Hello!
I am currently torn between these two schools and am getting anxious as decision day is less than a week away! I have visited ND (did a 10 day leadership seminar there) but not been able to do the same for Vanderbilt due to corona virus .
I am planning to be a biology major who is open to medical school.
I am fairly social and like to party but also enjoy an academic environment to keep me motivated. I like collaborative environments rather than cutthroat ones.
I am from the PNW, and Asian-American and catholic!
For Notre Dame the main pros to me are:
- I got into the Glynn Family Honors Program which grants me a stipend for a summer of research, funded trips for bonding, smaller class sizes for classes that all ND students have to take (for example, the required psychology class is usually around 100 students but I would get to take it with a select professor with around 15 students), an exclusive lounge with free food, and an extra community to have on campus. I am still well integrated with other Notre Dame students and the honors classes are not more competitive or harder to maintain a higher GPA.
- Notre Dame had amazing pre-med advising and with the Honors program I would get an extra advisor as well. I have heard they take amazing care of their students and medical school acceptance rates are very high (I have heard that this is also partially due to the fact that ND usually tries to prevent candidates with bad chances from applying to med school)
-The grading curve seems to be pretty good(?) Not too knowledgeable on this so if someone knows I would appreciate a comment! But I heard for organic chem an A is a 90 and there is + and -. - Strong Alum network and I feel that Notre Dame really give you a lifelong family.
- The science business major which is fairly easy to transfer into. I would meet all the pre-med requirements while being able to take classes in Mendoza (ND’s highly ranked business school). This major allows me to apply to med school or go into business if I feel like medical is not for me.
-Strong school spirit and super fun football games.
Main Cons for ND:
-parietals (no opposite gender in your dorm past midnight on weekdays and past 2 am on weekends). I heard that this causes some strain in gender relations are ND
-South Bend: I feel that there is not much to do in South Bend and it could get boring. Having to make the 2 hour commute to Chicago sounds like a lot
- No Med school at Notre Dame
Vanderbilt Main Pros:
- Vandy has its own medical center and medical school so shadowing, research, and internships are walking distance away. Also as a vanderbilt undergraduate i would have around a 7% higher chance of getting into vanderbilt med school
-Greek Life: Vandy has some really fun parties and the greek life culture seems to be a good social aspect. Additionally I like that you still live in dorms even if you join a sorority.
-Known to have the happiest students in the Nation and super collaborative environment. Everyone I’ve talked to is in love with the school.
-Nashville is a really fun city with a lot of bars, restaurants, musical festivals, and more.
-All freshman live in the “commons” so making friends is super easy
-Heard Vandy also has good advising but have not heard as in depth into it. - High medical school acceptance rate
Vanderbilt Main Cons:
-Weed out classes for pre-med I heard are super hard and I’m worried it could ruin my GPA
- I have heard of grade deflation? But the students I talked to seemed to not be too concerned about it
- I have never been to the south so I’m pretty unsure about the vibe there
- I feel that it would be harder for me to be top of the class/stand out at vandy since I have heard that most students there are one who almost got into ivies etc. Not to say that ND students aren’t super smart I just feel that with Vandy having a lower acceptance rate and such there would be a lot more people who are smarter/better than me? Idk maybe I have impostor syndrome and am thinking too much into it.
Sorry I know this is super long but I appreciate any of you who read through it all! Also my Vanderbilt section is definitely shorter because I haven’t visited and don’t have as much experience with the school! That being said if there are any Vandy experts who would like to correct me or add something I would appreciate it! Finally, I am super 50/50 right now and am not leaning towards one school or another I love them both!
