<p>Now I have to choose among these schools for my ED1.</p>
<p>I heard about the top-notch academic prestige Grinnell offers to its students, but I hardly heard about the Sewanee and Rhodes.</p>
<p>Are prestiges of Rhodes and Sewanee comparable to Grinnell?</p>
<p>Prestige: no. Grinnell is more selective, based on stats. But none of the three have much name-recognition in the general public, so prestige is a really bad reason to pick one school over the others, especially for ED.</p>
<p>Very few LACs have much name recognition. There are enough differences between these three colleges for you to be able to make choice.</p>
<p>Grinnell has no prestige? Wow… I thought that reputation of Grinnell can be compared to those of Carleton, Haverford, and Davidson.</p>
<p>^ if you already know the answer, why ask? it’s like comparing uchicago to tulane and lehigh.</p>
<p>All the schools you mentioned almost certainly offer fine educations with access to excellent faculty and a sense of community. That is what good LACs do. But if you are applying ED for reasons of prestige no LAC is a good choice for you since in the mainstream outside world most people have not even heard of the very highest ranked ones like Williams and Amherst in any meaningful way, let alone the rest of the best.</p>
<p>ED should be used for a school you really think is a perfect fit for you, and that is especially important when thinking about a small school, where fit (everything from location to architectural style to prevailing culture) is key. Quality of education isn’t really the issue though; great faculty and excellent students will be found at any of the schools you mention, though high school GPAs and SAT scores of students may differ since not all schools are equally hard to get into. But at this level you are dealing with first-class faculty and strong teaching and academic tradition. Grinnell is certainly the highest ranked and probably best endowed (it has a lot of money) of the three you mentioned at first, but that does not mean it is the best choice for you. When it comes to small school you have to make an individual decision.</p>
<p>In another thread he points out that he is an international student and his parents care about prestige.</p>
<p>He’s going to have a problem then. My son had a boarding school classmate from Hong Kong. He was a wonderful young man and was rejected from his ED Ivy. His parents were all about prestige and would barely accept UChicago as worthy of an application. He wound up at Swarthmore, but it was a hard sell to his parents. I also learned that many Asian banks won’t loan for tuition for other than the “prestige” schools.</p>
<p>This is in large part merely trying to argue a beauty pageant. Which one is prettier? Which one will others see as being prettiest? Who looks the best in a bikini? Are boobs all that important? Well, yes, in a beauty contest and nurturing and nursing healthy offspring …</p>
<p>Generally, in terms of recognition, Grinnell is light years beyond either Rhodes aka Southwestern @ Memphis and/or U. South aka Sewanee. The latter 2 aspire and on occasion receive some national notoriety. Grinnell has been the national anomaly in the cornfields of Iowa. </p>
<p>But does that lend any insight to the selection process? Probably zilch unless one is so insecure and shallow about this entire process. In which case, why pick THESE 3. None of them are at the top of most any beauty contest.</p>
<p>In the end, and this is not perjurative, it’s like saying one pig’s prettier and smartern another. This is absolute silliness to the nth degree in using these 3, all of which are fine colleges.</p>
<p>Posts #6 & #9 make a lot of sense. Why have you selected these three schools? What do you plan to study? What are your other interests? Are you seeking financial aid?</p>
<p>He has another thread where he throws in Vassar or Barnard or something.</p>
<p>Really, to a point, isn’t CC 90% a discussion of prestige? Otherwise, when a Harvard internal poll shows that Harvard undergrads hate Harvard, wouldn’t that end the “Chance me for Harvard LOL!” threads?
I think I’m going to start ranking these arbitrarily and see what happens.</p>
<p>Here goes:
Rhodes, Sewanne, Slippery Rock, Vassar, Grinnell</p>
<p>Best VALUE? Slam dunk easy, 'specially for those poor ignorant Pennsylvanians who cling to their flintlocks and faith!</p>
<p>“Hey, did Barack Obama go to Sippery Rock?” 
</p>
<p>“Heck no. They’da booted is butt back to Bloomsburg and beyond for the stereo-typing,dumb-bleep remarks he continually makes … and sadly, seems to believe. Specially bout them boys from Pee A!” :eek:</p>
<p>I like your eclectic mix, MSUpop! 
Makes ever-more sense. Lemme add Accidental College, Deep Creek Academy, and “Home of the Horny Frogs!” Texas Technical College. Or are they the Red Riders in the Sky that Johnny Cash used to sing about?</p>
<p>I apologize for my being obsessive in ‘preistige’. It is hard to focus on the more important sides of colleges than prestige and reputation when one is residing in ‘prestige-comes first’ or ‘only HYP or Berkeley’ country in East Asia. Presitge really matters than GPA or other things do when one get a job in here. Especially for my parent, prestige is sole concern when choosing the college. I hope you guys can understand me just a little bit.</p>
<p>Again, sorry for my obsessiveness.</p>
<p>Being Asian with immigrant parents, I understand the unfortunate obsession with prestige. I hear that Grinnell has been gaining a little recognition overseas, but LACs in general lack “Asian prestige.” Rhodes and Sewanee, while both absolutely excellent schools, have very little prestige even in the U.S. (but are highly regarded in academic circles, which may not matter if you plan to work in Asia).</p>