Cornelius Vanderbilt vs Gtech Stamps scholarship.....HELP

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
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I was awarded the CV from Vanderbilt two days ago. I went to the finalist weekend for the full ride stamps scholarship to Georgia Tech, and I will find out this Friday (March 15) if I received it, but I want to start thinking about the stamps vs CV scholarship right now (which to choose) in case I am awarded the stamps scholarship this Friday.
Here are brief overviews for both scholarships:
Stamps Scholarship Georgia Tech (I am out of state)

A full-ride scholarship covering tuition, mandatory fees, housing, meal plan, books, and academic supplies, personal expenses, and a stipend during the first year for a laptop. (worth 200k for OOS)
$12,000 enrichment funding for pillar-based international experiences, unpaid internships, unpaid research, conferences, etc.
Mentoring for each cohort by two dedicated professors known as Faculty Guides.
Annual cohort retreats including one outdoor leadership Tech Trek. Some of the trek destinations have included breathtaking areas of Alaska, Belize, Canada, Croatia, Iceland, the Minnesota Boundary Waters, and Scotland.
Student- and professor-planned Academic Search for Knowledge (ASK) Expeditions including outdoor adventure and urban study. Recent destinations include the Balkans, Argentina, Yosemite/California, and South Africa.
One-on-one mentoring from professors, program staff, alumni, and current scholars.
Access to special speakers, employment opportunities, dinners, and receptions.
The complete Georgia Tech and Atlanta experience. From arts to athletics, music to museums, and technology to the theater, Atlanta and Georgia Tech together afford opportunities that can only come when a traditional campus is in the heart of an international city.
Priority housing during your first year.

Here are the benefits of the CV at Vanderbilt:
Full tuition Scholarship: worth about 210k
5k Stipend for international experiences or research
I’d still have to pay the room and board and other fees (about 18k per year) but my parents are fine and money is not an issue when considering between these two programs
The cons are that Vandy’s scholarship doesn’t offer a program, just money.

I am majoring in BME, but might switch to Chem E. I am not 100% sure of my major, so flexibility in switching majors is really important to me. Also, my life goal is to obtain a Ph.D. or M.D. (not 100% sure yet which one) and work as a doctor or an engineer in academia/industry.
Another thing that is important to me is to have a balance between social life and academics in college. I have worked super hard in high school and I really don’t want to go to a place where I just study 24/7.
Also, I don’t want to go to a place with grade deflation, has anyone heard about grade deflation at Vandy and Tech and which has it worse? How hard is it to maintain a 3.0 at Vanderbilt (to maintain the scholarship) or a 3.2 at Tech (to maintain their scholarship? How hard is it to maintain a pre-med GPA at Vanderbilt or at Tech? Grading is super important to me.
I’m also a big fan of basketball.
What is the prestige like of Vanderbilt vs Tech? Is Vanderbilt’s engineering program seen as weak by employers?

Can anyone, especially a current Vanderbilt student or CV scholar, give me insight onto choosing between these two options?
Are there any benefits that the CV provides that I missed?

When I went to Tech for stamps finalist weekend I didn’t like the look of their campus that much but that’s not too big of an issue. The main thing I didn’t like was that it seemed there was no social life/culture. I haven’t visited Vanderbilt yet.

2

@yaleivyleague - My son is a 2017 CV sochar i.e. sophomore at Vandy and also a premed. He did not apply to GT because we heard (from students) that grade deflation exists at GT and advised against him applying. so if you are strongly thinking of doing MD you have to think about grades. However, it’s hard to pass up full-ride (if you get it).

Vandy doesn’t have grade deflation or inflation but premed courses are tough but you can achieve premed GPA. No additional benefits for CVs at Vandy besides tuition and 6K grant. It may help you get research opportunities since CV is awarded for academic and leadership skills.

Vandy has beautiful campus and great social life, ranked consistently #1 or #2 happiest school.

Feel free to PM if you need more info.

