<p>I've just been accepted to Vandy, Colgate, Bowdoin, and Midd, and I was wondering how these schools differ both socially and academically. Vanderbilt is my top choice, but my dad seems to think its where "rich white parents send their kids who can't get into Duke" (I'm AA). My main questions are about the level of intellectualism at each school, how dominant frats are at Vandy, and the difference in reputation between these schools when it comes to grad schools/employers</p>
<p>bowdoin and midd are very similar schools in terms of prestige, recognition, style, etc. colgate is bigger than both, slightly less selective, but perhaps has a better name recognition due to a larger alumni base. vanderbilt is probably the best well known of the four. it does sort of have a reputation similar to how your dad described it, but that reputation seems about 10 years too old, now. it’s hardly a safety school. the big difference, aside from the style of the campuses, is the region. midd and bowdoin are quintessential new england liberal arts experiences. vanderbilt is a southern university in the mold of duke. if vandy is your top choice why don’t you go there? i don’t think the differences in opportunity (if there are any) justify choosing the others. lots of rich white kids at the other schools, too. just less from the south.</p>
<p>Any chance of making a visit? Vandy class of 2016 is something like 30% minority students, and more than 60% of the student body receives financial aid. Stats might surprise your father.</p>
<p>They’re all great schools though. You’ve got some serious research to do to try and find where you fit. Vandy is superior to all 3 in terms of undergraduate education quality/reputation, but they all offer a fine education, so don’t let that be the deciding factor.</p>
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<p>Hardly. Middlebury and Bowdoin are slightly more elite. They’re certainly more selective and provide a more intimate learning environment.</p>
<p>This is a fun time for students. Now that you are in the schools want to court you. These are all well respected quality schools and today’s Vanderbilt is NOT the Vandy of your Dad’s era.<br>
All these schools have brilliant students, provide an excellent education, and provide students with opportunity with grad schools and employers. Where do you want to live the next 4 years? Urban vs rural? Nashville vs another city? National U or LAC? Close to home or far away? Moderate climate or cold? Visit the schools, trust your judgement, go where you will be happy. Happy students make good students.</p>
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<p>We could debate back and forth about which schools are more “elite” but Vanderbilt is more selective than both schools, that’s not deniable… I trust you can look up the acceptance rate and stats of the admitted class on your own.</p>
<p>I still stand by Vandy being superior in reputation. More widely recognized/acknowledged across the board. Vandy approaches undergrad education much like a LAC but brings the benefits of a larger university.</p>
<p>The biggest difference is obviously size and location. The freshman class at Vanderbilt is the size of the entire Bowdoin student body. Do you prefer being in the city or the country?</p>
<p>draider–speaking as someone who lives in the southeast (and grew up in the midwest) and is of your father’s generation, I don’t think I have ever met anyone who attended either Middlebury or Bowdoin. I would tend to think they are where “rich white parents send their kids who didn’t get into an Ivy League school.” </p>
<p>I don’t know whether that is any more true than it is of Vanderbilt as it is today. Where do you think you might like to live/work upon graduation? If you would like to be in New England then any of those 3 LACs would be well known and highly respected; however, if you think you might want to live elsewhere, the Vanderbilt name is known nationwide and the alumni network certainly must be larger and more widespread than any of the other 3.</p>
<p>You don’t say what you would like to study but just based on upon the size and resources of the schools, Vanderbilt will likely offer you more opportunity and variety of professors and courses. You would be able to explore more areas outside your major or even easily change to something like education without having to transfer to another institution.</p>
<p>There is another thread here on CC about the “intellectualism” on campus (in comparison to the U of Chicago)–look at that, especially what “pancaked” has to say since he is a current student. My impression is that the kids at Vanderbilt like to have a good time but are highly intelligent and take their studies very seriously. They do sit and debate philosophy but also like to attend Div 1 sporting events, take in the nightlife in Nashville and participate in Greek organizations. </p>
<p>There is an obvious Greek life presence on campus but that does not have to dominate your existence at Vandy. My daughter gets along just fine without having joined, she finds plenty of other things to do and has Greek and non-Greek friends. There is also a thread here on CC about blacks joining white fraternities that you might want to read. </p>
<p>Sorry for the long post! Good luck with your decision and be happy you have several choices :-)</p>
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<p>You need to get out more.</p>
<p>Using the same logic, I guess Vanderbilt is a school where rich white Southern parents send their kids who didn’t get into Duke.</p>
