Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 10:07     Subject: Re:Wake
Anonymous wrote:A few years ago my child was selected for the scholarship weekend for their full-ride. It was a nice surprise as selection is made from initial application and not additional essays. The learned a lot about the school over the weekend and we were very impressed.

The pros, very small classes across the board, engaged professors, spirited campus, and their focus on character development. They created and are very proud of their Program for Leadership and Character. You can read up on it if anyone wishes, but it’s served as a model for other schools.

I think it’s a fantastic idea quality of life school for the right student and I have no doubt someone could be a very hands-on education with a lot of personal care more than many others that may be higher ranked.


Did your kid attend?
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 10:05     Subject: Wake
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Strong academics in all core areas. Good social scene - not nerdy but not a total party school. Students are smart and focused without being too intense. Top notch athletics. Good weather. Big enough to have broad offerings but small enough that your kid is "known."

For DC area kids, far enough away that your kid is "going away" to college but close enough that they can easily get home for breaks. Near a decent sized city - definitely doesn't have the amenities of a big city or a major college town, but not in the middle of nowhere either.

Good career/grad school outcomes - not in line with Ivy+ but still lots of options.


It all adds up to a "decent" school. Decent academics, decent social life, decent athletics, decent weather, decent town. Certainly not bad. But the challenge is, is it worth paying $100k/yr for "decent"?


It is better than "decent". It definitely isn't "excellent." But it is better than the vast majority of schools in America, so that is better than "decent."

And for people who have the money, $100k a year is worth spending if it is a good fit for your kid. Surround them with other people who have similar resources.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 10:04     Subject: Wake
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Wake is for those who want the “south,” but can’t cut it at Vandy, Emory, Duke, UNC, and UVA. It is like Lehigh. Meh.


Why would anybody pick Emory over Wake? Yuck.

Because Wake yikes while Emory is a semi top college.

If emory is a semi top college, so is CMU, Washu, Rice , ND, Gtown, Umich, UCLa and Vandy right??

Of course. But the point is Wake isn’t in this league. It’s not even T50.

I consider those schools lower elite. So it was a confusion in wording.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 10:04     Subject: Re:Wake
A few years ago my child was selected for the scholarship weekend for their full-ride. It was a nice surprise as selection is made from initial application and not additional essays. The learned a lot about the school over the weekend and we were very impressed.

The pros, very small classes across the board, engaged professors, spirited campus, and their focus on character development. They created and are very proud of their Program for Leadership and Character. You can read up on it if anyone wishes, but it’s served as a model for other schools.

I think it’s a fantastic idea quality of life school for the right student and I have no doubt someone could be a very hands-on education with a lot of personal care more than many others that may be higher ranked.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 10:00     Subject: Wake
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Wake is for those who want the “south,” but can’t cut it at Vandy, Emory, Duke, UNC, and UVA. It is like Lehigh. Meh.


Why would anybody pick Emory over Wake? Yuck.

Because Wake yikes while Emory is a semi top college.

If emory is a semi top college, so is CMU, Washu, Rice , ND, Gtown, Umich, UCLa and Vandy right??

Of course. But the point is Wake isn’t in this league. It’s not even T50.


Wake is just below most of those, and there is no shame in that. I'm guessing that for most of those schools, a majority would choose the other ones over Wake, but there would be a critical mass who would choose Wake for a variety of reasons. I could make a compelling argument for choosing Wake over most of them, but they are very specific to certain kids (i.e. Wake would be a happier college experience than CMU, plus CMU is pretty specialized in its areas of excellence so if that's not your think, they are actually pretty close).
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 09:58     Subject: Wake
Anonymous wrote:Strong academics in all core areas. Good social scene - not nerdy but not a total party school. Students are smart and focused without being too intense. Top notch athletics. Good weather. Big enough to have broad offerings but small enough that your kid is "known."

For DC area kids, far enough away that your kid is "going away" to college but close enough that they can easily get home for breaks. Near a decent sized city - definitely doesn't have the amenities of a big city or a major college town, but not in the middle of nowhere either.

Good career/grad school outcomes - not in line with Ivy+ but still lots of options.


It all adds up to a "decent" school. Decent academics, decent social life, decent athletics, decent weather, decent town. Certainly not bad. But the challenge is, is it worth paying $100k/yr for "decent"?
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 09:53     Subject: Wake
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Wake is for those who want the “south,” but can’t cut it at Vandy, Emory, Duke, UNC, and UVA. It is like Lehigh. Meh.


Why would anybody pick Emory over Wake? Yuck.

Because Wake yikes while Emory is a semi top college.

