<p>I need to decide tomorrow which school to go to and I can't decide. I just eliminated Emory from the mix but cant make up my mind between Vanderbilt and Michigan. I'm interested in studying economics or business, am a big sports fan, am jewish and from the northeast. I don't really care about the weather(warm or cold) and I dont know how much the school size will affect my college experience. Please HELP!</p>
<p>Honestly, Michigan is better for business, has better placement on Wall Street & finance, has better sports and DEFINITELY better sports fans (half the people I know at Vanderbilt still wear their regional school hats), and probably more suitable for someone from the North. In your situation I would choose that.</p>
<p>Vandy is more Southern and better weather (arguably).</p>
<p>Vanderbilt all the way. Smaller classes, better weather, good sports (although UMich better), happy students, and a fun atmosphere. I don't mean to speak badly about Michigan because it is a great place. IMO Vanderbilt is a better school while still providing a great overall experience. Good luck either way because you can't go wrong!</p>
<p>For undergrad, go Vanderbilt. This would be a close call if you were paying in-state tuition at Michigan. But you are from the northeast, why pay for a school with large lecture halls. Also, at Vanderbilt you will meet people from all 50 states and be surrounded by brighter peers. At Michigan, the vast majority of the people will be from in-state.</p>
<p>Michigan is a great school stop attacking it. I don't know why so many people insist on attacking other schools to try to put them down. If you think Vanderbilt is so great then stop worrying about it. I think Michigan is better for econ/business folks especially if you want to work in finance.</p>
<p>TheOC89, Michigan has more people from out of state attending there than Vanderbilt has students. Also Michigan has over 2,000 students from the NE. You will feel much more at home in A2 and the econ/business dept/school are higher ranked. Michigan all the way!</p>
<p>Palm, not sure anyone was attacking UMich. The only thing people pointed out were facts.
"Smaller classes, better weather, good sports (although UMich better), happy students, and a fun atmosphere."
What in here is an attack? Vandy has smaller classes, check. Vandy has better weather, check. Vandy has good sports (SEC, doesn't get any better even if your own team isn't great...and notice he didn't say better sports?), check. Vandy has happy students (didn't say UMich's weren't), check. Vandy has a fun atmosphere, check. Not sure about your statement that Vandy has "better weather (arguably)"? Talk to me in the middle of January.</p>
<p>Seg, if you haven't visited the two already then it's a toss up. Do you want a very large college campus with all of the advantages/disadvantages that come with it or a medium size campus with the advantages/disadvantages that come with it? I know that UMich has a great rep as does Vandy. I can't speak to UMich's business program. I can tell you that Econ is one of Vandy's better programs. I don't know the rankings so can't help you there. My D knows several kids who are northeasterner's and are perfectly happy. Can't help with the Jewish part. Good luck, let us know what you decide.</p>
<p>Michigan is a better fit, all comes down to that. I'm going to Vandy but am a fit fan and based on those descriptions, Michigan wins. Simple as that.</p>
<p>I agree with pmrlcomm. Further-- I think it comes down to whether you want a mid-sized private school or a very large public school.</p>
<p>I always say fit is the key factor. If you are going to dread where you are it won't be productive. I didn't know the OP had visited so I didn't even discuss fit. All that is really left is size of school. A couple of other things I thought of is Vandy's classes are primarily taught by professors, not TA's and their Frosh to Soph retention rate is something silly like 96 or 98%. I don't think Seg can go wrong either way.</p>
<p>I am from MI, so know a lot about UM. It's a very good school, but it is VERY large. The town is nice, but the campus is spread out. Vanderbilt is smaller, but not too small. The town is vibrant, and the campus is more compact. The point about smaller classes & profs teaching undergrads is a good one ... some people WANT to be an anonymous face in the crowd though, so that doesn't mean UM's big lecture hall classes are necessarily bad. After a couple years, though, the classes at UM get smaller, too. There are lots of great opportunities at both schools. The weather is better overall at Vandy, but MI has some beautiful weather of its own (and lower humidity).</p>
<p>Good things about both schools! Do you want big or not so big? I really think it comes down to that question.</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore at Michigan and the vast majority of my classes have had less than 15 people. Most of my friends at smaller schools have had more large lecture halls than me.</p>
<p>Hmmm ... my D's good friend had an orgo class at UM with 1500 first semester.</p>
<p>Lol, she definitely exaggerated. Orgo does have a lot of kids, but the largest lecture hall at Michigan, which i think is in the Chem building seats less than 800. I took orgo and my class had from what i remember, 400, if even that many, that's just the lecture, you have discussion classes, which has 10-20 people. Professors go over main concepts, usually he gives time for Q and A, and in discussion you work on problems and get to ask most of your questions, there are also plenty of office hours, free tutoring that almost every student uses. I'd say orgo is an extreme, as Michigan is the largest premed school in the country, but even then it's pretty manageable. </p>
<p>To be honest, I got pretty tired of all the review sessions and tutoring, sometimes i think it's a little too much, there comes a point when you just have to sit down and work out problems on your own.</p>
<p>Considering that my biggest class in college had 60 students (smallest had 3!), it wouldn't have been too manageable for me!! :)</p>
<p>I think it's safe to say that Vanderbilt's classes are definitely smaller, and that really is important, so I'd go with Vanderbilt.
[quote]
Michigan has more people from out of state attending there than Vanderbilt has students.
[/quote]
Yeah, but how easy will it be to find those out-of-staters since the school is so big.</p>
<p>It's very easy. Sure, 50% of my friends are from the Michigan, but I still get to meet tons of people from out-of-state and abroad. There's a definite California, DC, and New York presence in Michigan, and I've even met a three or four people from my home state of Alabama. I know people from Oman, Japan, China, Germany, and Mexico, just to name a few. For some reason, people think once you have a large in-state population, the students become homogeneous and bland, which isn't true at all. People for some reason think once you're in a big school, you're automatically closed off. That the professors suddenly don't care about individuals, that the classes are huge, that you become a number and really, it doesn't make that much of a difference if the school accommodates. Honestly, I run into people I know every time I'm walking to class.</p>
<p>For all the nonsense you see on these threads -- especially from one of the people who is urging you away from Vandy -- you should not worry about anti-semitism on the campus. Clearly, there are some horrible frat boys at Vanderbilt who are an embarassment to the human race. But it is a great place, and the Hillel has wonderful programming and a lot of resources. The weather is really very different -- the trees might actually still be bare in Michigan, whereas Tennessee has been in full bloom for weeks --maybe even months. Michigan is a fantastic place, but I can tell you that Vanderbilt lavishes resources and attention on its undergraduates in a way that no public university -- even Michigan -- can or does. (I know that Michigan's endowments is far larger than Vandy's). The only serious negative you should think hard about is the notorious grade deflation at Vandy. A high GPA might be -- I said MIGHT BE -- easier to come by at UM. Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>Depends on what you want large or small ........ It is to late to visit both. Both are great schools and you will get a great education. So you cant go wrong with either one. Congrats on your hard choice, at least you have one. Mich is big sports vs Vandy is more small sports. Big crowds at Vandy with baseball and basketball. Football is more of a fun event than a competitive one like Mich were people live and die football along with every win or loss.
Again congrats and good luck.</p>
<p>For business, no question Michigan is better. It has the Ross School of Business and all of the major companies recruit there. It's undergrad business is in the top 5.</p>