Where do you think I should go?

Parents Forum
1

<p>So basically, I'm trying to decide between Bates College and like Villanova University/Boston College. (I was waitlisted at BC, but I know that if I get in there, I'm gonna go there.)</p>

<p>So right now, my parents are kind of iffy about Nova, just because US News and World doesn't have a real ranking for it in the Top Liberal Arts Schools Category or in the Top National Universities category. </p>

<p>They both have their pros and cons so I'm really undecided:</p>

<p>Bates: great academics, small class sizes, could really help me directly with getting into med school. but, it's in Maine in the middle of nowhere, and has only 1700 kids.</p>

<p>Villanova: also a great school, love that it's close to Philly, bigger campus and great school spirit. I don't know how big class sizes are and how involved the counselors will get with helping me get into med school. </p>

<p>If anyone could please give me some feedback, that would be awesome!! </p>

<p>Oh, and I plan to major in biology and do pre-med at either place.</p>

2

<p>Sounds like you want Villanova.</p>

<p>S’s best friend is pre-med at Bates and had an awesome time. He really loved the school and is well on his way to a medical career.</p>

<p>However, tell your parents that those rankings don’t mean much and that Villanova is a very respected school.</p>

<p>The choice is obviously yours.</p>

3

<p>I cannot speak about the academics at either school, but one factor I would consider is ease of travel from your home to college.</p>

<p>Did you look up statistics like freshman retention rate? Sometimes it is a good indicator if you can see how many kids return after freshman year.</p>

<p>Here is some detailed info on last years class at Bates: <a href=“http://www.bates.edu/Prebuilt/cds.0910.bates.pdf[/url]”>http://www.bates.edu/Prebuilt/cds.0910.bates.pdf&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>Here is the common data set for Villanova: <a href=“http://www.villanova.edu/enroll/assets/documents/CDS2009_2010.pdf[/url]”>http://www.villanova.edu/enroll/assets/documents/CDS2009_2010.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You probably already have this, but here is the Bates course listing for this past year. My son loves looking through these. <a href=“http://abacus.bates.edu/catalog/[/url]”>http://abacus.bates.edu/catalog/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;