<p>What is driving your need to choose only one? </p>
<p>All three have excellent reputations. Emory and Vanderbilt are mid-sized, urban, southern universities. Dartmouth is a small, undergraduate-focused university located in a small town in northern New England. So geographically, Dartmouth stands apart from the other two. Winters in northern New England can be rather long, cold, damp, dark, and snowy. Dartmouth compensates for that with beautiful surroundings and good opportunities for outdoor recreation. Dartmouth also is even more selective than the other two.</p>
<p>It is very hard to evaluate and differentiate the quality of individual departments at the undergraduate level. Most department rankings are for graduate programs; they tend to focus on research output, which is not necessarily one of the most important factors for undergraduates. College Confidential has had several threads on undergraduate neuroscience programs. Examples:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/449662-best-neuroscience-programs.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/449662-best-neuroscience-programs.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/707599-best-undergraduate-schools-neuroscience.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/707599-best-undergraduate-schools-neuroscience.html</a>
(I don’t think these discussions will tell you which of your three is better for neuroscience … but maybe you’ll get some insights into what to consider).</p>