<p>Probably. But High SAT and ACT scores generally correlate with more prestigious universities. I think most people will agree the choice is a 'matter of fit' since money isn't a big issue.</p>
<p>College, that is not entirely accurate. SATs are a factor, but not an absolute. Rice has a higher mean SAT score than Chicago, Cornell or Brown but few would say that Rice is more prestigious than either Brown, Chicago or Cornell. In fact, if anything, it is the latter three that are more prestigious. The mean SAT score at CalTech is higher than the mean SAT score at Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford or Yale. Again, few would argue that CalTech is more prestigious than the Big 5. </p>
<p>Furthermore, Vanderbilt's mean SAT score is 1350 and Michigan's is 1310. A difference in 40 points is not even worth noting. In fact, that insignificant difference can be explained in the way those two schools report mean SAT scores. Michigan only considers best SAT scores in one sitting whereas Vanderbilt, like most private universities, reports the average as the sum of the best score in each individual section. That alone makes, on average, a difference of 40 or 50 points. Furthermore, it is impressive that a school with 24,000 undergrads has almost the same mean SAT score as a school with 6,000 undergrads, don't you think? But like I said, prestige is not related to mean SAT scores, it is related to departmental rankings. The reason most universities are prestigious is because of the excellent academics they offer.</p>
<p>So, Alexandre is saying that Michigan is more prestigious than Vanderbilt. Based on departmental rankings, I agree with him. Most Michigan departments are better ranked than that of Vanderbilt. In Engineering, Michigan is better as well. However, I find Vanderbilt and Michigan equally presitigious at an undergraduate level, and I have many friends outside Vanderbilt who share my view. When it comes to Michigan vs. Vandy, you should consider following things:</p>
<ol>
<li>Large public school vs. Mid-sized private school</li>
<li>Bigger classes (many of which taught by TAs) vs. Smaller classes</li>
<li>Program rankings</li>
</ol>
<p>If money is not a factor, I would go to Vanderbilt because it's a smaller school with smaller classes and more accessible professors. Being a private school, I would assume dorms and other facilities at Vandy should also be better than that of Michigan. I am not sure about this but I think Vanderbilt's liberal arts program is considered better than that of Michigan. Consider that as well. But, it all depends on what factor you value more because Michigan engineering is considered better than Vanderbilt engineering, and both are more or less equally prestigious for undergraduate education.</p>
<p>At an undergraduate level, prestige doesn't come from departmental strength/rankings alone. More prestigious schools at an undergraduate level tend to have not just better faculties but more accessible faculties, not just better research work but also better access for undergraduate students to those research works and not just stronger program but also better teaching (i.e. you would want professors and not TAs to teach you in class.) At Vandy, I can tell you that professors are very accessible, classes are pretty small and in general, if you go to a professor and tell him that you are really interested in doing research with him, he will take you. That is what i have found here. I can't comment on Michigan.</p>
<p>Strong student body (measured mostly by SAT scores) and better diversity adds to undergraduate reputation as well.</p>
<p>Good comments from a big school grad--the good and the bad from SR</p>
<p>was a psych major who ended up going to med school. I grew up in Chicago, but my family moved to Wisconsin during high school, meaning I (i.e. - my parents) paid some bargain-basement tuition.
The Good
- UW was what you made of it. If you had initiative and got to know your profs/teaching assistants/instructors, then the classes didn't really seem so big. For the amount of money paid as an in-state resident (parents spent way more on my parochial high schools tuition) you received a really great education from brilliant faculty. It was often the case that the textbook used was written by the one teaching the class.
- Madison received far more "respect" than anticipated (considering the fact that its a public university/non-Ivy) when I was applying to med school.
- There was an overabundance of opportunities to participate in research. Its what they do.
- There was also an overabundance of departments/majors to choose from when deciding what classes you were interested in taking. Thats always good.
- Pseudo-celebrity student-athletes were your classmates, which could be incredibly entertaining. I spent four years living in a building by Camp Randall where they housed the football team. Ron Dayne (RB for the Giants) was two doors down freshman year. How often do you have a future Heisman Trophy winner for a neighbor? Ill never forget the night (senior year) Michael Bennett (RB with the Vikings), who lived a few floors below, kicked down the door of a neighboring girl (with whom he was fighting), who called 911. The ensuing media hoopla (our building was on ESPN SportsCenter the next day) was priceless. Good times.
- The city and campus are liberal. I went in a Republican and came out a Democrat.
The Bad
- It could be difficult during registration to get your first choices, as there were thousands of other students to compete with for a spot in each class.
- Pre-med classes (G-Chem, O-Chem, Bio, and Physics) could be hypercompetitive. Since everything was graded on a bell curve there really was no incentive to work in groups, as doing so could be detrimental to your final ranking in the class (needed to be in the top 10 percent for an A; no grade-inflation).
- Different profs/teaching assistants/instructors in charge of a class could have incredibly different ways of teaching/dealing with students. You needed to be very pro-active in finding a good match for your style of learning and personality.
- Since there were a lot of students in certain classes, office hours could be pretty crowded. There were times I was lucky to get even one question answered. You had to be very assertive.
- There was a lot of animosity between the city kids (from Chicago, NYC, or anywhere out east) and the hicks from in-state. Students typically fell into either the former or latter. The only noticeable exception would be the international students. Incidentally, most of my friends were rarely from Wisconsin.
- There was noticeable animosity between Greeks (stereotyped as shallow, vain, immature, and yuppie) and non-Greeks.
- There was some animosity between Med Scholars (often viewed as arrogant and/or condescending) and traditional pre-meds/med students (often viewed as insecure). I always thought it was kind of silly.
- There was some animosity between athletes (who received a free education, "preferential" treatment, and "tutors") and non-athletes (who were somewhat jealous of this).
- Madisons a small town. Bar-hopping and athletics were often the primary sources of entertainment.
- The school wasnt the most diverse of places</p>
<p>"At an undergraduate level, prestige doesn't come from departmental strength/rankings alone."</p>
<p>Try to tell them that when you apply to graduate school. The deans and department heads who gave Michigan a high peer assessment score (4.6 vs. 4.1 overall; 4.4 vs. 3.4 for engineering) are the same people who will evaluate your application.</p>
<p>Try to tell that to the recruiters if you decide to pursue an engineering career. If that's true, you should see all the top engineering jobs go to Harvard, Yale ... and Vandy grads, instead of publics like Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin.</p>
<p>We are not comparing Michigan and Cornell engineering here. Vandy's has neither the same level of faculty/facilities nor prestige in the industry.</p>
<p>Dorepool, your assessment is mostly accurate. Dorms at Michigan are decent but not great. Classes are indeed larger at the Freshman and sometimes Sophomore level (not at the Junior and Senior levels mind you). However, you say many classes are taught by TAs. That is not true. Only 3% of lectures are taught by TAs. Also, at the undergraduate level, Michigan and Vanderbilt are not equally prestigious or respected. Maybe they are by high school students who revere the USNWR rankings, but if you ask corporate recruiters and graduate school adcoms, they tend to respect Michigan more.</p>