<p>S is deciding between these two schools. They are very different, but he visited both last week and felt he would be happy at either. He will major in molecular bio or neuroscience. He plans to go to med school. Out here in CA, nobody knows anything about Wesleyan. My friends in NY tell me it's more prestigious than Vandy. I don't know what to think. Which one is viewed as more prestigious for med school admissions? And where is he likely to maintain a stronger GPA? Again, he feels he could be happy at either from a social standpoint.</p>
<p>I'm from New York and attend Vanderbilt. I turned down Cornell and UPenn and am very happy with my decision.</p>
<p>I'd chose based upon fit -- Wesleyan tends to be more quirky and liberal. Vanderbilt has more school spirit and draws lots of socially balanced students.</p>
<p>"Vanderbilt vs. Wesleyan: equal prestige?"</p>
<p>The only way to tell is to have your mother put a bumpersticker of one on the back of her car, and your father the other on his, and see who is involved in the most accidents.</p>
<p>Actually calgal I have lived in CA most of my life and I only knew of Vanderbilt through sports, I always had the impression that Wesleyan was a very prestigious academic institution. It was not until later that I realized Vandy was more than just a football school in the south.</p>
<p>I would personally be more impressed with Wesleyan, or at least would think it's harder to get in.</p>
<p>LACs have zero name recognition. Among the educated, both are seen as top schools. But far more people will be familiar with Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>Hahaha LAC's have no name recognition? I wonder why so many Amherst, Pomona and Williams students get into Med School. Uh, I think med schools have heard of Wesleyan, as they have of Vanderbilt. Either choice is fine really. It should come down to environment and which the student is more comfortable in. South and Big Time University or the NE and smaller more nurturing environment. You can't go wrong.</p>
<p>How about the second part, where is he likely to get the higher GPA?</p>
<p>Name recognition has nothing to do with medical school acceptance. That is still in the realm of academia. Name recognition is more based on what a hiring person at a corporation or Joe on the street knows.</p>
<p>That said, Vanderbilt and Wesleyan are very, very different environments. Vanderbilt is southern and has that conservative element (although not so much politically) and Wesleyan is very liberal and quirky. Vanderbilt has a strong frat and sorority scene and great D1 athletics. I much prefer Vanderbilt, but that's my preference. Weather alone would put me there!</p>
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I would personally be more impressed with Wesleyan, or at least would think it's harder to get in.
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<p>A look at the Common Data Sets for both schools for school year 2007-2008 (enrolled students) indicates that statistics for enrolling freshman are very similar. On that score, they are equally "hard to get into".</p>
<p>I don't know anything about gpa comparisons or medical school admission rates. Vanderbilt enrolls a pretty good number of its own graduates into the Vanderbilt Medical School, though.</p>
<p>Many LAC's don't have much name-recognition. Heck, the last time I spoke with my Cultural Anthropology professor (dual enrollment), he asked me where I am applying. I told him Reed as one of the schools and he said, "Never heard of Reed College". He was familiar with Amherst though.</p>
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How about the second part, where is he likely to get the higher GPA?
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<p>Well, I have no idea what Vandy is like, so I can't compare. however, I can tell you that at Wes the pre-med classes tend to be very hard, but people who are willing to work their butts off will do well, for the most part (unless they really just aren't cut out to do the kind of science required). I know a couple of pre-meds who maintain a 4.0--again, they work REALLY REALLY hard for it, but it's not impossible to do well, nor do you need to be exceptionally brilliant, just a very good student who is strong in science. I don’t know if Vandy is comparable or if it has a harder (or easier) curve or what.</p>
<p>In general, the science community is awesome at Wesleyan—not cutthroat at all. In fact, it’s very corporative, with lots of people studying together all the time: even in the large intro classes, all of my science-y friends made a lot of friends by forming study groups and such. I have no idea what the science community is like at Vandy (it might also be very nice), but that could be something to consider.</p>
<p>Asking which one will allow your son to have a higher GPA is just silly - medical schools know which colleges are harder than others. </p>
<p>Medical schools will also recognize both Vanderbilt and Wesleyan. However, if you ask people outside the realm of academia, I'm almost certain more will be familiar with Vanderbilt because they have Division I sports, more students enrolled, and graduate schools. </p>
<p>I would only recommend an LAC to someone who knows they want to be in that small of an environment. Because your son doesn't sound like he knows exactly what he wants, I'd tell him to go to Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>I would say, for waht your son is trying to do, vanderbilthasbetter programs. there biology and nueroscience programsare very good, and he will have more research opportunitites there. Wesleayan jsut doesniot have the labs or the infrastructure in place. He will probable get higher grades at Wesleyan though, sciences at Vandy are very demanding.</p>
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I would only recommend an LAC to someone who knows they want to be in that small of an environment. Because your son doesn't sound like he knows exactly what he wants, I'd tell him to go to Vanderbilt.
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<p>I'm inclined to agree with this. If it isn't obvious to him that he should be at Wesleyan, he probably shouldn't be at Wesleyan.</p>
<p>In defense of LAC's I have a child who turned down a full ride to UVA and Georgetown and acceptance at a couple of Ivy's to go to Williams and is out of this world happy there, mountains, purple cows, and all. Both Wesleyan and Vanderbilt are great schools. Different environments.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt in the South, Wesleyan in the North.</p>
<p>i'm from new england and i'd say that wesleyan is thought of as a more academic school than vanderbilt. </p>
<p>i REALLY hope this decision is not being made on perceived prestige....</p>
<p>"How about the second part, where is he likely to get the higher GPA?"</p>
<p>If he works hard he will get a high GPA anywhere. These questions are irrelevant or as one poster put it "silly" and frankly they make me call into question the motives of the student. I am not a big advocate of someone who can be operating on me one day trying to take the path of least resistance.</p>
<p>"I would only recommend an LAC to someone who knows they want to be in that small of an environment. Because your son doesn't sound like he knows exactly what he wants, I'd tell him to go to Vanderbilt."</p>
<p>I think this is probably sound advice. Choose the smaller school when/if you know it's right for you; otherwise, choose a school that lets you explore different options and atmospheres.</p>