Vanderbilt vs. Amherst vs. Michigan (LSA)

Hi all,

This is my first time posting on this forum. I posted on CC as well. My S was fortunate enough to be accepted into some amazing institutions. We have narrowed the choices down to these 3 schools. He wants to pursue Economics and Finance and work for an Investment Bank in the future. This is what we have determined so far:

Overall Prestige: Vanderbilt > Amherst > Michigan

IB Placement: Michigan > Amherst > Vanderbilt

Quality of Life/Location: Vanderbilt > Michigan > Amherst

Also, he got into Michigan's undergraduate school of Arts and Sciences, not business. Does this matter? Is this school worst than Mich's business school for IB placement?

Is Amherst that much more of a target school than Vanderbilt to sacrifice the quality of life? How overbearing is Greek life at Vandy? My S is unsure about joining a fraternity.

Lastly, how do these schools fare in terms of placement into top Graduate Business School (e.g. Wharton)?

I would appreciate any input, experiences, and opinions. Thanks for your help!

3 Comments
 

I would not agree that Vanderbilt is more "prestigious" than Amherst. Amherst is a liberal ivy and all bulges recruit there. That being said, it's in western mass which has absolutely nothing to do unless you want to party with UMass kids. Ross has the best placement but if you go to Amherst, you'll get a bulge pretty easily.

 

If he is semi-serious about IB and cares about quality of life a good deal: Vandy. If he is very serious/dead set on IB and prefers smaller classes and is a quieter type: Amherst. If he is very serious/ dead set on IB and is a social person: UMich and transfer internally to the Ross business school.

You really can't go wrong with any of the schools here though. Best of luck.

 

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