<p>Which has the stronger....
-econ program?
-professors?
-student body?
-quality of life?
-etc?
Which sends their students to better grad schools?</p>
<p>A lot of those questions are so subjective that answers on anonymous forums aren’t going to really yield useful information. I think the two schools are very similar in overall quality for a major like economics. Both will put you in contact with professors who will help get you into a good graduate school. Most of the getting into grad school is up to you, wherever you go. (FWIW, my H is an econ. prof. He thinks both departments are way more than adequate for any undergraduate.)</p>
<p>Have you visited both campuses? There are some differences. Although Vanderbilt is closer to the downtown of the urban area, the surrounding area is nicer than that at Wash U, in my opinion, unless you will take advantage of Forest Park, adjacent to Wash. U. </p>
<p>There are fraternities/sororities on both campuses, but less so at Wash U. However, my son, a student at Vanderbilt, does not belong and has no problem whatever enjoying the campus and student life.</p>
<p>Professors are accessible at Vanderbilt. They may be at Wash U also.</p>
<p>How about the financial deal? If there is a significant difference, that should probably be a deciding factor.</p>
<p>Housing: it is on-campus at Vanderbilt for all four years. There is a variety of housing types. The last I heard, housing for upperclass-students at Wash. U was in very short supply and some students were having problems finding something near campus. That may have changed in the last year or two.</p>
<p>? for midmo:
Who can I talk to at Washu and get an honest answer about guaranteed housing? We visited there in August and it seemed like it was pretty possible for housing all 4 years. If you are certain that is not correct, I really need to find out exactly. Both my ex and I strongly prefer that our D have guaranteed access to on campus housing and for me, this will be a deal breaker. She is trying to narrow down choices at Rice(also no 4 yr guarantee), Vandy, Wake Forest and Washu. She has already ruled out other schools for various reasons.</p>
<p>hope4freeride, my son is now a sophomore, so his visits were a couple of years ago. At that time, we were told at official visit days/tours that there was a shortage of housing but the problem was being addressed. If they are telling you everything is OK now, I have no reason not to believe it.</p>
<p>It would be a deal breaker for me, as well, if there were no housing on campus. The area gets a bit troublesome not too far from campus–at least, that was a very recent observation of my husband, who is in St. Louis at least once a week in recent months. Have you asked this question of current students on the Wash U site? I haven’t been on it since son decided on Vanderbilt, but there used to be parents contributing. I think they would be honest with you.</p>
<p>At vandy, students are guarenteed 4 years on campus. As of now, there is enough space for every undergrad student to live on campus. When they do construction, they allow some seniors to live off campus. The number of seniors applying to live off campus is always more than the number they allow. Which means that if a student chooses, he will have no problem living on campus for all 4 years.</p>
<p>vandyclassof2013, just to clarify: Another poster asked me about the housing situation at Wash U, and that was what my answer was addressing. There is no housing problem at Vanderbilt that I know of.</p>
<p>Thank you midmo. I will check out your suggestions and also post on the WashU thread for answers.</p>