<p>My daughter has been very excited about her admission to USC and has happily planned her orientation, picked out her dorm, and scoped out the sororities. Lo and behold, Vanderbilt called last week and admitted her off the wait list. Now, she is very torn. She wants to study International Relations and Journalism, and, although Vandy does not have a formal program in either area, they do have programs and courses that would work for her and interest her. She wants to go to grad school and thinks she would like to live on the east coast in the long term (probably New York or Boston), but not in the south. We have read everything we can find on CC and everywhere else on the internet and are still so torn. Please help us choose!</p>
<p>Why did she apply to Vanderbilt in the first place? You didn’t say anything about finance, is it a concern? By reading your post, I am not sure what you are asking, or how could people on this forum help you. </p>
<p>Why don’t you list all the pros and cons of going to each school and weigh each of those points, see which one comes out ahead.</p>
<p>She won’t get any aid at either school so the finances come out about the same. We have looked at the pros and cons of both schools and they keep coming out about the same. I guess what I am asking is, how should she choose? Which school will position her best for grad school and for ultimately finding a job on the east coast? Would going to USC be best only for working in California because of its heavily California-based alumni network? Or, does USC have a good connection to New York and Boston? Is Vandy too “southern” in its alumni base? Or not, because the students seem to come from everywhere? </p>
<p>The social aspects of the schools seem to be a wash–both great. We are from the south ourselves, where Vandy has a great reputation–does that carry nationwide? Regarding USC, we find that lots of people think it’s a state school, despite it’s high ranking and selectivity. I can’t tell you how many people have said to us, “Why would she want to go to LA?” People don’t seem to appreciate how good USC is. Is that true of potential employers out there?</p>
<p>These are the questions we can’t answer.</p>
<p>USC has a great reputation, and so does Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>Where does she really want to go. Tell her to flip a coin. as soon as the coin is in the air, she will know which answer she does NOT want. Good luck.</p>
<p>My impressions from working in the Boston area and NYC is that Vanderbilt will have an edge reputationwise. </p>
<p>There are many East coast employers who perceive Vanderbilt as a highly prestigious school almost on par with the Ivies whereas USC is either unknown or seen as a school as a big Div 1 sports school in the shadows of UCLA and other peer West Coast institutions. Experience borne out by several USC alum friends in Boston who had issues landing their first jobs because of the misperception/lack of name recognition among employers.</p>
<p>This is the type of information we are looking for. Thanks so much. Anyone else?</p>
<p>I am very partial to Vanderbilt and Nashville, but do believe it will serve your daughter better on the east coast than USC.</p>
<p>As an easterner, I can tell you that Vandy seems to have a growing reputation. I have heard USC, on the other hand, referred to as the “University of Spoiled Children” within the last couple of years. I’m sure the latter is unfair, so please spare me the litany about the glories of USC. 
I’m just reporting what people say, fair or not.</p>
<p>This exact scenario happened to a friend’s D this time last year. To complicate things even more, the mother had gone to USC and she had an older sister at Vandy. </p>
<p>My friend’s D chose USC and loves it, though having said that part of this was to differentiate from her sister at Vandy. I personally concur with cobrat’s observation, though admit it reflects a bias on my part and either school will serve you well.</p>
<p>I vote for Vandy.</p>
<p>Which school was your D admitted to at USC? If she was admitted to Annenberg and or the International Relations major, I would recommend staying with USC. IT sounds like a better academic match of interests.</p>
<p>Easterner here, too. As a New Yorker, I think most New York employers would favor USC over Vandy because sad, to say, there is a bias against the South in NY, whereas the left coast is seen as more similar.</p>
<p>That said, I don’t think these issues should concern you. Your daughter should just choose the school that inspires her most. You can’t account for perception. Knowledgeable folk will value both.</p>
<p>My S is graduating from Williams and most people say, “Oh, Williams and Mary?” Don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>yea i think she should choose USC</p>
<p>prestige wise, they are both about the same, any difference is negligible really.
