Thoughts on Villanova?
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Anonymous
| What is the general vibe there? And why is it rated so low? It's far more selective than many of the 'national' universities, but it's only considered regional per US News. DD is interested, but I'm not sure it's a good match. |
Anonymous
| What do you want to know? It's very similar to UMD in terms of acceptance rate and mid-50% SAT scores. What does she want to study? |
Anonymous
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Smaller schools that have big name athletic programs draw a lot of apps for a small class = lower acceptance rate
Acceptance rate is probably the poorest metric for academic quality. |
Anonymous
| Being ranked "regional" by USNWR doesn't necessarily mean low. You have to read the criteria--I relates to the number of PhDs the school awards, or some other such thing that won't concern an undergrad. |
Anonymous
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Small school, great basketball team. I guess if you like Philadelphia, it would be ok.
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Anonymous
| Villa no fun |
Anonymous
| It seems like a very homogenous student body, but that kids who are a good fit LOVE it - it's a classic college experience with a self-contained, attractive campus, small town, safe feel. Know many happy alums. |
Anonymous
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What do you want to know?
It is homogenous -- rich/upper middle class white; preppy; and kids who have somewhat of a spoiled attitude as a whole. It is a regional school for the Pa-NJ-Del. area with a decent number of New Yorkers. I think their job placement in NYC has improved, but historically the people going to Villanova grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and are hell bent on staying there. |
Anonymous
We always called it "Vanillanova." |
Anonymous
| I visited with my DD a year ago and did not like it a bit. In fact that visit put me off the idea of going to any small preppy college. It was stifling. |
Anonymous
| It may have changed, but I visited it years ago and it seemed very regional and insulated. Kind of like if you moved Catholic to Damascus, cut the enrollment in half, and filled it up with kids who'd all gone to parochial school in Silver Spring and Bethesda. |
Anonymous
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My friend from the area used to call it "villa nowhere".
You can do better OP. |
Anonymous
| Doesn't it have a beautiful campus? It could be a great place for some people. I know a city-raised minority student who was not an athlete, took a liking to their business program and got a scholarship for her smarts. It was tough going at first, and she was hit with racist comments in the dorms. She spoke up, eventually was supported by the residential staff and wound up with good friendships and a very positive feeling about Villanova. No doubt her experience was atypical. Just mean some times a place is les monolithic than first impressions reveal. |
Anonymous
There are some nice buildings, but overall the campus didn't make that much of an impression. Not trying to dump on the place, just not seeing why it would appeal too much to someone from the DC area unless they got an athletic scholarship. |
Anonymous
| They have a BS-MD program with Drexel. Might be worth looking into if you can afford it and don't want to deal with med school admissions. |