<p>So, I've recently been admitted to several amazing schools, and have limited down my options to Vanderbilt, Northwestern, UCLA, and Berkeley. </p>
<p>As a general note:
- Money is not an issue for me
- I am from California, but I don't really have a preference where in the United States I wish to receive an education; I am Asian, liberal, and an agnostic, if any of those make a difference
- I currently am unsure about what I would like to major in or what occupation I want to pursue. I really have no set future plans.</p>
<p>As you can tell from the above, I'm sort of indecisive, haha!</p>
<p>I would appreciate if anyone could offer me any tips about choosing a school and/or any pros/cons about any particular University from the list above.</p>
<p>If you want to do anything science-y or engineering specifically, I’d go with Northwestern or Berkeley. I don’t know much about UCLA. Vanderbilt strikes me as more a business/political science type school, but then again I don’t know much about that school either, that’s just my impression. I’d say that Berkeley is probably the most prestigious of the bunch though, if that matters to you.</p>
<p>First of all - well done. Now I am going to take some of your cues (deontology, a pretty open attitude about the future, defining yourself as agnostic etc) and say Berkeley. If you had a choice between Northwestern and U of Chicago than you seem more U of Chicago type than NU. NU, Vandy and to a certain extent UCLA (but not nearly as much as NU and Vandy) are a more frat/prep type environment, which might bore you after a while. </p>
<p>Now if we are talking expanding your horizons, than Chicago would be a great place to do so which would push me towards Northwestern, but you should go to Wildcat Days if you haven’t already it will give you a gauge as to what NU is about. </p>
<p>Academically Cal over UCLA and Northwestern over Vandy IMO - Cal and NU are a wash as are UCLA and Vandy. Although I realize regionalism matters and in CA UCLA and Cal are the same and a southerner would tell you Vandy is the best. </p>
<p>At the end of the day you can’t make a bad choice but it depends on how you want to challenge yourself. I can see you thriving in the openness of the Bay area and Cal though vs having to be somewhat of a contrarian at NU or Vandy.</p>
<p>Northwestern is liberal-leaning. However, it really prides itself on having all kinds of diversity represented in the student body, and that includes diversity in political and religious beliefs. I think you should go to a school where you can not only find “your people” but also people who will challenge your beliefs and help you grow as a student and as a person.</p>
<p>I came into Northwestern agnostic (even anti-religion really) but religion, unpredictably, became one of my primary interests. To my surprise, I ended up doing 3 major projects on religion, one on Christian Asian Americans at Northwestern, one on the Muslim Student Association, and one on on the reformed and orthodox Jewish students on campus. While I remain agnostic, my intellectual explorations of these topic that I was not at all familiar with really opened my eyes about religion and its role in the human experience. </p>
<p>I say this as an example of how college can fundamentally change the way you think about the world in ways you may not even be able to predict right now, and being exposed to true diversity is the key to having these changes happen. Personally, I learned the most in classes where there was a lot of disagreement and each of us had to defend our opinions. These classes were also the most interesting.</p>
<p>At Northwestern, there will be plenty of liberal agnostics but also socially liberal conservatives, liberal Christians/Jews/Hindus, social and fiscal conservatives, socially progressive fiscal conservatives, etc. In terms of interests, Northwestern has such a diverse student body due to its strengths in so many fields, from engineering and econ to the arts and sciences to theater/arts, music, education, journalism, communications. There are also different identity subcultures, e.g. Greeks, hipsters, theater kids, social nerds, etc, and a lot of these groups overlap (a lot of Greeks at Northwestern are surprisingly "hipster"ish for example). The resulting environment is very dynamic and truly unique. There is room for everybody to be themselves no matter how quirky they are, and the beauty of Northwestern is that this uniqueness is normal and taken for granted. For the incredible diversity it has, Northwestern does not have students who have the “special snowflake” syndrome, which was a huge plus for me.</p>
<p>I see that you visited Northwestern already. What did you think? Right now, it’s really mostly about the fit.</p>
<p>Wow! Thanks for such an in-depth post about Northwestern, wildcatalum. </p>
<p>While, I have visited Northwestern before, I have to admit, my visit there was very brief; it was one of the couple colleges my school toured the day before our plane right back to California after having just finished competing at the Glenbrooks Speech and Debate Invitational. However, during the short time I was there, my impression of the campus was that it was gorgeous (especially the view of Lake Michigan!) and I liked the atmosphere. I’m currently considering revisiting it along with my trip to Vanderbilt so as to get a better feeling of it. If I do, do you think I should go during a Wildcat Day, or do you think that I would get a more accurate impression going on an off-day?</p>
<p>Northwestern is indeed beautiful. I think it’s fine to visit on Wildcat Days. If you want to get away from the structured programs, you can always do that. For the most part, you get what you see (I’ve volunteered for Wildcat Days before). I’m very excited for you to have Northwestern as an option! I was incredibly excited when I got in. Definitely visit and see for yourself again what you think this time around.</p>
<p>I would choose NU over Vandy for the same reasons as Wildcatalum. Although personally, I would choose Cal over them all. But that is mostly because I am from the midwest and might want to experience a new state and geography. You OTOH are from CA so NU would make sense. Oh yea, I am also an NU grad.</p>
<p>A lot of people in your thread seem to assume that Berkeley offers an amazing undergraduate education because of its prestige – which is built on its research and PhD programs. Yes, Berkeley has amazing faculty. However, Vanderbilt and Northwestern do as well, and will actually give you the chance to interact with your instructors on a personal basis.
I’m from California, and have many friends who attend Berkeley. I have heard of Berkeley jokingly referred to as a “research institution where some undergraduate teaching happens to occur”. Berkeley is, of course, an amazing school. My only point is to suggest that it may not be the best of your choices for your undergraduate career. If money truly does not matter, I advise you to learn more about your other options before making your decision. Congratulations on your acceptances!</p>