<p>I know the usual suggestion for these threads is to search the archives, but I could only find posts by engineering prospects and that's not what I'm doing. I will visit both schools within the next few weeks for accepted student days, but I wanted to get some opinions beforehand. I will be choosing between the two, assuming a miracle does not happen from Princeton. Anyway, I'm interested in psychology and maybe pre-med, although if I get there and health stuff isn't really turning my wheels my second choice would be business. I've been accepted to the college of arts & sciences at both schools. I grew up outside of Boston and while a weather change would be nice, it's not a truly deciding factor. I'm upper middle class, so I might be bothered by being surrounded by super wealthy people with money to blow (I've heard rumors Vandy is like this, but hasn't it changed?). I'm really social and will probably go Greek but am not looking for more high school drama. I'm looking for advice on the quality of programs for my interests, the prestige factor (likely in applying for grad school), level of academic difficulty, going Greek, and scheduling (mostly input on the quarter system at NU since I hate exams in high school). Money for tuition, R & B, etc. isn't really a factor. Any input would be so helpful, thanks!</p>
<p>Really no one? I posted this on Vandy and Northwestern threads too, and nothing! I really need some advice CCers!</p>
<p>Both are excellent schools. I find the Vandy campus to be perfect and Nashville is an amazing city- but so is Chicago. Vandy is closer to the “city” things to do than Northwestern is to the Chicago “city” things to do. Nothing compares to SEC sports and I think you would have an amazing time at Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>I’d give Vandy the edge in Greek life, NU an edge in arts and theatre. This is a very even choice academically. The Vandy “brand” cachet is growing as quickly as any in the country. Personally, I like the Evanston / Chicago setting over Nashville, but I’d probably be in the minority on that.</p>
<p>Northwestern has the prestige edge, if only slightly (though I am from the South, so I may be biased in my Vandy perspective). Northwestern is definitely more artsy, Vandy more Greek life oriented. Still, Northwestern has great sports (my tour guide named that as one of the main reasons for her applying).</p>
<p>Northwestern was my D1’s primary choice, and she and I spent a fabulous father-and-daughter weekend there on a campus visit. We both loved it, loved the area around campus, met great kids, saw a bunch of campus performances, went to see the Blue Man Group in Chicago - four years later, I still pull for NU when I see them in a game on TV. Ultimately D1’s reach application came through and she went there. That’s when we learned that “reach” acceptance is a little bittersweet - it’s great to get in but tough to let go of schools that you’ve already begun to love.</p>
<p>definitely vandy</p>
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<p>I saw this on the Vanderbilt forum, and I started to answer it, but I hoped a student with more knowledge about the subject of ‘business’ would step in. Since, no one did, I will ask here, does it bother you that there is no undergraduate business school at Vanderbilt? Students interested in business generally–I think–end up at Peabody rather than A and S. </p>
<p>If you hadn’t included that sentence, I would have said you definitely sound right for Vanderbilt, and vice versa. I happen to love Chicago, but the fact is, you are much more likely to find the opportunity to get into Nashville from Vanderbilt than into Chicago from Northwestern. (Vanderbilt is only a mile and a half from the downtown.)</p>
<p>You will probably find the weather in Nashville to be a nice break from what you are accustomed to. Chicago can seem a lot colder than the Boston area; that is some wind coming off of the lake onto the NU campus.</p>
<p>As you noted, Vanderbilt does not have the quarter system. FWIW, the semesters at Vandy are on the short side; things do move along.</p>
<p>The money/social thing. Yeah, there are wealthy people at Vanderbilt. There are wealthy people at Northwestern, too. I, personally, wouldn’t let that be a deciding factor. Vanderbilt is quite generous with financial aid, resulting in a campus that is far more socially heterogeneous than it used to be.</p>
<p>It’s probably safe to assume the academics are gonna be comparable. </p>
<p>NU has the edge in business with programs like MMSS, Kellogg cert, and one of the top management science (engineering school though) and econ departments. Even McKinsey comes to NU to conduct interviews for SA/FT positions. But they are competitive to get and wouldn’t be just handed to you easily. So that should just be one of the factors, not the deciding factor, in your consideration.</p>
<p>The premed courses in quarter system are taught at the same pace as those in semester. In this case, they are easier since you don’t have to cram as much for your finals.</p>
<p>Thanks for the opinions everyone. My interest in business is probably not something I would consider when making a decision because I barely know anything about it! I will most likely (95% sure) stay in the health field when making a career choice, because I really want to make a difference in the lives of others.</p>
<p>bump… any more thoughts? I’ll be sure to post my thoughts after visiting both campuses next weekend for anyone who will be making this decision in the future.</p>
<p>this is a stupid question-Northwestern a 10000000000000 times over. Vanderbilt is full of airheads and suffer from grade inflation.</p>
<p>raison- That was probably one of the more ignorant posts I have seen lately. Congrats.</p>
<p>OP,
Check this out: [Global</a> Health Studies - Northwestern University IPD](<a href=“Global Learning Office - Northwestern University”>Program in Global Health Studies - Northwestern University)</p>
<p>Both excellent schools! Congrats to the OP for having such a great choice. But a question for raison_d’etre about Vanderbilt’s supposed grade inflation - why, then, is the cumulative all-student GPA at Northwestern (3.41) higher than at Vanderbilt (3.34)?</p>
<p>There’s an active Greek community at both schools, though more students are Greek at Vandy (35 percent of men, 50 percent of women) than at NU (30 percent of men, 39 percent of women). A family friend recently graduated from the communications school at Northwestern and could not have been less interested in Greek life - she had no trouble finding her niche and enjoyed 4 great years in Evanston.</p>
<p>Pre-med is challenging everywhere, and if you’re only considering it, it’s wise to look at alternate scenarios. Vanderbilt has one of the world’s premier med centers right on campus, and the research possibilities are incredible, but many kids do change their minds after freshman year.</p>
<p>not to hijack this thread, but i was just offered a position off the waitlist from vandy. can anyone attest to the strengths/weaknesses the communications or cognitive science department at either school?</p>