p>

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<p>Been to a range of colleges from northeast, to midwest, to south...Richmond is definitely the most beautiful campus I have seen...aside from the more important questions</p>

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<p>We visited Geneseo last month. It is a great school with many opportunities for its students. 24,000 x 4 = 96,000 is a lot of money. Unless money is not an issue, I would recommend Geneseo over Richmond.</p>

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<p>midatlmom,
I'm not sure if your stats are more current or not, but for what it's worth, collegeboard.com reports Geneseo's male/female at 44% men/56% women.</p>

<p>And I agree that Greek life is strong at U Richmond, but my understanding it is not as strong as yesteryear. Again, according to collegeboard.com, the numbers are 28% men and 43% women are involved. This compares with 9% and 11% at Geneseo.</p>

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<p>Congrats on your great choices! I know several current students/alums from Denison and UR. Two S's accepted at both schools. S2 going to DU. Lots of anecdotal evidence:</p>

<p>Both great schools with beautiful campuses. Little known fact: Denison's was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead of NYC Central Park fame. Richmond's also gorgeous and park-like. But my two S's felt like the UR foot traffic was so diffused that it didn't have as much of a "community" feel while walking around. S1's best friend, current UR student, confirms this and likes it. To each his own.</p>

<p>UR fin aid -- seems quirky based on our personal experience and those of classmates/alums. With exception of one full ride student (Intl-URM-athlete-great all around kid), no one we know has been offered any merit aid. Good luck! DU fin aid -- high percentage of students receive some merit aid, promoting greater economic diversity - def a diff philosophy. </p>

<p>Prep factor: Notable at both schools, but current UR students we know say it's "off the scale" -- although they like it that way. </p>

<p>Greek factor: know Greeks/non-Greeks at both schools. Life can be good either way at either school apparently ;)</p>

<p>Town: UR in Richmond suburb -- tons in immediate vicinity, but need a car to get most places, airport has ltd flights. DU in small village easily reached on foot, but need car to reach bigger town 5-10 min away, Columbus/major "hub" airport 30 mi, with upscale shopping/entertainment area even closer. </p>

<p>Good luck -- you prob can't go wrong with those choices!</p>

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<p>I got the percentages about Greek life at University of Richmond from the University of Richmond website--it's in the third paragraph in this link</p>

<p><a href="http://admissions.richmond.edu/life/clubs.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://admissions.richmond.edu/life/clubs.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I got the stats on male/female ratio at Geneseo from US News premium online version as well as the National Center for Education Statistics--here's the link</p>

<p><a href="http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=geneseo&s=all&id=196167%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=geneseo&s=all&id=196167&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>WOW, thank to everyone! Biggest problem is I do like all the schools, its just hard to balance out all the issues. Sounds like the cultures are pretty similar between Denison and Richmond. I really liked Geneseo too, paritcularly because it is a little less pretentious, but struggle with how well it might be "known" at the national med/grad school level. Definitely $$ is a huge factor and if there isn't any aid from Richmond it is out of the question. My parents have saved a moderate amount but not enough for $50,000 x 4 years. Got $17K merit at Denison so that is great and nearly down to Geneseo's amount.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I really liked Geneseo too, paritcularly because it is a little less pretentious, but struggle with how well it might be "known" at the national med/grad school level.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>If you do well in school, it really doesn't matter where you graduate. Medical schools look for GPA and MCAT, not the names of your undergraduate schools.</p>

<p>Below is what Amherst College says about this subject:</p>

<p>"WHAT ARE MY CHANCES...?": An Analysis of Amherst College Premedical Outcomes</p>

<p>Amherst College has no magic touch that automatically elevates a student's chances of entering medical school simply by virtue of the student's coming to Amherst; no college or university has that kind of magic touch. What does elevate a student's chances is to go to an institution (1) that energizes and challenges that particular student academically, while providing good teaching and academic support so the student can meet the challenge satisfactorily; and (2) that provides opportunities for accomplishment and leadership in extracurricular areas. Of course the student must take advantage of these educational and extracurricular opportunities - in the end it's the student's accomplishments that count, not the name of the institution. </p>

<p>Hope this will help. :)</p>

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<p>Thanks t1388.</p>

<p>I have heard that too and that is exactly what they told us at Geneseo's Biology department meeting "...the school can't get you into medical school, YOU get yourself into medical school by working hard, getting a great GPA and MCAT scores". My parents told me this too, but right now, high school is crazy with folks pushing for prestige irregardless of other factors.</p>

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<p>The strongest student profile brings what?
How is the faculty/education/academic quality of Geneseo? controversy with LACs around #40.</p>

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<p>Not much to add except that in the spring U of Richmond's campus is absolutely stunning. It would be hard to not be influenced by that. </p>

<p>Geneseo's reputation keeps growing. Do a check on their graduation rates. USNEWS may compare 6year and 4 year rates.</p>