is villanova considered a prestigious school? how much will the name help me get a job when i graduate?
Who?
Prestige is in the eye of the beholder. Villanova will not prevent you from getting a job but it is up to you and what you accomplish there that will get you the job.
āhelp me get a jobā will depend on things like your MAJOR, grades, interview skills, internshipsā¦
I probably would not go into six figures in debt for a Villanova degree, unless you plan on majoring in something like engineering.
Donāt worry about prestige, nobody is going to be OMG impressed with Villanova.
You say elsewhere that you are a prospective math and stats major- very employable. What sort of job you get will depend more on what type of field you want to go into and what you have done with your time as much as (and likely more than) the name of your college. I know a current math major at Vassar who has had (paid) internships every summer and has a job waiting when they graduate in June. It was the internships, not the brand name that made the difference (Vassar not having a big profile as a math school- most people think āartsā when they hear Vassar).
Villanova is a great school overall. Itās particularly good for business and finance. For math and statistics, itās not the most rigorous school (Iād say Rutgers is more rigorous if youāre in the honors math program), but itās a solid and reputable school. It has lots of connection to the business world in the and has some social cachet in the Northeast. It wonāt hold you back from getting into medical school or a good graduate school. Itās not particularly prestigious; Iād say the Ivies, MIT, Tufts, Northeastern, RPI and WPI (for engineering) and the selective liberal arts colleges in New England are more prestigious. Iād say Boston College or Santa Clara U in California are peers of Villanova.
Iād not suggest Villanova for Engineering; it doesnāt have the breadth of a strong research university. But itās still not a bad engineering school. John Hennessy, the former president of Stanford and pioneer in computer architecture (specifically RISC computers) did his undergrad at Villanova.
I know a guy very well who got his undergrad degree at Villanova and his PhD from an ivy.
Villanova is a very good school. It is most well known in the northeast.
Agree that job prospects will depend largely on how you do at college, any internships/work experience you get as an undergrad, how well you interview etc.
It is a good school, but not a great school academically. The business school is strong and has a good name regionally. The school benefits greatly from really smart Catholic kids who did not get into BC, ND or Georgetown as well as kids who get merit money and choose VU over slightly better schools. Having said all of that, it is on the upswing academically as the school becomes more popular (being NCAA champs always helps!!) but needs to become more diverse and recruit more nationally and internationally to close the gap with BC/ND/GU.
If you believe it could be a fit for you, then apply. The rest of this is pure conjecture. Most people donāt recognize the name of a school much outside its geographic area, including some Ivies (Penn is not Penn State). But letting other people guess for you, most of whom have no ties to the university, is counterproductive. As for where it fits among Catholics, ND (15), BC (31), Villanova (50). So ND and BC are peers, but BC and Nova are not?
Again this is subjective, but many people would have BC, ND and GU as peers and Villanova and Fordham as peers. Iām sure if you looked at the cross-admits for BC and Nova, it would be overwhelmingly in favour of BC.
I disagree.
Villanova and Holy Cross are peers with Fordham a step down (the class rank and SAT/ACT data supports this). Go and research it.
The latest statistics are pretty impressive:
Median SAT: 1320 (old score)
Median ACT: 30-32
Class Rank: 62% in top 10% of HS class; 90% in top 25%
GPA: 4.02; 80% GPA > 3.75
Outside of CollegeConfidential, Villanova would be considered pretty selective based on its average stats and most people(particuarly in the northeast/mid atlantic regions) would know it at least due to sports. For recruiting, Iād say its business school does extremely well, but I canāt speak for its other departments. I would personally put Notre Dame and Georgetown in one tier, then BC in the next, then Villanova slightly behind that, but they are all still great schools. I think Villanova is good enough that its name wonāt be a problem unless you are applying for IB, which I would not consider Villanova a target for.
@class0f2017 Well said. I think that is a very good description that sums up those schools. There are other great Catholic universities in the USA, such as Holy Cross, the California Jesuits (USF, SCU and USD) and the Loyolas but they cater to slightly different audiences.
I agree Georgetown and ND are in an elevated, āCatholic Ivyā tier.
Boston College and Villanova are the 2d tier in the Catholic College hierarchy. BC and 'Nova are essentially the same school, with the same attributes and limitations. The only difference is that suburban Boston location is preferable to suburban Philly location. BC campus is somewhat more attractive than 'Nova, although the new building project at Nova will improve the campus significantly. . The Boston location generates more applications, which results in greater selectivity, āprestigeā for BC. Other than that, both have strong business, nursing schools. Both have a similar campus culture, with the majority of students from east coast suburbs. Most BC students are from Mass, NY or CT. Most Nova students are from NJ, Pa, or NY. Obviously, 'Nova hoop team is the prime sporting attraction. BC sports (other than hockey) are way down, and are struggling badly in the ACC.
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