How good is Villanova academically?

If you consider the Ivies, Duke and Stanford as tier 1, schools like UNC, UVA, G' Town and Nova would be tier 2. I would put Nova in the botton half of T1, which means it is very good school academically.

Nova #1 in the world

Villanova is not a research university -- for the most part it does not grant doctorates and is not focused on advanced research like other well-known universities. The faculty has less emphasis on research and more emphasis on teaching -- in theory. Often the research requirements are high despite the lack of stated emphasis and support.

It does not mean it is not a fine school. It may mean that the emphasis is on undergraduate education.

BTW, Georgetown is considered a research university and grants doctorates in many areas.

TrackCoach wrote:

If you consider the Ivies, Duke and Stanford as tier 1, schools like UNC, UVA, G' Town and Nova would be tier 2. I would put Nova in the botton half of T1, which means it is very good school academically.

Wait are you serious? If Nova was included in the national rankings of US News they'd be somewhere in the 60-80 range. Nowhere near UNC, UVA, or Georgetown.

Villanova isn't even the best on the Main Line

osullivan wrote:

Villanova isn't even the best on the Main Line

Sorry you didn't get accepted.

TrackCoach wrote:

If you consider the Ivies, Duke and Stanford as tier 1, schools like UNC, UVA, G' Town and Nova would be tier 2. I would put Nova in the botton half of T1, which means it is very good school academically.

Equating Georgetown and Villanove academically is one of the most incorrect things I've ever read on this message board. There are a great many schools better than Villanova, but not as good as Georgetown. It's like saying that 95 degree weather and 45 degree weather are about the same because they both have degrees.

Spotter of Nova Nonsense wrote:

Equating Georgetown and Villanove academically is one of the most incorrect things I've ever read on this message board. ... It's like saying that 95 degree weather and 45 degree weather are about the same because they both have degrees.

That made me laugh - nice one.

Spotter of Nova Nonsense wrote:

Equating Georgetown and Villanove academically is one of the most incorrect things I've ever read on this message board. There are a great many schools better than Villanova, but not as good as Georgetown. It's like saying that 95 degree weather and 45 degree weather are about the same because they both have degrees.

What exactly is the difference? These polls that are based on the number of nobel prizes, patents, and research papers are almost entirely irrelevant to UNDERGRAD.

Undergrad academics are about the same everywhere.

I didn't go to Nova or Gtown, but was under the impression that they were at similar level in terms of quality and difficulty of admission. Nova only has 3K or so students, or at least that's how much it had when I considered applying there over two decades ago. The small enrollment # is probably why it's categorized as regional and not national. I think due to strong basketball, people are surprised it's so small.

2012xxx wrote:

I didn't go to Nova or Gtown, but was under the impression that they were at similar level in terms of quality and difficulty of admission.

Not even close. I got in to Nova (didn't go) and wouldn't have stood a chance of getting into Georgetown.

A quick search, for the 25% and 75% levels of students on the Reading part of the SAT, has Villanova at 590 and 680, behind Gettysburg (610/690), behind Denison (600/690), and even with Lafayette 590/680).

By comparison, Georgetown (640/750) is comparable to Ivy League schools such as Brown (630/740), Cornell (630/730) and Penn (660/750). Duke is (660/750), Stanford (670/770). Harvard, Yale, Princeton, are higher.

The George sounding school that is a close comparator for Villanova is Georgia Tech (590/690). Georgetown is very close to an Ivy such as the University of Pennsylvania, which is a very different place academically than Villanova.

I guess Villanova gets a lot less traction from comparing itself to Lafayette, or vowing to catch up to Gettysburg and Denison. Same level as Georgetown? You can't even mix something with Kool-Aid that would have that make sense.

Spotter of Nova Nonsense wrote:

A quick search, for the 25% and 75% levels of students on the Reading part of the SAT, has Villanova at 590 and 680, behind Gettysburg (610/690), behind Denison (600/690), and even with Lafayette 590/680).

The George sounding school that is a close comparator for Villanova is Georgia Tech (590/690). Georgetown is very close to an Ivy such as the University of Pennsylvania, which is a very different place academically than Villanova.

wut.

Georgia Tech is an engineering school. Using the 25/75 percentiles of SAT Reading is just as relevant as using the football records.

Okay, I'll tell you wut. Villanova has a good undergraduate engineering program too. US News has put it in the top ten for such undergraduate programs, which may be generous, but I was in a good mood, so I'll throw Nova a bone. Georgia Tech is the right George school for a Villanova comparison, not Georgetown.

Oh, the presence of an engineering program does not render reading irrelevant, or Reading scores. It's a good measure of comparative academic strength of two schools and a common basis for admitting or rejecting applicants, regardless of major. Sure, the MIT and Cal-Tech kids have math scores in the stratosphere, but their reading scores are often a distinguishing factor over 780-880 math applicants ending up elsewhere, for engineering, math, science, etc. I wasn't the one who first said Reading Is Fundamental, but I believe it to be true. So do universities.

One other relevant basis for the comparison is that some of Villanova's top students are in Engineering. The Wildcats would be even further behind Gettysburg or Denison academically without them.

Don't confuse lack of relevance with lack of commonality. Reading scores are important indicators of academic strength, and hence relevant to the discussion, despite some lack of commonality with the strengths of some engineering students. Football lacks both commonality and relevance. Your disparaging reading by referencing football is pretty amazing.

If I had to guess, I'd say the best "George" school comparison to Nova would be George Washington. Not that it matters.

Go to Villanova for business, engineering, or the nursing school otherwise its just a normal arts and science school. Villanova has top 10 business and engineering schools (business just lost their dean so they fell to #13 but they should be back). As for the georgetown/nova comparison, its fair to say it for the business/engineering schools but if you want an arts degree, go somewhere else.

comparing schools of admission statistics is pointless, like notre dame is the best business school in the country (according to a lot of academic polls) nothing real special is needed to get into notre dame. Thats not a bash on them, it just shows that sat scores don't mean anything in the ranking of the school itself.

I agree that the George thing is a bit of sideshow, just a partial name overlap. George Washington is pretty close (600/690), a bit above both Villanova and Georgia Tech, which are both 590/680. My point was that Georgetown (640/750) was not only not a valid comparison, it wasn't even the right George. You found even more proof of that.

Villanova's not a bad school. Nor are Lafayette, Gettysburg and Denison. None of them are Georgetown academically, not even close. Similarly, Georgetown's not even close to Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. At most any school, you can find atypically strong or weak students, but the typical Villanova student, through high school, was pretty far behind the typical Georgetown student.

College achievement is a separate matter, and is very individual. Still, the academic environment, challenge from your fellow students, and ongoing expectation of the faculty for the level of student achievement in their college classes is higher at a more selective school. A "B" research paper could be an "A" at an easier school, or a "C," at one filled with scholars in training.

I know several doctors that went to Villanova and I know several huge losers who went there to. College is what you make of it.

Villanova is basically like a pretty good high school. Far, far below Princeton, Penn, Swarthmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr. It would be an incredible waste of money to go ta a place like nova or rider. A better option is any decent state school, or bucknell.