<p>I am currently a Freshman at Georgia Tech. The academics are getting difficult even though it is the second week, but it is tolerable. I initially applied to Vanderbilt with the hopes of getting in. I did not, and so I came here. From what I now understand, Tech is a much better engineering school than Vandy, but no one graduates in 4 years-- always 4.5 or 5! I think that the norm at Vandy is 4, but I may be wrong about that too, because I heard somewhere that engineering majors are beginning to have to take 5 more regularly. I am only afraid of this because a) I am out of state (tuition is literally 5 times the price for in-state students) and b) my scholarship is only good for 4 (but with nearly perfect grades i.e. 3.8-4.0 can be renewed for a fifth year...)
My point is, would my application to Vandy be worthwhile? My SATs suck, but Tech understood that my aptitude is deeper than simply measured by standardized tests. To be a competitive Vandy applicant, I would have to raise my SATs substantially, I am sure, and take the SAT IIs. Although I think that I can do well here for the first year, I don't know if these grades will count in the stead of SATs. I am doing Biomedical Engineering right now at Tech, which is rated #3 in the country, but I don't know about Vandy's program. Can someone help please? This is a pretty big decision. </p>
<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>Cowboy Ed</p>