If emory is a semi top college, so is CMU, Washu, Rice , ND, Gtown, Umich, UCLa and Vandy right??

Of course. But the point is Wake isn’t in this league. It’s not even T50.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 09:50     Subject: Wake
Strong academics in all core areas. Good social scene - not nerdy but not a total party school. Students are smart and focused without being too intense. Top notch athletics. Good weather. Big enough to have broad offerings but small enough that your kid is "known."

For DC area kids, far enough away that your kid is "going away" to college but close enough that they can easily get home for breaks. Near a decent sized city - definitely doesn't have the amenities of a big city or a major college town, but not in the middle of nowhere either.

Good career/grad school outcomes - not in line with Ivy+ but still lots of options.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 09:49     Subject: Wake
They do have a good fight song but doesn’t translate into many victories!
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 09:43     Subject: Wake
I wish people would weigh in on the first original question. What are the strengths of Wake?
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 09:24     Subject: Wake
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When Emory goes test required and the numbers remain where they are with 40% of kids not reporting scores, I’ll concede the point.

Vandy, Notre Dame, Umich, WashU, Uva, Gtown all have lower scores or less students submitting test scores than Emory. Rice is the only peer that has higher scores and more students submitting. Wake boosters are bitter that Wake has not been able to keep pace with Emory and schools like it since the 90's. Wake doesn't even receive 20k applications 🙄.


What do you have against Wake? Why such a nasty tone? You can say you think a school is better than another without being rude and demeaning a school. It makes you sound like a bratty child. And I'm fairly sure you probably didn't go to a school nearly as good as Wake. Low class.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 09:23     Subject: Wake
Anonymous wrote:When Emory goes test required and the numbers remain where they are with 40% of kids not reporting scores, I’ll concede the point.

Vandy, Notre Dame, Umich, WashU, Uva, Gtown all have lower scores or less students submitting test scores than Emory. Rice is the only peer that has higher scores and more students submitting. Wake boosters are bitter that Wake has not been able to keep pace with Emory and schools like it since the 90's. Wake doesn't even receive 20k applications 🙄.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 09:16     Subject: Wake
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I think the trend is that Wake is unquestionably in the shadow of Duke and Vandy but more at parity with Emory. Emory plays games with ED and their Oxford campus to juice the numbers a bit (but not the masterclass in number-cooking featured by Northeastern).

Wake is increasingly popular from the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast which is have a self-perpetuating positive impact on popularity.

The positives are that it’s a beautiful self-contained country club-like campus. The downside is that it’s a beautiful self-contained country club-like campus. The development of the area around the arena and stadium will help with off campus life a bit which has been a knock.


Apparently you’re not aware that the acceptance profiles and rates at Emory and the Oxford campus are negligible … that’s OK, that level of ignorance isn’t uncommon.


Unless you apply ED and are full pay, in which case Emory is like a less accomplished version of Northeastern and Tulane.

But emory ED1 received 3500 applications more than ED1and ED2 combined.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 09:11     Subject: Wake
Anonymous wrote:I think the trend is that Wake is unquestionably in the shadow of Duke and Vandy but more at parity with Emory. Emory plays games with ED and their Oxford campus to juice the numbers a bit (but not the masterclass in number-cooking featured by Northeastern).

Wake is increasingly popular from the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast which is have a self-perpetuating positive impact on popularity.

The positives are that it’s a beautiful self-contained country club-like campus. The downside is that it’s a beautiful self-contained country club-like campus. The development of the area around the arena and stadium will help with off campus life a bit which has been a knock.

Emory has been a T20/25 school for 50 years. Its disrespect is astounding but lets do a comparison.

Wakes COMBINED ED1&ED2 acceptance rate is 35%. 5% higher than Emorys ED1 acceptance rate alone. Emorys COMBINED ED1&ED2 acceptance rate is 22%.

Wakes overall acceptance rate of 22% is 2x that of Emorys.

Less than 50% of students at Wake submit test scores, vs 70% of Emory students.

Wake-
1420-1500/32-34

Emory-
1480-1540/33-35

Rankings

Usnews-
Emory- 24
Wake- 51

Times
Emory-22
Wake- 149

College Simply
Emory- 24
Wake-44

Us news global
Emory-69
Wake- 497


Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 09:03     Subject: Wake
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Wake is for those who want the “south,” but can’t cut it at Vandy, Emory, Duke, UNC, and UVA. It is like Lehigh. Meh.


Why would anybody pick Emory over Wake? Yuck.

Because Wake yikes while Emory is a semi top college.

If emory is a semi top college, so is CMU, Washu, Rice , ND, Gtown, Umich, UCLa and Vandy right??