Vanderbilt vs UVA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child goes to Vanderbilt and the experience there is very different from what is described here. If you have a chance to walk around campus, I think you’ll get a strong feel for it — very hardworking, serious students. I do think that pre-med/engineering seem to be among the most intense courses of study. I don’t know much about UVA so can’t really juxtapose the two. I think Greek participation at Vanderbilt is around 25%.

Since grades are really important for pre-med you may want to also consider which school has more grade inflation.

I don't want any doctors who got by through grade deflation.

You don't want a doctor who earned top grades rather than a doctor that got top grades becaus everyone got top grades?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA will have more of the preppy, wealthy vibe. It's present at Vanderbilt but the academic rigor is heightened a notch compared to UVA, which will bring in more normal work-hard play-hard kids. I would go for Vanderbilt.

I completely disagree. Apple Martin goes to Vanderbilt. There are kids with serious family money there. My child would not fit in in that environment. Greek life is huge and it’s in the south. In addition, you want to save money since med school is going to be so expensive. I’d go cheaper undergrad and UVA had an excellent med school.

Yeah my perception of Vanderbilt is unserious rich kids who want a veneer of prestige.

No, that’s Brown.

Untalented rich kids waltz into Vanderbilt. That doesn’t really happen at at Brown

Omg, are you serious? The international wealth, in particular, is staggering. Esp from the Middle East and kleptocratic former Soviet bloc countries.

Plus all the celebrity kids. Coincidently, Apple’s brother, Moses, attends Brown. SJP and Matthew Broderick’s son. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones have kids at Brown. Stephanopolis daughters at both Vandy and Brown (one may have graduated by now). I could rattle more off, but you get the idea.

That just gives them an edge. It doesn't replace the rigor needed to be a viable admit or thrive there. The ones we know have talent and do the work. Brown is not a slack school. They do have some work/life balance, but my kids are studying/working most of the time an involved in some artistic/athletic/club endeavor the rest.

Brown has pretty much the highest average GPAs. Something has to give on grade inflation as they are so near the 4.0 ceiling.

[Anonymous]

Nashville is 100% more fun and interesting than Charlottesville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA will have more of the preppy, wealthy vibe. It's present at Vanderbilt but the academic rigor is heightened a notch compared to UVA, which will bring in more normal work-hard play-hard kids. I would go for Vanderbilt.

I completely disagree. Apple Martin goes to Vanderbilt. There are kids with serious family money there. My child would not fit in in that environment. Greek life is huge and it’s in the south. In addition, you want to save money since med school is going to be so expensive. I’d go cheaper undergrad and UVA had an excellent med school.

Yeah my perception of Vanderbilt is unserious rich kids who want a veneer of prestige.

No, that’s Brown.

Untalented rich kids waltz into Vanderbilt. That doesn’t really happen at at Brown

I am reminded of Baghdad Bob, Iraq’s spokesman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA will have more of the preppy, wealthy vibe. It's present at Vanderbilt but the academic rigor is heightened a notch compared to UVA, which will bring in more normal work-hard play-hard kids. I would go for Vanderbilt.

I completely disagree. Apple Martin goes to Vanderbilt. There are kids with serious family money there. My child would not fit in in that environment. Greek life is huge and it’s in the south. In addition, you want to save money since med school is going to be so expensive. I’d go cheaper undergrad and UVA had an excellent med school.

Yeah my perception of Vanderbilt is unserious rich kids who want a veneer of prestige.

No, that’s Brown.

Untalented rich kids waltz into Vanderbilt. That doesn’t really happen at at Brown

Omg, are you serious? The international wealth, in particular, is staggering. Esp from the Middle East and kleptocratic former Soviet bloc countries.

Plus all the celebrity kids. Coincidently, Apple’s brother, Moses, attends Brown. SJP and Matthew Broderick’s son. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones have kids at Brown. Stephanopolis daughters at both Vandy and Brown (one may have graduated by now). I could rattle more off, but you get the idea.

