What are these schools most known for?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I know that top schools offer a great education in many areas, but some schools are just known for some things. For example, MIT might offer a great ceramics and pottery curriculum, but it is known for math and science.</p>

<p>I am also looking for social, not just academic, so if a school is a renowned party school, let me know.</p>

<p>Duke
Georgetown
Johns Hopkins
Tufts
Colgate
Wesleyan
Northwestern
Vassar
William and Mary
Vanderbilt
University of Virginia
University of Chicago
Skidmore
Washington University in St. Louis</p>

2

<p>This is very superficial, but WTH:</p>

<p>Duke: Party, lacrosse, great med school
Georgetown: Sophisticated, international studies, diplomacy
Johns Hopkins: Pre-med; horribly competitive
Tufts: Great sciences
Colgate: Good math
Wesleyan: Very very very liberal and out there
Northwestern: Football and fraternities
Vassar: Artsy
William and Mary: Conservative
Vanderbilt: No idea
University of Virginia: Lotsa pre-law
University of Chicago: Economics
Skidmore: Artsy
Washington University in St. Louis: No idea</p>

3

<p>Washington University in St. Louis: PreMed</p>

4

<p>"Northwestern: Football and fraternities"</p>

<p>I agree to the fraternities, but football? Northwestern is known for their theater, journalism, and communication depts. </p>

<p>If you wanna know some good school sthat are known for partying that would be: Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin</p>

5

<p>If you're looking for a typical college party scene, you'll find Chicago's atmosphere lacking. That's not to say that you can't party or have fun, but rather that the scales are very much tipped in favor of academics here. The "work hard play hard" ethos that seems to drive most top schools and most of the schools on your list (Duke, Vandy, Northwestern, William and Mary, and UVA in particular) is not present at Chicago.</p>

<p>If Chicago had a mantra, it would be more like "work is play; play is work."</p>

<p>Academically, Chicago is specifically known for econ, math, physics, linguistics, and Near Eastern Languages and Culture, and human development, but like any of the schools on your list, it's strong across the board.</p>

6

<p>Duke - Basketball and LAX
Georgetown - Basketball, international studies, location
Johns Hopkins - LAX and a hard ass pre-med program
Tufts - the "wanna be an ivy"
Colgate - toothpaste
Wesleyan - liberal arts stuff
Northwestern - journalism
Vassar - lesbians
William and Mary - conservatism
Vanderbilt - preppy people and frats
University of Virginia - among the best state a state school can be
University of Chicago - econ and math
Skidmore - funny name
Washington University in St. Louis - being overranked</p>

7

<p>i<em>am</em>jam,
The following is a combination of guesses/personal opinion/observations and conventional wisdom, but I might suggest you group them as follows:</p>

<p>GROUP I: Great Blends
Duke
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
U Virginia</p>

<p>These schools each offer outstanding combinations of academics, social life, and athletics. </p>

<p>Academics/Student Quality: 1. Duke 2. Northwestern 3. Vanderbilt 4. U Virginia
Social Life: 1. U Virginia/Vanderbilt 3. Duke 4. Northwestern
Athletics: 1. Duke 2. U Virginia 3. Vanderbilt/Northwestern</p>

<p>There is not as much difference as these intra-group rankings might suggest as all four provide a great blend. </p>

<p>GROUP II: Next Best Blends
Colgate
Georgetown
William & Mary</p>

<p>These schools also offer great blends, but with the exception of Georgetown basketball, their athletic scenes are less competitive and vibrant than the schools in Group I. </p>

<p>Academics/Student Quality: 1. Georgetown 2. William & Mary 3. Colgate
Social Life: 1. Georgetown 2. Colgate 3. William & Mary
Athletics: 1. Georgetown 2. Colgate/William & Mary</p>

<p>GROUP III: National Universities that are Division III athletics
U Chicago
Tufts
Wash U
Johns Hopkins</p>

<p>Academics/Student Quality: 1. U Chicago/Wash U 3. Johns Hopkins/Tufts
Social Life: 1. Wash U 2. Tufts 3. Johns Hopkins 4. U Chicago
Athletics: 1. Wash U 2. Johns Hopkins/Tufts 4. U Chicago</p>

<p>GROUP IV: LACs
Wesleyan
Vassar
Skidmore</p>

<p>Academics/Student Quality: 1. Wesleyan 2. Vassar 3. Skidmore</p>

8

<p>Congratulations to Johns Hopkins Hospital for being ranked #1 nationally by USNWR. How wonderful it is for the lucky Hopkins undergrads to be able to participate in various programs/research/course study there, with the best in the country. Once again, congratulations!!!!</p>

9

<p>Just noticed your post, Hawkette...When you talk about academics, I do not think that it is valid to link Hopkins with Washington U or Tufts. In terms of peer assessment, Hopkins:4.6; Wash U.:4.1, Tufts: 3.6...All outstanding schools, but give Hopkins its much deserved due.
Also, kids do have a wonderful time at Hopkins.</p>

