Just got word back that I was accepted to both UChicago and Vanderbilt! I am very excited, but now I have an extremely difficult decision to make. On one hand, I have always loved Vanderbilt. When I toured, it just felt right and I fell in love with Nashville and it’s nightlife. I have always considered myself a work hard/play hard type, so Vanderbilt’s fun-yet-academic vibe is a big draw for me, as well as its prevalent Greek life (I love Greek life) and sports (sports are big for me). However, my friend that currently goes there told me that his classes are easy (he’s majoring in the same thing I want to major in-Econ and HOD) and that he parties 4-5 nights a week, which sounds like a bit much. I was convinced that Vandy was my perfect fit, but now I’m not so sure. On the other hand, I’ve always thought that UChicago was wrong for me in all ways (I am not “quirky” or “nerdy” and wrote my Uchicago essays as if I was someone that I’m not), yet I know they have some of the best academics in the whole country, so I have mixed feelings. In addition, they also have one of the best econ programs in the U.S and TONS of nobel laureates, as well as the prestige factor (more so than Vanderbilt). Prestige is very important to me, and UChicago sounds like it would be more challenging than Vanderbilt, which could be either a good or bad thing. Another downside to UChicago, though, is its weather. I visited Chicago and could not tolerate the weather, despite coming from Colorado, which gets pretty cold and snowy. Nashville weather, on the other hand, seems pretty ideal. Lastly, and most importantly, is cost. Both UChicago and Vandy are affordable to me, since neither school looks at my noncustodial parent (thank goodness!) and I won a large outside scholarship. However, UChicago would be significantly cheaper for me than Vandy (depending on how they treat outside scholarships, it could actually be free!), a factor which has made me even more conflicted. UChicago is significantly more prestigious, affordable, and has better academics, but Vanderbilt seems like more of a fit. Which should I choose?
Go to Vanderbilt.
Go to Vanderbilt, you don’t need to be at Chicago unless you don’t mind being really academically engaged. You don’t seem to care as much about the academic strengths (I mean, you mentioned Chicago’s econ. department. Are you planning on being an econ. major? Even if so, do you want the intensity of that curriculum given the social experience you envision?) in your description of what you liked about Vanderbilt, so I would make Vandy happen. You are clearly looking for a more social experience. Also, get over yourself with the prestige. Their prestige is tied to their faculty strength and academic challenge for UG’s and graduate students much like top Ivies. Vanderbilt is prestigious enough and doesn’t come with overwhelming academics that would likely truly distract from the social aspects you appreciate about the school. You get challenging enough academics to make you competitive and get to enjoy yourself. Again, Chicago is for the person who can enjoy themselves without the “traditional” college social experience. Going to a non-social or academic fit is just not worth your time. You may end transferring which is a huge hassle. I really don’t see why you didn’t split the middle and aim for somewhere like Penn or Dartmouth (or did you?), maybe Northwestern?
As a Vandy student, I shouldn’t say this, but if I were in your position, I would pick UChicago for the Econ program and the cost. I’m an Econ major and I do like the program here, but UChicago’s Econ program is much more prestigious (and more difficult I guess).
As for partying 4-5 times a week, 99.9% of Vandy students can’t fit that into their schedule so take that statement lightly. But yes, our unofficial motto is work hard, play hard. Most Vandy students have a good balance between their social lives and academics.
They are both great universities, but it really sounds like you would be much happier at Vanderbilt.
My friend is an econ. major there (Vanderbilt) and says it isn’t particularly challenging (honestly, only at some schools it is and we know which ones they are). It’s mainly the chemistry and pre-med courses kicking his behind every now and then. He described the econ. classes as fairly standard. I think Chicago is known for the more quantitative and theory based approach (workshop based math and econ. courses) as are several very top undergrad. programs in econ. Unless I truly valued academic rigor of a single department (I mean, how do you know you won’t switch or attempt to add another major) and am fine with social and academic life mixing a crap ton (which OP isn’t), I don’t think I would go to Chicago. With some majors at these schools, valuing learning it at very high levels is almost required success. Chicago econ. is one of them. I am not sure a clever course selection scheme can save you from that and easily free up time for pure socializing without consequences.
