<p>Vandy is ranked lower above Rice or Johns Hopkins in US News, but is ranked higher than Rice in both the Times Higher rankings and the Shing Tao whatever China rankings. </p>
<p>But to the employer or bystander, which school is the winner?</p>
<p>depends on your location. in the northeast- johns hopkins. in the south- vandy. midwest- rice.</p>
<p>but really, the ranking differences between the schools are so incredibly minute, that no quality employer/grad school admissions committee would differentiate among them. the previous post i made referred to the average bystander.</p>
<p>Sorry, but Rice isn't in the Midwest. It is in Houston, which is considered the Southwest. Rice is held in very high esteem around here and is extremely difficult to get into. It has a much smaller class size than the other schools and is very competitive, particularly for applicants from the Houston and Texas regions.</p>
<p>(i never said rice was in the midwest; just that people in the midwest might be more familiar with rice than the others)</p>
<p>Excellent replys guys. Im leaning towards Vanderbilt, yet since I already live in Texas, Rice is also appealing.</p>
<p>IMO Vanderbilt is slightly more well-known than Rice</p>
<p>If you have your search narrowed to 3 really fine schools, please don't focus on minor differences in the prestige factor. These will change by the time you graduate anyway. Think about the type of college experience you want, the strength of the faculty in departments that interest you, the types of course offerings, opportunities for study abroad, internships, research opportunities, grad school placements--anything but rankings and prestige.</p>
<p>it depends on what you want to do there....</p>
<p>I agree with MarathonMan. You should never pick a school based on "prestige," especially when you are looking at 3 great schools. Pick the place that you feel fits best. I personally turned down Hopkins for Vandy because I felt I would be happier here. While I encourage everyone to apply to the higher ranked colleges, I don't feel they should do so for prestige.</p>
<p>From what I've seen, Johns Hopkins has the biggest "awe-factor" out of those three. Here in Texas, most people I've talked to aren't familiar with Vandy at all and there are actually a decent number of people that I know that have gone to Rice, making it seem less "exclusive."</p>
<p>...out of the three JHU is the most well known......vandy and rice are about even on the name thing</p>
<p>Listen to MarathonMan. Although all three have excellent reputations, your perception of what other people think of their prestige should not infulence your decision. These really are very different academic environments. Rice is significantly smaller than the others and is one of two universities in the US that has a true residential college system (the other is Yale). It is also the most selective and has the lowest faculty-student ratio and by far the largest endowment per student. Notwithstanding those advantages, Vandy or JHU might be better in your areas of interest, a consideration that is far more important than a prestige poll. The social environment is also an important consideration. If you are interested in a fraternity or sorority, Rice is out -- it has none. Vandy is the runaway winner in that department.</p>
<p>Aspen D just answered your question, although prestige should not play a key role in deciding where to apply, maybe just in your decision of where to attend.</p>