<p>Well, it seems like Vandy is winning --interesting. As far as people not hearing of a school, that’s not unusual. I’m surprised by how many people I meet in my local community who are not familiar with the Claremont Colleges: CMC, Pomona, Harvey Mudd --and we live 20 mins away from the campuses!! And, if people have heard of schools that is often the extent of their familiarity. </p>
<p>BTW: thanks to all who answered. I wrote a nice response earlier but it didn’t post.</p>
<p>TheOC89, why is Vassar a sinking ship? I’ll probably go there, so I’m interested. It seems like an excellent school. Concerning the question, I would say that Vassar and Vanderbilt are in such different worlds that prestige isn’t even a question, but you probably get this already.</p>
<p>I thought The Vanderbilt was a hotel. Do they have a school, too?</p>
<p>I honestly feel (and YES I’m probably going to Vassar so am probably biased) that Vassar is the most prestigious. I didn’t realize what a good name Vassar had until I got into the school and started hearing the reactions of teachers, students, and family friends I know. </p>
<p>I guess the prestige factor of a school depends on the circle that you ask, however. To me, Vassar is probably the most prestigious of the three you mentioned because I am less familiar with Vanderbilt (I live in CT) and come from a family of partially Jewish heritage (thus, BC isn’t of great interest amongst family members). </p>
<p>And TheOC89, I am also interested in why you called Vassar a “sinking ship” as another prospective student of the college. </p>
<p>Lastly, gonnamisshim, which school of the three is your son most leaning towards attending (if you don’t mind my asking)?</p>
<p>I say Vanderbilt, although I am a bit biased. I honestly didn’t know about BC until I came on CC, and I had only heard of Vassar on TV.</p>
<p>bc’s a piece of crap and vassar…*** is that
GO VANDY</p>
<p>Vassar, in large part due to the fact that it is a LAC, is much more of a regional school than Vanderbilt or BC. Of course, prospective employers and those belonging in the educated circles will applaud Vassar’s reputation and its caliber of education. But, as a whole, Vassar is still very much unknown outside of the Northeast.</p>
<p>Now, when it comes to Vanderbilt and BC, I would easily have to give the nod to Vanderbilt. BC has been suffering from the disease known as “good regional school, average national school” for quite some time. To be honest, BC is not even the fifth best university in the Boston area. Employers in the Northeast will recruit at schools like Harvard, MIT, Amherst, Tufts, etc. before even glancing at BC. As you can imagine, that does not translate well on a national or international level for BC. Vanderbilt, on the other hand, is recognized both nationally and internationally. It is a world-class institution, second only to Duke in the south. Of course, every school has strengths and weaknesses. But purely on the premise of prestige, Vanderbilt is clearly the more acclaimed of the two.</p>
<p>iraq, there is no call for saying things like that, it is immature and useless</p>
<p>many people like both those schools and if your sister wanted to go there, guess you would disparage her choice as well…nice</p>
<p>Are you speaking to name recognition alone? Coast to coast? If so, then as someone who spent most of my life on the east coast, then moving west, Vanderbilt, hands down. Seems everyone knows Vandy, BC is known as “Jesuit Ivy” to many and Vassar is either A. All women’s college B. What’s Vassar? C. Never heard of it, is it a 2 or 4 year school? :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Best wishes to your daughter making a decision!</p>
<p>irap,
I’m a Vandy admit so I’m biased, but I think Vanderbilt is sufficiently stronger than either BC or Vassar that we don’t need to resort to bashing them. I’m sure they are fine places and might even be a better place for selected students. I think that avant-garde’s comments above are very accurate. Overall, I think Vanderbilt is better known nationally and academically than either BC or Vassar.</p>
<p>I think that Vassar is more well-known in the Northeast; the same is true for Vanderbilt in the south. In all, for people who know a lot about colleges in general (say, the prolific poster on CC ;)), I think they’re seen just about equal – very strong schools overall.</p>
<p>BC is not on the same playing field.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is well regarded in the NE for its sciences and BC is just as well known here!</p>
<p>Both Vassar and Vanderbilt are excellent schools. BC is a good school but is also a bit overrated and not in the same league as the others, regardless of name recognition.</p>
<p>Yale offered to merge with Vassar. Vassar is one of the most prestigious LACs in the nation. Vandy is a nice national U, but it’s at best second Duke in the south, and some would argue it’s between third and fifth depending on their opinions of UVA, Emory, or UNC. I don’t think BC is in the league of the other two. It’s the third best school in the Boston area, and in all likelihood not one the twenty or so best Nat U’s in the country.</p>
