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.

rodney

mirimom: I'll PM you before the bickering begins......

kelsmom

Can you visit both schools & spend a little time on campus? I think that might help him decide. D talked to random students on campus at Vandy & was pleased that they were all friendly/all had nothing bad to say about their school. She was a freshman at another school at the time, so the things she was looking for were probably different from what your son is looking at ... for example, she won't be living in the Commons, so whether that is good/bad is not something she even considered.

I think the two schools are both excellent & he can't go wrong either way. Spending a little time on campus will help him decide where he feels most comfortable, though.

palmettotree

On paper, clearly would fit in better at Emory.

Obviously personal preference should be the ultimate factor, but on paper, Emory.

Jman21

mirimom, I am not sure that Vandy kids all really LOVE to be there and would not prefer to be elsewhere. Some kids get into certain schools and accept it b/c its still a good school, but they would rather be at Duke or UPenn or elsewhere. Its a fact of life. I have no clue about Emory so I cannot offer much about the way their students feel, but I can tell you that all schools have students who would rather be elsewhere.

palmettotree

Jman, one of Vanderbilt's strengths is keeping those weirdos away. Another is turning the ranking addicts that just missed the cut at Duke into actual people with good old Southern charm.

MomofWildChild

I think many, many people (including me) strongly prefer Nashville to Atlanta, so your son might want to rethink that one. That said, Emory will be a lot more like NY than Vanderbilt will be. I think highly of Emory, but for an overall college experience, Vandy gets the clear nod.

pmrlcomm

I have to agree with mom and (wow, I really had to say it) palmetto (post #6, not #4).

clevfry

Vandy has the reputation of being a much more conservative school.

trey1105

I live in atlanta not far from Emory and my wife, brother and son go/went to Vandy. The biggest difference is the college life not the education, because you can get a great education at either place. Emory life is more decentralized. After your freshman year, you move off-campus and life is not campus oriented. Everyone goes into Virginia-Highlands area or downtown Decatur to party and socialize. Nothing but Everybody's Pizza is next to campus. Vandy everything is right there, live on campus for four years, restaurants and bars are all within walking distance and Downtown Nashville is alot nicer than Atlanta. You can find pockets of areas in Atlanta but not all together like Nashville. Good point on the Athletic aspect of Vandy life. I went to a Softball game at Emory this spring and only two students were there. Sports is part of Vandy, not so much at Emory. Good luck with your choice you cant go wrong with either school, it is just how you want your social life to be. You need to visit the schools and spend the night to understand the difference, while school is in session.

dirthog

I really dont understand why anyone would choose Emory over Vandy, academics are pretty much a tie depending on your major, altho for someone looking into law, Vandy has the better law school. But, for social life, from what I have researched, Vandy is much much much better. The best social life of the Top 20

INVENIAMVIAM

I've heard that 1/3 of the students at Emory are Jewish, so if that's a big part of his life, he might like to have lots of people around him of the same religious beliefs.
But if he's big on social life and sports, then Vanderbilt definitely wins, even though it is fairly conservative. Also, he would get to live in the new Commons housing for freshman, which would be a huge plus, since it's supposed to be really nice.

palmettotree

Good points INVENIALGHALKGAH

crs1909

Emory is at least a 33.3% Jewish, meanwhile Vandy is at least 13.5% Jewish.

http://reformjudaismmag.org/_kd/Item...ation=ShowItem

palmettotree

That's a huge difference crs1909. Does anyone know the percentage for the top 20 schools? Looks like Vanderbilt is probably on the low end.