<p>Hi</p>
<p>On the Villanova forum, some have stated that Villanova is academicaly equal, if not superior to Holy Cross. Is that true?</p>
<p>The Princeton Review rates the academics at Villanova a 91 and rates Holy Cross’ academic a 95.</p>
<p>Since US News ranks them in different categories, it is hard to compare apples and oranges but if you look at the Forbes rankings of the best colleges Holy Cross comes in at #27 and Villanova comes in at #119. A big difference.</p>
<p>SAT and ACT scores are the same. Also HC is test optional, so in the application process more emphasis is put on the GPA and course load. Holy Cross has a lover acceptance rate of 33%, while Nova is at 44%. They are very different schools. Nova is a medium sized regional university (7k people) and HC is a small liberal arts college 3k people). Most people have a preference and opinion on which is “better” but of course on CC no one can agree on it.</p>
<p>Random Rankings if interested
USNews: HC 29 liberal arts colleges; Nova 1 regional north universities
Forbes: HC 27; Nova 119</p>
<p>Of course each list uses different ranking criteria, but it’s all I’ve got.</p>
<p>I don’t know what academically equal means if you aren’t getting to your ultimate personal destination. For example, if you’re thinking Pre-Health, you cannot go wrong with CHC. The Science facilities there are un-paralleled. But if you’re looking at becoming a BSN/RN at a Direct-Entry Nursing school, Villanova has this, and CHC does not. Just an example.</p>
<p>US News ranks HC #29 and Bucknell #29. From all the people that i know from Pennsylvania where Bucknell and Villanova are located, Bucknell is without question more prestigious than Villanova.</p>
<p>@lily emery only a small detail but for the most recent class villanova had an acceptance rate of 39%.</p>
<p>I will try not to make a judgement but state a few admissions statistics. Many will argue that admissions doesn’t matter but rather the end result determines how strong a college is, such as how many fulbrights/rhodes come out of a certain university. I, however, do not have the time to add all that. </p>
<p>Acceptance rate VU 39% HC 33% HC wins
SAT score avg VU 1300 HC 1295 VU wins </p>
<p>GPA > than 3.75 VU 66.4% HC 60% VU wins
Avg. GPA VU 3.86 HC 3.84 VU wins</p>
<p>% in top tenth of class VU 64% HC 61% VU wins
number of merit scholars VU 13 HC 1 VU wins</p>
<h1>of merit scholars not offered scholarship money by college VU 2 HC 1 VU wins</h1>
<p>Financial endowment VU $370 million HC $600 million HC wins</p>
<p>GPA data came from common data set for the most recent class.
Acceptance rates from wikipedia.
SAT scorss from college board.
Merit scholars from the merit scholar handbook. </p>
<p>I know this is the HC forum but many of you seem to not be giving VU its due credit. To me, VU and HC are extremely similar in academics , the data shows VU with slight lead. VU slightly edges HC in GPA and SAT scores, which are objective points which “generally” show academic strength. It seems so trivial to be arguing over slight differences. To the OP, yes many will consider VU to be academically superior, many will consider HC to be superior, and many will see them as equal. In any case, VU and HC stand out as two very top catholic schools.</p>
<p>NATIONAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES
Georgetown-15
Notre Dame-12
Fordham - 9
NYU - 9</p>
<p>LIBERAL ARTS
Holy Cross-7</p>
<p>MASTER’S LEVEL
U of Scranton-6
Villanova-4</p>
<p>Top Producers of U.S. Fulbright Students by Type of Institution, 2011-12 - International - The Chronicle of Higher Education</p>
<p>Scranton beats Villanova yet again.</p>
<p>^silly post…U of portland has 10 fulbrights and st. olaf has 8, I guess portland beats hc yet again. </p>
<p>I think Fulbrights are a decent indicator but I question how strong of one…I have always figured boston college, holy cross, and villanova to be very similar in academics. However, BC racked up 21 Fulbrights having more than penn, harvard, princeton etc… similarly duke has the same as fordham.</p>
<p>I dont know whether BC truly has overshadowed hc and vu, or whether the number of fulrbights does not in fact equate to academic prestige.</p>
