<p>johnniecomelately,
If your S really believes that Vandy is #1 for him, I would not let anonymous posters who you will never meet and are jealous of those getting a full ride dissuade you or him. My D and I attended a local student/parent Vanderbilt meeting last night in Nashville and they were all acknowledging not only how bad the current economic climate is but also their total commitment to make an education at Vanderbilt possible for all admitted students. I discovered that Vanderbilt even expanded need based aid to replace loans to the second semester seniors this year because they felt it was not fair to penalize them for being born a year too late. When you see this level of commitment to making Vanderbilt accessible to everyone, please don’t let snarky strangers comments impact your decisions. I think you are really getting the wrong idea about students receiving need based aid as being second class citizens at Vanderbilt. I hope you will reconsider your decision if your son really wants to attend Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>I think johnnie is saying that there is more to it than just the financial aid aspect. Most of us here whose kids are finding a niche at Vanderbilt think it’s a good place, even though they are all having different experiences (we parents here have kids who are quite different from one another - representing the many personalities on campus). However, there are plenty of very good schools, so I am sure johnnie’s child will thrive wherever she goes.</p>