Not much of a conundrum here. You are accepted to an elite U that is a good fit and another elite U that is not a fit for you. The development of social skills is a valuable skill set if you plan to enter the financial services industry and happy students make good students.
Just reading your post, it is pretty clear you like Vanderbilt better but are trying to make yourself like UChicago better. I think you should choose Vanderbilt, since it seems that’s where your heart lies.
I’m going to have to disagree a little with @Sophie1295. I knew lots of guys who went out 4+ nights a week regularly (usually Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday). It is especially easy if you are majoring in HOD (probably the easiest major at Vandy) and economics (a little more challenging, but still easy). In fact there were weeks when I could have gone out every night if I wanted to (which I never did).
As far as Greek Life goes it is declining at Vandy (see http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vanderbilt-university/1868189-thoughts-from-a-recent-grad-p1.html for my thoughts on it). However, it still dominates the social scene at Vandy. Probably not true for Chicago.
Chicago has one of the best Econ programs in the country. Vandy’s program is mediocre. If you are truly interested in Econ I’d definitely go to Chicago, especially since it is cheaper there.
They just said that they were more interested in the social atmosphere…and I doubt Greeklife there will diminish that much unless you speak of “quality” (whatever that means).
I detect shade from someone and I’m sure what they said is the only explanation as to why Chicago performs near the other super elites when it comes to post-grad success and placing former undergraduates into academic positions among many other things. Has anyone ever thought that the types that choose places like MIT, Chicago, Princeton, Caltech, Harvard, Harvey Mudd, etc. are indeed happy and feel as if the school is giving them what they want despite the extra academic stress/challenge? Seems stress at many of those schools leads plenty of the students to success (no doubt many more come out such places thinking at higher levels and able to handle a bit more). The schools mimic the world after college a bit more (especially many challenging work environments that require high level cognitive tasks all the time. And yes, the workload and intellectual challenge and even your social life will be “grey” at times, but such is the case for life as an adult). The students that select these schools may not have the same thing in mind as those at others for a college experience and we should come to terms with that.
I agree with bernie12. Someone I know often asks me when the kid I have at MIT “has fun”. Like, well he must go out and party right? Yes, but some students don’t partition their world into “fun” and “academic”. Students who get the most from schools like MIT and Chicago are often those that "have fun’ doing academics, thinking, making things they find meaningful and yes…going to parties and, at least at MIT, parties may include clever imaginative things (“hacks”). These are students who often chose to be involved in ECs in high school for their love of them-not because it looks good for college apps. And they often embrace them at full speed…the full immersion model. And it is something I’ve come to understand that those who were grade conscious throughout high school and who did well in high school by grade grubbing and by working “for grades” rather than being fully engaged in the topic area can sometimes not understand because, you know, the mall is calling and creating interference.
I think you had first better check to see how Chicago will treat that outside scholarship. From the looks of their website it seems it can replace student FA loans/ work study. But you need to ask if it will be used to replace $$ for $$ parental contributions. Or will it only replace university based rants or scholarships?
https://financialaid.uchicago.edu/current-students/types-of-aid/scholarships
If you end up being able to go to Chicago for less $$ than Vandy, then I think it would be foolish to pass that opportunity up. You will find plenty of smart kids who like to enjoy themselves there, but the education and the recognition of getting your degree from U of C will take you farther than a UG degree from Vandy.
Chicago and especially the Economics dept is famous world wide.
@bernie12 I’m just wondering where you get your information on Vanderbilt as I believe you do not have any connection to the school. And yes, Greek Life is declining at Vandy. The percentage of students who are involved may not be, but the “quality” is.
But yes, if the quality of your social life is your only concern I’d chose Vandy.
@Vandy93 All one must do is read the school’s own publications (Hustler) and other documents (strategic planning documents, departmental websites, etc) or talk to friends who attend much like I do about other schools. It isn’t that difficult to a) formulate your own perspective or b) demonstrate many other’s(who are part of the school) perspective of the school when this stuff is so easy to research for those who seriously want to know. I wish prospective students would learn how to do it. Hell, I wish I knew how to do it when applying. As in, not buying the hype that brochures and the tourguides feed to us about these elite schools and searching deeper to find out things for ourselves. It turns out to not be as hard as one would think given that these places have pretty strong media presences internally and in many cases, externally.
