Bridie

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.

mam1959

Bridie - you comments are sound. From my own offspring's experience, I would think that the following are most relevant: 1) program or major choice - if a student is set on a certain specific course of study - for example, business (Ross is in a league with very few), nursing (Vanderbilt has only a grad program), or pharmacy - obviously Michigan is a better choice; 2) size of school - Michigan's size does not work for everyone - for some, it is daunting and will make it challenging to integrate; and 3) geography - while reasonably cosmopolitan (and a lot of fun), Nashville is a southern city and takes some getting used to from a Northerners perspective. There's no right choice for everyone.

GoBlue81

I'm curious what are some of these majors? I know it's competitive to get into Ross; less so for pharmacy, architecture, etc. All of these are pre-professional which requires you to apply again in your freshman or sophmore year (unless you are preferred admit). Btw, most of these majors are not available at Vanderbilt so that's another consideration.

Alexandre

I guess some Engineering concentrations have minimum GPA requirements, like 2.7 or 3.0, but that's manageable. Most majors are non-restricted though.

3xcharmed

Those are all valid points I'm sure, but not exclusive to Michigan. My D attended a large state university (not Michigan) and transfered to a small school (not Vanderbilt), she has more problems at the small school getting into classes than she did at the university. That just happens, especially for programs or majors where there may be a lot of interest. Michigan has been very up front about not guaranteeing students their first choice housing as freshman, and that too is not uncommon at large universities. Freshman usually don't have much choice - I think its great the amount of housing opportunities freshman are offered through the RC and honors programs at Michigan. But you are absolutely right, if its going to be hard to get into a program of interest, specific major or housing, anywhere, one should know that in advance. From reading the posts on CC for Michigan (have not followed Vanderbilt), the programs are competitive and therefore certain ones may indeed be very hard to get into. On the other hand, my S's classes will be smaller than his current high school classes, and the academic opportunites are just amazing! Sounds like a terrific place, even if there is a dorm full of New Yorkers! Go Yankees!