<p>hey all! so i have a pretty tough decision to make between vandy, duke and stanford. im from the sanfran bay area, and am a total country/southern girl haha. dont know how that happend, but it did. so i applied to vandy, knowing the usual stereotypes, that is called "harvard of the south", its location, and so on. duke, however, is also a southern-ish school. and stanford has been high on my list most of my life, both because it is an amazing school, and it was the only one i was really aware of when i was younger. </p>
<p>does anyone have any helpful pieces of advice?</p>
<p>^^^If the poster wanted to know the USNews rankings, she could just look them up.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt has more of a "southern" reputation than Duke, although Vanderbilt has changed a lot over the last 10 years in terms of geographic distribution of its student body. If you feel like a 'country girl' then you'd probably appreciate the music scene in Nashville (though it is not exclusively country).</p>
<p>Stanford is amazing, of course. Since you are familiar with it, perhaps you should concentrate your efforts on getting to Vanderbilt for a visit. Look at Duke while you are at it.</p>
<p>Duke is pretty close name-recognition wise to Stanford...Vandy not so much. Who cares, all 3 are great schools anyway. Visit all 3 and then make an informed decision.</p>
<p>Visit them. I've never met anyone (well, anyone that is into the "southern/country" aspect of Vandy) that went to another school after visiting. I would easily knock Duke out of your choice and then look carefully at all variables for the last two.</p>
<p>having visited two of them (vandy and stanford) when i applied to college and then later visiting friends at duke, I must say, they're all good schools, with each having a great campus. I always loved stanford and dreamed of going there as a kid, but when i visited, I personally didnt' enjoy it much. Now I hope you've visited and have come up with an opinion of your own, but i wasn't able to find anything special at the school that made me feel compelled to attend there. Of course, another factor was the fact that it was too far from home and I didnt' want to drive a few days just so i could have a car there. </p>
<p>I'd say Vanderbilt has a more southern feel to it than the other two, but all three have their separate advantages. Stanford's reputation most definitely is better known worldwide. My friends in Venezuela, Argentina, Sweden, Japan, Korea and Indonesia all know of Stanford, while only about half of them have ever heard of Vanderbilt or Duke. At the end of the day, if you want to eventually work in the west coast, you should probably go to Stanford. If you're like me and can't stand being in one city for an extended period of time, then perhaps you could move out of california to attend Vanderbilt or Duke. </p>
<p>I don't know what else to say since you didn't really tell us much more about yourself. Is money an issue? In my case, everything was covered, but i know some people don't want to see 6 figure loans or work during the school year. If you'd like to know more about the three schools (in comparison), post your interests and what you want out of a college.</p>
<p>I think you should definitely visit each campus before you decide. My daughter looked at several CC Top 20 schools and the decision was made within an hour of arriving on Vandy's campus. The grounds, facilities, people, etc... It was a no-brainer what her first choice would be. Fortunately she was accepted ED II for the class of 2010. Do yourself a favor and go to the school you feel best at. You aren't going to have an issue with reputation or getting a job from any of the three.</p>
<p>TelleTube, if you have specific reasons for suggesting schools list them (your posts will carry much more weight that way). Every college has their own strengths/weaknesses. For instance, Vanderbilt is ranked #2 in the country in education (above Harvard, Columbia, etc).</p>
<p>Personally, I chose Vanderbilt because it was the best "fit" for me. The students at Vandy are very friendly and balanced. I was accepted to Cornell and UPenn, but I liked Vanderbilt's combination of social life and academics much better.</p>
<p>Nobody chooses Vanderbilt for its rankings unless they are crazy. When considering elite academic institutions, Vanderbilt above and beyond blows away most schools in Undergraduate experience. Duke is absolutely one of those. Stanford puts up a fight but is VERY different and therefore with a good solid visit to both it shouldn't be too hard to make a decision. Best of luck though and punch anyone in the face that tells you rankings are important. I pity people that attend the highest ranking school they got into.</p>
<p>Anyone who goes to any school just because of ranking or prestige isn't as smart as they think they are. Go to the school you will be happiest at.</p>
<p>Ah, but the issue is where will the student feel most comfortable?? Not every student can tell from a one or two day visit. My son, for example, is deciding between Northwestern, Vanderbilt, and Wesleyan. Three very different atmospheres, and yet he believes he could be happy at all three. His adaptability is actually making the decision making harder.</p>
<p>That's good then... He has options or he didn't find the one school that spoke to him, could be either. All I can tell you is my daughter looked at several schools and when she hit Vandy it was all over (not publicizing Vandy, just stating a fact). There is something to be said for wanting to be where you are and not having doubts about what could have been. I hope your son makes the right choice. I really wonder if that is the difference between guys and girls?</p>
<p>Visit campuses. Prestige wise, unless you're considering education which is a rather niche thing, I'd consider Stanford then Duke (which btw is known as the Harvard of the South, not Vandy) then Vandy. If you're into southern college experiences, there are few that are stereotypically southern and provide a world renowned education. Duke and Vanderbilt are two of them. Both have vibrant fraternity scenes, however, Duke has more to offer than just that scene, its extremely diverse (44% minority) and only has around 33% greek participation. It depends on what you're looking for. Strictly academically though, I would not pick Vanderbilt over Stanford or Duke.</p>