<p>I'm a rising Senior and am having trouble deciding between Northwestern and Vanderbilt. I was completely set on applying early to Northwestern, but I also fell in love with Vanderbilt after my recent visit. I can easily envision myself attending both schools, and they both feel like home to me. I live in the Chicago suburbs so Northwestern would be closer, but Vanderbilt would only be a 1 hour plane ride away.
Both schools are similar for my academic goals and I have an equal chance of being accepted to both, it's just a matter of which one I would enjoy more. Northwestern feels like home to me since I've grown up with it (my father works at the Chicago campus) but Vanderbilt also feels like home (I was born there and my father went to medical school there). Both campuses are gorgeous. I love Northwestern's beach, but I also love Vanderbilt's unity as a campus and the fact that it's a national arboretum. I also love how at both schools, people care about academics along with having a social life.
I also don't want Greek life to be too much that it's annoying at either school. Which school has a more relaxed, smaller Greek system? Is the social scene at either school too little or too much?
I'm applying early to whichever one i choose so please help!!!</p>
<p>great choice to have, but there’s no need to make that decision now. You’re going to change between now and April. I recommend you allow yourself some time to change. You might even find another school to fall in love with between now and then.</p>
<p>I’m applying early!</p>
<p>I’m applying early!</p>
<p>Both are fine schools, but Northwestern is just a bit better (or at least has the stronger rep).</p>
<p>That said, try to find out how strong each school is in your desired program(s). And give strong weight to fit – climate, city/surroundings, student body and campus vibe, etc. </p>
<p>Both are really pretty good for undergrad.</p>
<p>I think NU is more rigorous (likely because of quarter system) and perhaps somewhat stronger academically (but also depends on major-like I would most certainly go to NU for things like chemistry, BME, or many science programs, but I don’t know if it would differ much in non-science disciplines other than famous programs like film or journalism), but I think the environments will differ enough such that unless it is a particular field that one is very clearly stronger in and you are interested in that, then you should maybe choose based on that and what you want. Also, do investigative comparisons. Yes a tour is one presentation and you may indeed love the campus, its location, and amenities, but think about the academic and non-academic oppurtunities. Try to find if there are any key differences that may be a tipping point. You can for example hit up departmental websites to start in the academic investigation and perhaps peruse the youtubes or campus magazines and newspapers of each school to get a feel of the vibe or what students are into EC wise or intellectually (as in what types of things are written about in such publications, especially student run publications).</p>
<p>good advice from @bernie12, but what do the net price calculators indicate about what your parents might be expected to pay? can your parents come up with that money every year? </p>
<p>@jkeil911: Vanderbilt would usually win in the fin. aid category. Seems to work getting them high scoring students, but I wonder what effect it has on them improving undergraduate academics and adding or enhancing programs. Like NU and many other top 20 schools have (or are adding new ones that are starting to attract students) some programs known for training UG’s so well, that students actually know about the programs and apply because of them. Other than some key Peabody programs or music (I guess this compares to film and journalism at NU), I have not really heard this about other Vanderbilt programs (whereas we here of the sciences at NU as being unusually strong for UG’s, especially some engineering depts and chemistry), so the OP needs to find out what such programs are at Vandy and see if they are aligned with their interests. Vanderbilt attracts people because of the “experience” so if a person is more serious about academic offerings, and is comparing two top schools both with D-1 athletics. Many times students assume that top schools with exception of like 3-5 of them are the same academically. As in same rigor levels, same types of course offerings, same strengths, same oppurtunities and fellowships offered. It just isn’t true). If affordability is not a worry, still investigate because Vanderbilt or NU could both end up being mediocre or not as good as expected in your areas of interest or one could be lower than the other. In fact, it really isn’t about exploring Vandy so much as just comparing the schools in their area of interest. Like what if the student likes chemistry, but does not want it to be too intense because they are pre-health or something…then you clearly don’t choose schools like Harvard, Northwestern, Stanford, Emory, MIT, Caltech, and WashU, etc. You find another place with decent undergraduate training in the area that isn’t as intense with grading or content rigor (as in tough teachers basically). If you were seriously considering graduate studies in the field or another field where chemistry was useful, by all means, embrace the sort of intensity you see at these schools, it will end up helping you in the long run (better prep is more useful for graduate training in chemistry where you could potentially fail courses or cumes and be removed from the program, and better grades are helpful for medical school, where if you just get in, the chances of flunking out are quite low). It is all very contextual. </p>
<p>Get into the school first then decide. Not that you won’t get in, but you never know </p>
