Michigan (sticker) vs. Vanderbilt (half tuition) Forum

[holydonkey]

Facing similar decision. Have not yet visited Michigan. Heading to Nashville tomorrow. Will post impressions upon my return.

Please do! Check out pancake pantry about four blocks from Vandy for a great breakfast!

[thickfreakness]

Facing similar decision. Have not yet visited Michigan. Heading to Nashville tomorrow. Will post impressions upon my return.

Please do! Check out pancake pantry about four blocks from Vandy for a great breakfast!

I think I'm gonna try and get some breakfast there before ASW.

[holydonkey]

Facing similar decision. Have not yet visited Michigan. Heading to Nashville tomorrow. Will post impressions upon my return.

Please do! Check out pancake pantry about four blocks from Vandy for a great breakfast!

I think I'm gonna try and get some breakfast there before ASW.

You should, but make sure you go early, the line is usually around the block. Give yourself 20-25 mins on top of eating time.

[thickfreakness]

Facing similar decision. Have not yet visited Michigan. Heading to Nashville tomorrow. Will post impressions upon my return.

Please do! Check out pancake pantry about four blocks from Vandy for a great breakfast!

I think I'm gonna try and get some breakfast there before ASW.

You should, but make sure you go early, the line is usually around the block. Give yourself 20-25 mins on top of eating time.

I'm not going to do any of the Saturday events but we're staying Thursday and Friday night, so we'll go all out Saturday to get some good breakfast (and take Friday's Vandy-provided breakfast at the ASW, thank you very much). I won't have a student host (I think?) since we're staying at a hotel but I need to get in touch with the admissions folks so we can get up with someone to hang out with on Thursday night.

[holydonkey]

Please do! Check out pancake pantry about four blocks from Vandy for a great breakfast!

I think I'm gonna try and get some breakfast there before ASW.

You should, but make sure you go early, the line is usually around the block. Give yourself 20-25 mins on top of eating time.

I'm not going to do any of the Saturday events but we're staying Thursday and Friday night, so we'll go all out Saturday to get some good breakfast (and take Friday's Vandy-provided breakfast at the ASW, thank you very much). I won't have a student host (I think?) since we're staying at a hotel but I need to get in touch with the admissions folks so we can get up with someone to hang out with on Thursday night.

You'll still get a host. They should contact you about 4-5 days before the weekend. Make sure you guys meet with the "Law Partners" rep at the student group fair. Very nice group for students with significant others coming with them to law school. Can hook you up with some info about larger housing/jobs.

[thickfreakness]

You'll still get a host. They should contact you about 4-5 days before the weekend. Make sure you guys meet with the "Law Partners" rep at the student group fair. Very nice group for students with significant others coming with them to lawl skool. Can hook you up with some info about larger housing/jobs.

Awesome. Yeah one of our hangups about Nashville is that we probably won't be able to get anything besides an apartment, but we really would like a townhouse or small house to rent. We need more space because of having a dog, etc. We're definitely looking forward to speaking to that group about opportunities for SO involvement at school.

[cutiewiddlebebe]

Facing similar decision. Have not yet visited Michigan. Heading to Nashville tomorrow. Will post impressions upon my return.

Quoth the stripper in the middle of my lap dance: "Why the hell do you want to go to law school?"

It's a heavy drinking, chain smoking, hard picking town. Urban sprawl has gotten the better of Vanderbilt's immediate surroundings. Downtown is pretty bland and dead and concrete cold, save the Broadway area. The Belcourt is a heavy-duty indie movie house. Frat boys embrace a progressively more heavy southern affectation the more they drink. Campus is nice, but too much red brick.

[night06]

Facing similar decision. Have not yet visited Michigan. Heading to Nashville tomorrow. Will post impressions upon my return.

Quoth the stripper in the middle of my lap dance: "Why the hell do you want to go to law school?"

It's a heavy drinking, chain smoking, hard picking town. Urban sprawl has gotten the better of Vanderbilt's immediate surroundings. Downtown is pretty bland and dead and concrete cold, save the Broadway area. The Belcourt is a heavy-duty indie movie house. Frat boys embrace a progressively more heavy southern affectation the more they drink. Campus is nice, but too much red brick.

Well, this is depressing.

[beesknees]

.

[parker09]

So, with Vandy's deposit deadline looming, where have people landed?

I think I might turn down Vandy just cause I can't make myself make a decision yet.