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@srk2017 and @yaleivyleague : Georgia Tech does not have grade deflation. People at Vanderbilt used to claim that they had it too and they didn’t. What people were talking about was the typical grading distributions that exist (and curves if necessary when the course average fell below a certain point) in introductory and intermediate STEM courses almost EVERYWHERE. Places with much higher inflation levels (so neither VU or Tech) do tend to set the curves/grade distribution goal in these same courses to a slightly higher mean/median. And what it does is give a huge chunk of students Bs and maybe 10-30% A grades depending on the difficulty of the course (in a tough exam based course, maybe usually 15-20% will receive some sort of A). Since everyone at this caliber school got mostly As in k-12 or at least HS, they interpret these new grading distributions as “deflation” but rarely have I observed any STEM courses anywhere undergoing artificial depression of grading distributions by shifting cut-offs for grades upwards because a course was too simple for the cohort. People clearly don’t know what deflation actually is. Plus both Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech have seen increasing overall grades over the years.

If you work and have great preparation, as I assume is the case because you are a scholarship recipient , maintaining a 3.0 or 3.2 from either of these schools is very doable (and things like the introductory coursework are honestly similar in caliber). Please stop letting folks lie to you about grading. I would almost say, pick based upon price if there is a significant difference OR social fit if not. To me, Tech always looked and felt like a super STEM slanted version of a place like Vanderbilt (both very green campuses, near major financial centers in respective cities so lots to do, and both have great sports presence and visibility if you are into that).

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@yaleivyleague
Here is some data if you worry about grades:
http://www.gradeinflation.com/Georgiatech.html

Georgia Tech is at a mean of 3.25 in 2014! and it is mostly STEM (the lower grading subjects)
Vanderbilt:
http://www.gradeinflation.com/Vanderbilt.html

Vanderbilt is higher, but most of its students are NOT STEM and are generally not heavily in any particularly low grading majors. For all intensive purposes, engineering and STEM courses is likely to have the same grading at each.

You can get more recent data on VU from Greek reports:

https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-wp0/wp-content/uploads/sites/222/2017/07/14193704/Fall2018-Greek-Semester-Grade-Rankings.pdf
At the very last table, there is the “all UGRD GPA” which says about 3.47 or so. Again, remember that VU is not heavily biased towards STEM.

For your intro. and intermediate weedouts (your physics, math, gchem if you need it, ochem if you need it), the mean will usually be B-/B average or more like solid B. In some cases, it may be more like C+/B- at either. But usually people with AP credits and experiences in these courses will end up above, if not significantly above these means/medians (note that medians usually end up higher than means). Those with less experience tend to be those that cluster around these means…just don’t get over-confident if you have experience. Do what you need to do and take it seriously because it may still at least be a tad harder than AP renditions and plus there is the new environment, and style of learning and testing. Engineering courses will likely have higher means because courses tend to not be graded as heavily on quizzes and exams.

Again, you should be able to do well at either. Choose based upon your values.

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If you lean toward choosing medicine, go to Vanderbilt, if you want to pursue a PH.D in BME and be in academics, go to Gtech.

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@bernie12 - Thanks for the explanation. my info is bases on what I heard from few GT students. They all doing CS but said premed will be very tough at GT.

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@srk2017 : Depends on their major right? Biology (and now neuro) and chemistry at Tech don’t differ from other elites with “decent” (as in nothing special among schools in their tiers, but clearly amped up a little bit for a high achieving crowd so tougher than most schools that are significantly less selective) programs in those areas. However, anyone doing an engineering major as a pre-med at any very selective school is much more likely to struggle than those choosing non-STEM as well as life sciences majors. From what I’ve seen chemistry and biology curricula at many very top privates (and some below 10) are more rigorous in some ways than Georgia Tech because those programs have received more pedagogical attention at some schools than others. Tech definitely has an engineering, math/CS, and physical science bias. Many of the private schools with the strongest undergraduate life sciences teaching are typically attached to giant healthcare centers.

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@yaleivyleague GT is one of the best BME programs in the world. I think it is ranked 3rd for undergrad education. I am familiar with both of these schools, and I would 100% say that the Stamps at GT is a better offer for anyone interested in engineering, and has any financial needs whatsoever. The Stamps supports your whole education with travel opportunities. Atlanta is a better city too.

