Daughter admitted to USC now admitted to Vandy from the waitlist--help!

Parents Forum
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<p>I don’t want to sound like the Chamber of Commerce, but here is what I like about Nashville.
Everyone is SO nice and helpful. Things are “easy”. It is a big enough city to have most of the fun sports teams, concerts etc but not difficult to actually get tickets, park and attend. The music scene is awesome and the country stars are so nice and do a ton for the community. There is a strong sense of community, and that includes the Vanderbilt population. Town-gown relations are about as good as I have seen anywhere.</p>

<p>There are lots of outdoor things to do. Percy Warner Park is amazing and the Vandy students do go there to run and hike.</p>

<p>Vanderbilt sports teams are supported by the whole city, as are the Belmont teams.</p>

<p>The airport is so easy and nice.</p>

<p>Enough good restaurants and a variety. Fine dining is not a strength.</p>

<p>Lots of large companies relocating to Nashville and surrounding area due to tax incentives, desirable climate and central location. Means a range of people and talents and good employment opportunities.</p>

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<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>

<p>Oh my…I missed this other “post of wisdom” from 2fast4you. </p>

<p>Please enlighten yourself before putting your hands on a keyboard to spew out such complete ignorance. </p>

<p>It’s very sad that your dad judges an applicant by the region of his PhD, and not the content of his character. </p>

<p>And, BTW…there are elements of racism on every campus in every corner of the country, so certainly there are some racist thoughts on your dad’s campus despite his uninformed biases.</p>

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<p>We aren’t concerned with what our friends think, but our friends represent future employers. If they think of USC as a state/football school, we are concerned that that is a prevailing attitude out there. Our friends are highly educated professionals.</p>

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<p>MOWC…congrats on your daughter’s accomplishments at Vanderbilt. Many grad students never leave Nashville because the economy is good and the opportunities for employment are excellent. Nashville is one of America’s great 3rd coast cities. So interesting to learn that your SIL also chose to practice in Nashville. My Duke son’s roommie is at Vandy med and says he is never leaving Nashville either and will settle there. We adore Nashville and I have lived all over the USA including in Los Angeles. We are discussing moving back to Nashville for the final decade of employment years and for retirement. </p>

<p>Lenny, USC is a fine fine place. Although Vandy does not have an International Relations major, it does have a well run Public Policy major run by a very interesting team of professors. The Vanderbilt student body…is it more national and international now in origins? I would compare that reality. Vanderbilt as you know was once a regional powerhouse but the student body now looks a great deal like Duke’s which has a decidedly international feeling about it.</p>

<p>Our son is taking many international relations courses. The Vanderbilt VIEW page is something you should take a look at re Vanderbilt in DC where Vandy has a federal office. Also our Vandy son will study abroad, which you can do at either USC or Vandy. </p>

<p>Vanderbilt is more than an undergrad school. It is also I think the second or third biggest employer in the state of TN and it serves its region as a leader in health care, and it has outreach on many levels in government, education, law, sciences and the arts.</p>

<p>Regarding journalism as a stated major/minor, I really can’t speak to that. However, Vanderbilt remains divided in an interesting manner between conservative and liberal outlooks and publishes the Hustler as the main paper and two papers with opposing political content. This makes Vandy an interesting laboratory for writers since the student body is not all on the same page. It is not hard to get published. Media Studies and output at Vanderbilt is strong.</p>

<p>The Communications department at Vanderbilt is quite strong. My son has taken courses there and many students who have interest in media studies are picking up majors or minors there. He found the talent in this department to be rather amazing. The world is changing so rapidly that it is hard to predict where the paying jobs will be in journalism. You will see John Seiganthaler around. My son has seen an incredible array of speakers of import flow through Nashville, including General Petraeus.</p>

<p>International Relations as a study focus is hugely popular across the nation right now among undergrads–but you should have one eye on employment outcomes. One of my son’s applied for positions within the state department and other federal international organizations in recent years and the best piece of advice I could give you is to have your daughter consider mastering a language on the top ten list of desirable foreign languages, or to make sure your daughter has mastered some sort of quantitative program in college such as an engineering, science or computer track if she wants to stand out. Vanderbilt does offer more hard core business courses than many of its peer undergrad colleges (many often do not believe in preprofessional business course much in undergrad) and those courses also bolster applications in the International Relations fields.
It is my philosophy to let your son or daughter choose their own adventure if finances are equal and the reputation of the quality of education at any institution passes muster. Your choices both qualify for respect. Now it comes down to the intangibles.</p>

<p>Vanderbilt despite its Greek history and former reputation is a serious place to study. Our son works extremely hard for his A’s, and although we think he is a perfectly grand person, I haven’t met anyone else at Vanderbilt who isn’t just as capable, strong, sincere, hard-working and talented as he is. There is no bottom quartile anymore at Vanderbilt to help you stand out at testing time. The school is made up entirely of self starters who know how to get the job done no matter what kind of social life they opt for at Vandy.</p>

