<p>My D really loved Villanova but has been accepted to Cornell as well. Villanova is closer to home but Cornell is tough to turn down, so she is very torn right now. Is Cornell very competitive and stressful in comparison to Villanova? Does anyone have any advice?</p>
<p>Dont know much about cornell engineering…In general, cornell is one of the most stressful schools there is. Cornell has a notorious name for student suicides, which is a shame but nonetheless, a product of student life at cornell. However, in general Cornell is a great school.</p>
<p>Villanova, although probably not as stressful as cornell, can be very intense and the workload can be difficult. If your daughter is very smart, hardworking, and has high standards then most likely any where she goes she will be pulling “all nighters” to make sure the grades are impeccable. I am not an expert on nova engineering although it ranks well and attracts very bright students.</p>
<p>the engineering departments at both schools are going to hold her to a high standard and consequently she will most likely be stressed and under pressure…I dont think either one will not be stressful, however, as far as I know, Villanova hasn’t had a suicide recently.</p>
<p>It seems unbelievable that someone would turn down Cornell for Villanova, unless they play basketball.</p>
<p>Unless your D got a really good FA package from Nova or hates Cornell I don’t see any reason to go to Nova over Cornell.</p>
<p>^There several people at villanova who have turned down upenn and cornell for social or academic reasons. Although in general, turning down an ivy is tough to do…but keep in mind other factors play a role. I.e, if you have good faculty connections at nova and consequently can get placed in a top internship then go where you have connections. That seems to be one of the top reasons students turn down an ivy. Also like the collegequery has inquired about, stress levels at certain schools can add up and turn out not to be worth the stress.</p>
<p>If you are going to turn down Penn or Cornell for Villanova, why apply? It is not as if someone would actually get in to Penn or Cornell and not get in to Villanova. It makes little sense, academically or professionally, to choose Villanova over Penn, Cornell, any ivy, Duke, Georgetown, Stanford, Northwestern, Rice, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame…maybe BC, NYU, GW, Syracuse, BU, Wake Forest, Tufts, Emory…</p>
<p>I think you would be surprised at the schools people have turned down to go to Villanova. The second half of your list is very common for students at nova. Many people were choosing between Emory, BC, Syracuse, BU, Wake, etc. and chose nova instead. Georgetown could be included in there as well. As for the first half, those are more rare, but there definitely are people at Villanova that turned down those schools. I personally turned down Vanderbilt for Villanova.</p>
<p>If you want an education and opportunities to go to graduate school or do something serious with engineering go to Cornell. If you want to go to school with people who think about what connections they have with faculty so they can get an internship go to Villanova. Villanova’s engineering reputation is built on its ranking among schools that are primarily focused on undergraduate education, meaning that they are not all that prestigous. There is no comparison betwen any Ivy league school and Villanova. Villanova, if it competed as a “national unversity” instead of a regional one, would rank around 50 to 60 I believe.</p>
<p>^villanova conducted a study and found that they would rank in between 30 and 45 on USNWR list of national universities (around Lehigh (#38))…villanova obviously is better than fordham, penn state, etc which are between 45-60.</p>
<p>I think that is a fair comment. I am pretty skeptical of studies that try to duplicate USNWR. If you really want to know, then take the risk and submit for that ranking. Nova falls short in alumni giving (not sure what that is about) and its library is pretty lacking. Freshman housing is really bad, way too many triples. I would have ranked it around Syracuse or Tulane.</p>
<p>^Joe125: I agree that Nova is a peer of GW, Syracuse, Tulane, NYU, etc. It is not a peer of Ivy League, Duke, Georgetown, Notre Dame, etc. In fact, of those students that are admitted to both Georgetown and Villanova, around 95% choose Georgetown (data collected by the admissions offices of both schools). For decades, BC has been the backup for Georgetown, and Villanova has been the backup for BC. Villanova is a fine school, but it is not a Georgetown or Notre Dame.</p>
<p>Joe125: It looks as though you were admitted to Engineering at Villanova. It is a good program–and some schools, like Georgetown and BC, don’t have engineering, so you obviously made a better choice in Villanova if that is what you are intent on studying. However, you must know that Villanova is not an MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, etc. when it comes to engineering, right??? Please do not try to mislead people…Keep on loving Villanova, but don’t live in a fantasy-land. And those friends who say that they got in to Georgetown or the Ivy League and chose Villanova…delusional or liars or both, or maybe athletes…the statistics just don’t support the idea that there are many of them…</p>
