<p>which is best, in terms of prestige, feeling, rigour, etc</p>
<p>i got 53k in grants to vanderbilt, havent gotten my davidson financial aid yet, and i have a feeling vanderbilt is a more prestigious school. I just feel like it may be too preppy?</p>
<p>im leaning towards vandy</p>
<p>haha please guys, need help eventually</p>
<p>Both are very preppy, though at Davidson you’ll see your fair share of Birkenstocks in addition to the polos. </p>
<p>What floats your boats in terms of location: a quaint college down or a bigger city?</p>
<p>probably a bigger city. before i got into these schools i was going to take the full tuition scholarship at either northeastern or fordham. But I also wouldn’t mind being isolated away too. Honestly, the location isnt a huge factor in my decision. I’m mainly worried about rigor, campus feel, prestige, etc.</p>
<p>Prestige shouldn’t be a consideration. College is a match to be made not a prize to be won. I recommend Davidson</p>
<p>prestige is a factor to me, due to the more prestigious schools being easier to get into medical school from. plus im curious (being in two different classifications, it seems rather tough to decide which makes more sense).</p>
<p>davidson seems to be, from what ive looked, the much academically rigorous of the schools? also not as much of a party scene. from where this group just works or relaxes in almost a quiet paradise?</p>
<p>whereas vanderbilt seems to be the less academically (but still rigorous) courseload, with a huge greek party scene right next to a booming city where pretty much you can ge tthe best of both worlds</p>
<p>am i right?</p>
<p>Davidson has an extremely high admit rate to medical school and there are tons of pre-meds
that benefit from a completely hands-on approach to helping students with all facets of
getting the med school acceptance. By extremely high admit rate, I mean well into the
90’s%. It’s shown up on lists of colleges that are strong for pre-meds. The majority of my
d’s close friends are pre-med and are doing well despite Davidson’s known rigor. The advising is outstanding. I can’t speak for Vandy although I’m sure their pre-med track
is strong too. Tough call.</p>
<p>While LACs aren’t the research powerhouses that are bigger universities, you’ll have pretty easy access to research opportunities and perhaps even the opportunity to meaningfully participate in a professor’s research to the point of coauthoring an article. </p>
<p>If you have more specific questions about Davidson’s “vibe,” I’m happy to help where I can (I’m a Davidson resident, and the town/gown relations are pretty close).</p>
<p>so i will be able to thrive in davidson’s rigorous environment, while thoroughly enjoying myself?</p>
<p>Not being a student, I don’t have much to say about the rigor, but I can’t tell you that Davidson students never seem to be drowning in work. The ones I’ve met through church and service opportunities have always been tremendously well balanced (seeming, at least) and easygoing. If they talk about a class, it’s not the grade or the workload they’re discussing but the material and the quality of the professor. I get the sense that the coursework (combined with a moderate EC-load) is difficult in the way that a good workout is difficult: it’s just difficult enough that you can’t avoid getting something out of it, but not so difficult that you’ll be drowning in essays and problem sets. </p>
<p>Take this with a grain of salt, of course, as I’ve gleaned this just from observing students.</p>
<p>thanks for the advice. id like to hear some stuff about vanderbilt as well, in terms of rigor, etc.</p>