<p>If you live in the south and you find that people are amazed that your daughter has been admitted to Vanderbilt and is considering turning it down, think. The admissions team is admitting people from all over the world and the USA. They are turning away scores of fully qualified wonderful students who were once in their main funnel cities and regions because Vanderbilt is truly a national student body now. I think it is easy to not appreciate what is in your own back yard. Do not judge Vandy on its reputation from two decades back. Take a hard look at who is there now and it is pretty amazing re selectivity and talent. Our southern state sophomore has friends from all over the world and Vanderbilt has expanded his life exponentially. In fact, he won’t be back at Vandy till 2012, and he has the most incredible summer and fall plans that will take him far far away.<br>
My husband, my Duke son and I went to see the Nashville Symphony at the stunning Schermerhorn last week and were pretty blown away. Nashville’s cultural opportunities are very broad and deep but without the stress of a truly major city like LA or NYC.</p>

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<p>Lenny:</p>

<p>It still doesn’t make any sense to me. You are going to spend $60,000 a year on a school that isn’t the best for your daughter’s interests because of what a handful of possible employers think? There are probably a large number of employers in this country that have never heard of Vanderbilt or think of it as an SEC football school, which by the way it is.</p>

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<p>^^^ and this year it’s going to be a BETTER SEC football school. Never under-estimate the contacts and networkingnthat occur due to even an interest in SEC sports. ( it’s more known as an SEC basketball school…)</p>

<p>Faline2’s post gives you a better idea of the Vandy undergraduate culture. Excellent post.</p>

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<p>tsdad: this is what I saw [University</a> of Southern California](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/]University”>http://www.usc.edu/)
Is this false advertisement? Maybe it´s just for Oceanography at USC, and the campus isn´t there.</p>

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<p>That’s not the University Park Campus, that’s the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, a satellite campus on Catalina Island. They do oceanography and biology there, and it’s a popular destination for group retreats because it is a USC campus and it’s absolutely gorgeous there. And there’s kayaking and snorkeling that are free for students because again, it’s a USC campus.</p>

<p>The main campus is called University Park, it’s in the middle of LA. On the main usc.edu page currently, click the third little circle at the bottom right of the main image. That’s a view of McCarthy Quad on campus, which is near most of the freshman dorms.</p>

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<p>lenny2 - My d was accepted at 8 out of 10 of her applicant schools. Trust me, these were all first-rate, highly ranked universities. SHE chose USC because she fell in love with it on her first tour. Everything about it appealed to her. She will be a junior (Engineering Major) next year and could not be happier. I liked USC, to be sure, but strongly felt some of her other options might have been better. (Merit scholarship money was pretty close from several of the schools.) We left it to her and trusted her instincts about where she’d be happy. We had the same geographic consideration - a few of the schools she was accepted to were East Coast and we live in CA. </p>

<p>I’m not sure I’d worry at all about other’s perceptions of which is better/more highly rated/etc. This is 4 years of HER life, pursuing education toward a likely career interest. She should follow her gut and not angst about which is more recognized, respected, etc. These two schools are both considered top-ranked schools. Most educated folks will know USCs and Vandys strengths. She should go where her first instincts tell her she’d be happiest!</p>

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<p>

So you have a bunch of friends who are ignorant when it comes to colleges and you’re letting them influence your decision? Do you really think the grad school admissions people haven’t heard of USC and know what it is (and that it’s not a state school)?</p>

<p>The school shouldn’t be selected based on opinions of the uninformed - it means nothing. I’m sure the majority of Californians, including college educated Californians, have never heard of Vanderbilt U and definitely couldn’t name the state it was located in but that doesn’t mean that it’s not a reasonable choice for a college just as USC is a reasonable choice even if someone’s friend thinks it’s a state school when it isn’t.</p>

<p>Look at the programs offered, consider the software attributes such as the feel of the campus, consider the logistics of the distance of the campus (i.e. cost/time/inconvenience of travel), the city it’s located in, the opportunities in the area, etc., and just the gut feel of your D and where she’d most like to go. The purpose in going to college is to gain an education and experience - not to impress friends unfamiliar with different colleges with her choice of college.</p>

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<p>I had to smile when I read the post pointing out that USC is not diverse because a high percentage of USC students come from California. A high percentage from LA may not be diverse, but California? That’s like saying Vanderbilt is not diverse because it only pulls from the states as far north as Rhode Island, and all the way south to Georgia.</p>

<p>But on a more serious point: I’ve been in your seat, and I can sympathize. But as a fellow parent I would caution you against influencing the decision too much. People here have their own viewpoints for you to consult; but the most important viewpoint is your daughter’s. It’s not as if you’re trying to prevent her from making some horrible mistake - both USC and Vanderbilt are great schools, so she’s not choosing between a great school and a “bad” school. </p>

<p>I suggest she make her own decision, no matter how hard it is for her, or how much she asks you for help. Assist her with facts, help her understand her own thoughts, but let her make the decision. If you influence her decision too strongly, and she comes to regret the final decision, it won’t feel good to either of you.</p>

