WashU, Tufts, Northwestern, NYU(Stern), or Vanderbilt?!?

College Search & Lists
21

<p>**College (typical) Experience

  1. Vandy
  2. WashU
  3. NU
  4. Tufts
  5. NYU**</p>

<p>This seems a bit off.</p>

22

<p>WashU isnt any good. Pick either Northwestern or Vandy.</p>

23

<p>These people are living in some parallel universe. They are all great schools. Tufts, Northwestern, and WashU are the most prestigious, but it’s all about personal fit.</p>

24

<p>washuuuuuuuu it’s awesome.</p>

25

<p>From a foreigners perspective: All the WashU kids I know seem far more chilled out than the other Americans here in London… The Columbia, Harvard, Wellesley, UPenn, UMichigan and Cornell exchange students I’ve met all seem like nutters.</p>

26

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<p>Oh yeah, I remember you! The guy in another thread that bashed WashU and said it’s student body/reputation was weaker than that of Vandy. Righhhht. :rolleyes:</p>

27

<p>Oh I remeber you! WashU boy.</p>

<p>Vanderbilt is much better than WashU, hence why elite private school kids choose it over WashU. Do they even apply to that joke of a school?</p>

28

<p>washu is pretty bad</p>

29

<p>Brand_182:</p>

<p>“I’d probably mark NYU Stern off your list just b/c you don’t know what you want to major in; while Stern is comparable to the top universities on your list, NYU CAS isn’t really and unless you transferred out of NYU altogether you’d be stuck with a less valuable degree.”</p>

<p>This is simply not true. The CAS depts. of philosophy and art history are the best in the US, math dept. is among top 5-6 overall and #1 in applied math. Neural science, economics (CAS), politics, sociology, anthropology, French, English, and few other CAS depts are among top ten in the US. Others are very well regardes. </p>

<p>Consequently, all objective rankings of (world) universities put NYU together with NU and Wash. U, well ahead of Vanderbilt and long way ahead of Tufts (in fact, it doesn’t even appear). See for example the Newsweek list of Top 100 Global Universities, <a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14321230/site/newsweek/[/url]”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14321230/site/newsweek/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

30

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<p>which is why WashU receives more than twice as many applications as Vanderbilt.</p>

<p>atnyu:</p>

<p>NYU does excel in those departments, though it would be better to attend NYU for graduate school. The undergrad is known for being extremely large and somewhat impersonal.</p>

31

<p>Brand_182:</p>

<p>Now you are changing the tune. In #29 you said NYU CAS is not really that good. Then, faced with facts, in #30 you write that “NYU does excel in those departments”, but now you come up with a new problem, it is “large and somewhat impersonal.” You could say the same for U. of Michigan, UC-Berkeley and other many other excellent schools. Right?</p>

32

<p>Brand, as I stated in another thread, I am not going to Vandy. And Vandy doesn’t shamelessly send packets to everybody like WashU does.</p>

33

<p>And I was just wondering, why you are defending WashU so enthusiastically why the denied you housing and you even said all they wanted was your money…</p>

34

<p>“which is why WashU receives more than twice as many applications as Vanderbilt.”</p>

<p>So what? WashU recived more apps than some of the ivys/top tier schools, does it make them better? It just means dumber people are applying.</p>

35

<p>atnyu:</p>

<p>I do not believe I was faced with facts that I fail to acknowledge: I never stated that NYU CAS is not good, only that it is a less valuable degree than one from Northwestern, WashU, or Vandy. In my opinion, that is the truth: the former schools are more selective and more highly recognized than NYU overall. Bringing up the strength of NYU’s individual programs does little to support the argument that a degree from NYU CAS is as good as NU/WashU/Vandy CAS. </p>

<p>This has been said many times on these boards: measuring program strength at the undergraduate level, in many cases, is not plausible. Yes, NYU is #1 in the country for Philosophy, but many (in fact most) will choose a school such as Amherst, Dartmouth, Wesleyan, etc. over NYU for undergrad because it is a better environment and a more valuable degree.</p>

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<p>I respect the school, but more importantly, I respect sound logic, which is not being used in this thread. If you are going to bash WashU with facts, that’s one thing. To go around and use anecdotal evidence (i.e. none of the kids from your prep school apply there) to claim that WashU is a crappy school, as opposed to the facts I’ve presented you with, irritates me to the extent that I will refute your claims.</p>

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<p>Again, this is very rude, not only to myself but to the many CC posters that applied to WashU. Take a look at the decisions thread: many of those that apply to WashU apply to schools such as HYPS etc., and many that are waitlisted are much smarter than myself or the vast majority of the population.</p>

36

<p>Brand_182:</p>

<p>“the former schools are more selective and more highly recognized than NYU overall.”</p>

<p>More highly recognized by whom? USNWR? Not true for any other ranking based on academic and research excellence.</p>

<p>“Bringing up the strength of NYU’s individual programs does little to support the argument that a degree from NYU CAS is as good as NU/WashU/Vandy CAS.”</p>

<p>Really?!!! OK, I have the strength of many NYU programs on my side. But what supports your statement above? Moreover, all things (grades, etc.) being comparable, an NYU CAS graduate has no problems competing on the job market with graduates from Vanderbilt and Washington U., and can hold his/her own agains NU graduates.</p>

<p>“Yes, NYU is #1 in the country for Philosophy, but many (in fact most) will choose a school such as Amherst, Dartmouth, Wesleyan, etc. over NYU for undergrad because it is a better environment and a more valuable degree.”</p>

<p>So, although NYU is much stronger academically than Amherst, Dartmouth, etc. in philosophy (and math, sciences, politics, economics, and …just about everything else), these schools give “a more valuable degree.” Interesting. Evidently, according to you, the “value” has little to do with the quality and reputation of the faculty who do the teaching, and what one can learn from them. Then I am really glad to be at NYU, and happy to take the risk of getting what you call a less “valuable degree”.</p>

37

<p>Whoa, chill atnyu. I am applying to NYU so I don’t have anything against it. </p>

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<p>I noticed you did not address selectivity, perhaps because it is measurable? Anyways, I understand you love NYU (as do I) but that does not change the fact that most everyone will consider an undergrad degree from NU/WashU/Vandy more impressive and valuable than one from NYU, where the undergrad student body is over 20k,</p>

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<p>Heh, you are really going to get some responses from that one if you’re arguing that NYU undergrad is better than basically every school for practically every major imaginable. If that’s your current stance on NYU academics, I’d rather not continue this squabbling as it’s not going to get us anywhere.</p>

38

<p>I agree with brand that NYU is a tier below those other schools, except for maybe Tufts.</p>

<p>Of course your opinion is biased, you go there.</p>

39

<p>haha we agree on something? :D</p>

40

<p>While all rankings tend to be science-biased… [url=<a href="http://www.paked.net/higher_education/rankings/times_rankings.htm]THES’[/url"&gt;http://www.paked.net/higher_education/rankings/times_rankings.htm]THES’[/url&lt;/a&gt;] rankings are considerably better than anything published in the States. </p>

<p>Strange that professors rate WashU higher than Vanderbilt but some schoolkid thinks that WashU is for chumps…</p>