<p>I was recently accepted into Vanderbilt and UMichigan, and even though Vandy is a better overall school, a lot of people have been telling me to look more closely at my major: political science?</p>
<p>Of these two, which university has a better political science program? And should I make a decision based on that?</p>
<p>Thank youu</p>
<p>As a poli sci major and parent of a son who has poli sci as one of his majors, IMHO it is silly to hesitate over the caliber of this particular major in Mich vs Vandy unless you are talking about a highly technical degree…ie comparing Vandy engineering with Michigan engineering and sub specializations therein. </p>
<p>Many students have double majors etc anyway and most students change their directions based on how they get inspired, professors they meet along the way etc.<br>
Michigan is a wonderful huge college town with a strong reputation nationwide for its graduates. Anyone could understand if you had some strong affinity for Ann Arbor culturally vs Nashville. That would be a valid comparison point.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is likely to be much more intimate re relations with faculty members and with discussions in the classroom, unless you end up in a small major at UMich. Poli Sci is never a small department.</p>
<p>Perhaps you should compare International Relations as a major…Vandy doesn’t have an IR major if you were going that direction. Vandy has a joint Public Policy major…so give Michigan an eye there. </p>
<p>If you can attend Vanderbilt for the same $ at Michigan, I would definitely consider going to Nashville. The benefits of Vandy include the high quality of all the facilities and the combination of finding yourself in almost liberal arts school quality classes on a campus that is also a research institution supporting several highly ranked graduate schools. Vanderbilt can feel like it has 7000 students or 2000 students depending on your courseload…it has a decidedly personal feeling. Some people really thrive on the larger more anonymous freedoms of great publics like Michigan and Berkeley…even UVA is rather small in size.</p>
<p>Things that matter as you apply to graduate school include your contributions to campus activities, how you spend your summers and free time on and off campus, and your grades but also your letters of reference. I will say that my son has probably four or five faculty members in two years who have already written reference letters for him. Better support than I had hoped for actually since he was also admitted to strong LACs where faculty relationships are very strong with students. He has had an easy time joining in activities at Vanderbilt that interest him.</p>
<p>Most of D’s friends attend UM. It is a fine school, and everyone she knows who applied for med & grad school were accepted to their top choices. That said, it is very different from Vandy. My D did not apply to UM, because she did not want to be a number. Intro classes are huge. Many of her friends took lab classes in the summer at a local U; taking calc courses outside UM seems to be pretty standard. Vandy is smaller & seems to be more student-centered. Even the big classes aren’t that big comparatively speaking. Profs seem more approachable, and research opportunities seem more available to the masses at Vandy. I think it is just a more “intimate” school. UM has a very, very good reputation nationally. You absolutely cannot go wrong if you go to UM. But I think Vandy is a more personalized experience.</p>
<p>I will most likely have a child a UM next year, so it’s not that I don’t like it. It’s a fine school. It’s just really big and impersonal, IMHO. Of course, like my D, I also did not apply when all my friends did … I chose to attend a very small school, instead. So you can see where my preferences lie!</p>