<p>First of all I'd like to congratulate all of those who have already been admitted, and wish good luck to all of those who still have college issues in mind.</p>
<p>I know that UVa is an excellent university, especially with its undergaduate programs, and I'm proud that I will be attending it as a part of the class of 2010. However, just as a result of my curiousity I guess, how do you think UVa would compare to schools such as Northwestern and U of Chicago in the humanities (my interests are politics, history, political and social thought, and the such)? </p>
<p>I know it can be kind of difficult comparing a public to a private, but as I believe that UVa has no difference in terms of academic quality from other private schools, I think that this is a question that could be answered.</p>
<p>Yeah, I wouldn't worry about the other universities especially because it is very difficult to compare public vs. private. I experienced both types of schools. Also, we get more bang for our buck, and Charlottesville is known as a great, safe town! I'm exciting. Congratulations to you! I don't know about you, but I'll be buying lots of UVA clothes. Hope you adjust to va from texas.</p>
<p>heh thank you wahookatie; I'm definitely not regretting my choice in joining UVa, I'm just curious about how it stands against other schools I had thought about applying to. </p>
<p>Also, I'm not actually Texan, just live here cuz dad is a diplomat.. :) I get what you mean about the cold though, I'm thankful for the fact that Charlottesville has pretty nice weather.</p>
<p>curlyfries -- I guess you're right about the public vs. private thing. It really is an issue that depends on perspective and what you can take from the experience. Oh, and I ordered some UVa clothes too! heh.</p>
<p>lol, Michelle (curlyfries) and I are actually friends. </p>
<p>I actually visited UChicago, Northwestern, and Notre Dame in October before deciding on UVa ED. Of course UChicago and Northwestern are academically amazing (as is UVa) and they had pretty architecture, but they seemed pretty gloomy, and they didnt have pretty surrounding areas. I am all about brightness of a campus (or grounds in our case!!)
Of course you can't take me too seriously because I am obsessed with UVa. And UVa has a really good rep. All the students I met at ND knew it was really good.</p>
<p>WOOT FOR UVA GEAR!! I totally went down to Charlottesville this past weekend and bought out Mincers. I am actually wearing bright orange slippers and a hoodie from UVa right now!!! And I totally rocked the orange and blue scarf today. </p>
<p>And also burc_o -- you're so modest. "Joining Uva"?</p>
<p>Yes, both of them (NW, UC) are great schools academically. UVA is known for its social sciences though, and the politics programs are definitely up there. You're probably right in that there is no difference, so that's when the secondary factors kick in (in state tuition, etc). UVA is, definitely, a much more fun, lively, and involved place than is a university like Chicago, however, which in the end is good for your overall quality of life.</p>
<p>thanks for the information everyone.. the stuff you guys just said basically made me even more enthusiastic about going to UVa. Alot of people at my school aren't very familiar with UVa and all they really recognize as "good schools" is ivy league colleges... not very open minded people you might say. </p>
<p>heh i guess my term for describing getting accepted into UVa was a bit understated.. there is no doubt that I freaked out in excitement and joy when i read that i was in.. especially since i imagined going there when i lived in va.</p>
<p>well, thanks again and good luck to those who are applyin regular decision.</p>
<p>close minded people are born to fail in life.
UVA is very similar to Ivy Leagues schools such as Penn, Dartmouth and Brown in term of academics and social life.
"my interests are politics, history, political and social thought"
that;s sweet man, our politics department's got Larry Sabato, "the most quoted professor on any US campus" according to Wall Street Journal. He's also the founder of something called UVa Politics Center or something. it's a big pity that one of our professors, the current chairman of NAACP, Julian Bonds, is retiring next year...:( we'll miss him......... trust me, THAT GUY, KNOWS HIS STUFF.</p>
<p>UVa's liberal arts are the forte. our social scene pretty much rocks compared to that of other elite schools......</p>
<p>come, have fun! :)</p>
<p>UVa gear floods the Ground........i never wear it around the university. when you are IN UVa, simply toooo many people wear them..............in winter, TONS of people wear orange/blue UVa hoodies......it's kinda boring.... However, when im back in my hometown, i love to wear them to show my school pride. showing school pride in front your own classmates is not my thing.</p>
<p>I don't understand the logic of "you can't compare public vs. private" in general and especially in UVa's case. On what basis? If its simply on the grounds that there are 13,000 undergrads, I find that silly as there are big private schools, Penn, BC, and BU just to name a few. UVa has more money than the majority of private schools, I'd venture to say UVa has more rich kids than the majority of private schools, and definately has a snooty factor that elite private schools have. The UVa club in new york is even in house with the Yale club. If you live out of state, UVa isn't even that great of a deal. When everything is said and done, you're still approaching the magic number of 40,000/yr. Oh and I guess it rivals all the other schools with regards to academics too...:-). So I guess my question is on what basis does everyone think you can't compare the two types?</p>
<p>I guess the logic behind that lies in the (false) assumption that private is better than public, and therefore there is no point in comparing them.</p>
<p>I think that the only real differences between public and private universities is that public universities get funding from the government, and they generally admit more in-state than out. Especially when it comes to a university like UVa and its academics, I really can't understand why people can't compare it to places like Cornell and Northwestern and whatnot. </p>
<p>I guess its cause I always hear people say that "private vs. public is not a feasible comparison" etc., that I assumed there would be some good reasons for such an assertion. </p>
<p>Any way, I think UVa is a great school, I'm out of state, and I applied to it because of its wide range of excellent academics, great campus, all that stuff... I don't think anyone can really dispute that, even if they do believe that you can't compare private to public.</p>
<p>UVa is comparable to both Chicago and Northwestern. You should be proud and excited that you will be attending one of the best universities in the world.</p>
<p>burc_o, my son had to choose between Northwestern and UVa. Well, it was not much of a choice, to be sure. We're in-state VA, so we're talking the difference between $13K and $40K. </p>
<p>But, we thought NW was a terrific school, and he would have been happy there. As it is, he's in his 3rd year at UVa and definitely having the time of his life. </p>
<p>You will be able to fall in love with your UVa choice. Lots of people do!</p>