For example, if I wanted to learn at least a little something about what is happening at Duke or the concern of Duke students, hit up the Duke Chronicle. It may tell you, for example (by amount of articles and their content) that students and faculty have constantly been concerned about intellectual climate versus peers (over a period of decades this appears to be a concern worth constantly writing about and even forming a task force on). If you’re like me, and want to find out how highered works, especially at the types of institutions we went or go to, it just isn’t that hard (even Chronicle of Higher Education can lend a lot of insight typically from faculty or administrative perspectives). If I want to learn about the Chicago, you can hit up the Maroon (I think? Maybe not) and it may tell you that in their new admissions scheme, many alumni and students there before the application and SAT score boom are concerned about potential differences in atmosphere and attitudes toward learning it might cause. Dartmouth, hit them up and find out that they (mainly their new leader) are SERIOUS about issues concerning Greek life’s dominance, alcohol consumption (sounds kind of old school huh?), and what it means for academic rigor there (I think the same thing is happening at Emory, but it is a tad more subtle though it is in internal press. A “Greek task force” for example…one that doesn’t have any Greeks on it at that 
. Asking for problems). Again it just isn’t as hard as one would think to find out about things on one’s own. And if you have friends or acquaintances you keep in touch with at these places (mine are mostly at Duke and WUSTL and a couple at Vanderbilt), you can get another insider perspective. It was always cool to compare academic work (as many of my friends were also STEM majors) in classes we were taking. It was…all over the place naturally.
Anyway, with some serious research (which I guess prospective students or parents won’t find time for), you’ll find that most selective schools seem to deal with the same issues as others except that they basically use each other as benchmarks and comparison points.
I don’t just stick to my scientific research. I have many other interests obviously and they include education and teaching (always thought I wanted to teach at a college/university, but the more I see even at elites…I begin to question this. Maybe aim for a teaching college?). Naturally I would want to know why students choose certain colleges, certain majors, and attitudes toward learning/school work as that would in theory influence the way I decided to teach a class (I like the idea of teaching with intellectual rigor, but it looks like a painful hassle almost anywhere. Definitely wouldn’t do it if I were tenure track).
@bernie12 if you have an interest in many schools, why do you constantly (and exclusively, other than your own school Emory) provide lengthy opinions on the Vanderbilt page? You make yourself out to be very knowledgeable on a school which you do not attend nor have connections to other than friends who attend. Just reading the newsletter (which many Vanderbilt students see as a farce by the way), talking to a few friends, and reading documents does not make you the expert you seem to think you are.
I know Chicago’s reputation for “where fun goes to die” is waning a bit. But I think @lostaccount has it right – the average UC student’s idea of fun is pretty different from a Vandy student. You sound like more of a fit at Vandy. Chicago can be pretty miserable for someone who isn’t their type.
@collegebobollege I don’t have to be an expert (nor do I claim to be). Even people who go to the schools are not experts (you would be surprised how in the dark we are about our own schools. We tend to function and live in bubbles and not know the perspective of others nor about many of the oppurtunities offered within our schools/ The first part is more difficult to solve than the last part where I can just go look stuff up if I am concerned about it). I am no expert on Emory. I can only provide information on my experience there and what I read right now. bud123 is no expert on well, anything either and provides less nuanced opinions than me in other places.
