Vanderbilt admit

[rdblots]

Originally Posted by commodore

Nashville has absolutely no appeal, but you applied to Cornell and Duke? How exactly do Ithaca and Durham have appeal to you? Sounds like you've never been here to Nashville. No place is for everyone, I understand, but Nashville is extremely livable and has lots to do without being expensive. Vanderbilt is right in the heart of the city.

On the other hand, Vanderbilt is like 800th in econ (yes, I'm exaggerating). I'm an undergrad econ major here; the faculty is mostly lousy (with some notable exceptions). That's the real reason you shouldn't come here, not because of Nashville.

Haha...sorry for the Nashville bashing. And you are right, I didn't go into details, but there are definitely other factors for me that make Vanderbilt on the lower end of the spectrum. But location definitely is playing an important factor in where I go (as you can tell by my obvious east coast bias). And you are absolutely correct, if I were to rank the schools simply location, Cornell and Duke would be near the bottom (with possibly Cornell taking the cake). But those schools have enough positives to balance out the location negatives.

Also, you are right I have never been to Nashville, but my family (and one of my letter writers) said they personally weren't huge fans of Nashville. However, having gone to undergrad in a small college town, a more urban environment for grad school is VERY appealing at this point in my life, and Nashville would fall in that category.

However, my limited information might be a bias for my opinion on Nashville. So I will definitely keep your statements in mind when making my decisions. Although I will also keep in mind your comments on the faculty. Are they just not very personable or is there something else lacking? Feel free to PM me if you have the urge to talk more privately.

[Nalfien]

Why is Duke on the bottom of your list?

[rdblots]

From my one visit to the area, it (Durham) reminded me a lot of the area where I grew up (more suburb than big city). And, as I mentioned in my last post, I've been in a small college town for the past 4 years. So, I am looking for something different, hence my preference for the big city location (Boston, Baltimore/DC area, Providence, Pitt, etc.).

Also, as another bias of mine, a lot of the people from my high school class that chose Duke weren't particularly good friends of mine. So, this has led me to a preconceived bias against Duke.

Don't get me wrong though, my main priority is to get a great education and open up opportunities for myself that I would enjoy. I just want to enjoy myself because
A) this will be where I am for the next 5 years of my life
and B) nothing in life is guaranteed. Not to sound like too much of a debbie downer, but you never know what kind of curve balls can be thrown, and I want to make sure I put the right discount value on my own current utility.

[Russ_econ]

Congrats!
Also for not hearing rejection from Cornell.

[cooper]

Congrats!!

[shootermcgavin7]

Originally Posted by commodore

Sounds like you've never been here to Nashville. No place is for everyone, I understand, but Nashville is extremely livable and has lots to do without being expensive. Vanderbilt is right in the heart of the city.

Nashville is a fantastic city; and the West End area (where Vandy is located) is a very nice area.

It is only about a 30 minute drive north to the mountains; too.

[Gear]

Great Admit!

[cooper]

Just got an email from Vandy. Accepted with first year fellowship $14,500. So far I am 2-for-2 out of 12 schools (the other being Iowa). I am not posting my complete application profile with schools until I have heard from all schools.

[angelbaby_uci]

CONGRATULATIONS BABY!

[jahizbarlas]

congrates!!!
nice money coming your way...