Decisions... state vs. Vanderbilt vs. Bryn Mawr

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I have a hard time deciding what to eat every day, never mind where to spend the next four years of my life. It's getting so close to decision time, and I really don't know where to go.</p>

<p>State U:</p>

<p>Pros: Complete full ride, I could get good grades here, they're good at getting top students to get prestigious awards, honors college has 100% medical school acceptance rate, I could basically study abroad as much as I want for free, and I do like the city it's in</p>

<p>Cons: I can see my high school from the dorm I would be in, most of my graduating class will be going there, the campus isn't very nice, my parents work there and I feel a little too familiar with the school, sports are a huge deal, I don't like the mascot, and as a whole it is still a low-ranked state school, </p>

<p>Bryn Mawr: </p>

<p>Pros: good academics, good vegan food, I think I like the atmosphere
Cons: it's far away, and would cost more than the other options (though not enough to make me not go)</p>

<p>I'm not as familiar with it as the others, but I'm visiting this weekend. I don't have any major pros and cons, but I do like the school.</p>

<p>Vanderbilt:</p>

<p>Pros: good medical program, good financial aid, fairly prestigious, and I like the idea of living in a big city
Cons: I hate country music, I'm not interested in Greek life or in sports, I'm worried about the overall social atmosphere, and it has grade deflation which isn't great for getting into medical school</p>

<p>I do have other options: Tulane, Baylor, and Emory. I'm really not interested in Baylor, I don't particularly want to go to Tulane, and I like Emory but got bad financial aid, so the three above are my top choices.</p>

<p>I just don't know. I like all three options, really. I think I'll probably have moments of regret no matter where I go, but I also think I could be happy anywhere.</p>

<p>Any input? I'm just so indecisive, but I don't have much time left. I need to change my national merit first choice thing really soon.</p>

2

<p>This is a rather odd mix of schools you’ve chosen there, KatLor.
They include a conservative, Church-affiliated university in Texas; a couple of southern universities with good academics but a reputation for hard partying; and a liberal small Quaker women’s college in Philadelphia. </p>

<p>What were you thinking?</p>

<p>You sound like a Bryn Mawr person to me. Definitely.
But you might want to work on becoming a more decisive person if you plan to be a doctor.</p>

<p>Seriously now, a small college atmosphere, especially one like Bryn Mawr that is part of a consortium and is close to a large vibrant city, would give you a good opportunity to explore what you like and don’t like, within a secure intimate environment. If you go to a large school you do not like, is it possible you’d withdraw into your studies and not fully participate in college life? Putting some distance between school and home might be a very good thing for you.</p>

3

<p>If the cost isn’t burdensome, I’d vote Bryn Mawr. In fact, given your descriptions, I’d cut this list down to Bryn Mawr and the full-ride home-state public U. I’m not at all clear as to why Vanderbilt remains on your list other than just to get out of town.</p>

<p>Go visit Bryn Mawr and see what you think.</p>

4

<p>If it were me, I’d go to Vandy in a heartbeat, but the reason I love the school so much is for exactly the same reasons you don’t like it so I don’t know…</p>

5

<p>It depends on what the “STATE U” is. Delaware? Michigan? Oregon? That makes a HUGE difference.</p>

6

<p>Yeah, vociferous makes a good point. That said a large state U would give lots of opportunities to an indecisive personality, but a smaller college could help provide direction. I see this as a two way decision between the state and Bryn Mawr.</p>

7

<p>Are we talking a state U like UVA, UNCCH, or UCLA? Or are we talking Oregon, Nebraska, etc?</p>

8

<p>Um, definitely the latter. It’s not great, even as state schools go, but it does have a good honors program.</p>

<p>For what it’s worth, I’m not indecisive about everything. I know what I want to do with my life, but I’m just not sure exactly how I’m going to get there. I want to major in some science and go to medical school.</p>

<p>I have visited Vanderbilt and despite some concerns (which I may be overstating), I did get a very positive impression overall. I’ll have to see what I think of Bryn Mawr.</p>

<p>Regarding my odd choices: Baylor was entirely the result of parental suggestion, and I only applied to Tulane because the application was so easy. I had a list all planned out at the beginning of the year, but things changed.</p>

<p>Thanks very much for your input, everyone.</p>

9

<p>I vote for bryn mawr, but I’m a little biased :slight_smile: </p>

<p>The campus event will make the choice a lot clearer. With small class sizes, amazing academics, and awesome food and dorms, you can’t really go wrong.</p>

10

<p>Bryn Mawr sounds best for you</p>

11

<p>Well then good luck with your Bryn Mawr visit.
Maybe you’ll let us know what you think, o.k.?
When my S visited Haverford we never checked out Bryn Mawr, but the tour guide told us the food over there is much better.</p>

<p>By the way, Haverford seems to have an unusually strong pre-med program, and of course as a BMC student you can take courses there (“bi-college”). They have a pre-med advisor who is a medical doctor, and what appears to be a robust “pre-health advising” program ([Haverford</a> College: Pre-Health Advising](<a href=“http://www.haverford.edu/deans/prehealth/]Haverford”>http://www.haverford.edu/deans/prehealth/)). Don’t know if these advisory services are available to you as a bi-college student; might be worth checking out, or maybe BMC has a similar program.</p>

12

<p>/\ The pre-med advisor you mention is Dr. Jenette Wheeler who was a professor of medicine at Penn. She was my premed advisor about a decade ago. She’s was great and the fact that her Dad was the chair of Medicine at Johns Hopkins gave her connections that really help out. She retired 2 years ago though. The new pre-med advisor, now like most other pre-med advisors is a PhD but was a senior career counselor at Penn before coming to Haverford. Haverford does have though 2 MDs on staff as well as a vet which is unusual for a LAC but they can give students great counseling. One of the MDs I’m referring to is Steve Emerson MD/PhD who is the Preseident of HC and also teaches a class on stem cells… he was the former head of heme/onc at Penn and was about to be the director of Penn’s Stem Cell Institute before being called back to HC. </p>

<p>While classes and many things are shared in the Bi-college, the pre-med advisor is college specific. The career counseling office though is bi-college. As the pre-med advisor heads the pre-med committee that writes the LORs, they have to be more familiar with each student to write the best letters possible so they can’t be spread across 2 campuses.</p>

<p>And yes, the food is historically very very good at BMC.</p>

13

<p>Vanderbilt is not the school for you. Cross it off.</p>

14

<p>I vote for Bryn Mawr.</p>

15

<p>KatLor, I don’t see anything in your original post that suggests that Vanderbilt is definitely the wrong place for you, especially as you have visited and liked what you saw. The student population at Vanderbilt is a good deal more diverse in its interests and lifestyle than many on CC would have you believe. On the other hand, it is very different from Bryn Mawr and it is hard to imagine that you could like both options equally. No. 1 difference is that one is a liberal arts college and the other is a research university, albeit one with a reputation for strong emphasis on undergraduate instruction. No. 2 is that one is all-women and one is about half and half. No. 3 is that one is not urban and the other is. </p>

<p>If you think you would like to attend an all-female liberal arts college for the next four years, and eating vegan is a make or break thing, Bryn Mawr sounds like a great option.</p>

16

<p>BMC is not “urban” but it is not out in the sticks, either (as many LACs are). It is very close to Philadelphia. Check out the rail access if getting into the city is important to you.</p>