Rich, white conservative school. Great for kids who loved high school and want that close-knit community for another 4 years.

Better than most similarly situated schools because of national name recognition.

Insane price tag.

Locals call it Villa-No-Fun.

Heavily draws from private schools.

Anonymous wrote:Let's shift this back to the OP's inquiry and save cost/ROI investment for another thread.

Fair enough, but cost discussion was a valid response to OPs question. A lot of people like Villanova, but many question ROI (quite a few kids were accepted in my DD's high school class, but almost all of those who were initially accepted declined due to cost. ). Merit scholarships are rare there and financial aid is not generous.

What kind of stats are needed for merit money?

OP here,

I am asking because a family member has been invited to interview for a full ride at Villanova. So, the question of how much it’s worth might change.

Villanova is not a powerhouse for pre-med. Georgetown, Holy Cross, and ND would be better. Perhaps the most similar Catholic school is BC 7-10 undergrads in suburban locations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not worth $100k. Basic the with Penn State in rankings and PSU half the cost.

Villanova is way better than PSU.

Is it worth $70k more than UMD (which is less than 40 k in state)?

Not a big fan of UMD.

Let's shift this back to the OP's inquiry and save cost/ROI investment for another thread.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not worth $100k. Basic the with Penn State in rankings and PSU half the cost.

Villanova is way better than PSU.

Is it worth $70k more than UMD (which is less than 40 k in state)?

Anonymous wrote:Not worth $100k. Basic the with Penn State in rankings and PSU half the cost.

Villanova is way better than PSU.

Not worth $100k. Basic the with Penn State in rankings and PSU half the cost.

Anonymous wrote:Our DD was accepted but the price is hard to swallow without merit.

Yes, great school, but is it really worth 100 K a year? It’s hard to make an argument that it is.

Anonymous wrote:Not OP, but can somone comment on pre-med. I heard it isn't great, but why?

I do know the science building is very old. Any plans to renovate any time soon?

We have a doctor in the family who went to Villanova for undergrad. I would think it would be fine -- certainly, great access to Philadelphia-area hospitals and research facilities. I can't speculate about overall numbers.

The popularity of Villanova seems tied to the well being of its Men’s Basketball program. Assume that their new Coach is highest paid employee. Misplaced priority imo and Nova has a poor ranking by US News at 57.

To the PP who asked about HC I would say they are pretty different. HC is Jesuit, much smaller, and outside of Worcester. Villanova is Augustinian, almost twice the size, has three train stops on campus to take kids into Philly, and has Greek life. A lot of kids from my kids' private Catholic go to both and they all seem happy. I do think the demographics in terms of students seem similar just based on what I have observed. And both seem to have great alumni connections/loyalty (again, just what I have observed and heard). Just my two cents!

For pre-med would highly recommend Holy Cross. They have a great track record if success. Agree others Jesuit High schools push kids to Jesuit colleges like Georgetown, HC, and BC.