<p>Our son chose Vanderbilt over three excellent LACs because of merit aid. I certainly recommend that in this economy, you follow the least debt possible in a community where you feel you could be happy. Grad schools are expensive! </p>
<p>I have a son who was admitted to Bowdoin, and he toured Midd as well. Personally, I think these schools are apples and oranges compared to life at Vanderbilt. There is a big diff being on campus with 6000 undergrads and several fine graduate schools with 6000 grad students coming and going. </p>
<p>My son is a non Greek on campus. </p>
<p>One thing I would say about your excellent choices (congratulations btw) is that you are blessed indeed. </p>
<p>I am a big fan of LAC educations in some circumstances, the first being that the cost is the same as your best deal elsewhere. </p>
<p>You are lucky in Vanderbilt in this respect: Classrooms at Vanderbilt are pretty darn personal for a school with 6000 undergrads. You don’t forfeit that LAC advantage and you trade out for a great deal more fluidity in your social being, a great deal more peers to know and to observe, a great deal more options in class configurations, and the advantages of living on an urban campus with several little enclaves around in walking distance for your rest and relaxation. Internships are right there rather than having to go to a different location. </p>
<p>That said, my son and I had a great affinity for Bowdoin. We liked the dismantled Greek system and the way those buildings had become Social Houses open to all 1600 undergraduates on evenings and weekends. We liked the food (stellar@!). We liked the intimacy and the obvious mentorship offered by professors. I recall that Bowdoin has a world class Government track. </p>
<p>If either of my sons were premed, I think they would have had a superior learning experience in small labs and classrooms. Neither went that route but if they had been in sciences, they were the kind of learners that would require small classrooms. I think that is the sort of question you need to ask yourself. What is your match with your learning style and the level of difficulty of your pathway? What kind of mentorship do you require? Some kids can just thrive at Vandy in hard sciences right off and Vandy does have a “do-Over” option where your new grade goes into your GPA but both grades are on your transcript.</p>
<p>I recall that Bowdoin kids took buses into Portland and Boston for events. My Vandy son is out constantly on the scene in Nashville which is pretty vibrant. </p>
<p>My eldest ended up going to Duke instead of Bowdoin. I could see his mind shift when he saw Bowdoin’s modest performance halls and that they had Friday afternoon cultural events coming in weekly in a warm way that everyone on campus anticipated. </p>
<p>I hadn’t realized my eldest was going to end up choosing a college based on their Events. He attended every classical music event offered by Duke which has a huge budget for bringing in world class talent and sharing it with the Triad. He played in Duke’s Symphony. Yes he is a Duke sports fan but it really came down to his hunger for the arts on campus over his need for personal classrooms. You just can’t get it all in one college. </p>
<p>Vanderbilt also has a world class Events budget plus you get the benefits of the events offered in the grad schools as well. This adds a great deal to an education if you are so inclined. It makes the grind of studying bearable for my kids…the access to great performers and speakers.</p>
<p>This is a long winded way of saying…don’t pick a college on prestige. Pick it for your emotional well being…whatever that may be. You have to keep your spirits well fueled to meet the challenges of finding work, internships and passing exams for four years. </p>
<p>Graduate schools know that Vanderbilt students have higher test scores and that Vanderbilt is more selective than the LACs you mention but they don’t care about that. They all greatly respect Midd and Bowdoin and you will get great support from your professors at Midd or Bowdoin for your graduate school dreams. </p>
<p>Your decision should be based on A. Money B. Match with Career Goal classroom and your learning style and C. Your Intangibles, whatever they may be…things that keep your spirit open and moving forward. </p>
<p>Vanderbilt has more to offer in range of peers as teachers. And I do think that at Duke for instance, our son learned more from his exposure to his peers than he got from closeness to teachers.</p>
<p>Bowdoin and Midd will have more intense relationships with teachers. And frankly, that can mean a lot depending on your learning style. You could always head to a bigger place like Vandy for grad school.</p>
<p>take good care and have great appreciation in your heart for each of these institutions</p>
<p>"where “rich white parents send their kids who can’t get into Duke” "
Of all the people I’ve met here that applied to Duke, I only know one who didn’t get in, and consistent with the cross-admit results, most of us choose Vandy. Just throwing it out there ;)</p>
<p>But it’s a hard choice. From what I’ve read about Bowdoin, it’s kind of like a mini Vandy up in Maine in therms of being similar types of people. I’m not familiar with Colgate and Middlebury, so I’ll leave that comparison to someone else. </p>
<p>The level of intellectualism here depends on who you associate with. And to put down the stereotype, I’ve actually had some pretty great academic conversations with frat brothers, and many, many more intellectual conversations with many of my friends raninging form philosophy, to neuroscience, to english, etc. But “normal” conversations are just as common.<br>
