Hello, My kid is finishing up his second year at Emory University, and applied to transfer to other colleges. His major is statistics. He got into Vanderbilt University and Northwestern Univ. What do you think ? Which should he go to ?
Which is more prestigious ? Which has a better program ? Which one do you think has a good statistic major ?
Please help me , all ye wise people out in the knowledge nebula .
What doesn’t he like about Emory?
They are not all that different except Emory doesn’t have engineering.
Why didn’t he like Emory? I just visited.
Agree that first question is what did he NOT like about Emory? This is important because you don’t want a repeat. I would think in some ways Emory in Vanderbilt would be more similar than Emory and Northwestern in terms of students, but that is more of speculation than fact.
Also, what are the options for living (do transfer/junior students have campus housing)? Does it matter whether he can live on campus and perhaps be more engaged more quickly as a transfer? Are cost a factor?
Northwestern is slightly more prestigious, but it’s also a bigger move.
But Emory is an awesome school itself. Does he maybe just need to find a new group of friends? Is the issue academic or social?
Kid said no team to cheer for, no games to see.
Another thing happened. Had a family who had a nice gal that mom wanted to introduce son to. gal was kinda interested, until she heard he was going to Emory Univ, and then she was not interested;. Darn, I guess she was a serioius school name snob. But this hit kid really hard. He was thinking Emory was not as prestigious . I told him it was a good university.
Who cares about that snobbish gal anyway.
So is Northwestern Univ more name brand ? I thought Vanderbilt was a better Univ.
So it is social issue, not really academic. He is doing well in school academically, but really wants a better start.
I told him Emory is wonderful also.
Money is not issue. And he can get housing at Vanderbilt or Northwestern.
I know being a school name snob is not that good, but what would you guys do ? This is the kids decision, and he really wants to go to one of the two.
Statistics major wise, NOrthwestern is rated about 10 spaces higher than Vanderbilt.
Lol. A girl not being interested in a boy because he attends Emory. Tell her to go pound sand. I also agree Vandy and Emory are a lot more similar than Northwestern.
To me it sounds like he is worried about prestige which shouldn’t matter.
Northwestern is rated a bit better than Vandy in most programs and overall, but the difference in rep is not huge. Vanderbilt is very good also.
Your son should look at both campuses and the cities they are in, as well as program requirements for finishing his degree. His decision really should be based on finding the school that fits best – the one that would feel most like home.
I have lived in both Chicago and Nashville and both are neat for different reasons. He should look into the cities as part of his decision. (Northwestern is in Evanston, close to Chicago… while Vanderbilt is right in Nashville, close to Music Row and the main drag downtown (West End/Broadway).
Is this a joke? Really? He wants to transfer because some “gal” whom he never met turned down a blind date with him because he goes to Emory? As his mother, you are OK with that?
Man, what kind of social circles do you guys run in? A girl doesn’t want to meet a boy from Emory because it’s not prestigious enough? Wow, just wow. And this affected your kid, seriously? My kids would have laughed at the sheer stupidity of it all.
Northwestern has some cool majors with heavy stats/math stuff. Forgot the acronym though. Math in social sciences. Which also Emory is doing- QSS or something like that.
Too bad he can’t stay in Emory and find what he wants there.
I’m sure it’s more than just the girl thing, come on. It sounds like a “fit” issue. Has he visited both Vanderbilt and Northwestern?
Vanderbilt is more of a school spirit school, correct? In the south, it is well thought of but second fiddle to Duke, so that will a problem for him eventually, correct?
Northwestern is great academically, but non academic people don’t refer to it as a big wig…and in that area you have U of Chicago to contend with…so that may be a problem for him.
Honestly, I would stay out of it and let him make the call and do his own research. If he wants this, let him pick. If you ‘led him’ and he ends up unhappy, he might blame you. I say this because it sounds as if he has some growing up to do. No place is going to be all he is thinking and college utopia with the best school spirit ever and a name everyone knows and bows down to. As @choirsandstages said, he should visit both and in a hurry. Summer visits don’t give you a true feel.
Emory is a great school and I would not transfer for a possible small prestige bump that Northwestern or Vandy could provide over Emory. If he is unhappy at Emory that would be the reason to consider a transfer. Do keep in mind though that the grass is not always greener on the other side. Many friendships are formed freshman year and as a transfer it can be hard to break into to social groups. In addition academically all of the classes from one school may not transfer, there may be requirements at the new school that need to be met etc. A transfer is worthwhile if a student is unhappy at a college, but it should not be done lightly. And I agree, it should be totally his decision as to if he wants to transfer and, if so, where to transfer to.
Man, what are with these misconceptions/stereotypes?
In Chicagoland/the Midwest, both Northwestern and UChicago are seen as academically elite. If anything, Northwestern is (slightly) better known.
It does seem as if the southern elites (with the exception of Duke) have a stronger brand name in the south than outside there.
These are lateral moves.
For Northwestern, he may also want to check out course offering in the industrial engineering and management sciences department (ranked top-5 in the nation).
Northwestern is a larger school with more of an national/international student body. It is not a LAC as Vanderbilt is, nor is it as focused on Greek life, if that matters. Socially I believe he would find his “people” more easily at NU than at Vandy. The other thought is that, should he decide to change majors or add minors, there is greater offerings and flexibility at NU than at Vandy.
@amtc, Vandy isn’t a LAC either.
Very easy to add majors at NU with the quarter system, true.
Teams to cheer for - Northwestern Football will win more games
More likely where he will get rejected by more girls since they are considered more preppy - Vanderbilt