<p>Whatever facts we may pull out fact is the 2 schools (and even BC) share a very similar applicant pool. At HC I met a ton of people who got into Nova. When I visited Nova a few people mentioned getting into HC. Both good and well respected, but different therefore one maybe better suited for a particular student than another.</p>
<p>^agreed…only on college confidential do people argue between such similar schools. Half my dorm at Villanova had been accepted to Holy cross and other similar schools like fordham. My friend’s roommate at holy cross got accepted to BC and rejected from Villanova. One student from my history class at VU got into BC but rejected from holy cross. </p>
<p>When all is said and done the real world sees Holy cross, Villanova, and boston college very similarly. Really the only line is drawn between georgetown and Notre dame. I don’t know many students at VU, BC, or HC who turned down an offer to gtown or ND.</p>
<p>I turned down an acceptance to Notre Dame to go to Holy Cross. I just couldn’t fathom the idea of living in South Bend, Indiana. Bottomline is it doesn’t matter which of these good schools you attend. I have someone who graduated Georgetown same year I did at HC reporting to me at work. All that matters on graduation is the skills and talents you have and the school you went to matters less and less as your career progresses. There are lots of failures from Ivy League colleges and stellar successes from local state colleges.</p>
<p>Villanova has engineering, HC does not. Another major difference. Depends on what you’re looking for.</p>
<p>I didn’t even apply to Georgetown after taking a tour, but did apply to BC, Nova, and HC. I just really could not see myself at Georgetown or with the people I met there. </p>
<p>I’ve said this before… each school has it’s strengths. Nova has engineering and a business school. HC has a very strong prehealth program. It all depends on the student.</p>
<p>To me, Georgrtown, BC and to a lesser degree Villanova were pretty much the same formula of school. Yes G’Town and then BC are harder to get in to ect.
Holy Cross is in a league by itself as the only top rated US News #29 National catholic liberal arts school by a very long shot. In fact you have to go way down the list to get to the next rated Catholic liberal arts college. So when i was looking for a Catholic LAC rather than a big university, Holy Cross is literally the only game in town.</p>
<p>I have read this post on both Villanova and HC sites and have to weigh in. I have real life experience with both schools (family members at each) Most of what I have read is ridiculous. Both schools are outstanding. They are not very similar and don’t understand the need to compare. Pre med- go to HC,Business Major-without a doubt pick Villanova and so on… There are over 4000 colleges in the US and less than 100 of them have below a 50% acceptance rate (as they both do). What is the “right school” for one person will not be for the next</p>
<p>Villanova is twice the size of HC. Per US NEWS:</p>
<p>Villanova Students
7,146 enrolled
49% male / 51% female
Admissions
Jan. 7 application deadline
45.1% accepted
[Villanova</a> | Villanova University | Best College | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/villanova-3388]Villanova”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/villanova-3388)</p>
<p>HC Students
2,899 enrolled
46% male / 54%female
Admissions
Jan. 15 application deadline
35.5% accepted
[Holy</a> Cross | College of the Holy Cross | Best College | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/holy-cross-2141]Holy”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/holy-cross-2141)</p>
<p>According to 2012 data VU acceptance rate fell to 38% and Holy Cross fell to 32%…both schools are seemingly becoming more competitive and will always rank near the top for catholic schools just below georgetown and notre dame.</p>
<p>You haven’t adjusted for the relative size of VU and HC. The Holy Cross endowment is vastly bigger than VU. While the Holy Cross endowment is twice the size of Villanova the endowment per student is nine times larger than Villanova given that HC is a much smaller school. This also applies to number of Fulbrights etc.</p>
<p>Supreme Court JusticesP: HC:1 VU: never happen</p>