Grade Deflation at Vandy

So recently I received a full tuition scholarship at Vandy, and honestly I had never even considered the school because UChicago has always been my dream school, but barely any student debt is really tempting. My worry though is how difficult it would be to maintain above a 3.0 to keep my scholarship. I’ve always done well at school like most people who get in here and I think I know how to deal with stressful and impossible classes (ex: ap physics b). I know how to fail and get past it, but I went to a pretty average public school, so I don’t know if it would be better to go to Vandy with the great offer or just my state school and keep a higher gpa for grad school one day. I’ve taken 13 AP classes but I don’t really know how similar those are to actual college classes. Basically, I’m really nervous about my chances of keeping good grades while at Vanderbilt. Any tips would be great?

Maintaining a 3.0 is not particularly difficult at all. If your priority for college is to get a 4.0 and look perfect to graduate schools, I would say there are better options than Vandy. It has always been my impression that UChicago has a cutthroat academic environment where grades don’t come easy either – at Vandy, we maintain a pretty strong spirit of camaraderie.

If you look at the statistics, I believe Vanderbilt is not actually associated with grade deflation, but not associated with grade inflation either, while some other top Us are.

You have to work for As but that does not mean that you can’t get them. Even in weed out classes, if you put in the work, go to office hours and stay on top of things, you can do well.

You mention that you have received a full scholarship so I can safely assume that you are a dedicated and hardworking student. Adjusting to the rigor of college can be hard for anyone, but if you make use of the resources Vandy offers (pre-major advising, the writing studio, tutoring and my personal favorite, office hours), I have no doubt that you will do well.

Honestly, there is no easy way out in life and you will have to take challenging courses in whichever college you go to. If you work hard and stay focussed, you will achieve the goals you set for yourself.

My advice is to avoid using AP credit to get out of the lower level courses in the subjects that are more challenging for you. My D made a big mistake by taking intermediate micro and macro economics (at the same time) after having earned 4s on her AP exams in those courses in high school. She absolutely was not prepared for the intermediate level courses, and it really tubed her GPA for a while. Other than those courses, however, she has earned mostly As and Bs. Although she works hard for those grades, she’s not killing herself. You can do it. I think you should take the scholarship. Vandy is a great school.

ITE, ITE. Our new catch phrase which is “in this economy”. We paid full price for Duke for eldest son…then the recession hit while he was searching for internships and in a gutted market for first jobs. He loved Duke but there was a perfectly good undergraduate option for him at either UVA or WM and Mary for half the price that he let go. Now he goes to night school while working full time in order to purchase his grad school credentials at half the price of full time pursuit of the same degree.

Second son accepted a rare opportunity to attend Vandy tuition free, and declined his “dream school” admissions which were close to full ticket price. Best decision he ever made, particularly now that he has been working two years (jobs are hard to find!) and is admitted to three grad schools of law for next year. He knew that his choice of grad school is seldom underwritten by need or merit money. Now he waits for whatever discounted tuition he will be offered for his expensive law degree.

If you know something about what kind of graduate degree you may pursue, you must factor in the long term costs of that education. Hard science? Maybe you will find a graduate degree pathway that includes employment in a lab that will be underwritten. Maybe you are going for a degree that can be managed well while working full or part time. Maybe you can afford to pay cash for a second degree. Assuming loans for schools of law, medicine or business degrees at top price points is serious business. Lastly, do your parents know that they will be turning in FAFSAs for you in many top graduate schools until you are 28 years of age and that many degrees are considered “family responsibilities?”
Factor in the costs of unpaid summer internships during undergrad and graduate years. Housing alone in DC for three summers for our two sons was about 18 thousand dollars total.

Then there is the reality of Vanderbilt’s community vs whatever school is still tugging at your heart strings come March and April this year. Chicago has a wonderful community all its own but you can also return there for grad school. It’s not like you can never experience that community of learners if you want it. Vanderbilt’s mid sized undergrad school size, its focus on research, its institutional leadership throughout an entire region of the US, its extensive alum network and the relative intimacy of the classroom experience are all excellent reasons to place a high value on an education in Nashville. For our son, Vanderbilt was a challenging, diverse community of high achievers on a warm and wonderfully equipped campus. I personally view Vandy as a great community to prepare you for the workplace because of its mix of big scale academia and smaller classroom settings.

Anyway, your financial resources should be front and center in all of your decisions. Be tough on yourself and realistic re long term goals and what it will cost to get your professional training done.

Worrying about a 3.0 is a non issue. You have a team of academic advisors and all of your classmates to guide you no matter where you go to college. Good luck sorting through your final offers and congrats.

UChicago is, like Vandy, a great school (Chicago is also in the arctic circle). On the narrow subject of grade deflation, here is some data from the Vandy Class of 2014:
Summa cum laude (top 5%): 3.905
Magna cum laude (top 12%): 3.793
Cum laude (top 25%): 3.681

You got some good advice from previous posters. Here is mine: AVOID debt. Almost all student loans cannot be discharged by bankruptcy. If you miss payments, interest rates and fees go up. It is a load. It impacts your life. It limits what you are able to do. It is bad for mental health.

I link to a story about a Federal Reserve student debt study: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/only-37-percent-of-student-borrowers-are-in-repayment-and-on-time/article/2560469

Money quote: Students who left school in 2005 have only paid down 38 percent of the aggregate debt they owed nearly 10 years ago. Under a standard repayment schedule, they would have only about 10 percent of principal outstanding.

Translation: People find it hard to get out from under the debt. If only 38 percent of the principle has been paid down after ten years, these people will be AARP members before the balance is zero.

@thecoldeye I have read articles in Money magazine about the huge problem that Baby Boomers are having with retirement because they still have student loans (either their own or from their children’s education or both) and they still have a mortgage when they are trying to retire. Since few employers provide a true pension anymore, people can’t afford to retire unless they have been dedicated savers to their 401K/403b/457/IRAs. Consequently, we have been very clear with our children that they should pick a school such that they can avoid student loans for their undergraduate degree and that we will provide as much financial support as possible for them, but that we will not take out parental loans for their education nor will we use our retirement account money for their college education. Harsh realities, but honesty is the always the best policy.