That just gives them an edge. It doesn't replace the rigor needed to be a viable admit or thrive there. The ones we know have talent and do the work. Brown is not a slack school. They do have some work/life balance, but my kids are studying/working most of the time an involved in some artistic/athletic/club endeavor the rest.

If you were to design a slack school from the ground up, the first 2 things you would do is eliminate any sort of required courses or distributions, & the second thing is to allow a bunch of pass/fail classes.

[Anonymous]

If have the money go to Vanderbilt. Every state has a state flagships and UVA is the one for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Vandy is hot and UVA is comparable to UMD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA will have more of the preppy, wealthy vibe. It's present at Vanderbilt but the academic rigor is heightened a notch compared to UVA, which will bring in more normal work-hard play-hard kids. I would go for Vanderbilt.

I completely disagree. Apple Martin goes to Vanderbilt. There are kids with serious family money there. My child would not fit in in that environment. Greek life is huge and it’s in the south. In addition, you want to save money since med school is going to be so expensive. I’d go cheaper undergrad and UVA had an excellent med school.

Yeah my perception of Vanderbilt is unserious rich kids who want a veneer of prestige.

No, that’s Brown.

Untalented rich kids waltz into Vanderbilt. That doesn’t really happen at at Brown

Omg, are you serious? The international wealth, in particular, is staggering. Esp from the Middle East and kleptocratic former Soviet bloc countries.

Plus all the celebrity kids. Coincidently, Apple’s brother, Moses, attends Brown. SJP and Matthew Broderick’s son. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones have kids at Brown. Stephanopolis daughters at both Vandy and Brown (one may have graduated by now). I could rattle more off, but you get the idea.

That just gives them an edge. It doesn't replace the rigor needed to be a viable admit or thrive there. The ones we know have talent and do the work. Brown is not a slack school. They do have some work/life balance, but my kids are studying/working most of the time an involved in some artistic/athletic/club endeavor the rest.

If you were to design a slack school from the ground up, the first 2 things you would do is eliminate any sort of required courses or distributions, & the second thing is to allow a bunch of pass/fail classes.

The third thing you would do is allow a grading scale that would allow an average GPA of 3.85 on a 4.0 scale.

[Anonymous]

So…sat in on UVA admitted day. Christ—during the academic info sessions phones were beeping and buzzing during the entire 45 minute session, kids were talking to each other through the whole damn thing, getting up multiple times to walk in and out, loudly dropping things…I have not witnessed that at any of the other school admitted events we have attended (private, higher ranked). It was crazy. For people to not even put their phones on silence…wtf? Seriously, wtf?! Do they allow that in public HS? I mean the first time it happened I’m surprised an announcement wasn’t made from the stage to turn that sh@t off…and yet they kept dinging and beeping and ring tones going off the entire time. Mo shame.

The other noticeable thing was our tour guide and 4 of the 5 student panelists were all transfer students. That also seemed strange. Some flat out said they didn’t get into the school the first year.

I saw lots of cowboy boots at the Corner and frat row which was weird in such hot 87 degree weather. I kept thinking how bad their sweaty feet must smell in those things. It did give a very southern vibe. Kids dressed pretty much the same- southern prep look (polos and khaki shorts)- if not in cowboy boots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA will have more of the preppy, wealthy vibe. It's present at Vanderbilt but the academic rigor is heightened a notch compared to UVA, which will bring in more normal work-hard play-hard kids. I would go for Vanderbilt.

Agree with the academic rigor reasoning, but not the conclusion. UVA since PreMed[/quote]

Why do you think UVA is good for pre-med?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So…sat in on UVA admitted day. Christ—during the academic info sessions phones were beeping and buzzing during the entire 45 minute session, kids were talking to each other through the whole damn thing, getting up multiple times to walk in and out, loudly dropping things…I have not witnessed that at any of the other school admitted events we have attended (private, higher ranked). It was crazy. For people to not even put their phones on silence…wtf? Seriously, wtf?! Do they allow that in public HS? I mean the first time it happened I’m surprised an announcement wasn’t made from the stage to turn that sh@t off…and yet they kept dinging and beeping and ring tones going off the entire time. Mo shame.

