<p>I feel a little guilty for posting one of these topics, but I'm just looking for some biased UVA opinions here.</p>
<p>As an intended engineering major, but not settled on that, I've basically narrowed my college search down to these two. As it stands, UVA will cost about 2k more/year, which of course isn't chump change but really isn't a factor overall.</p>
<p>I'm leaning heavily towards Vandy but I just feel like I'm not giving UVA a fair shot. At UVA, I understand they're a little better in undergrad engineering. I like the location/size, and obviously UVA is a great school overall. Plus the Vandy frat/preppy culture (though I'm sure it's avoidable) is less than appealing for someone who is somewhat popular but not the frat/preppy type (though I do party).</p>
<p>Still, comparing them side by side, I have Vandy coming up on top. Can anyone change my mind?</p>
<p>I posted two similar threads about this this year (one on vandy’s page, one on UVA’s). There’s a lot of good advice on the one I posted in the UVA forum. I would check it out. It’s also important to note that the atmosphere at UVA is more intellectual than at vandy and there’s more activism. I’d counter with pro’s about vandy, but I want to give you some of the desired bias.</p>
<p>The area around Vanderbilt is really dangerous. I had a friend held up at gun point TWICE last year…I always asked her…why did you leave Virginia to go to Vandy again?</p>
<p>^yeah i actually checked that thread earlier and didn’t find anything particularly informative (other than jc40’s post, but didn’t particularly favor UVA).</p>
<p>That’s an interesting point. I had heard nothing about the area being dangerous.</p>
<p>Keep in mind the drastic size difference for the two schools. I’m between the two myself (with the addition of Rice), and size is definitely a factor.</p>
<p>At UVa, classes will be much larger and more lecture-based, etc, while at Vandy those types of classes will exist but they will be much less common. If you like large, lecture based classes, then UVa is definitely favorable. If you want a more intimate classroom environment, you might want to continue leaning towards Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>FallenAngel, just because a school is bigger doesn’t mean their classes are bigger, because big schools have more faculty and a wider range of course offerings as well. According to Dean J’s blog, the average class size in the UVA College of Arts and Sciences is 33, and the median is 17. Some intro or required courses at UVA are large lectures but I imagine the same is true at Vanderbilt, especially in the sciences. At either school, those courses typically would break down into smaller groups once or twice a week for discussion and labs.</p>
<p>Yes, but about 14% of UVa’s classes have more than 50 students, as opposed to only 6% of Vanderbilt’s classes. UVa’s student/faculty ratio is 15.2:1, while Vandy’s is 9:1, and 19% of UVa’s classes are taught by TA’s. These statistics are taken from the 2010 edition of Princeton Review’s guide to the best 371 colleges, except for the class sizes.</p>
<p>Please don’t think I’m bashing UVa, as I love the school and may be attending in the fall. I’m just making sure OP notes the difference in academic/social atmosphere caused by the discrepancy in student body size. :)</p>
<p>@OP - Another thing to keep in mind is that at either school the preppy/Greek stereotype is somewhat overblown (at least that’s what I’ve been told by current students at each school). While there are indeed a lot of preppy kids at each school, one doesn’t need to be preppy at all to fit in there. And in recent years both schools have seemingly made efforts to expand their reach and bring in students from a more diverse geographical background, which also dilutes the preppy stereotype.</p>
<p>Its also important to note how accessible the teachers are at UVa even though the school is large. I sat in a 350 person lecture for a random teacher when i visited, and I still found the class fun and interesting. It wasn’t even a subject I was interested in. At Vandy I sat in a class in my major with 100 other kids. It was boring, dry, and the students were no more engaged than in the 350 person lecture. They take extra steps at UVa to keep the lectures interesting (like remote based quizzes that aren’t for grades). At Vandy, this didn’t seem to be the case. The first time my parents asked me if I attended a class at Vandy, I said no, because I had honestly forgotten. It made no lasting impression.</p>
<p>I think this goes back to the intellectual environments at the two schools. The students at UVa had an actual zeal for learning. The intellectual curiosity there is present at Vanderbilt, but much harder to find.</p>
<p>So I would say, while the party/frat scene at UVa is just as lively as at Vanderbilt, the intellectual scene is better. Frat life is also less consuming. For some people that’s good, others would rather have their undergrad years surrounded by the frat scene.</p>
<p>In ten years or so, as Vanderbilt’s pool of applicants becomes even more impressive, this will probably no longer be the case. For now, you have to decide what kind of atmosphere you want, because the two schools are almost identical in most other aspects.</p>
<p>@Dardyjoe - How do you think a student who is not interested in partying/Greek life will fare at UVa? At Vanderbilt? I know the percentage of students involved in Greek life at each school, but do you happen to know about how much of the student body at each school parties, drinks, etc?</p>
<p>I’m not actually a current student, but i’ll be entering the Jefferson program next fall. So I don’t really know stats, but I know that the administration at Vanderbilt is much stricter about that stuff (I saw someone get suspended for alcohol in the dorms my first night there). Outside the dorms, underage drinking is prevalent, as with every other school ever (insert sweeping generalization). This mentality is mostly because the administration at Vandy is trying to fight the Frat system in an effort to attract more students who are more intellectual. As Vandy’s reputation increases, more of the applicants are interested in the academics over the partying. At UVA, alcohol use seemed more open and wide-spread, but at the same time, the existence of the frats seemed to have less of an impact on the atmosphere of the school. Both schools are work hard/play hard, there’s no denying that. Its also worth mentioning that I met non-partying students at both schools. The only difference is that most of those students at Vandy were studying on their own, finding it harder to meet like-minded students. At UVA, there seemed to be organizations just for these students. What really made my decision, was the intellectual extra-curricular life at UVA.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: My experience at these schools is very limited.</p>
<p>During the friday I spent at Vandy, everyone talked about what frat party they were going to that night.</p>
<p>When I was at UVA, I knew of two debating societies, a ensemble rehearsal, a production rehearsal for a musical, a charity function, and a model UN practice that were happening on friday night.</p>
<p>Yes, there are plenty of frat/house parties at UVA, and, yes, there are plenty of extra-curricular opportunities at Vanderbilt, but this is what I experienced. I plan on going to parties in college, but I plan on doing other things as well, and UVA’s extracurricular life seemed much more vibrant. This is probably due to its size. With two times as many students as Vandy, there’s bound to be more variety at UVA.</p>
<p>I guess if you’re a white student you’d feel more pressure to join the Greek system, however, as a student of color, I never ever felt out of place for being a “GDI.”</p>