<p>I have been accepted to both Vanderbilt and Colgate. I'm from Texas, so I'm leaning more towards Vandy, because of the weather, Southern culture, and the city of Nashville. But how do they compare in terms of prestige, networking, dorms, overall quality of life, and future corporate/graduate school name recognition?</p>
<p>Any advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I would go to Vandy.</p>
<p>I'd imagine a fellow from Texas would slide into the social fray a lot easier at Vandy than at Colgate (have you ever been around hundreds of people from NY/NJ ?).</p>
<p>Bob, are you really expecting objectivity only posting this question in the Vandy forum?</p>
<p>It's more likely your Southern ways will be a social asset at Colgate instead of you being no different from anyone else at Vandy. And on the otherhand, 20% of last year's freshman class of @720 at Colgate came from the Southeast, West or Southwest. (Plus 5% Int'l and 8% MidWest).</p>
<p>It's college. Break out a bit. Expand your horizons. </p>
<p>One thing you'll never get as much at Vandy, which is more than twice the size, is the closeness and bonding to other students or the personal attention from profs.</p>
<p>The weather....well that could be a challenge if you've never known four seasons. But it's not the Arctic Circle.</p>
<p>No question about it. Vanderbilt is recognized on a much greater scale outside of the south. colgate is little known except to a few. Much greater social life at Vandy. But there is a large contingent of those east coast people as Vandy is hellbent on attracting more from that region--why???? Just kidding.
Vandy is a national university. Colgate a regional LAC. One has 4 seasons, the other only two (ha!).
Can this issue even be serious?</p>
<p>Colgate is a good choice.</p>
<p>The issue is whether you want a smaller college experience or a more university-ish experience.</p>
<p>I am biased towards LACs, so I'd choose Colgate, a national LAC. It is well known, even here in the Pacific Northwest. Also got into Colgate, and other LACs.</p>
<p>Fit man, fit.</p>
<p>IB.</p>
<p>I have visited both, and I would choose Colgate. The campus is gorgeous, and you will get a lot of individual attention. It IS remote, but there is a great sushi restaurant and the college bookstore is really nice (what more could you want?)
I am a Texan, and would go there or send my kid there in a minute. I think it has a better rep than Vandy in the northeast. It DOES get cold, though.</p>
<p>Another Texan whose D is seriously considering Colgate. She visited Vanderbilt. Sorry. No application. Something didn't click although I wanted it to. </p>
<p>As far as rep goes, I'm sure bubba down to the station does know more about Vandy. Well, I don't wear a bracelet or T-shirt or Gimmee cap that says W.W.B.D.? (what would bubba do?) So, if you want regional bragging rights in the Southland, Vanderbilt is the clear favorite. </p>
<p>Other than that, which one feels right to you? They felt different to my D. Surprisingly, the Colgate tradition of speaking to each other as they pass by makes the campus the friendliest and most out-going she's visited. </p>
<p>Colgate is a nationally respected school (as is Vandy). Neither is a regional school and for someone to assert that shows their substantial bias or provincialism (or both). Both are excellent choices, no matter what Bubba says. ;) Happy choices. Congratulations OP on your acceptances to these two fine schools. I would have been happy for my D to attend either.</p>
<p>"It's more likely your Southern ways will be a social asset at Colgate instead of you being no different from anyone else at Vandy."</p>
<p>I'm a New Yorker at Vandy and you have no idea what you are talking about. Vanderbilt has great geographic diversity and less than half of the student population (around ~48%) is from the south. You make Vanderbilt sound like a small, regional school which couldn't be further from the truth.</p>
<p>2332, I wasn't casting aspersions on Vanderbilt's milieu or its students. The OP said he was attracted to the Southern culture there and TourGuide advised that he would fit into the social fray better there than where he was surrrounded by "hundreds" of people from NY and NJ. I was going on their perceptions and wanted to offer a different take on it.</p>
<p>We Northerners (and especially young Northern women) like Southerns and Southern charm . So I thought it might be an asset to him.</p>
<p>Although personally I've always considered all the Texans I've ever known to be more......Texans, but that's another story. (Oh and that was meant as a compliment to Texas and Texans.)</p>
<p>BTW, just for the sake of accuracy, the Vanderbilt website shows the total number of students from the South, Southwest and West as 60%.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.vanderbilt.edu/facts.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.vanderbilt.edu/facts.html</a></p>
<p>They have South listed as 45.6%. This number doesn't include the southwestern states (8%), but it includes Florida which is heavily represented but generally doesn't carry the same southern connotations.</p>
<p>Also, heres the breakdown by state:</p>
<p>I think the numbers show the school is very diverse geographically. Colgate has 63% of its students from the Mid-Atlantic and New England (25% New York; New England 19%; and Mid-Atlantic 19%)</p>
<p>The part of the post I was irritated by was "you being no different from anyone else at Vandy" because its inaccurate. It implies everyone is the same.</p>
<p>
This was the post I found highly inaccurate. I would wager Colgate is little different in geo diversity than many Northeastern schools thought of more highly than either Colgate or Vandy, and those are certainly not considered "regional" by anyone I know.</p>
<p>Issues:
City or Stars
Hot or Cold
Univ. or LAC
South or North
Comfort or Newness
Vandy Sports or Colgate Sports
Frats or Frats
An Arm or A Leg</p>
<p>jakpot, you may have something there. LOL.</p>
<p>Then you were (or should have been) equally offended by my sweeping statement that "we Northerners.... like Southerners and Southern charm".</p>
<p>Both statements were offered as shorthand (rather than generalizations about people) to make the point that he might be just as likely, coming from Texas, to fit in easily at essentially friendly Colgate.</p>
<p>No offense was meant, but I'm happy to apologise if it sounded that way.</p>
<p>SoCal son visited both and liked both. Colgate is known in the west and, indeed, is a prestigious LAC. Either has the name power for grad school or employers. </p>
<p>Suggest you take a look at their academic offerings and see which has the most of what you are interested in. Given their smaller size, LACs can't be all things for all people. For example, some LACs offer only a small department in xxxx, but are excellent in yyyyy. Some LAC's don't offer a strong history department, for example, but their business program is top notch.</p>
<p>mhc48, no worries. Both are great schools, the OP should just visit both schools and see which one fits.</p>
<p>Let me give you a little more information. This summer I went to NYC, so we took a drive to upstate New York and I visited Colgate. I haven't visited Vandy yet, but I will soon. I agree, Colgate is a beautiful campus, but I'm not sure how beautiful it will seem when it's covered with snow and too cold to be outside anyway.</p>
<p>I like the small undergraduate size and the personal focus, but I'm afraid my networking, outdoor activities, and overall opportunities might be limited a little more at Colgate. Anyway, the average class size at both schools is supposed to be 19.</p>
<p>After graduation, I would like to go to graduate school to earn an MBA, preferably somewhere with a big name like Harvard, Stanford, or UPenn that is heavily recruited by companies. Will I have a better chance getting into one of these graduate programs from either school?</p>
<p>robert:</p>
<p>negative -- either school is considered top tier. What gets you into a top MBA program is what you do in the 5-7 years after you leave the undergrad world.</p>
<p>When we visited Colgate they really stressed the great alumni network, internship opportunities (summer) and other "connections". They bring a lot of speakers, bands etc. to campus. I saw it in the snow- and it was still gorgeous.....</p>