<p>Hello everyone, I am deciding between Vanderbilt or Notre Dame. </p>
<p>I am going to do biochem or biology but i also want to do pre med. Financial aid is pretty similar so it does not matter, and im between these two in perspective of academcs. </p>
<p>My question is which one has better pre med program??? i know that vanderbilt has medical school on campus, but i heard notre dame also has very very good pre med program. So can anybody has advice, comments, or experience with premed program in these two schools? and also give me some sight on which school should i choose?</p>
<p>Well I know you were worried a bit about the diversity factor and I think you would find more community in the upper midwest. Chicago is about 90 minutes away and has a pretty significant Asian Am community and many of the cities in the upper midwest are within 2 hours each way. I know that you won’t live there, but it is available when you want to visit, buy groceries etc. </p>
<p>That said, Vanderbilt is trying to increase diversity. But outside of campus there is not much around in terms of a notable AA population. </p>
<p>Personally, I prefer the upper MW, so I would go to Notre Dame.</p>
<p>^^^Chicago is NOT 90 minutes away, because the traffic getting into and out of Chicago adds a huge amount of time to the trip. I used to take a train into Chicago when I lived in South Bend, and it was a long day trip. If this student goes to ND, s/he had better enjoy the campus because that is all there is.</p>
<p>kyo, it is absurd to suggest that diversity is greater at, or in the vicinity of, ND than at Vanderbilt. I think ND is a very fine school academically and students who want to be there love it. South Bend is another story. Vanderbilt has a whole lot more diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, culture and religion that it did just 10 years ago, and Nashville is both accessible and a lot of fun. The campus is ringed by bookstores, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. and the downtown is a mile and half away.</p>
<p>I know a couple of doctors who were undergraduates at ND; obviously going there is a fine option for pre-med. It seems to me (and to my son’s gf, who is premed at Vanderbilt) that having a large medical school on campus can be a big plus for undergraduates who make the effort to take advantage of opportunities.</p>
<p>I don’t really like to give hard and fast advice to total strangers, but in this case I am so tempted to say Vanderbilt. Oops, look like I said it.</p>
<p>Oh, and by the way, the weather in Nashville is about a million times nicer than in northern Indiana. When I moved from South Bend to rural northern New England, it was an IMPROVEMENT weather-wise. Damp, dreary, windy, icy. Not so nice.</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but the notion of traveling from South Bend to Chicago to buy groceries is easily one of the goofiest things I have ever read on CC–or anywhere else!</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, but the notion of traveling from South Bend to Chicago to buy groceries is easily one of the goofiest things I have ever read on CC–or anywhere else!”</p>
<p>Interesting. When the first major Asian supermarket opened in the San Gabriel Valley (about 15 minutes east of downtown Los Angeles) customers drove from as far as San Diego to buy groceries there and if you had any clue about immigrant communities you wouldn’t think it was so ridiculous.</p>
<p>vociferous, I have more than a clue about immigrant communities for reasons I’m not going to specify here. I used to live in South Bend, however, and I’m very familiar with Chicago. It isn’t just a 90 mile jaunt down the highway. It is a big trek. </p>
<p>There might be decent Asian markets in South Bend now. Don’t know. I’m willing to bet there are in Nashville, and they’d be pretty easy to get to.</p>
<p>vociferous, I apologize for offending you. But really, there are some things you really just have to experience, and driving into Chicago from the east is one of them.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m just incompetent at negotiating highways, but then again, most college freshmen, many of whom do not have cars and very few of whom have experience driving in or into major cities, are pretty incompetent on Chicago area highways also.</p>
<p>And I must say, at the risk of escalating your irritation with me, that you sound a bit naive yourself with your comments about ND, northern Indiana and Vanderbilt/Nashville. I’m pretty familiar with both schools and both communities, and you are off-base.</p>
<p>Edit: But we do all agree that both universities are very fine options for premed, academically.</p>