<p>Hi I'm currently a freshman at Vanderbilt. I applied to Northwestern last year and got put on the wait list. I took myself off of the wait list because I thought I would be happy at Vanderbilt but as of right now I'm not sure if it's the right place for me and I'm considering a transfer. Anyway, I got a 2310 on the SATs and it's difficult to say but as of now I'll probably have around a B average at Vandy. I'm currently taking Chemistry with a lab, Accelerated Calculus, Chinese and a Freshman Writing Seminar. What do you think my chances are of getting admitted? Thank-you for your time.</p>
<p>What is it about Vandy that you don't care for, and why do you think NU would be better?</p>
<p>I like getting drunk and partying a lot and that's one of the reasons I came here, but I'm also a really intellectually engaged person and I like to have good conversations out of the classroom (sorry if I'm sounding pompous right now, it's not my intention I just don't know how else to describe it). Anyway, I've felt that most of the people who are fun to go out and party with here aren't the kids who are very invested in learning. They may be smart and do well in classes, but as soon as they leave class they are done. I have met academically interested kids, but for the most part they aren't involved with the greek scene and have pretty low key social lives. My writing seminar has also been disappointing. The professor tries to encourage a discussion but most of the kids aren't very interested and the class has pretty much turned into the professor lecturing us and asking questions that he gets a two sentence reply to; there's no discussion. I have friends at Northwestern who are actively involved in the greek scene yet are also very intellectual people. I know that the party scene at Northwestern is a little more low key than at Vanderbilt but I've come to realize that that is okay. I'm not trying to insult Vanderbilt, I just think Northwestern is probably a better place for me.</p>
<p>If you strongly feel that you should transfer, go ahead and apply to NU. Only you know what is better for you.</p>
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The professor tries to encourage a discussion but most of the kids aren't very interested and the class has pretty much turned into the professor lecturing us and asking questions that he gets a two sentence reply to; there's no discussion.
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<p>This sounds like a description of a lot of the TA sections at NU.</p>
<p>Based upon your post, it sounds like your biggest concern about Vandy is that the student body, and particularly the students who party, are not intellectual enough. </p>
<p>I don't think NU's student body is that much different. It's student body has a higher SAT average than that of Vandy, but I don't think the atmosphere outside of class or clubs is exceptionally more intellectually engaging than Vandy. Students at the cafeteria table talk about normal things, not about the kind of geeky things that U of C students talk about in their dorm rooms late at night.</p>
<p>I transferred from Emory, in part because I wasn't (am not) particularly fond of the student body, though not necessarily on grounds of the intellectual quality of their conversations. In hindsight, I kind of regret transferring, and think that I placed too high of a value on the difference in student bodies when I made my decision. So, I would think twice before rushing to transfer when your concern seems to be over somewhat of a slight difference between the student body of Vandy and NU.</p>
<p>Thanks Blaze that's helpful. I have some good friends at Northwestern who love it so far so I'm going to give it some time here and if I'm still not happy I'll go visit some other schools at that point. And I'm not necessarily saying that I want to be talking about social issues at the cafeteria, I'm a normal kid who likes football and South Park, I just want to be around people who are interested in what they are learning and do think about things sometimes.</p>