<p>Yes, I very much agree. The ivies and those schools are above Villanova academically. I am just saying not everyone turns down nova for one of those schools. The numbers are skewed towards people going to those schools (I don’t really believe 95% for the Georgetown-Villanova figure, but I thought it would be around 75%), but there are people that choose the other way (if those numbers are right, the 5%). There are reasons for attending college other than straight up academic rankings. And yes, I am studying engineering at Villanova and never even applied to all the schools listed (except Vandy) and I think I made the right choice for me.</p>
<p>If you do not believe it, go to your undergraduate admissions office and ask for the Win-Loss percentages for Georgetown.</p>
<p>@secondtimedad the only reason villanova wouldn’t submit to be classified as a national university is not because they are lacking academic prestige but the simple fact that villanova does not offer a certain percentage of doctorates to students which is necessary for the ‘national universities’ list. Similarily, villanova is not considered a weak school for liberal arts because it is not ranked on the liberal arts list, it just does not offer majority of classes in the liberal arts like those that are on the list. Also housing shouldn’t be considered for academic ranking, and villanova just renovated the library. Syracuse and Tulane are good schools but are not as strong as villanova and are generally considered by students who were waitlisted or rejected from nova. A ranking of around 35 makes sense considering BC is #31 and BC’s avg sat score is only fifty points higher than novas. Meanwhile novas sat scores are 140 pts higher than cuse’s.</p>
<p>BC has a much stronger reputation than Villanova, both historically and currently. Villanova is a PEER with Syracuse, Tulane, Providence College, Loyola (in MD), Drew, maybe Lehigh, Lafayette, Wake Forest, U. Richmond, and Bucknell.</p>
<p>Gtown/Nova cross admit/enroll 95/5 disparity sounds high , but could be true.I have no way of knowing but I know of a few that are attending Nova. </p>
<p>BC is well regarded and more selective , but enrolled SAT data are fairly close with BC + 30 CR , +20 on M. Admit rate 28%, Critical Reading: 620-710,Math: 640-730.</p>
<p>Agree that Lehigh, Lafayette, Wake Forest, U. Richmond, and Bucknell are peer institutions with Lehigh & Wake Forest more selective and slightly higher test scores.</p>
<p>The assertion that Syracuse, Providence College, Loyola (in MD), Drew are peer is where you lose credibility. These are fine schools , but check admit rates and test scores.</p>
<p>nova: 44 cr 590-680 m 620-710
drew: 84 cr 500-610 m 500-610
cuse: 49 cr 510-620 m 520-630
loyola:63 cr 540-640 m 560-650
provid:61 cr 520-620 m 530-640</p>
<p>As for the original post , Agree that logic says to go to Cornell based on name brand , academic reputation , post grad employment etc , but students should go where they have the best chance to succeed and where they will be happy. If your D will be happier at Villanova , then she should go there. Villanova engineering is terrific. Friend’s D is graduating next month with an Engineering degree and a job ! Good Luck!
PM me if you any more information…</p>
<p>You should check out which schools the Villanova administration utilizes as its “peers” for institutional assessments/evaluation. They include Providence College, Drew, Syracuse…regardless of admissions statitstics. Peers include schools that are somewhat harder and somewhat easier to get in to for undergraduates. The interesting thing is that even the administration describes Georgetown, Notre Dame, Duke, and many of the Ivy League as “aspiring peers,” recognizing that Villanova is not there yet…Why is the 95/5 hard for you to believe???</p>
<p>Relax medman…
“sounds high , but could be true.I have no way of knowing” does not equal hard to believe.In fact I acknowledge that it could be so.</p>
<p>As for peer institution , your assertion was that “BC has a much stronger reputation than Villanova” but then equated Villanova with schools that are weaker statistically.“If Peers include schools that are somewhat harder”, BC would be a peer institution of Villanova. You can’t have it both ways. </p>
<p>BTW OP has indicated that D will attend Cornell , congratulations to the young lady and her family!</p>
<p>I would have her think about post-undergrad job placements at each school in contrast to what she wants to do with her degree. Remember that different schools tend to bring different types of companies to campus.</p>
<p>here’s what you’re looking for I believe…</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>(link may take you to villanova vs UCBerkeley, just substitute georgetown for UCB obviously)…it’s a fun and easy tool</p>
<p>76%georgetown vs 24%villanova cross admits</p>
<p>edit…just playing around with a few schools in the above link, I think some of these comparison numbers are suspect, or the samples are small. A little fishy</p>