<p>Is engineering your fall back in case you don't make it to Med School? If so, go with Michigan as the job prospect is better ... unless you like computer science, then CMU is the obvious choice.</p>
<p>Michigan has one of the top medical center so if you want to do medical research ... good on your resume.</p>
<p>For a richer campus life, I'd go with Michigan over CMU (don't know enough about Vandy to comment on that). And if you like art, music and sports, Michigan wins by a wide margin.</p>
<p>More Selective.
Challenging Academics
Better Weather
More Geographic Diversity.
Highest Overall Ranking
Beautiful Campus (National Arboretum)
Excellent Social Life
Good Food
Down to Earth Student Body (and the girls are beautiful)
Students work hard, but arent cut-throat (share notes if your sick)
Smaller Class Room Sizes
Good Sports Teams (except football)
Strong Alumni Network
Intellectual Environment
Southern Hospatality
Professors care about you (give home #'s/eat lunch with you, etc.)
School sponsers lots of events (Recfest, Rites of Spring, etc.)</p>
<p>....as you can see im a satisfied Vandy Student :)</p>
<p>I'd go with UMIch too. CMU is great, but if you decide you do want to do BME, you'll have to have a first major and use BME as your second. I don't think it's worth the extra 2-4,000 a year. I chose UMIch based on personal preferences for the lifestyle, as well as the fact I think it's more known in the engineering world, if you decide you actually do want to be an engineer, than say Vandy.</p>
<p>More Selective.
Challenging Academics
Better Weather
More Geographic Diversity.
Highest Overall Ranking
Beautiful Campus (National Arboretum)
Excellent Social Life
Good Food
Down to Earth Student Body (and the girls are beautiful)
Students work hard, but arent cut-throat (share notes if your sick)
Smaller Class Room Sizes
Good Sports Teams (except football)
Strong Alumni Network
Intellectual Environment
Southern Hospatality
Professors care about yo"u (give home #'s/eat lunch with you, etc.)
School sponsers lots of events (Recfest, Rites of Spring, etc.)</p>
<p>....as you can see im a satisfied Vandy Student "</p>
<p>I can understand that you are biased because you are a Vandy student but Michigan exceeds Vanderbilt in many of the criteria you mentioned.</p>
<p>agree with asdfTT123, michigan does exceed vandy in a few of those categories.</p>
<p>"challenging academics" - this is very subjective, from what i've heard about michigan is that it is extremely hard to graduate with a good gpa. same with CMU, cmu has very "challenging" academics too.</p>
<p>"more geographic diversity" - if you're talking about kids from diff states then yea, vandy has more "geographic diversity" b/c michigan is a state school. but vandy def does not have more "ethnic and racial diversity." I believe vandy is mostly white with few minorities. michigan has a good percentage of asians and blacks. CMU also has more racial/ethnic diversity than vandy. </p>
<p>"beautiful campus" - again, this is very subjective. I visited michigan AND vandy and i thought the two campuses were both very nice.</p>
<p>"down to earth student body (and the girls are beautiful)" - same with michigan.</p>
<p>"good sports teams" - lol michigan will trumph vandy's sports program anyday. </p>
<p>"strong alumni network" - it just so happens michigan has the largest alumni network in the world.</p>
<p>"southern hospitality" - ???</p>
<p>"school sponsors lots of events" - believe me, michigan sponsors a LOT of events. </p>
<p>and for the record i'm not a michigan student.</p>
<p>I think if you can deal with its overwhelming size, and get through the Ann Arbor winters, Michigan would offer you the most rewarding college experience of the three, both academically and socially.</p>
<p>And as for selectivity and intellectual enviornment, even though Vanderbilt has a lower admissions rate, it doesn't mean the student body there is any better than at Michigan. It simply means that Michigan can accept more qualified students since they can accomodate more. Judging by selectivity has no bearing...Michigan's student body matches (maybe even exceedes) the caliber of Vanderbilt's.</p>
<p>UMich is a good school, but I am not sure if it has the best academics here, since it is really easy to graduate there, at least for graduate students. </p>
<p>One of my friends went to a Master program there, and graduated in one year. She said the classes were easier than expected, and to make up enough credits for the degree, she even took a class which only teachs how to use AutoCAD2k. Since she was a practicing architect, she did not even go to the class, instead stayed with her husband in another city.</p>
<p>Big public schools are good because they have more fields for you to choose, and they have good research programs and excellent faculty, who however hate teaching with passion. As for the student body, there is certainly huge quality gap.</p>
<p>I vote for Vandy if you want a wonderful solid liberal arts core curriculum on a campus where the faculty will treat you with warmth and TAs are hard to locate. I am sure there are positives for Michigan and CMU and perhaps more evolved engineering tracks that can't be disputed. Vanderbilt is much more about delivering a liberal arts education within a warm, sociable setting that is highly equipped and attached to a major research hospital. You can walk to amost fifty restaurants off campus and they are inhabited by people in a variety of careers, not students. If you are wondering about political /conservative scene in the formerly overly traditional Southern undergrad Vandy..they split this election year fifty/fifty...we visited then. Still conservative by undergrad standards but evolving to a place where there is variety in thought and discourse.