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Georgia Tech Stamps is amazing. Easy decision in my opinion.

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UPDATE: I didn’t receive GT Stamps, I just got the Gold Scholarship, which is in-state tuition. I also got into Hopkins, but will be paying near full (I am appealing aid so it may go down later). What are your opinions now on Tech vs Hopkins vs Vanderbilt CV? @itsgettingreal17 @juststaycool @bernie12 @srk2017

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Anchor down at Vandy! Go to visit the campus asap. I am a Vandy law alum, so I am a bit biased. Vanderbilt has a beautiful campus, happy students, and Nashville is a great town. Atlanta is a great town too. You are blessed to have two great options.

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Have you visited Vanderbilt and, if so, what do you think?

Since Vandy with the CV will likely cost less than Gtech with in-state tuition and given that you’re not getting anything from Hopkins, I would say that Vanderbilt is your best option.

Hopkins is a bit more high-pressure, and Vanderbilt would probably offer the richest college experience of your three options in terms of curricular and extra curricular activities, and arguably will provide the best social experience of the three schools.

That said, you need to visit and see how Vandy resonates with you.

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Sorry you didn’t get the Stamps. Vandy with CV is hard to beat. I recommend you go visit.

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Tech is great. Hopkins great. But you need to choose Vanderbilt. Bonus: It’s also great! :slight_smile:

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@yaleivyleague : Congratulation. This is where you choose the least expensive option and enjoy it. In this case it is probably VU (sorry you didn’t get STAMPS. It’s really really hard to get).

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@yaleivyleague - Vandy with CV without any doubt. As I stated before my son got CV 2 years back and he chose Vandy over Hopkins and Penn and no regrets. Anchor Down :slight_smile:

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Another vote for Vandy, but visit before you decide!

GT Stamps OOS is much harder to get than in state…D also was a finalist, and didn’t win. And D’s Vandy host was a GT stamps winner (in state) who chose to attend Vandy on Chancellor scholarship.

Best of luck for the rest of your admission cycle!

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What is the dollar amount difference? Vandy is a top 50 engineering school. Ga Tech is a top 10. The facilities, world class equipment, recruitment, co op, internships etc at Ga Tech set it apart from all but the very top engineering schools. Plus it is located in Atlanta the home of many Fortune 500 companies - and they are some of the ones offering these internships and co op opportunities. How does Vandy compare?

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@UVAmom23 : They didn’t get Stamps so it is huge. I’d pass on Tech (yes it is a STEM Juggernaut and has influence and access to key companies and also manages attract new ones to Atlanta, BUT, for an undergrad, they’d be fine paying less elsewhere in a rapidly developing place like Nashville and engineering at VU is solid from my understanding) as great as it could be for a true engineering “nerd” or whatever. UGA and Tech even IS tuition (what the person received as a Scholarship) is relatively expensive versus a lot of public schools in the U.S. If they got both, I would say Stamps which seems like a much more personalized/tight-knit program as opposed to kind of like the general scholarships at many privates that come with some perks, but not much better than what non-Scholarship students have relatively easy access to.

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@bernie12 Actually from looking at the financial portions of both Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech’s website it looks like Georgia Tech is roughly $4000 more with the CV scholarship at Vandy and in-state tuition at Tech so not much in the scheme of things and co ops and internships could pay for the difference and more. I think the question is whether the opportunities provided by Georgia Tech and its internship, co-op, and from an engineering reputation standpoint is worth this amount. Georgia Tech has several multi day career fairs during the course of a year and these fairs are engineering focused. There are a whole lot of people working in tech firms on the West Coast with Georgia Tech degrees. I think they’re one of the top schools Google recruits from for example. In order to really know the answer to this, it would probably be a good idea to do some research about Vanderbilt engineering job placement versus Georgia Tech engineering job placement. My son did not apply to Vanderbelt but did apply to a number of very highly ranked nationally universities not particularly known for their engineering department. This is the process that he has gone through.