10

<p>Hopkins undergrad does not garner a 4.6--it is the med school that does. Hopkins not only gives out merit scholarships but has a small entering class. It's entering class profile is not that greater given these things. It has an average sat at 1390. This is below both Tufts and WashU.</p>

11

<p>^Ditto with columbiahopeful, its JHU's med school that warrants its high PA score, its undergrad quality is top 15 or top 20, not any better or worse.</p>

<p>Hawkette sums everything up very accurately. </p>

<p>Out of the schools listed, Duke is the strongest academically (arguably tied with Chicago and NU). Duke and NU are both more fun than Chicago. </p>

<p>Duke Vandy and UVA are the best socially overall - with Duke slightly behind the other two. Duke has best sports scene all around (basketball, lacrosse - which is actually more popular post-lax hoax, and football tailgates)</p>

12

<p>Absolutely incorrect. Peer Assessment for Hopkins, undergraduate is a 4.6. Check it out in USNWR. In fact, it is exactly the same as Columbia's PA.</p>

<p>As far as your info concerning SAT scores, check out the website at undergraduate admissions, "fast facts" if you want to see what the average score for admits was in 2006. It was 1440. Not sure about the figures for those who enrolled.</p>

13

<p>Here you go, Columbiahopeful:</p>

<p><a href="http://apply.jhu.edu/facts/facts.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://apply.jhu.edu/facts/facts.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

14

<p>Great blends as in social too not just academic. I would agree with awkette's list.</p>

15

<p>The PA score for Hopkins is absolutely not calibrated to include the medical school. The medical school has its own, separate and distinct rankings and scores. And, as is the undergraduate school, it is compared against its own kind...medical schools, and only medical schools. Hopkins UNDERGRAD has a 4.6 peer ranking, along with Columbia and Cornell. Whether or not you believe that peer assessment has any value is quite another story. I think that it is of the utmost importance, but there are those who disagree. At any rate, good luck to you with your future choices. Just make sure that they are really informed!</p>

16

<p>gabriellah, we know that its undergrad PA is a 4.6, me and Columbia are saying that the only reason its that high is because of its prestigious med school (so people surveyed for PA rate the undergrad high because the med schools reputation precedes it.) Lets not turn this thread into a debate on PA. There is enough objective data available to ignore it.</p>

<p>Columbiahopeful is correct, the average SAT for enrolled students is 1390, below both Tufts and WashU. Also, OP is looking for blend of social life, and Hawkette's list is correct in identifying JHU as a school with a less prominent social scene.</p>

17

<p>Columbiahopeful, are you saying that because JHU has a lower average SAT than Tufts/WashU that it is a worse school? As if 20 points on the SAT, or the equivalent to a question or two difference, is even that significant?</p>

18

<p>Duke - wouldn't you know it, the one time they were innocent, someone busts the lacrosse team.</p>

<p>Georgetown - nice neighborhood; scary architecture</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins - nice architecture; scary city</p>

<p>Tufts - don't know how to say this, but you're too big to be in NESCAC</p>

<p>Colgate - nice everything; really there is nothing bad I can say about this school. Maybe the winters.</p>

<p>Wesleyan - some of the brightest, savviest kids in America. Really, going there is like entering a school for sorcerers.</p>

<p>Northwestern - looks like West Point with sororities. Socially, somewhere between Duke and Chicago.</p>

<p>Vassar - See, Wesleyan.</p>

<p>William and Mary - America's most nerdy state u; best known for its restored 18th century host city.</p>

<p>Vanderbilt - big sports; big hair.</p>

<p>University of Virginia - William and Mary but bigger and in a scarier town</p>

<p>University of Chicago - Big Science and Big Economics; part of the original Manhattan Project.</p>

<p>Skidmore - LAC named for a famous donor; no one remembers who.</p>

<p>Washington University in St. Louis - "The Northwestern of the Midwest". Wait, that's redundant. Then again, so were all those cards in the mail.</p>

19

<p>johnwesley,
Great stuff. You gave me several laughs. I hope you are considering a career as a writer when you get out of Wesleyan. SNL could use you. :)</p>

<p>As for the specifics of your comments, I think you need to make some visits down South. U Virginia is definitely not nerdy and I would be surprised to hear anyone call Charlottesville "scary." As for Vanderbilt, they wish they had "big sports" but in the SEC, they don't. I think "big sports and big hair" would apply to U Texas which didn't make the OP list. But my nit-picking aside, very funny stuff IMO. Gracias.</p>

20

<p>I don't know if I want to call Chicago as "Big Science" these days (instead of like 20 years ago). It's chemistry is out of the top-10. I am not sure about its bio either. It's still very strong in physics. I think Chicago has slipped a bit in sciences; part of it is probably because it has no engineering school but a lot of cutting edge research these days require collaboration of both fields or more (e.g. nanotech and biotech).</p>