<p>In fact, the point of my presence in this thread was to state that these schools are similar and that the differences in such metrics are irrelevant. I agree that I shouldn’t have singled out your use of significant as you just want a discussion, though I did end up giving you one, only to be greeted by another Vandy poster who felt it necessary to insult my intelligence as he/she has done before. At the same time, I find these discussions pointless, especially when they’re developed and contributed to by admittedly biased posters. </p>
<p>FWIW, I did choose Wesleyan over WashU. I didn’t actually see much of a difference in prestige between the two. I commend you on your choosing Vanderbilt as it is an excellent school with a unique atmosphere. I do not see it as being any better than Emory, however, just as I do not see Wesleyan as any better than WashU. Threads such as these seem to instigate the same feelings as those embodied in the USNews ranking. In a sense, the idea of trying to differentiate two schools based on minute details is all part of the grand USNews scheme of assigning a number and position to schools.</p>