The Greek scene will be as dominant in your life as you want to make it, though the fact that 40% of the school is Greek will make it’s existence obvious.</p>
<p>If you can afford to do so, visit the schools. Try to imagine yourself at each of them. For two of mine, they knew which school they like the most pretty quickly. Sometimes you get lucky that way. Otherwise, you set up a chart and weigh the pros and cons.</p>
<p>For my one son, it was important to him NOT to go to a school where the frats figured so much in the social life. For another, it was not an issue. Some kids might like it.</p>
<p>I know a young lady who was all set to go to Georgetown from the instant she was accepted EA. Then she went with a friend to visit Middlebury where she was also accepted but had no intention of going. Fell in love with the place and ended up going there instead of G. So you never know how things will strike your fancy. </p>
<p>In terms of reputation and ratings and all that jazz, you have excellent choices and there will be kids at any of the schools that applied and might have gone to the others. What Vandy has over the others is that it is in a much bigger city and it is a ,much bigger school. The weather is a bit better too.</p>
<p>I’m a fan of the LACs, and feel that the smaller size of those schools and that you are the prime focus of the professors make for a much richer experience for undergrads. I’ve yet to convince any of my kids.</p>
<p>Congratulations on some great choices. It’s a win where ever you choose.</p>
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<p>What cross-admit data are you talking about?</p>
<p>[Compare</a> Colleges: Side-by-side college comparisons | Parchment - College admissions predictions.](<a href=“Compare Colleges: Side-by-side college comparisons | Parchment - College admissions predictions.”>Compare Colleges: Side-by-side college comparisons | Parchment - College admissions predictions.)</p>
<p>and just for fun:</p>
<p><a href=“Compare Colleges: Side-by-side college comparisons | Parchment - College admissions predictions.”>Compare Colleges: Side-by-side college comparisons | Parchment - College admissions predictions.;
<p>Col., Midd., and Bo. are all excellent regional LAC’s. Vandy is an excellent national university. Vandy is a bigger version of those schools: more students, higher test scores, more selective, SEC sports, elite grad. schools, national med. center, more research, more name recognition, more resources, bigger city, better climate.
My D selected Vandy over Duke too, and most students (other than ED kids) will be rejected by some universities if they have high aspirations.
D just joined a sorority and they are working on their community service project now. I believe greek organizations raised over $400,000 last year for local charities, created many lifelong friendships, business connections, and had some fun along the way. Greek options are available if you wish at Vandy.</p>
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<p>In what universe are these three schools “regional” LACs? They’re national LACs with student bodies drawn from every state in the country and throughout the world. </p>
<p>Let me give you a small example (keeping in mind that Vanderbilt has 6,800 undergrads and Middlebury has 2,500). At Vanderbilt, there are a total of 30 students from Washington State. At Middlebury, there are 76.</p>
<p>31% of Vanderbilt students come from Tennessee or states that share a border with Tennessee. Add Texas and Florida and you have 44% of the students at Vanderbilt. Seventy-four percent of Middlebury students come from outside New England.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt has tremendous geographic diversity – here is the undergraduate enrollment map: </p>
<p><a href=“http://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/images/Undergrad_Enrollment_Map_2012.JPG[/url]”>http://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/images/Undergrad_Enrollment_Map_2012.JPG</a></p>
![http://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/images/Undergrad_Enrollment_Map_2012.JPG[/url]](http://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/images/Undergrad_Enrollment_Map_2012.JPG%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>^^^I agree. But so does Middlebury. Calling the LACs “regional” schools simply isn’t correct.</p>
<p>Correction: Middlebury, Bowdoin and Colgate are national LAC’s.</p>
<p>^^^now we’re getting somewhere lol.</p>
<p>I agree with the apples and oranges comparisons. Its not really valid to compare Vandy and places like Bowdoin or Midd. They are very different and wonderful schools, and both Vandy and these LACs are different from the Ivies (which turned my daughter off completely). Vandy is bigger and will may have a greater variety of classes but the classes will be bigger and there will be significantly less personal engagement with the faculty. You just have to decide what is important. There are no significant differences in selectivity- they are equally hard to get in to, Bowdoins RD acceptance rate this year is 12%. However, Vandy has better general name recognition because it is a bigger school with more alumni. That might be important to you, if you care about impressing the average joe in the supermarket line- definitely pick Vandy! However, when it comes to applying to graduate or professional schools or getting a job at a top 500 company those differences will be much less evident. For example, Colgate has a huge alumni network in New York City for their grads to network with.</p>