As an example of someone perhaps who would arrive unaware of the opps at their schools (because people DO NOT look this up). On the Emory forum, there is a person deciding between several schools on English and Anthropology and (Rice was a main contender against Emory) and really thought that Rice was “weaker” in the humanities. A quick look at the offerings of their departments in those areas reveal that they are actually quite good at the department level. I could not blindly recommend Emory or the competing schools over Rice do to the academic programs themselves (I am subtly advocating for Rice because the person expressed that they liked the residential system. As far as I can tell, it actually is pretty effective. That on top of the fact that the academic programs of interest turned out to be underestimated by the OP leads me to say…“I think you really need to think a little more”). All I can tell them is about what each offers (or doesn’t), what students seem to think according to how they talk aspects of the school, all things the student or whoever can and perhaps should honestly do for themselves. I pretty much step in a lot when there are interesting things going on or blind biases. I happily do it against Emory (in or out of favor) or elsewhere. To me it just seems lots of other threads (in other schools except maybe Duke) have a bit less bias and more nuanced discussions when the student comes in and does these comparison threads (like you don’t see tons of people attempting to flat out refute the idea that there are certain issues that the school is trying to deal with when it is in the media internally and externally. Honestly, once administrators at a school deem it an issue to work on publicly through various means, there may be an issue despite all of those who come out in social media to essentially protect the reputation of the place and get the student to come there).
Also, in this case, what is there to be an expert on? The fact that the OP expressed favor toward Vanderbilt over Chicago? We all saw that (let us go re-read post 1 again). And most people at least perceive Chicago to be stronger academically (especially in economics) than most schools including Vanderbilt (and likely even schools that have become known to be really good for it like Duke). No expertise needed. I am not the only one familiar with that dept and how good it is yet I still would not recommend Chicago who clearly identified themselves as not a fit and is merely willing to pretend to fit because they want the prestige. They are asking for a miserable 4 years if they do that.
@bernie12 if you noticed, I actually agreed with your assessment of the OPs situation in this case. However, in the past you have commented at length on everything from Vanderbilt professors to its grade deflation (which you claimed doesn’t exist with no real knowledge to support that). I don’t mean to hijack this thread, I just don’t understand why you are so fixated on Vanderbilt and constantly provide insight that really you don’t have when you have no connection to the school.
What? @collegebobollege : That information is available in the Greeklife websites for example where they compare each org’s GPA vs. the whole school and on grade inflation.com.
Course websites like these are also representative of their grading patterns in say, intro. and intermediate STEM courses. http://as.vanderbilt.edu/chemistry/Rizzo/Chem220b/chem220b_S15.html
http://as.vanderbilt.edu/chemistry/Rizzo/Chem220b/Distribution.html
Wow, what a surprise! Their average ended up being about a B-. I would have never guessed…Really typical at elites and non (actually non-elites allow their means to sit lower). If you go through, notice how he gave one exam to essentially lower the average toward it. I have seen this tactic so many times and have also taken many instructors that have low means and then set the curve at C+/B-. This instructor is your standard intermediate/intro. STEM instructor at an elite (especially one in the south). Grades were much more generous in my friends econ. classes (the standard B+ curves- I believed him because I have experienced and observed those grading patterns at my school so it made sense to me and did not sound exceptionally low or high. The distribution published on my alma mater’s econ. website would result in a mean between like 3.15 and 3.3).
I can look at the materials and grading distributions. My friend also tells me what the curves/grades are like that(if they exist) in his other STEM (again, consistent with other course websites and the like) and econ/non-STEM courses (he took the engineering physics section and it was one of those with low mean and a recentered average to B-. He took Singleton for biology who does the same thing and old course websites of his confirm it. His 60-70 averages were centered to B -). They seem consistent with what others (including myself) experience at most other elite schools so I get annoyed when those at one school claim to be exceptional in areas like grading when there is evidence to the contrary. The only schools I’ve heard of (and perhaps data is available on) with truly low grading or deflation among top research privates are MIT and Princeton (and Hopkins I guess) and one is a STEM school and the other had an actual policy that was public.
Inflation in STEM is really only common at certain schools and many know who they are. The so called deflation at Vanderbilt and Berkeley is essentially the norm and is known to be partially responsible for higher than expected attrition in sciences at elite schools. Nothing is new or particularly exceptional. Even at the relatively inflated schools, it has a notorious effect (look up papers that discuss how intro. chemistry courses at both Berkeley and Stanford of all places discourage women and URMs from pursuing science and the things they attempted to do to mitigate those issues).
My son chose a school with better reputation/prestige over a school that we thought was a better fit. He is unhappy now and regrets his choice. Needless to say, reputation does not necessarily make students happy. Please read numerous stories about their miserable lives by Harvard students. I would strongly advise that your child do one more visit to the two schools before making a final decision.