Lived their twice including for Graduate school --and East and West coasters understandably do not have an accurate view of Vanderbilt or wonderfully eclectic Nashville. Nashville is a melting pot of New South energy and all sorts of music industry and successful business enterprises....great arts town and a lot more midwestern in friendliness factor than people know. We were from northern backgrounds and loved life in Nashville...it is a bit like Atlanta thirty years ago...without all the hassles and concrete.
Vandy is clearly throwing merit money to good engineering students and wanting to move up in ranking, and they have captured some great kids lately from the other regions of the USA...see the latest stats and article in The Hustler to verify. They have a long way to go to change their image re the undergrad school, but the kids going there this fall are going to make a mark. They are making big strides in increasing selectivity and diversity in race, geographic origin and religion...new Shulman Center for Jewish Culture, rapidly dropping admission rates. This year they will admit the strongest class in the history of the undergrad school..and the grad schools have always been diverse and interesting. My S strongly considered Vandy, met very cool guys from Atlanta, Chicago, Boston and Birmingham there and for other reasons chose Duke, but gave up hospitable Nashville very reluctantly. Weather...? Great snows a couple times a year only. Occasional tornados...downtown a few years back in fact. One or two bad sleet storms a year. Otherwise temperate four season weather. Anyway, I happen to think you can spin a Vandy engineering degree into gold, but wouldn't say your other schools are anything but good.</p>
<p>All 3 are great schools. But the level of engineering at CMU or Michigan is a big step up from Vanderbilt. What if you decide not to apply to med school after all?</p>
<p>Also you said CMU felt closer. A mega university like Michigan isn't for everyone. Personally I think CMU's 5000 ug's and 4000 grad students is just about right. </p>
<p>When people say the quality of life or whatever is better at the other schools I suggest they haven't spent a lot of time at or near CMU (I have). The student-friendly Oakland section of Pittsburgh is lively, cultural and cosmopolitan (CMU was voted #1 for town-gown relations), with museums, coffeshops, bookstores, and 25,000 Pitt students virtually across the street. So I'll vote CMU, the only thing I don't like is your extra loan payments which may not be worth it to you.</p>
<p>Location: Ann- Arbor<br>
Campusdirt.com survey [4/5]
All Sorts of Stuff to Do: 56%
Pretty Cool Place: 29%
Couple Hot Spots: 12%
Not Much To Do: 3%
[Collegeprowlr] Girls B+<br>
Party Ranking -- unr.<br>
Sports: Better Football Team </p>
<p>Location: Nashville
Campusdirt.com survey [5/5]
All Sorts of Stuff to Do: 66%
Pretty Cool Place: 25%
Couple Hot Spots: 9%
Not Much to Do: 0%
[Collegeprowlr] Girls A+
Party Ranking -- #24</p>
<h2>Sports: Better Basketball + Baseball </h2>
<p>Both schools are obviously quality institutions. There are some differences though. About 80% of Michigan kids will come from public schools while its closer to 50/50 at Vandy. Several posters said that although Michigan has a high acceptance rate that the students are probably smarter at Michigan. Even if the high acceptance rates are forgiven, Vanderbilt students still score higher on both SAT and ACT achievement tests. I still don't see how you can justify that Michigan's student body is smarter as a whole. Also -- Michigan is a large state school. Many people are neglecting this fact. It is obvious that it would be harder to get the same personalized attention that you would at Vandy. Princeton Review branded Michigan as one of the worst schools for having "TAs teaching upper-level classes". The teachers at Vanderbilt go out of their way to help you. It is not uncommon to hear people eating dinner with their professors or calling their home numbers. Most teachers encourage it as long as you don't call after 10pm. I highly doubt Michigan can be this personalized as a state school. The arguments that Ann-Arbor is the better than Nashville are also flawed. I think this is a matter of taste and should be left to the student to see where is the better "fit". Coming from New York, I found plenty of things to do in Nashville and enjoy the city. I personally would rather wear shorts for the majority of the year than a bulky jacket. According to the survey's above, the majority of students responded that there are "all sorts of stuff to do" and both schools have lots of fraternity parties. Since both will provide a good education, it is a matter of preference. If you feel more comfortable in a state school environment, football, with public school kids go to Michigan. If you feel more comfortable at a preppy, mid-sized private school you should come to Vandy.</p>