<p>abreed08, everybody makes tons of new friends in college. They almost all show up as freshman with a clean slate, eager to socialize. It’s a very exciting time of life, and it actually seems to me possibly to short-circuit it if you just go to a place where you already know a whole lot of people, and get an apartment with a hs friend.
If you go to Vanderbilt, I’m sure you’ll soon have a great social circle.</p>
<p>Jingle, </p>
<p>I’m not worried about making friends at Vanderbilt, but it will still be pretty hard. Colorado I had a tough time my first 2 months making friends.</p>
<p>Go to the best school that you can and work hard to get the best grades that u can. I think that will give your resume the best chance to get your foot in the door for you to interview and shine.</p>
<p>My options laid out:
Vanderbilt- Great future career opportunities, quality education, close connections with professors and friends
USC- Amazing friendships, high GPA, independent living (more freedom), network of people already established</p>
<p>It seems to me you are putting too much emphasis on the present (friends, independence) and not enough on the future (career opportunities, quality education). The only caveat to this is if you would really study better because you are happier with your apartment and friends. Then, I would say you might get a better education. Half of your education is the amount of work you put into it and the other half is the competition and insights provided by your classmates plus the way a professor guides your learning.</p>
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<p>While there are careers/jobs where a Vandy degree will open more doors, there are also careers/job where it’ll barely matter, if at all. For careers/jobs that are really competitive, it will matter. But for careers/jobs that are less competitive, it might or it might not.</p>
<p>3 years X 25k…75k is a lot, especially if you were to consider that that money could be put into the bank or some kinda low-risk investment. Over the course of a career, that 75k could turn into a pretty nice fallback should rough times lay ahead.</p>
<p>And I’m not a big fan of the fact that people, for some reason, think that the quality of education at a better ranked private school is automatically better than one at a public school. Of course quality is subjective. The thing is, even if there’s a difference in the quality of education, is that difference, along with the possibility of greater future career opportunities, enough to outweigh the extra 25k a year.</p>
<p>cs1909: I understand your points. However, the parents are paying the tuition so the student won’t get the ROI and the parents want Vandy so they are willing to fork over the extra $$. Also, I tend to agree that the course material presented at different schools is not always different, but what happens is that the school with brighter students will have harder tests which force the students to learn the material better. Plus, interaction among the students will provide part of the learning. That’s why I think that on-line schools only do part of the job of education and are inferior to brick-and-mortar schools. I speak from experience. I have tried all the alternatives myself. I have taken on-line courses, taken courses at CC, taken courses at a mid-ranked univ, and taken courses at Rice.</p>
<p>ricegal: It’s easy for you to recommend a person go to the more expensive school because it’s not you or your parents money. What I’m trying to point out is that the (expected) benefits of choosing Vandy over South Carolina might not outweigh the (definite) costs, especially if the OP goes on to grad school. If the OP does go on to grad school, most potential employers aren’t really going to care where they went for undergrad.</p>
<p>Just because you can afford the more expensive college doesn’t necessarily mean that you should pick it.</p>
<p>Well you all have been great at giving me advice and pointing out things that are very important to consider. I have made my decision to go to Vandy next year. Reasons why: South Carolina’s orientation did not impress me. They didn’t provide support for the transfer students and kinda put you out there with the rest of the crowd. USC’s campus was somewhat appealing but not as impressive as what I had expected. The way they integrated me into their system was very poorly done. My feel overall was that of, “this will just be like my old school.” After visiting with Vanderbilt, I was really impressed with the way they provide for their incoming transfers. Their orientation is geared towards helping me meeting new people and getting connected. The students at the orientation also appeared to be of “lesser caliber” than Vandy’s. This was a huge turnoff. Their campus life also was a lot more appealing than USC’s. Money shouldn’t be too big of an issue because of the need-based aid they hand out (they cover all costs that my parents cannot afford). South Carolina will be a definite grad school possibility for me though, which I think will be great for the field I want to go into. </p>
<p>crs1909: I do agree that you have to weigh the costs and the quality. However, I also think that undergrad is more important than grad school. Vandy will definitely help me get into tough grad schools.
Ricegirl: I would agree with you on all your points towards the importance of what caliber students you get at each school and how the school reacts to this. Those points are what helped me decide between the two.</p>
<p>I’m really looking forward to my next 3 years there. And once again, thank you all for your input. It has helped me SO much!</p>