<p>A couple of points that I think are worth mentioning:</p>
<p>Admit rates are not necessarily an accurate indication of program quality. If I'm not mistaken, UCLA's admit rate was lower than Cornell's, but I wouldn't go trumpeting that UCLA's undergrad program is necessarily better.</p>
<p>Top ranked PhD programs, while they help, don't necessarily mean that a program is great for undergrads either. There is no doubt in my mind that Michigan, for graduate school, blows away Vanderbilt (sorry Vandy students.) I don't know that that means much for undergrad performance, however. Looking at many of the LACs (and LAC-like Ivies), it seems to me that in many cases it is possible to seperate graduate program quality from undergrad program quality.</p>
<p>Michigan's 25th percentile and lower admits by no means can compete with Vandy's 50th percentile student. What people fail to notice, however, is that from the 50th percentile and up, Michigan shines. I'd pit the 75th percentile and up at Michigan against almost any top school. Bottom-of-the-barrel McStudent? Not so much.</p>
<p>So, I think that while it's clear that as an overall institution (if we consider graduate programs and professional programs) Michigan wins, as an undergrad program, Vanderbilt may just be providing the better program.</p>
<p>intotherain, you have offered no convincing evidence to justify your claims. If you are going to make allegations regarding "other sources" please provide the link. Remember the focus of discussion is quality at the undergraduate level. Vanderbilt will always be ranked higher than NYU, because it is simply the better school.</p>
<p>links i can get from this site but iam too lazy to do so at the moment. okay. LETS ASSUME I DONT EVEN HAVE THE "OTHER SOURCES" OKAY? WHAT SOURCE OR FACTUAL INFORMATION DO YOU HAVE TO PROVE THAT VANDY IS > NYU UMICH and all the other better schools that are ranked lower than Vandy. we are not even talking about grad school. dont event bring up med/law. NYU and UMICH would be better anway.
Other than your opinion, you have no proof. so stop. end of discussion. vandy is overranked. thanks.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>No I do not think it is. Too low of a peer assesment score and only a regional elite. </p></li>
<li><p>I was admitted to Vanderbilt and picked a "lower ranked" university, only to find that has undergraduate AND graduate programs that are better if not too similiar to Vandy to justify a price difference (I attend the university of wisconsin).</p></li>
<li><p>Not the atmosphere for me. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>""LETS ASSUME I DONT EVEN HAVE THE "OTHER SOURCES" OKAY?"" Just read this thread and I found this humorous. It kinda just says it all... you didn't have other sources. >.< Lol.</p>
<p>college2332, Uh I'm sorry to burst your bubble to there is no confirmed definition of what a regional elite is, and to be frank with you, Vanderbilt was an unknown in my upper middle class suburb of Ohio and to many of my friends from the West. In my expierence, you were wrong.</p>
<p>Further, your cute little two word sentences make for a nice dismissal of a poster who disagrees with you, but people <em>should</em> care about the atmosphere. "Top 20" in what? College is about an overall expierence. If for many groups the expierence isn't the best, then it might not be one of the TOP 20 universities. If you want to talk about straight academics, then I still made the right choice by going to the University of Wisconsin. I would have also made the right choice going to Michigan or Macalester. I personally feel, and this will be debated b/c there is no set standard of what criteria makes one school the best, that the peer institution ratings might be the closest thing to a way to rank schools. Many "influencial" posters on CC agree and you can search to find they happen to rank schools based off that score. Vanderbilt with a 4.1 is a solid school, but not top 20.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is a strong private school but it is no ivy league and it's going to matter what you DID there.</p>
<p>edit- I will also note that you even suggested someone pick vandy over kenyon because of the name recognition. However, there are many reasons to pick Kenyon over Vanderbilt, and vise versa. Yet, a non academic factor made one a "top" choice.</p>
<p>This thread brings me so much joy. I narrowed it down to Michigan and Vanderbilt, visited specific departments, and picked Michigan by a longshot. My boyfriend's going to Vandy and we have this debate all the time...we hate each other for it, but it's okay. (Oh, how we hate hate hate each other for it...but in the end, it's all okay...well...sigh) Besides knowing that Michigan's better, especially since I want to concentrate on research in math and poli sci, I need to get away from southern private school part II (I love my school, but I've been in the same society for 18 years...I NEED out)...Michigan has a much more international population and its out-of-state students outnumber Vandy's entire student population.</p>
<p>Oh, and going back a bit...you do realize that Michigan's out-of-state acceptance rate is MUCH tougher than Vandy's overall acceptance rate, right?</p>
<p>Transfer, Im from New York and the school is very well known throughout my community. It draws students heavily from every region of the country and less than half of its student population resides from the South. Saying the school only has regional prestige is completely inaccurate. Vanderbilt is a national university.</p>
<p>In regards to atmosphere, it is obviously important. My criticism is that you assert that since you dont like the atmosphere, that there is a correlation of your outlook for many groups. Most kids who apply to Vanderbilt love the atmosphere. But there are many schools with great atmospheres that have lackluster academics. Since atmosphere is more of a matter of fit and personal preference, it seems more reasonable for schools to be based on academic factors and quality of the undergraduate students. Further, your post reads as extremely insecure when you say things like then I still made the right choice by going to the University of Wisconsin. I would have also made the right choice going to Michigan or Macalester. It sounds like you are desperately trying to rationalize your decisions. Its funny because we never get Harvard or Princeton kids coming over here telling us about the great choices they made when choosing schools or how great their school is. Most if not all of our visitors have been from inferior institutions. There is nothing wrong with choosing a lesser school based upon fit. In fact, I turned down Brown and Cornell because I liked the atmosphere better at Vanderbilt. But Im not going to go on their boards and make blanketed statements that since I didnt like my visit it should not be in the top 20.</p>