<p>When you go to a certain college town that has a famous institution and a lesser one in a such a small area, what are the vibes and attitudes of each school? Does the “lesser” school feel inferior? Does the “prestigious” school feel superior? Of course both have pride in their school, but what kind of reactions do students have? Or is there just no interaction between the schools whatsoever?</p>
<p>Examples I can think of (alphabetically):</p>
<p>“Great School” vs. “Lesser Known”</p>
<p>Amherst & UMass Amherst/Hampshire
Cornell & Ithaca
Holy Cross & Clark
Michigan-AA & Cleary
Vassar & Marist
The Claremont schools</p>
<p>Just a few examples, but you get my point. </p>
<p>And in large cities, where much less of the experience is defined by the school, is there less antagonism between say, Harvard & BU or UPenn & Drexel because the city is so large and engulfing?</p>
<p>In a really big city (e.g., Minneapolis), the various colleges are hardly considered comparable. For example the U of MN Twin Cities and Augsburg (with contiguous campuses) are hardly spoken of in the same sentence by anyone.</p>
<p>token, since you brought up Mn, and you seem like you might be able to comment, what about Carleton and Olaf in the 12,000 person one street one horse town of Northfield?</p>
<p>what is the psychological dynamic there amongst students and staff at each school?</p>
<p>My family hometown is Northfield, and I had one paternal grandparent each at each of the two colleges in Northfield. My dad went to one of them also. They are definitely different, and said to be different, and mentioned in the same sentence a lot in Northfield, where each college is a MAJOR employer. I’ll have to think for a while about what differences would be most salient for a high school student applying to both.</p>
<p>token, within your family, even within Northfield itself, is there a perception that SO and C are ‘about the same’, and not that one is famous and the other is not as famous?</p>
<p>Objectively, C is in the top 10 for many years and SO is in the top 60 amongst LACs. Both good standings, but not next to each other or in the same photo-sentence. </p>
<p>Also, w/o knowing the literal stats, I would bet that C’s student body is comprised of more states than SO. I would think that SO is more regional in its student comp (Mn, Wi, Ia, IL) than C.</p>
<p>I went to BU. We referred to the other as “the school across the river.”</p>
<p>The biggest issue, though, is that if the “lesser school” were not so close to the “great school”, it would probably have a much better reputation than it does as a result of comparison.</p>
<p>Pomona College and Cal Poly Pomona - they are not strictly in the same town but in adjacent towns. And for most Californians Cal Poly, the less selective school, is more well known.</p>
<p>As a fellow MN resident I feel almost as if St. Oalf gets more recognition because of its music program. I didn’t hear about Carleton until someone mentioned it in passing. People in my tiny town see Carleton not as a “top school” but just as an “expensive school”. Not one school is better than another imo rather they are just different. Whats the difference between St. Thomas and Ausburg in the twin cities? None because they are dwarfed by UoMN.</p>
<p>Now I’ve had more time to think about St. Olaf and Carleton. I don’t think anyone doubts that Carleton is more selective, more academically challenging, and better known NATIONALLY. They are probably pretty close in name recognition within Minnesota. St. Olaf’s special strength, for which it is known nationally by professors all over the country, is in undergraduate math education. St. Olaf produces more undergraduate math majors who go on to gain Ph.D. degrees in math than any other Minnesota college–yes, INCLUDING the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. </p>
<p>I think the “Oles” and the “Carls” (as the students of the two colleges are known at each college and in town) get along reasonably well, and get along reasonably well with the townies. I’m sure my grandparents are not the only instance of a couple formed of one graduate of each college enjoying a long and happy marriage. For the out of state student applying to both colleges, I would have to say frankly that Carleton provides the better national reputation boost, but which college to attend if admitted to both might turn on a lot of other factors, and it’s hard to go wrong with either.</p>
<p>Pitt and Carnegie Mellon are next to each other.
Ohio State and Capital U.
U of Chicago is a switchblade throw away from Ill. Inst. of Technology
Williams and Mass Col. of Liberal Arts are in adjacent towns.
Washington and Lee and VMI are next to each other.
Harvard is in the same town as some place called MIT.
Duke and North Carolina Central are both in Durham.
Wellesley and Babson are both in Wellesley.</p>
<p>I would say in MA Holy Cross and Clark are equally well-known. People underestimate Holy Cross and overestimate Clark usually.</p>
<p>More people know if Marist than Vassar because of the sports.</p>
<p>UMass is more well-known than Amherst. Definitely not better, but even people here in MA have no idea Amherst College isn’t the other name for UMass.</p>
<p>UMass Amherst is probably more widely known, but Amherst is more prestigious. My main question in this thread is if the UMass students feel any form of academic inferiority next to such a school, because they undoubtedly know that it’s right down the street and “superior” at least in some ways in the academic world. (Not bashing UMass here.)</p>
For the out of state student applying to both colleges, I would have to say frankly that Carleton provides the better national reputation boost, but which college to attend if admitted to both might turn on a lot of other factors, and it’s hard to go wrong with either.</p>