Vanderbilt vs. Hopkins/Duke

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
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<p>I know this sort of topic has been brought up before, but since my situation is a tad bit different, I'd like honest evaluations of the choices I have:</p>

<p>Vanderbilt - $20,000 Academic Achievement Scholarship. Will cost $27,000 a year.
Duke - no scholarships. Will cost $45,000 a year.
Johns Hopkins - no scholarships. Will cost $45,000 a year.</p>

<p>My interests are in the BME major, and then Medical School. Obviously, Vandy's better financially. But won't Duke or Johns Hopkins be much better in helping me get into med school and, later on, get nice jobs?</p>

<p>What about academics vs. social life? Vandy's infamous for being a drinking/partying/Greek life school, and Johns Hopkins is considered to be a "monastery." Duke is supposedly in the middle. I don't want to study ALL the time, but I definitely don't want to get distracted by a hypersocial scene either.</p>

<p>What about extracurricular opportunities? Reserach, volunteering, hopsital experience? All three colleges seem to be excellent choices in this respect, but are there any notable differences?</p>

<p>Also, what about the competition? I realize college will be tough no matter where I go, but won't certain places be tougher to succeed in than others? Won't Hopkins or Duke be full of crazy smart pre-med students, making it virtually impossible to make a good impression and beat the average? If I go to Vanderbilt, will it be easier (relatively speaking, of course) for me to make my presence felt and win greater recognition for college recommendations, etc.?</p>

<p>Your insight and analysis would be greatly appreciated.</p>

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<p>Hopkins is lame.</p>

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<ol>
<li><p>Getting into med school.
-Vandy students with at least a 3.3 and a 30 on the MCAT (the avg. Vandy student has above a 3.3 and a 29 MCAT) have an acceptance rate into med school of 85%. I think Hopkins has a rate of something like 90% and I forget what Duke's is, but it is somewhere around there. So, there is very little difference in acceptance rate into med school among the schools.</p></li>
<li><p>Social Life
-I think that nearly every college in the US will have reasons for you to get "distracted." Vandy, I think that this quotation from StudentsReview sums up my impression: "And if you don’t like to party, Vanderbilt has plenty of opportunities for you to partake in. Don’t think that if you don’t drink or party you wont have fun. That is completely untrue"</p></li>
<li><p>Competition
-Considering you received such a merit scholarship, I take it that you are above the average Vandy student. As such, you will probably have an edge, if you apply yourself and pursue opportunities, to make yourself stand out from classmates.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I was actually accepted to all three schools as well, and, honestly, probably would have chosen Duke if they had given me more money. But, as I have reflected upon my situation, I think that all three schools are very comparable in the education that they can offer and the doors that they will open. Because of this equality, I would select the college at which you feel the most comfortable and, depending on your financial situation, is most desirable in terms of the amount of loans you want to have post-Med School.</p>

<p>Good luck with your decision. From my own experience, I know it's an incredibly hard one.</p>

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<p>Slipstream, I've seen you post on many topics on CC and have noted you and I have very similar stats as well as college experiences. I was curious where you've decided to go. (I am also in a situation similar to yours swmng109, you can go to my thread that compares Duke to Vandy if you'd like as I'm sure it would also help you. I posted the thread on both the Duke and the Vandy area, so it should be easy to find.)</p>

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<p>acadumics, I've decided to go to Vanderbilt. Although I got into all the schools I applied to (including Hopkins and Duke), the deciding factor came down to money. I cannot communicate how disappointed I was that I had only gotten decent scholarships from UAlabama, UF, UMiami, and Vandy. None of these schools were in my top 3. I then narrowed the field down to UF (where I would be in the honors college) and Vandy. After debating with myself for a few days (and being on edge from the surprising stress that it caused), I decided that Vanderbilt would give me the best opportunities academically and had a social environment that I liked more. To be honest with you, if money hadn't been an issue, I would have gone to Duke (probably simply because one of my friends from last year is there now and constantly tells me how great it is and because all of 10 people at my school know what Vanderbilt even is). However, now that I'm 5 or so days into deciding on Vandy, I'm already unbelievably excited about it. I have the computer wallpaper, ordered the car sticker, have the poster hanging up, the list goes on. Now that I am able to more calmly reflect on my situation, I really think that the academic differences between Vandy and Duke will be marginal. I acknowledge that the student body, on the whole, is probably a little bit better at Duke, but the difference is so small that I will probably not even realize. Also, someone mentioned somewhere (vague enough?) that all you have to do is seek out the other merit recipients and you'll have a group of extraordinarily smart people (even more so than the general student body) who are likely to have much in common with you. </p>

<p>Finally, I think that the social environments at Duke and Vandy are very comparable. Both are southern schools (and all that ensues) with a Greek presence but not dominance (a la Washington and Lee.) What I really liked about Vandy, though, was that their frats and srats are non-residential. Considering that I don't want to join a frat, I like that the energy of the greek life is diffused throughout the campus and, like i said in my [post=627222]visit recap[/post], the community doesn't become "bifurcated."</p>

<p>My visit recap, that i linked to earlier, describes some of the other things i liked about vandy. Let me know if you want anything else! :)</p>