The other noticeable thing was our tour guide and 4 of the 5 student panelists were all transfer students. That also seemed strange. Some flat out said they didn’t get into the school the first year.

I saw lots of cowboy boots at the Corner and frat row which was weird in such hot 87 degree weather. I kept thinking how bad their sweaty feet must smell in those things. It did give a very southern vibe. Kids dressed pretty much the same- southern prep look (polos and khaki shorts)- if not in cowboy boots.

Bless your heart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So…sat in on UVA admitted day. Christ—during the academic info sessions phones were beeping and buzzing during the entire 45 minute session, kids were talking to each other through the whole damn thing, getting up multiple times to walk in and out, loudly dropping things…I have not witnessed that at any of the other school admitted events we have attended (private, higher ranked). It was crazy. For people to not even put their phones on silence…wtf? Seriously, wtf?! Do they allow that in public HS? I mean the first time it happened I’m surprised an announcement wasn’t made from the stage to turn that sh@t off…and yet they kept dinging and beeping and ring tones going off the entire time. Mo shame.

The other noticeable thing was our tour guide and 4 of the 5 student panelists were all transfer students. That also seemed strange. Some flat out said they didn’t get into the school the first year.

I saw lots of cowboy boots at the Corner and frat row which was weird in such hot 87 degree weather. I kept thinking how bad their sweaty feet must smell in those things. It did give a very southern vibe. Kids dressed pretty much the same- southern prep look (polos and khaki shorts)- if not in cowboy boots.

If transfer students bother you, Vanderbilt might not be the school for you either. I personally know 4 kids that transferred to Vanderbilt for their sophomore year. They did not get into the school their first year. Vanderbilt is known for taking a large number of transfer kids second year. Also, Vandy added that weird Verto program where they have students start their second year at Vanderbilt after a year abroad. They offered it to some waitlisted kids, but also some rejected kids.

[Anonymous]

Fewer serial killers in Nashville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So…sat in on UVA admitted day. Christ—during the academic info sessions phones were beeping and buzzing during the entire 45 minute session, kids were talking to each other through the whole damn thing, getting up multiple times to walk in and out, loudly dropping things…I have not witnessed that at any of the other school admitted events we have attended (private, higher ranked). It was crazy. For people to not even put their phones on silence…wtf? Seriously, wtf?! Do they allow that in public HS? I mean the first time it happened I’m surprised an announcement wasn’t made from the stage to turn that sh@t off…and yet they kept dinging and beeping and ring tones going off the entire time. Mo shame.

The other noticeable thing was our tour guide and 4 of the 5 student panelists were all transfer students. That also seemed strange. Some flat out said they didn’t get into the school the first year.

I saw lots of cowboy boots at the Corner and frat row which was weird in such hot 87 degree weather. I kept thinking how bad their sweaty feet must smell in those things. It did give a very southern vibe. Kids dressed pretty much the same- southern prep look (polos and khaki shorts)- if not in cowboy boots.

Bless your heart.

DP. My kid noticed the same thing! I was surprised when he got in the car and said the kids didn’t seem that intellectual, as he’s very social and an athlete. This was our last admitted event after an Ivy and a few private T10/20s so I think it felt like an even bigger contrast. Also, had the same view at the academic sessions- they were lacking.

Ultimately, Charlottesville felt too bland. Not much to do except drink and go to frat row or the very tiny Corner. Again, growing up in a city versus the suburbs I think has a lot to do with it. Social life now is going to events in the city on a grander scale.

[Anonymous]

How do these schools have so many transfer students? Are kids dropping out/leaving after the first year? UVA Wise has guaranteed admission how do they all the sudden have room the second year? And we Vandy? Is it because you only live on campus one year? The transfer rate into Ivies is teeny tiny in comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fewer serial killers in Nashville.

A - you can’t possibly know this
B - the Cville guy is in jail for life