[cardinalandgold]

I decided on Michigan. I think that it was just a better fit for me. Plus with the small scholarship they ended up offering me, the price differential between the two schools just wasn't enough to make a difference for me. Good luck with your choice!

[Acedeuce]

Same boat as many of you (small scholarship at Michigan vs. half tuition at Vanderbilt). I think I am ready to send in my money for Michigan today after really struggling with this decision. Vanderbilt is the more beautiful campus, but I agree with the employment picture I got at Vanderbilt vs. Michigan being strongly in favor of Michigan.(based on the Admitted students weekend/days) Seemed like many people at Michigan were there paying close to full sticker and not at all stressed about it, but people at Vanderbilt seemed hit and miss in terms of having a steady job lined up after graduation. This, plus the additional clerkship staff, was most of the final decision for me. Weather and beauty are transient, but your degree will follow you forever. Also the reading room at Michigan is amazing.

I would fully understand anyone who chooses Vanderbilt in this situation, and can tell it is a great school. If it feels like a better fit, then by all means go for it.

[doinmybest]

I was in a similar situation, and I chose Michigan. Michigan felt like an excellent fit me. The students seemed more laid back than students at similarly ranked schools. I spoke to plenty of students outside of the ASW program in order to get the "real" picture, and the only bad things I could get people to admit were the weather and construction noise. I spoke to a few people from my UG, that are at the median, and most of them seemed a lot more calm about their job prospects than other people at the median in T1 schools. Being far from home, and cold weather will be the biggest challenges for me, but they are sacrifices I'm willing to make in order to give myself a better chance at decent job prospects.

Side note: HolyDonkey have you decided between Michigan and Vandy yet???

[holydonkey]

I was in a similar situation, and I chose Michigan. Michigan felt like an excellent fit me. The students seemed more laid back than students at similarly ranked schools. I spoke to plenty of students outside of the ASW program in order to get the "real" picture, and the only bad things I could get people to admit were the weather and construction noise. I spoke to a few people from my UG, that are at the median, and most of them seemed a lot more calm about their job prospects than other people at the median in T1 schools. Being far from home, and cold weather will be the biggest challenges for me, but they are sacrifices I'm willing to make in order to give myself a better chance at decent job prospects.

Side note: HolyDonkey have you decided between Michigan and Vandy yet???

No, damn it. I was thinking the new rankings might help me choose, but Michigan and Vanderbilt decided to suck at life and both remain at exactly the same place.

Still leaning Michigan, but have 2 more days to make up my mind.

[holydonkey]

I'll be at Michigan, paying sticker. I hope I'm making the right choice. If we haven't all been killed off by zombies, I'll resurrect this thread in 3 years and let people know if it was.

[beesknees]

.

[holydonkey]

Congrats Donkey on your decision. Looks like we both came to different conclusions. When you resurrect the thread in 3 years, I'm gonna post to say if it was good or bad for me too (barring the zombie apocolypse, of course).

Good luck at Vandy! I'm gonna envy the crap out of your winters and microbrew club.

[doinmybest]

I'll be at Michigan, paying sticker. I hope I'm making the right choice. If we haven't all been killed off by zombies, I'll resurrect this thread in 3 years and let people know if it was.

Good Choice

[catmo]

Being in this situation myself ($ at Vandy vs. sticker at Michigan), I thought I'd revive this thread. Does anyone have new information (Holydonkey, anything you'd add since being in AA?) for this year and this economy? Would anyone change anything about the previous information in this thread?

I want to work in biglaw and then perhaps eventually academia down the road.
I think I'd like to be in Chicago after graduation, but I like the South.
I have been working in the NYC entertainment industry for the past 2 years and am interested in entertainment law (but of course could easily change my mind at law school).
My family is STRONGLY opposed to me being in tons of debt, so I'm getting a lot of Vandy pressure from them.
24, single, no family to factor in.

[DaftAndDirect]

Reviving your revival.

Catmo I'm in a similar situation. 30k at Michigan and 75k at UCLA. Obviously will need to visit both schools to answer the fit question.

I have NO idea where I want to end up (which is why I'm leaning towards Mich for national portability) but really only have ties to the midwest.

Currently leaning:

Michigan: 75%
UCLA: 25%

Anyone else in the same situation? Thoughts?

[CanadianWolf]

Both UCLA & Michigan are worth the amount that you would have to invest. Visit & decide.