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<p>Slipstream:
It is true that Duke is still more selective and feeds more kids into top 15 schools, but you are wise to see that Vanderbilt offers very personal classrooms and a very good teaching hospital. Merit money is hard to come by at Duke due to the extreme talent in their admit pool. The dominance of Greek and Old South life at undergrad Vandy is dimming and you are the new wave...lots of great people like you are already there. (The grad schools have been nationally based for a long time.) I have to reiterate what a sparkly, friendly city Nashville is and how many job and internship opportunities are there with the energy from the Capitol City and with the booming economy. Nashvillians also love the arts and there is a great deal of things to do within walking distance of campus...you are not tied to campus for parties and socializing at all. You will feel part of the city in a positive way. Ten miles south you have rolling hill horse farms, ten miles north mega lakes. Nashville has ties to Atlanta/Birmingham corridor but also to Louisville/Lexington and St. Louis corridor. I can guarantee you that your class will be from a national pool. Admission rate has dropped greatly in the last two years and your class is going to be quite capable. Congrats on banking some of the money others must spend by earning merit money at a great university.</p>

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<p>Slipstream--</p>

<p>I've been following your posts--don't worry, I'm not a stalker, I've just been in a similar situation. I also recieved a 75% tuition scholarship at Vanderbilt, and I spent a few agonizing days trying to decide between Vanderbilt (with the scholarship) and Duke (with its $40,000+ price tag). I made mental pros-and-cons lists, and talked to pretty much everyone I knew about it, including two of my school counselors, until I had a revelation one day and realized that the only reason I really wanted to go to Duke was its prestige and name recognition. Sure, it's cool to tell people you're going to Duke, but then you actually have to live there for 4 years. I just realized that Vanderbilt's social environment fits me much better than Duke's seemingly (to me, at least) cutthroat and intimidating environment. Academically, I find it hard to believe that there can be much difference among any of the top-20 schools. Also, it seems that Vanderbilt's professors are very friendly and accommodating, which is definitely a plus. The honors classes we're eligible to take as merit scholarship recipients will be fabulous too, I'm sure. But anyway, I just thought I'd drop you a line and let you know that I think you're making the right decision! Maybe I'll see you at Vanderbilt in the fall!</p>

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<p>JLR838 and Slipstream, what sort of scholarships did you get?</p>

<p>I got the Academic Achievement Scholarship ($20,000) but there was no mention of any honors program courses in my letter.</p>

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<p>Swmng--I got a Dean's Select Scholarship in the College of Arts and Science. My letter mentioned that with the scholarship, I was accepted into the College Scholars program, which allows me to take certain honors classes. You can actually be nominated for the program after either the first semester or first year at Vanderbilt (I can't remember which), and I think you can apply, also.</p>

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<p>swmng109, what he said :)</p>

<p>JLR838, so I take it you've decided to go? We should definitely make plans to meet during orientation (or SAOP, if you're going on the 21st and 22nd)!</p>

<p>I'm so happy to see so many people who got the scholarships are deciding to go! Class of 09 is going to rock</p>

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<p>Yep, I'll definitely be at Vanderbilt next year--I sent in my deposit and everything a few days ago. It's so interesting to see how things have turned out--freshman year, I was pretty much set on Vanderbilt. Then, I let my friends lead me down the ivy league route (a huge mistake, I must say), but now here I am back at Vandy, and I'm glad! I remember talking to my neighbor a couple of years back, and she commented that I look like a "Vandy girl." At that point I was into Duke/Ivies, so I didn't really put much thought into it, but now I actually am a Vandy girl! Weird...
But anyway, I think I will go to SAOP, but I'm not sure which dates yet. If I end up going the same dates as you, though, we should definitely try to meet up!</p>

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<p>I too got the 20,000 a year academic acheivement award. With no money at Duke, it will probably be hard to turn that down.</p>

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<p>Wow, I feel better after reading this thread! My d just sent in her Vandy deposit two days ago, after struggling to choose between Vanderbilt and UVA (Echols). She was hesitant because of what she'd heard/read about the "rich kid" atmosphere at Vandy, but that seems to have been debunked on this and other threads. She was also reassured after speaking to an acquaintance who is about to graduate and go on to med school; she had a terrific 4 years in Nashville despite being middle class, non-Southern, non-Greek, and only an occasional partier. </p>

<p>At first the 3/4 tuition Dean's Select Scholarship was what my d liked most about Vandy; after visiting again and reading more, she truly loves the school and is so excited and relieved to have made a decision. The social atmosphere at many Southern schools, including Vanderbilt, Duke, and UVA, is more alike than different, IMHO. For the OP, though, it seems to me that JHU is a whole 'nother animal. Can you visit or re-visit before deciding? </p>

<p>Congratulations to all of you for your great options, scholarships, and rosy futures!</p>

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<p>Did you have to apply for the Academic Achievement Scholarship? How much did people recieve for being a national merit finalist?</p>

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<p>Bcbgirl--I think it's something like $5,000/year without any other scholarships, and if you've received another scholarship in addition to National Merit, you get $2,000/year for National Merit.</p>

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<p>Yea, I would get $2000 a year for NMF.</p>