<p>Basically, I received full tuition from both institutions. Unfortunately, I have not been able to visit either of these campuses. Both campuses are about the same distance away, so that's not a strong factor. I'm interested in majoring in neuroscience and eventually going on to medical school-I know Brandeis has an exceptional neuroscience program. I want to know which school generally has the better atmosphere (in terms of race, wealth, etc). I want an opinion on this soon preferably from those well versed in the college process (e.g. PARENTS).</p>
<p>By almost every objective standard, Brandeis has a stronger student body than Union–i.e., higher SAT scores, higher % of students coming from the top 10% of their high schools classes, higher high school GPA, greater selectivity etc. and from an academic standpoint, unless you want to be an engineer, I would say that Brandeis is stronger and offers better opportunities.</p>
<p>However, the schools have very different atmospheres. Union is a very pretty school located outside a dreary old industrial town. Brandeis is a not as pretty school, located near one of the best cities in the country. Union has a very extensive greek life; Brandeis has none. Brandeis is heavily Jewish (approximately 50%), yet also is fairly diverse (74% white) and has a large international component. Union is less Jewish (approximately 16%) and is less diverse (approximately 83% white). Brandeis is much less of a party school, in my judgment, although it is not without its fun aspects and there’s always Boston. Union has a decent on-campus party scene, but there’s little to do in Schnectady.</p>
<p>If it were me, I would pick Brandeis, particularly because you’re interested in neuroscience, but I simply don’t know what factors you consider important.</p>
<p>Good summary. Brandeis is better known nationally and internationally. I know that the campus is not considered to be traditionally pretty because the architecture is sort of a hodgepodge but I thought it was fairly attractive really. The student body seemed politically active and concerned, I thought. I don’t know about Union on that issue.</p>
<p>In terms of academics, peers, opportunities, prestige and location, Brandeis is the easy choice.</p>
<p>On the question of whether Brandeis is the right fit for you, allow me to give you my take as an admittedly biased Brandeis alum. Brandeis is top-ranked in neuroscience. In addition, its small, nurturing LAC-like environment provides for great attention to undergrads. Commonly they participate alongside professors in research. </p>
<p>To get a sense of what I mean, you should watch the interview on the Brandeis website with Greg Petsko, Professor of Biochem, who left MIT to come to Brandeis. He discusses his reasons as to why he found Brandeis to be, in his words, “a better place” to teach and for his students to learn. Here’s a link to the “video tour” page which you may need to paste into your browser: [url=<a href=“http://www.brandeis.edu/admissions/videotour/]Tour[/url”>http://www.brandeis.edu/admissions/videotour/]Tour[/url</a>]. Then, you may need to click through to the 'Meet Brandeisians" faculty interviews to find Petsko. </p>
<p>Brandeis is truly an amazing school. It’s a special combination of small liberal arts college and world-class research university-with the smallest student body I believe (around 800 in a class) of any national research university matched with high-powered professors who actually teach in small classes. So, as mentioned, the research opportunities are tremendous. The Brandeis sciences faculty is excellent and committed to undergraduate education as well as cutting edge research and graduate education–the new science facilites are first rate. </p>
<p>It is the nurturing quality of that faculty and their mentoring that attracted and benefitted Rod MacKinnon, an undergraduate and a classmate of mine at Brandeis in the late 70’s. He returned after medical school to pursue post-doc studies there. In 2003 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Clearly, a nurturing, undergraduate-oriented atmosphere can may make the difference in a student’s future. </p>
<p>On a related note, Edward Witten, the Fields Medal winning Physicist (sometimes called “Einstein’s successor”) was an undergrad at Brandeis as well (a History major I believe) and went on to take his graduate training in physics at Princeton. Perhaps another example of how a small, nuturing undergraduate program can lead to great success in science. It’s perhaps no surprise that in a recent Forbes national college rankings survey, Brandeis was ranked 15th among research universities and 30th overall among all private univerities and LAC’s–a testament to its focus on undergraduate education. Larger schools, including some Ivies, were ranked much lower. </p>
<p>I believe the kind of person who would feel comfortable at Brandeis is an intellectual and/or creative sort who is friendly and comfortable with himself or herself and not competitive or pretentious. Intellectual but down-to-earth and friendly I think is an apt description of the student body. Unlike some preppy place or frat-oriented environments where social interraction is based on the “exclusivity” of the frat system, Brandeis has a welcoming, relatively-nonjudgmental environment–yet there are some off-campus frats for those who like what they have to offer. There is no pressure to party, but parties are there if you want them. Often social interaction centers around the numerous clubs and other terrific extracuriculars like theater and music.</p>
<p>Forgive my enthusiasm but I loved it! Good luck with your decision!</p>