<p>Vandy with merit money or Northwestern with loans? Pre-med with involvement in performing arts. Any insight appreciated!</p>
<p>Northwestern is a better school for both catergories. It depends on the type of performing art you were trying to get into. Evanston/Chicago is good for a lot of things, and Northwestern has pretty strong med school placement. Vandy is much more social (which I prefer), and Nashville is southern (in culture and weather). They are fairly comperable, but if it were me, I would choose Vandy because of the social stuff. But if academics and competition are your thing then you should go Northwestern. Big 10 vs. SEC is fairly comperable too.</p>
<p>Northwestern is quite social. It is also bigger, more preprofessional, diverse. Weather is much nicer in Nashville. Difference in reputation and opportunities is not significant enough to justify paying much more for NU. How much more would it cost you ?</p>
<p>Significantly more! People keep telling me that Northwestern has a much better reputation academically - anyone else heard this?</p>
<p>they have a better academic reputation, but not by much. Honestly, college is what you make of it. I'm sure you've heard this before, but its true. If you don't understand that now, you will when you get to college. And since the difference in academic reputation is neglegible, just decide on other factors that are important to you.</p>
<p>I agree with zip.</p>
<p>Northwestern might have better rankings than Vanderbilt, but do you seriously think you're going to notice a difference in quality? I think not.</p>
<p>Northwestern is more academically cut throat.</p>
<p>if it is significant, I would go with vandy. I could have gone to other schools that were ranked higher than vandy but because of the nice financial aid I got I'm here new.</p>
<p>If pre-med and performance arts are what you're interested in, you should choose Northwestern. With Chicago nearby, there are so many opportunities. </p>
<p>You can't go wrong with Vanderbilt too though.</p>
<p>although vandy's performance group is relatively new, i've heard much praise for it.</p>