I am a transfer student who was accepted to both schools. I love the size, campus, social scene, sports, etc. of both schools so my decision is really going to come down to good old fashioned academics. The only problem: I can’t decide which one is better for what I want to do. My major for Vanderbilt would be poli sci and UVA would be foreign affairs. The ultimate goal is to earn a law degree. Both schools offer pre-law advising. I am from New York and upon graduation i plan on returning to New York. So, which degree would do the most for me in terms of getting into a prestigious law school and then ultimately getting a job in New York.
I am not sure which law field I want to go into yet. Corporate, Immigration, Criminal, IP, and Constitutional are all appealing. Also, I am still waiting to hear back from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service.
My thinking right now is UVA has the better law school, Vandy has an overall better reputation, I also like the idea of studying foreign affairs more then Poli Sci, both schools would be awesome. Any stats, facts, opinions, personal experiences are appreciated.
Go to UVA. UVA is top 5 in the country for that major and UVA has a top law school that favors its undergrads. Vandy unfortunately doesn’t have great Top law placement either, and are just as prestigious in the US; while UVA is more reputable worldwide.
Both are more than adequate for a great education and a nice law school app, provided you get good grades and do well on the LSAT.
If it were me, I would base it on these things instead:
- Really look at the requirements for both majors and potential electives -- which school's course selection do you prefer? Which school's set of distribution requirements do you prefer?
- Look at the sizes of the schools -- would you prefer larger or smaller?
- An urban environment (Nashville) vs. a more rural environment (Charlottesville). Think about what that means in terms of things to do off-campus.
- Both are fairly heavily Greek, but aside from that are there differences in social vibe that might be important to you?
- Which has better dorms and food?
- Finally, which costs less? If the amount is substantial, having that money available to help pay for law school could really help.
Both great schools.
There are lots of UVA alumni in NYC. The UVA Club is in residence at the Yale Club of New York.
Nashville is a great city. Charlottesville is a cool, smaller city. It is NOT rural
Good luck with the decision. Great choices to have!