<p>I have no idea either, Ferris. I come from Texas and Rice here is worshipped. Employers treat Rice alumns as if they were Yale or Princeton grads. The average joe in Texas thinks Rice is an Ivy League school and is shocked when you tell them that its not. Now Rice is a great school, a little underated by the rankings IMO, but I don't see how it can be a notch above Vandy which is highly regarded across the board in most rankings domestic and international. The only notch Rice has above Vandy is in US News.
From personal expierence and being on the campus, I can tell you that Rice has that "ivy" feel to it, the campus is pretty, the people are "brainy", and atmosphere a bit snobbish. So people simply associate the LOOK Rice gives off vs. its actual quality. Vandy does not give off the look that Rice gives off, so its seen as a notch below Rice when all stats point to the opposite.</p>
<p>anyone else?</p>
<p>As I've perceived it, Rice tends to be a few notches above Vandy, which is on par with Emory.</p>
<p>Vandy is overrated...</p>
<p>ah I see. While I do agree that Rice is underated, I wouldnt say that Vandy is over rated. So basically, it doesnt deserve its international and domestic ratings? Because internationally Vandy beats Rice by a bigger gap than domestically.</p>
<p>Rice>Vandy=Emory</p>
<p>No...Rice=Vandy>Emory</p>
<p>Eh.. I never really associated Vandy w/ academic accomplishment. More like partying and cheerleading.. maybe for southern kids whose parents wished they would go to an ivy but they just didn't study hard enough.. just an opinion. it does seem "fake" to me. like a school that was founded to be elite.. w/ nothing to back that up. unlike U Chicago where, although it was expected to be a top school, they weren't out of place in founding it.. and they kept the rep up. just an opinion.</p>
<p>willow55 -- i guess i'm northern then. i do see it as an athletics oriented school.. like usc maybe?</p>
<p>ruben - i hope this thread isn't to help you determine which school to go to??? c'mon!</p>
<p>No blairt not at all. I like Vandy regardless of the public opinion. I just wanted to know where it fit in academic circles. Vandy is the only school I know that has a mixed bag of differing opinions on its academic reputation. There are a lot of people that think that its faux elite and others who think its an academic powerhouse. I personally believe that it's a solid school with an excellent reputation. Thanks to Gee its star is rising. But people fail to realize that its international recognition is better than Rice or Emory.
What is it about Vandy, Blairt, that gives it the image you described? Its involvement in a big southern sports conference? Its frattish image? The typical rich elitists kids that live in the Vandy bubble? The schools is HIGHLY ranked in Law, medicine, humanities, economics, business. ALL ranked higher than Rice and Emory (minus Business). Internationally its 53rd worldwide, higher ranked in Newsweek Global Universities, Shangai Jaio higher ranked. I just have to know why it is that its seen as such a faux prestigious school when its ranked higher than its southern competitors?
My opinion is basically the image it sells isnt "ivy" like enough.</p>
<p>anyone else care to join?</p>
<p>Rice>Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt = Emory</p>
<p>both my cousin and sister got into Vanderbilt. My sister didn't get into Rice</p>
<p>There could be a number of factors why your sister didnt get into Rice. For one Rice is a much smaller school. Some people get into Harvard but not Princeton. I mean c'mon. Rice is mainly valued because of its strong UG program and the selectivity of that program, but overall I think Vanderbilt is stronger if you account for UG and grad school.</p>
<p>Peer assement scores US NEWS:
Rice - 4.1/5 </p>
<p>Vandy - 4.1/5</p>
<p>harvard is better</p>
<p>Anything 16 and up in US NEWS is better than Vandy and Rice*. Thanks for inserting a rather useless quip.</p>
<p>*Except maybe WUStL.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I never really associated Vandy w/ academic accomplishment. More like partying and cheerleading..