<p>All three schools are great. Instead of looking at prestige, why not look at which one is the best fit socially and academically for your son?</p>
<p>Vassar and Vandy have much nore national name recognition than BC, if that is what you are looking for (though after 37 years of coeducation, many people still think Vassar is a girls school). The schools are very different in “feel”. Spend a day or so on each campus and decide which is the best fit, not which is more “prestigious” . Both will offer you excellent educations. Vassar has a much more flexible, open curriculum, and a much smaller student body. No greek life at Vassar. The opposite is true for vandy. What does your son want? Scratch BC off the list and visit Vassar and Vandy. You can’t go wrong either way.</p>
<p>My best friend wanted to go to BC but was waitlisted, but got into Vandy and really likes it. But I actually wanted to respond to avant-garde’s comment about BC… many would put it third in the Boston area, on the same level as Tufts for sure. To say that employers recruit at Amherst without “a glance” at BC is just flat out wrong, I don’t know where you are getting your information. BC is rapidly rising in prestige and popularity (or maybe BC was a safety for all 28,000 of its applicants?)</p>
<p>Vandy. BC’s stock has risen, but it sort of has a ceiling given the renown Boston-area schools that it can never equal. Whatever the respective “median scores” might be, Vandy will get more of the very highest end students as a function of being the best school in a several hundred mile radius and one of the best in a 500 mile radius. BC will lose all of those to other northeastern schools and ones around Boston in particular. Vandy has a top 20 medical school, research hospital and cancer center, which is always a significant factor in “prestige”. BC does not have that. Vandy Law and BC Law are both very good, with Vandy always ranked higher; like medicine, the high visibility of law plays into overal university prestige.</p>
<p>As for Vassar, all of the seven sisters except Radcliffe, which was fully merged into Harvard, and perhaps Wellsley, remain strong but have lost a significant amount of “prestige” since the co-ed era began circa 1968. Vassar has never fully escaped the problem that men are simply less inclined to want to be carrying a Seven Sisters sheepskin than woman are to be carrying an ivy one.</p>
<p>Interesting…</p>
<p>I’m an admit to Vassar, so I’m biased…</p>
<p>Vassar is a “sinking ship”? (Ouch, think Titanic) I don’t know about that, but substantiate it, please. If there’s something really wrong, then I suppose we Vassarites have to do something about it when we head over there this Fall, won’t we? But the metaphor is a tad extreme.</p>
<p>What’s Vassar and Vandy well known for respectively? Vassar is a liberal arts college, and Vandy is a university. Vassar has a small enrollment at around 2400, Vandy has 6000+ undergraduates. Vandy is well known (ok, my subjective point of view, so hit me anyone if I’m wrong) for its gorgeous student body (especially the girls), great sports, school spirit and great academics ( I agree Vandy is a rising star in this area). And it’s in Tennessee, home of Elvis! Vassar’s links to Yale and the Seven Sisters are widely known, and so is its beautiful campus, and still very strong academics. And it’s in the Hudson Valley (1.5 hours away from New York City) What am I saying here? Vassar and Vandy are very different colleges, and their noticeable characteristics give rise to very different opinions in brand recognition (and quality).</p>
<p>Alright, if you really want experts’ opinion, here’s a study done by Harvard on the preference of top students on one school over another (a good indicator of prestige among the distinguished, is it not?) : <a href=“http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/hoxby/papers/revealedprefranking.pdf[/url]”>http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/hoxby/papers/revealedprefranking.pdf</a></p>
<p>Vandy is 36th, Vassar is 44th, Boston College is 57. But the difference between Vandy and Vassar could be better understood by the point of Vassar still carrying the stigma from its all female college past (good point Willow).</p>
<p>Note I really can’t say anything about Boston College other than the preference ranking as I don’t know much about it. I was considering and researching Vassar and Vandy when I did my applications - hence I’m shooting my mouth off on these 2. </p>
<p>gonnamisshim, it’s great that you are seeking other people’s advice with regards to comparative prestige. Just a word of caution not to place too much weight on the mere number of responses for or against all these 3 colleges. Rather, consider public opinion of all 3 in specific areas of university/college that you’re concerned over, and use this more focused information as a factor in your consideration of your son’s choices. (which is what you’d say you do, so great)</p>
<p>Hope this helps. :)</p>