| UMich and Vanderbilt are both amazing schools. My son chose Vanderbilt and, now a junior, is extremely happy with that decision. Fit is a matter of personal preference. Size of school was a determining factor. There is a big difference between school with 6000 students vs. 25,000 students. I've seen this evidenced in a few areas when comparing notes with parents of UMich students. Ease of getting into major (some of the more in demand majors at Mich are hard to get into), Housing issues (at Mich, freshman not getting into dorms or sections of the campus they desire; having to choose housing for the following year almost as soon as you settle into the dorms for the current year), more competition for such things as abroad programs (even the birthright trips to israel are booked up very early at Michigan)--other things, as you can imagine, just related to the size and number of students. My son was very attracted to the sports at Michigan but has been an enthusiastic Vanderbilt fan (who, this year, has I think 3 football players going tothe NFL, not to mention Jay Cutler). He likes being in the southern environment, and decided he didn't want to go to school with so many kids from his hs, this area etc. (from what I understand, most of the new yorkers prefer to live in a a few specific dorms as freshman, join a few similar frats etc.) So there are reasons, aside from some of those mentioned in prior posts, that students can look at when making this decision. Either way, either school, I don't think the OP can go wrong. |