I want to know which is the better school for me. I am likely qualified for both. I am applying to engineering and which would be better. I know Michigan has a top engineering program, unlike Vandy but I love both schools. I am interested in math the most, finance, and the sciences. I do not really want to go to a university and get stuck studying a major like mechanical if I end up not liking it. There are a couple majors that seem very appealing, the engineering science major at Vandy, and the Industrial and Operations systems engineering program. They’re both great schools and academics aside I’d love to go to either. I know Michigan is ranked higher, but which should I chose between if I am undecided in engineering paths but love math, and like the sciences and business as well.
are you applying ED? is that the reason you want to “choose” now? If you are going to the RD round, I would apply to both schools, among others and then also look hard at the money, then visit your top two choices. In all honesty, the things that matter the most to you may shift senior year. Since you are not 100% re an engineering program, don’t pressure yourself now. See how things shake down.
@Faline2 I am either ED to Vandy EA Mich and other schools EA and a couple RD… but if it comes down to the wire and I am truly #1 on Mich, I might as well not ED to Vandy and just take my chances with Mich although it’s so intimidating applying to a top 10 engineering program in the nation since if I don’t get in I don’t wanna be left with random backups that I don’t wanna go to. If anyone else also has advice on how I should go about making the best strategical decision please help! They’re both great schools and if I work hard and go to a great graduate school, I think I can figure out a way to be very successful when I am older, but if I could really pick between the ten schools I am applying to and pick 1 out of all of them to go to, it would be Michigan, that school is awesome just like Vandy but their engineering is just so incomparable it seems. What do you think?
Well EA Michigan leaves you more flexible to look at your financial aid vs your needs/financial fit(s). We learned the “hard” way that taking the long view of money matters for us. I will add that if you are def going to be an engineer, sometimes you can get your masters while working full time. Which is a variant in graduate school cost projections different from the daunting prospects for med and law students.
when it comes to Engineering, you do not have to attend a top 15 overall national U like Vandy to be job ready. Take a look at the cost of a Georgia Tech. I have a nephew who was only an average student at Virginia Tech in civil and he landed a strong job and is halfway through his masters at night.
Michigan is a total college town experience that is unique and I hear it is great. Vanderbilt is a regional powerhouse in a thriving Third Coast city that has multiple engines running the show and the economy.
Entry into Vandy is very dicey for all excellent students. ED is a financial commitment that is a lock at Vandy so you really do not have the luxury of agonizing over Vandy unless you are totally happy with the Estimated Cost of Attendance your family has to accept. Start with the financial conference with your parents and stare hard at the cost sheets to your top five schools.
I know both UM and Vandy well. They are so very different. It depends on what you want from your college experience, I guess. Size, atmosphere, surrounding community … so different. Visit both and see what suits you best.
But I agree with Faline2. You do not have to go to UM or Vandy for engineering. My alma mater totally flies under the radar, but both the current CEO and CFO of General Motors are graduates. Be sure to take Faline2’s suggestions to heart - good advice.
There is no downside applying EA to Michigan. Michigan has a very large, very intense engineering program with amazing facilities and access to research. There are all sorts of student projects like drones and solar cars etc… and great recruitment. Vanderbilt is more of a LAC with a small engineering department and a concierge experience. If you are not sure, apply RD to Vandy and then you can make a decision in the Spring.
Vanderbilt is not really anything like an LAC (other than the size and look of the campus I guess)…the distribution of majors and the influence of Peabody makes it such that is really just a smaller, more intimate, and selective version of larger public schools. However, I’d take Michigan for science over many top tier privates, especially if I was a science major (as in, I may not go there for pre-med…if I were not pursuing a science major route. In addition even a science major route there is VERY challenging from just a content and exam style point of view. Getting through chemistry there is hell if you are merely just looking to get high grades and place on the transcript). In addition, if one is a true science/engineering buff, then Michigan will make one feel more at home, much like Berkeley, Stanford, Austin, and tech schools like Georgia Tech, it has a good share of outward nerdiness and departments find ways to allow even undergraduates to more or less “celebrate” STEM on a larger scale than just a club or organization. On the flipside, it also has the big college experience/feel going on…Michigan is very interesting. I think it is good for a person who is into STEM, wants to discuss and do it outside of the classroom (and I don’t just mean in super formal settings like a research lab. The math dept. there for example has integration competitions and huge Putnam participation), but the school pride and fervor you get at other public schools. Somehow places like Berkeley, Michigan, and Tech make these two scenes co-exist (and not as completely separate spheres). If you want more pure “work hard, play hard”, then Vandy may be preferable.