<p>I have one last day to make the decision. I am a transfer student, and I am steadfast in my desire to continue my concentration in political science, with an special emphasis on conflict resolution and ethnic genocide. From six months of research, I am pretty sure of the following two things: Emory has the better undergraduate political science department, and Vanderbilt has more sex appeal and raises more eyebrows in California (my home state). Does anybody know about respective reputations concerning law school placement from these two universities? I don't much care about atmosphere or where I would be happier. I have plenty of time to be happy after school is done. I just want the best possible education in the short run, and the best tablesetter in the long run. Anybody with insight or opinions, please help. I'm getting desperate here. Thanks so much, and I hope all of you are feeling better about life than I am right now.</p>
<p>Emory's law school placement is excellent and has a higher percentage of students attending the top law schools than Vanderbilt. Check for yourself and compare the # of students at the following law schools; Harvard, Georgetown, NYU,ColumbiaChicago and Northwestern.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt may have more sex appeal but is more of a "southern" school where as Emory has a higher percentage of "non' southerners".</p>
<p>Both are fine schools and you can't go wrong assuming both schools are a good personal fit for you.</p>
<p>At Emory you could become involved in the Carter Center and its work in the areas of your interests of conflict resolution and genocide relief. These opportunities are not as easily available at Vanderbilt. Many Emory students intern at the Carter Center. By the way, President Carter speaks on Campus every fall, and often guest lectures in various classes on campus. My son (a middle eastern studies junior at Emory) says he is very approachable--he ran in to him once at the coffee shop in the library.</p>
<p>wow!! your from cali? me too. Even though vandie is more popular in all aspects (football, education,etc) i personally like the laid back appeal from emory! but i mean, yeah, vanderbilt will certainly raise eyebrows here in cali, but its ultimately your choice whether you want to consider the rankings more than the environment itself :) good luck! either choice is great</p>
<p>I chose Emory over Vanderbilt based on the fact I liked my campus visit to Emory more, it does NOT have a major sports program, and it has a great undergrad business program.</p>
<p>I faced the same dilemma as you in regard to name recognition. Here in Nebraska, many of my teachers, friends, and neighbors recognize the name 'Vanderbilt' and realize it is a good school. However, many of these same people have never heard of the name 'Emory'. With this said, when I mention Emory to someone and they DO know of it, they realize that is a great school on the same plane with Vanderbilt. Indeed, from my experience in Nebraska(keeping in mind that geography plays a role in name recog.) there are two groups of people 1) people that don't know all that much about colleges and recognize the name Vanderbilt from sports or something otherwise but do not know much about Vanderbilt or most top colleges for that matter 2) people that know about colleges and recognize both the names Emory and Vanderbilt and know at least something about each school. These people are the ones that know Emory is as strong as a college as Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>Certainly law schools admissions counselors are in category 2!!</p>
<p>Well, I'm rambling on here..
In short, I think both are excellent schools for pre-law.</p>
<p>The Carter Center was actually the number one I considered when applying to Emory, but I worry that I would be gambling my entire undergrad experience on a highly selective internship that I might not get. That said, I woke up this morning knowing that Emory was the right place for me. I am not a drinker, and partying is something that never really appeals to me. I just dont think I'd fit in very well at Vanderbilt. Money is not a factor at either place. I like Vanderbilt's campus much more, but I will be the first to admit that my observations may be a bit skewed because I visited Vandy on a gloriously sunny weekend and my weekend at Emory was filled with rain and thunderstorms. Allow me to digress; are there any Vanderbilt or Emory students who might be able to fill me in on whether or not the alcohol and partying issue is as good as i think it is at Emory, or as bad as I think it is at Vanderbilt? While at Emory, I attended a few parties, and it seemed there was a high rate of students getting stoned. Is that par for the course? Thanks for everbody's help in this process.</p>
<p>I would also post this on the Vanderbilt forum and the college Admissions forum. Anyways, I would choose Emory over Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>"the alcohol and partying issue is as good as i think it is at Emory"</p>
<p>What does that mean?</p>
<p>I'm sorry, I'll clarify. I'm not one for drunken fun. So "good" for me just means that it seemed like campus social life at Emory did not revolve around alcohol as much as it did at Vandy.</p>
<p>Well this is what I tell people on tours. You can find whatever type of social life you want at Emory. By no means is Fraternity Row the only thing going on at night, you can find stuff to do everywhere. Atlanta is amazing. There's so much that Emory students don't take advantage of. What ever type of social life you want, there's someone, somewhere who also likes it. You're going to have your group of friends who enjoy doing the same things as you, and that's cool. On the other hand, this is college, and no matter where you go, there are going to be parties that center on drinking. Texas Tech, Michigan, NYU, Vanderbilt, Emory, Harvard, no matter where you go, college students drink. I have friends at Ivy League schools that drink more than friends at some state schools. No one's gonna make you drink, but don't expect BYU, either. I think it's a pretty good medium.</p>
<p>Also, Emory has the third highest acceptance rate into Law School in the US, as a percentage of students who apply. Hopefully that, if anything, makes you feel solid about your decision. It's also number one in the US for acceptance rate to Medial School, also as a percentage of students who complete the Premed requirements and apply. Basically, even though you may not get into your first choice, you're pretty well off getting into at least one school.</p>
<p>With regard to your specific questions, doing well at either school will put you in a desirable position as you begin the law school admissions process. I think doing well at Emory puts you in a slightly better position. Here's why:</p>
<p>(1) In general, more Emory students go on to law school than do Vanderbilt students. Emory, then, is more well represented at the top 15 law schools and has a longer history of sending more students their way. Institutional memory is important.</p>
<p>(2) Top students at Emory and Vanderbilt are likely matched in ability, but thanks to its expansive scholars program, Emory has a larger pool of very top students. Better students typically go on to better graduate and professional programs. The top law schools are used to a greater number of highly qualified applicants from Emory than from Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>To the extent that familiarity with Emory students and a history of matriculation at elite law schools makes you feel more comfortable about your chances, I'd say Emory is the safer bet. Really, though, there are no substantive differences in the preparations you'll get.</p>
<p>My contemporaries from Emory that went on to law school matriculated at Yale (3), Harvard (4), Stanford (1), NYU (1), Duke (1), Chicago (1), and Northwestern (1). My less studious classmates ended up at Emory, Wash U, UGA, and Wake.</p>
<p>Both schools can get you in a top law school. Law school largely depends on your GPA and LSAT score. If you search many top law schools, you will see Emory and Vanderbilt well-represented. As someone has mentioned Harvard Law has great placement for both (14 students from Emory and 15 from Vanderbilt). Your decision needs to be based upon fit. Emory may be more diverse and Vanderbilt may have more name recognition and D-1 sports. But the main question you should ask yourself, which place feels like home. In my opinion, Vanderbilt kids tend to very social and is more of a party school, so it sounds like Emory may be a better fit for you.</p>
<p>as i said on in the vandy thread
as far as law school placement goes if you have a 3.5+ and 165+ from either school, you are in great position to get into a top law school.</p>
<p>and in terms of partying, anywhere there are thousands of 20somethings, there will be partying. That being said, because there are thousands of students, you will be able to find your own niche at either school. Best of luck.</p>