mirimom

Can current students compare campus life at these two schools? D attends Vandy. Son is interested in both.

1. He likes Vandy's "school spirit" around football and men's basketball, although is not athletic at all, and would attend games solely for the party. 2. Likes the fact that everbody lives on campus all four years at Vandy.
3. Likes Atlanta better than Nashville.
4. Has no interest in pre-med. Probably will study poly sci, psych, history, or something like that, and eventually go to law school.
5. Would probably join a frat, but is not the type to drink 24-7.
6. Is from the MidAtlantic area and is a progressive Democrat.
7. White and Jewish.

His sister tells him Vandy all the way, that Emory kids are apathetic and wish they were at an Ivy, while Vandy kids love Vandy and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

ahhhhhhhhhh

1) Emory has a pretty weak school spirit vs. Vandy is d1..so they love their team
2)At Emory, I heard that if you fill in your housing application on time, they can ALMOST guarantee housing vs Vandy is definitely guaranteeing all four years
3)Atlanta is a bigger city, and definitely more opportunities vs. Vandy is more moderate
4)Both college are pretty good with pre-med, and the psych department at Emory is great!
5)Vandy is a little big higher percentages of students joining a sor. or a frat.
6)Emory campus is more liberal, and Vandy (in my opinion) is more conservative
7)Emory has a huge population of Jewish students.

I might be a little bias, but I will be attending Emory this fall. I live 10 minutes from Vandy, so my decision might be swayed a little bit. Both campuses are great, can't go wrong with either one. But, Emory, I just love it!

JASMac

My Son currently attends Emory, but D is interested in Vanderbilt. I would also like to see some comparisions.

Mute_Lion

This topic has been well-covered in the past:

Vanderbilt Vs. Emory - 12/07
Vanderbilt Vs. Emory - 4/07
Vanderbilt Vs. Emory - 1/07
Vanderbilt Vs. Emory - 7/06
Vanderbilt Vs. Emory - 6/06
Vanderbilt vs. Emory - 5/06

mjmj824

speaking as somebody from tenn. Most of the top kids from my school chose to go to University of Tennessee Honors college over Vanderbilt. These are kids with 33 to 35 on their ACT. University of Tennessee is the ultimate school when it comes to school spirit. Personally Vanderbilt didn't impress me enough that is why I chose to go to Emory. What I could perceive from my visits to Emory was so much that the school spirit was weak but just instead of being centered around sporting events like most schools it was more centered around social events which was something I liked even though I am a huge sports fan. but what i recommend is to schedule a tour and visit both campuses and speak to the departments of his interests.

giants

Similar schools in terms of academic quality. I got into both with scholarships and went to Emory. Emory gave me more money, and I'd probably have gone to Vandy if they'd given me more than Emory. Having now graduated from Emory, I can honestly say that I've got no regrets. I think both of the schools can give you what you're looking for, and I know people from Vandy who loved their time there. Good luck.

locke913

so from someone Emory I felt that:

1. Vandy people were kind of generic, I felt that the population was more diverse.
2. School spirit at emory is very weak. There is a great community and great friends but no loyalty to the school.
3. Emory has a large jewish community. Its like 30% of the school.
4. Fraternity scene at Emory isn't bad but it might be slightly weaker than Vandy.
5. Vandy is slightly more conservative than emory.
6. The phil. deptment at Emory is spectacular. This is coming from someone who is majoring in finance.
7. Debate team: Emory debate team is flat out awesome; anyone interested in law should think about joining, a large number of people on the debate team thinks about going to law and there is a huge support group. There are also several alumni law students with lots of connections. If nothing else he should come to emory because the debate is awesome.


Sorry I had to sell the debate team. I love it there!

azngod1992

Uhhh...I thought emory debate team requires prior experience in Policy debate to actually debate?

I don't think you can just walk in and join...or can you?

MyNetter

Emory and Vanderbilt get compared a lot. I loved my time at Emory, but when it comes to school spirit, especially the sports scene, there's no way on earth Emory (Division III, no football) could compare to an SEC school, even the "nerd" of the SEC. About the other criteria, from what I know Emory's student body is overall more liberal leaning than Vanderbilt's, and there's definitely a larger percentage of Jewish students.

cptofthehouse

I know a number of kids at both schools and they seem to like where they are. Best friend's son is going to Emory, son's teammates are going to Vandy, etc. I don't see why your son can't apply to both. Is it that he wants to do ED? In that case if he feels he can be happy at either, then pick the one that his GC feels he has the best chance, and apply RD to the other.

Both schools are not shoo ins for anyone, in my opinion. Some great kids waitlisted, I know. So you might want to look for a safety in addition to both of these very popular schools.