| as someone who got into and is going to chicago, and as someone who lives in nashville i think i can give you some advice.
i've had a ton of exposure to vandy, worked in a lab, born there, parents work there, etc.
from what i can tell the undergrads can more or less fall into two categories: really hardworking or really wealthy and unmotivated. vanderbilt has historically been a school for wealthy, white southerners and as a result is fairly homogeneous. in an attempt to shed this image, vandy has recently stepped up diversity recruitment (of the minorities, including asians, who applied to vandy in my class, the lowest fin aid offer i heard of was 40,000). so, i can't say what it will be like in a few years but for now, thats the general consensus, not to say that this generalization is rock solid, but i feel it's pretty accurate.
as far a chicago goes, i just feel that there's a really cool atmosphere surrounding it, and i'm really excited to go there. i really want to study math and physics, which are way way better at chicago than vandy, so if i were in your shoes it wouldn't be a competition, but i'm not sure about the medical programs.
hope this helped |