<p>@ashleywarneger Vanderbilt has much more influential Greek life (likely bigger too because it is in the south). Again, don’t worry about going to either and finding people that care about academics and a social life. Find in what context do they care about academics. Do they mainly have a work hard play mentality where the two spheres can be quite separate and academics are mainly for grades. Or are crap tons of students truly engaged in the academic scene. Again, the quality of programs will likely influence this vibe so you need to investigate programmatic options and strengths. What you are talking about (students caring about academics and social life) is vague unfortunately. Basically all top 20s have that. But at some schools, because programs are more rigorous or more interesting to students, they will be more deeply involved in academics (and yes, may be stressed from time to time, but honestly, one should expect that if you’re getting your money’s worth from a top school. They are supposed to train more rigorously than other schools and you should enjoy being truly challenged from time to time or several times) as well as being involved in EC’s and socializing. At some schools, in some or many departments, academics are more like chores that need to be done well to get to the next level. Once you’re done, you go play. Be very careful about things like that, seriously. Work hard play hard can be very over-rated depending upon your level of seriousness academically. Are you a: “I wanna make A’s and go play” type of person and are looking for a department where students are like that or are you “I want to maintain a social life, but I want this department to take me to the next level in terms of command in the field and I want to take advantage of its numerous oppurtunities”. If you are the former, just choose based on atmosphere, if the latter or some mix, start investigating more closely. </p>
<p>@PrayforUF : They are trying to figure out which one to apply early decision for. </p>
<p>I’d say neither because Ed is too much of a risk but if I was forced to pick . I’d pick vandy since it’s farther from where u love which is cool but I live In New York so it wouldn’t matter to me and northwestern academics is better so ya </p>
<p>About Greek life, Vanderbilt has a pretty strong Greek scene. I’m not sure about Northwestern, but the majority of people at Vanderbilt do go Greek (over 50%). Greek life at Vandy is open meaning anyone can attend parties (not formals though). It definitely is one of the dominating factors in social life, whether that’s parties or tailgating for football games. </p>
<p>@prayforUF : So you would pick Vandy because of distance? Just throw the academic aspect away? Many people, when choosing between top schools pick the “work hard play hard” schools for reasons that are often quite shallow. Often their reasons for choosing a particular school when deciding between work hard play hard schools is even kind of sketchy and often disregards key academic differences which apparently don’t matter now-a-days because we can learn only outside of the classroom through socializing and networking (feel the biting sarcasm!)</p>
<p>@maymay5678 : I thought Vanderbilt maybe had only as many students doing Greek Life as say, Emory (like 30-35%), but it just feels different at Vandy because the relatively large Greek presence is reinforced by the D-1 sports scene (and perhaps less demographic diversity makes for less cultural organizations and things to somewhat counterbalance or compete with it). I don’t feel comfortable with that 50% number. </p>
<p>Are Greek parties open to everyone at Northwestern too? At this point, I’m not interested in going Greek, but I would like to attend some of the parties. Also, for a major in chemistry and a minor in spanish, which school would be more appropriate?</p>
<p>I went to a Vandy road show last week and someone asked the admissions guy about the percentage and I think he said it was somewhere around 50% (he said that this was the updated number)</p>
<p>Vanderbilt has a higher Greek participation rate. However, the fact that only a handful of officers live in the houses matters – sophomore year at Northwestern, everybody who joins is going to be living in the houses, so if your friends join and you don’t, that can be difficult.</p>
<p>According to the new ARWU ranking, Northwestern chemistry is #4 in the world, just behind Harvard, Stanford, and Berkeley. The chemistry majors there feel like they got excellent and rigorous education and the placement is excellent. One of my ex-roommates got into the PhD program at Harvard.</p>
<p>@ChaChaanTeng : The chemistry (or any departmental) rankings (ARWU and NRC) mainly rank the PhD program (which primarily gives insight to the research opps that a UG will have), which needs not correlate well with the rigor and quality of the undergraduate program. Often it does, but one must be careful. But I do agree about NU. It is excellent for UG in that. So are places like WashU, Stanford, Emory, Harvard, MIT, Caltech, Notre Dame, Michigan, and Berkeley, Oberlin, places like those. They all have really rigorous or innovative programs in that area that have generated a lot of success. One way to gauge the strength of things like a chemistry department at the UG level is to simply go on the site, look at the clubs, opportunities, and prizes offered to UG’s. Schools that do well by their UG’s or at least have a trickle down effect between the research mission and teaching mention tend to be well connected with other Universities for programs (usually study abroad), have solid IRES, REU participation, and offer prizes (to excellent students) and scholarships usually backed by chemical companies or pharmaceutical companies. You can recognize whopping UG chemistry programs by just doing a little research. </p>
<p>As for NU, it is just really solid and rigorous at science education in general. I looked at Vanderbilt’s courses and they seemed a bit more laid back. While certainly more challenging than many of the more average state schools, they weren’t really that challenging in comparison to other selective schools known for their science programs. It is more than sufficient enough to get someone where they are going without ruining the GPA though, but if I was pre-grad and already knew my area of scientific interests as opposed to pre-health or something, I would, in general take more seriously the school with the most rigorous curriculum and best research environment (basically determined by caliber of faculty in department) within my departments of interests (yes, finding this out takes some extra research and maturity on behalf of an HS senior, which is hard when you are so enamored by the idea of the spirited college life style, but ultimately you want to optimize the academic and social experience. I suppose academic experience matters much less if one is on a very grade oriented pre-prof. track where you just want something good enough to prep you for standardized exams, but doable enough to keep an extremely high GPA. Naturally, many such folks won’t be very much focused on the exact offerings and opportunities within the major more so than whether it is too difficult or if the teaching is decent). Schools like NU are perfect for that type of person that doesn’t necessarily want the science and intensity dominated atmospheres of the tech type schools like Georgia Tech, MIT, Caltech, CM, and those types of places. You can be in a very high intensity, stimulating program while also still being in a more or less “normal” school environment. </p>