Brown vs. Rhodes (vs. Cornell)

IBclass06
Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:59:36 +0000

momof3sons beat me to it. Cur has posted wonderful things about Rhodes.

Hi Curmudgeon, ? about Rhodes

My D was fortunate enough to be named a Bellingrath Fellow which pays for her college.

Schools she also applied to in the same LAC vein were Centre, Millsaps, Hamilton, Scripps, Hanover. Quite a range of selectivity but all were small and had what she needed, admittedly some more than others. As the deadline approached she began to feel that she needed some more choices that were larger and/or more selective and she added UMiami, Case, Colgate, Yale, Amherst, and Duke.

After the first round of scholarships (and Duke’s waitlist which she refused) she was down to Rhodes, Colgate, Scripps, Hamilton, Yale, and Amherst. Rhodes fired the full-ride shot and then only Yale and Rhodes were standing.

Rhodes has an excellent pre-med advising program and gets great grad and med school results. St. Jude’s and UT Med School partner with Rhodes on significant UG research activities. D felt that if she fully immersed herself in the St. Jude’s internship and the service opportunities at Rhodes she would be well prepared for her life’s work whether that be as an MD or a Phd. or potentially both. She loved the kids she met while on campus and knew that there would be kids competing for Goldwater’s and the like (two Goldwater’s last year) that would push her and that she could push. There would be a critical mass of dedicated and enthused science majors to break bread with in a not overtly or overly competitive environment.

So, St. Jude’s, UG research, the kids, money, beautiful campus, loved the research her prof’s were doing in neuroscience. That’s about it. Oh, and she could play BBall if she wanted to.

I haven’t quizzed her that much but when she has spoken of her decision it appears that the opportunity for St. Jude’s summers plus an academic year working on breaking news type research was the largest factor, other than the cash. She has yet to look back on her decision. Full steam ahead.

Rhodes College and Drew University - Opinions Please

Obviously my family thinks very highly of Rhodes. The campus is beautiful. The profs have been engaging when we have been on our “stealth visits”. My D felt that there was variety enough in the food choices (actually she knows she’ll be sneaking away to get ribs and tamales at our favorite spot on Beale).

1600 kids. 2 Goldwater’s this year. A Rhodes last year. Excellent post grad office. Research and internship opportunities at St. Jude’s , UT Med School, and Children’s Hospital. An inclusive Greek system that by and large defies the stereotype (with some glaring exceptions). 93% acceptance rate to med school recently, twice the national average usually . Excellent Physics department that churns out future Phds at record pace.

We have visited 4 times together and she has been once on her own. Even prior to her scholarship being raised, Rhodes had moved past several excellent choices on the basis of her weekend there last month . Even though it was more expensive she had already decided that she preferred it to Hendrix, Millsaps, Hanover, Texas Tech Honors, and even Case. The scholarship took out everybody else (including the schools mentioned by mini).

She felt strongly that there existed on campus a critical mass of students with energy and intellect to do great things. As many as Yale? No, and maybe not even as many as Scripps but still enough to push each other, demand from each other, challenge each other to reach higher longer farther. She felt the physical plant and modalities were in place to let them do those great things. (That new library is outrageous.)

That’s what she was looking for and the choice was made.