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<p>Her dad and I are not trying to influence her decision. She is truly torn and is trying to take in as much information as she can as she is making the decision. She is reading all of your responses and appreciates them greatly. She knows there are great benefits to both schools, loves them both, and knows that neither decision would be “wrong.” When you have two really good choices, sometimes that makes things tougher. That’s one of the reasons she is trying to look down the road and take into consideration where she might be in four years. She and we know that is completely up in the air right now and she likely will be a completely different person four years from now. But, with nothing else seeming to tip the scales for her right now, she is looking for something that might help her choose.</p>

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<p>Can’t help commenting on the student “diversity” tangent. It’s a published and recognized fact that USC has one of the most diverse student body populations out there. It’s amazing. No matter what percentage comes from CA - that percentage, in and of itself, will be very ethnically diverse too, LOL…</p>

<p>Lenny - I think it was the “my stomach is in knots” comment that spiked the concern that it be your d’s choice. I’m not sure there is any one fact that is going to tip the scales. There are just too many, varied considerations. She now needs to make probably one of the first truly important decision of her life, and I’m sure she will make a good one. I’d try not to over-complicate it by guessing what any given employer may think, or what friends may think. She’s seen both U’s and should just go with her gut…</p>

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<p>We keep telling her she just has to choose. My stomach is in knots because I feel bad that she is so stressed by the decision. Ultimately, she will be so happy, I know.</p>

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<p>My D is graduating from Vandy next week and has loved the school, the city, etc, etc, etc. However, only YOUR DAUGHTER can make this decision. You don’t seem to have any issues with either school, so you should tell her that this one is for her to consider, debate, and ultimately decide - based on what she feels is most important to her. This must be her decision, and hers alone … she is the one who will live with it. Frankly, I don’t think she can go wrong either way.</p>

<p>Tell her to make a list of pros & cons, then review it over and over until she decides. Oh, and if she chooses one but later decides she wants to transfer to the other, she can. My D did just that!! (Not USC/Vandy, but another school & Vandy)</p>

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<p>I guess it’s time for me to weigh in on this dialogue.</p>

<p>My H is on the USC faculty, dept of mathematics. He’s been at USC since 1986, so I’m privvy to a fair amount of information as to what has gone on during that time period. In the main, he has been well pleased with what the university has done to strenthen departments. He notes that the quality of students has most definitely increased, and this is quanitified by the metrics that suggest a stronger student body than its cross town rival, UCLA.</p>

<p>The fact of the matter is, USC is still on the very upward trend that was jump started when Steve Sample was the president. Witness the fact that well heeled alums are giving back funds in huge amounts of late. Just in the past three months, one couple gave $200 million NO STRINGS to the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences (now named the Dornsife CLAS.) Another couple just gave $100 million to be used solely for undergraduate scholarships. </p>

<p>The Trojan Family network is very real, and extends well beyond CA. There are great international connections. USC has one of the largest international student contigents in the country. This makes for a wonderful diversity on campus.</p>

<p>The student body does enjoy the program put on by the athletic department, headlined by the football team. Frankly, the LA area is so vast and so cosmopolitan (I think even the New Yorkers on this thread just might, might give this a grudging nod in the affirmative) that students could completely ignore the college athletics and keep well entertained for more than the four years they are at USC. It is true that one could (traffic nothwithstanding) surf in the ocean and ski in the mountains in one day.</p>

<p>It is true that the CA economy has been battered very badly by the recession, and LA didn’t avoid this. However, we are not dead and there are signs of life in most sectors, except for government employment.</p>

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<p>The “50 Top Colleges” site has a break-down of demographic and other information about the two schools.</p>

<p>[50</a> Top Colleges - USC](<a href=“http://50topcolleges.com/USC.html]50”>http://50topcolleges.com/USC.html)
[50</a> Top Colleges - Vanderbilt](<a href=“http://50topcolleges.com/Vanderbilt.html]50”>http://50topcolleges.com/Vanderbilt.html)</p>

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<p>Thanks for your clarification, lenny. Best of luck to you and your D. Having a tough decision is a good situation to be in, when either selection is a terrific option. Let us know!</p>

<p>edited to add: our D attended one of these 2 schools, and absolutely loved it. I’m not saying which one, because it’s irrelevant. Thousands of kids choose one, and thousands of kids choose the other. But none of them is your daughter !</p>

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<p>I have to just say THANK YOU again to all of you who have taken the time to weigh in on this. I am truly overwhelmed by the fact that so many of you have given thoughtful responses to my daughter’s wonderful dilemma. Your responses are helpful and are helping us think things through. CC is just the best!</p>

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<p>I agree that your D just needs to weigh things as best she can & make her choice, knowing she can always go elsewhere for grad school (not PLANNING to transfer, but it is of course always an option). We were pleasantly surprised that D chose to attend the same U that S was attending, since we had toured many Us with both of them. USC has worked well for both of them, but Vandy has worked well for many others. </p>

<p>As mom, I’d urge you & her dad to distance yourself from the issue & decision. It really needs to be D’s choice. She already knows the basics and has to just choose. If your stomach is in knots, you are allowing yourself to be too invested in the choice and need to step back, meditate, chill out, exercise, whatever it takes so YOU can remain calm and support this & other choices your D will be making. Good luck (easier said than done. :))</p>