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Vanderbilt's academic programs and students are top-notch. When you look at data for incoming students, the test scores are ranged 1300-1470 with a 33% acceptance rate with vast improvements every year. Stereotyping the campus as jocks and cheerleaders doesn't give an accurate representation -- the school attracts some of the brightest kids in the nation. Vanderbilt students generally have excellent social skills. But when did being gregarious and having good-looks become a negative? Social intelligence and physical attractiveness are valuable assets to have in the real world and Vanderbilt is one of the few elite schools where most students are both very good-looking and smart.</p>
<p>
[quote]
maybe for southern kids whose parents wished they would go to an ivy but they just didn't study hard enough
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Another ignorant statement. First, I wouldn't group all the Ivies as a whole. Despite its academic connotations, the Ivy League is just a sports conference. There is a gap in prestige between HYP and the rest of the Ivies. Second, many of the southerners at Vandy WANT to go to a southern school (gasp). Most southerners would chose Vanderbilt over lower-Ivies. Looking at Revealed Preference data is misleading because only the kids who would consider Northern schools would even apply to the lower-Ivies to begin with. But the liberalism and culture at schools like Brown and Columbia are vastly different from the traditions and strong dating scene at Vanderbilt. Third, Vanderbilt is significantly more diverse geographically than you give it credit for. I am from New York (one of the heaviest represented states at Vandy) and I have never felt out of place. Instead, I have met friends from all across the country.</p>
<p>
[quote]
like a school that was founded to be elite.. w/ nothing to back that up unlike U Chicago
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Vanderbilt has been prestigious for over 100 years so I am not sure what you are basing this on. The school was more regionalized before the 1970s but it has always been highly regarded in the south. The school has a tremendous sense of tradition (particularly in the liberal arts). When you look through a Vandy scrapbook you will find famous literary groups such as the Fugitives and Agrarians. Robert Penn Warren, a Vandy undergrad, is largely considered the founder of New Criticism -- a dominant mode of textual analysis.</p>
<p>As for U. Chicago, the school is known for embracing its nerdiness. Alumni Tucker Max dubbed it "The school that beauty forgot" or “the perfect place for every ugly nerd in the country”. Vanderbilt, conversely, is a school that prides itself on its academic and social balance. As a student I know the classroom discussions at Vandy are highly intellectual, but on the weekends people would rather have fun and relax than discuss Foucault and postmodernism. In the end, you only get one chance at a college experience so you better pick a place that fits. I love Vandy and I turned down Ivies to be here. The school has a charming sense of tradition (dressing up and taking dates to football games, etc.) while other T-20 schools have comparatively weak dating scenes/parties. Just because a school has a strong social scene, doesn’t mean the students aren’t serious about their academics and professional goals.</p>
<p>right on College2332! I have noticed that in most college forums there is weird bias against Vanderbilt and its rise in the rankings. It's almost as if they cannot handle a school that has smart, good looking nerds wiping out the traditional academic stereotypes.
Vanderbilt beats out its southern competitors at almost every level but it's still viewed as good ol' boy daycare in comparison to the "northern" ivy like atmosphere that Rice and Emory give off.</p>
<p>bumpity bump!</p>
<p>You asked for the general opinion. I gave an opinion. Excuse me, but an inferiority complex was obviously key in starting this thread... as was your 5-paragraph report on you felt was necessary to defend your school.</p>
<p>I can't believe you think being from New York and going to VANDERBILT is unexpected and adds to geographic "diversity." You can't be serious. Is that the deepest diversity reaches?</p>
<p>Also, it's a known thing in the academic world that merit scholarships are intended to steal high-achieving students from more prestigious, academically-renown schools. No Ivy League college offers a merit scholarship. Vanderbilt does.</p>
<p>These are the "typical" stats of a merit recipient:
"Typically scored above 1500 on the SAT–I and/or above 34 on the ACT"</p>
<p>Those stats keep Harvard applicants in the running. Same with Brown students.</p>
<p>I'm not going to argue with you, you're obviously being too.. nationalistic to make valid points. I gave you an opinion, twice. Over and out.</p>