Cannot Decide!! Which is a “better” school? Which is more prestigious/ will help me get a better job in the future?
Trinity, CT or San Antonio, TX? The later actully is near the top nationally of students with admissions to medical schools.
Both are very good schools. It all depends on what you want. If you are looking for a more traditional liberal arts course of study, a focus on developing writing and critical thinking than go with Trinity. Villanova is a bit more pre-professional with solid business and engineering programs.
Sorry… I should have clarified. Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut is the one I was seeking comparison to. I am not sure what I plan to study. Potentially Business (so economics at Trinity)… Just wanted feedback if one would give me a bigger advantage getting a job/ getting into grad school.
Trinity’s economics department does well (17th out of 196 schools) as measured by faculty scholarly publishing. (“Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges” / IDEAS; available online.)
Generally, Villanova has the better reputation in the Northeast, especially for business. If someone does not agree with me, feel free to post your opinion. From my perspective and the people around me, Villanova has the edge.
@CTkid47 agree that Villanova has a better rep for business and also has a good engineering program. It is harder to get into, likely driven by those 2 programs. But for liberal arts majors, Trinity has the edge
Trinity has a lower admission rate (33% v. 49% for Fall 2014). Villanova has higher average test scores (640CR average v. 615 CR average for Trinity). If you take out the engineering students and compare only liberal arts applicants, I’d imagine Trinity is more selective. Trinity also has a higher percentage of very small classes (< 20 students). Trinity’s 40-something ranking among US News national LACs is hard to compare with Villanova’s #1 ranking among “Regional Universities” in the North. I’d say Trinity is in stronger company (with 40-something Dickinson, Whitman, Occidental, Connecticut College) than Villanova is (with Providence, Loyola MD, Scranton, Ithaca among the other top 10 Regional-North colleges).
However, I don’t know how one would objectively compare the reputations of these two schools. If it’s true that Villanova has a better reputation in the Northeast, that may be because it is a larger college, located in a much larger metropolitan area, with a much bigger D1 sports scene. I’d say neither one has a significant enough prestige advantage to carry you into a better job interview. Your choice of major and internship experiences likely will make a much bigger difference in this respect than your choice of college.
Why not apply to both and see which one offers the lower net cost?