im not really sure if your daughter would like the atmosphere at vanderbilt. it is a very “southern” place and it is a little conservative, i think there is a lot of livestock and cows running around the city. there is a lot of racism as well with minorities. i mean, if your daughter enjoys racism she should definitely go to vanderbilt.
imagine what a prospective employers would say when they found out your daughter when to vanderbilt
“Oh, you went to vanderbilt? are you racist by chance?”
it probably will not help her get a job on the east coast, she would probably be forced to live in the south where other racists view vanderbilt positively and would be happy to hire people from there</p>
<p>the people at USC are a lot more diverse and come from a lot of different backgrounds. vanderbilt is known as a bit of a party school and the greek life dominates the campus.</p>
<p>SO USC actually has the program(s) your daughter wants to Study and Vandy does not?</p>
<p>I think established programs will carry more weight than a degree in another area frankly. Go USC for undergrad and then East Coast for Grad. No question the Grad schools she applies to will know USC and the quality there. Since she is planning on going to grad school she will not be looking for work with the USC undergrad degree. Even if those plans change I think she will be better served in job hunting by having an actual degree in the fields you mention rather than a more general degree and some classes and programs.</p>
<p>Seems like a no brainer to me when you break it down.</p>
<p>USC has a great journalism program and it’s IR/international business programs have been rising in reputation exponentially in the last several years. Connections across the Pacific are among the best in higher education and much, much stronger than Vandy’s. </p>
<p>Don’t see grad school as the issue - placement will be very similar from the two schools. NE bias will work somewhat against both, fairly equally. Overall, academically, Vandy probably gets the edge, barely. If there’s a clear winner in social life, where she’d see herself happiest, that’s where I’d place my vote. But for your daughter’s interests, all else being equal, I’d clearly give the nod to USC.</p>
<p>You might do further research on each school from your computer. Comb through the web-sites and look at academics in the areas your D is interested in: course lists, concentrations of the professors, research opportunities, etc. Check other things your D is interested in: number of AP courses accepted, required courses. You might make a list of what is most important in selection of a college for you so you don’t get distracted. I would pull up threads in each of the college’s forums in CC for the last year. Finally, if possible, visit one or both.
Good Luck!</p>
<p>2fast4you, are you kidding with your post? Everyone who goes to Vanderbilt will be assumed to be racist?</p>
<p>I assume that you are ■■■■■■■■ and hope no one actually takes your statements seriously.
Don’t you have some homework to do?</p>
<p>i was just being honest. my father who is a department head at a university says that whenever he reviews applications for associate professors and he sees that an applicant has a degree from vanderbilt, he automatically throws out their application because he says that he does not want to bring racism to the university’s campus. i cant blame him, i would probably do the same thing</p>
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<p>One of my USC alum friends actually encountered an interviewer who made cracks about USC being the “University of Spoiled Children” and “University of Stupid Californians”. Not too surprisingly, the interview crashed and burned in short order. Then again, from what he said…that could also be because the interviewer was a major jerk. :(</p>
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<p>As a fellow New Yorker, I’m not so sure about that. While there is a bias against the South, schools like Vandy and its southern peers(UVA, Duke, UNC-CH, etc) are well-known enough for their academic prestige to override it from what I’ve seen working in Boston and NYC. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I’ve seen plenty of employers who don’t know much about USC or assume it is mainly another big Div I sports school.</p>
<p>OP - if you are concerned about future employment for your kid, why don’t you speak with someone from each school’s career center, find out which school recruits on campus and where most graduates end up working.</p>
<p>[Article</a> - Employment Statistics - Vanderbilt Career Center](<a href=“http://www.vanderbilt.edu/career/employers/getArticle.php?article=92]Article”>http://www.vanderbilt.edu/career/employers/getArticle.php?article=92)</p>
<p>I had a hard time finding USC’s, but I am sure they have a report similar to Vanderbilt’s too.</p>