<p>The issue is not necessarily that Vandy does not give you excellent aid. The issue for some is that they may not understand how need is calculated. Need will be met … but as I have said before, it may not be “need” as the individual perceives it. But yes, Vandy’s aid is extremely good, especially in comparison to most other schools (with perhaps the exception of ivies … but there is merit at Vandy & not a ivies!).</p>
<p>Kiplinger’s detailed analysis of Vandy’s financial aid:
[Kiplinger’s</a> Best Values in Private Colleges-Kiplinger](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?school_id=9509]Kiplinger’s”>http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?school_id=9509)</p>
<p>Not really particularly detailed…</p>
<p>How much of need-based aid do you think they will offset if I get a merit scholarship? It doesn’t make sense for them advertise a scholarship that no one but the richest applicants actually benefit from. >.></p>
<p>Do you think they respond to sob stories when making this sort of decision?</p>
<p>no but if 10% of students receive some sort of not need based aid, that is way more than you will see at most of the top liberal arts colleges in the nation. There is no merit aid or athletic aid at the Ivies. The best comparisons are to look at the odds of landing merit aid at places like Duke, NWestern, Rice (whose awards are smaller but given more often), Emory. Davidson and Wash and Lee have merit aid to compete for…if you want alternatives to paying full price to your state honors college, which is what we would be doing at UVA or Wm and Mary in Virginia. Need aid varies from year to year and in this economy, parental income is unsteady.</p>
<p>Before I allowed my son to apply ED1 I called the financial aid department and inquired about the accuracy of the Net Price Calculator. The financial aid office said they stood by the accuracy of the calculator within a couple of thousand dollars, as long as you input correct information. When my son got his acceptance letter with his estimated financial aid package it was almost exactly the figure we got from the calculator. No surprises and I have to say it is VERY generous! We would have paid more at our state schools than we will be paying for Vanderbilt. There is no reason to wonder what your financial aid package is going to be, just run the calculator.</p>
<p>But what about merit aid…</p>
<p>The cost of college has exploded - MUCH more than anything else (except the national debt). Why? Well, when you have so much aid available and enough wealthy people to pay full freight, colleges continue to raise their tuition because they don’t care where the money comes from - they just know they can get what they ask. What happens then? You have a “barbell” class - those who are deemed “wealthy” and those on financial aid. What happens to the people in the middle? well, they’re screwed…My daughter started Vanderbilt in the fall of 2003. The entire cost per year was $40,000. Now it’s $60,000 and Vanderbilt continues to accept around 12% of its applicants - they, and colleges like them, can continue to charge whatever they want because the money from aid and those who can afford keeps coming…it’s really absurd.</p>
<p>My 3rd kid is now in college - he chose Cornell and we’re paying a hefty sum to have him there. Will it be worth the cost? He’s an engineer, so we hope so. Looking back over all this, I would say to not put yourself or your parents in debt. The only thing that matters it the last thing you did, whether it’s a college, a job, a really neat activity. Have faith in yourself and your potential. Go somewhere and make the most of your time there. The financial balloon is about to pop, as kids default on their loans. Be smart.</p>
<p>Internal merit scholarships reduce your need-based aid. They only give you extra aid if it surpasses the value of your need-based aid.</p>
<p>So, if you got a full ride through need-based, getting a full ride merit scholarship would simply replace the need-based grant. Wouldn’t change your situation.</p>
<p>Same goes for outside scholarships, though I believe outside scholarships can contribute up to 2000 to your cost of attendance before they start reducing your need-based aid.</p>
<p>They advertise these scholarships because it helps people come here who have a decent income but are still expected to pay 60,000 a year and that’s a lot for them. 60,000 is a lot for one year of college, even if you’re wealthy.</p>
<p>^You’re talking about a relatively small percentage of people. I’m glad all that works for them. However, for the vast majority of people, I do believe a lot of debt is not the way to go. Have you seen the stats on the number of college graduates who are 1. not employed 2. highly overqualified for the jobs they do have?</p>
<p>Yes, $60,000 is a ton of money, especially when you realize it’s after-tax dollars. For those who have had to work for this and haven’t inherited it, it is a massive sum.</p>
<p>Swimmer726, I don’t think Pancaked is arguing against your point that the price of Vanderbilt (and is peers like Wash U, Duke etc) is untenable for a big segment of parents whose children might be admittable. Pancaked is merely stating that the merit scholarships make the possibility of free tuition a draw for applicants whose parents can’t shoulder the pricetag no matter what their CSS Profile and FAFSAs indicate.<br>
I feel your pain. We did Duke full price for eldest son right before the bottom dropped out of the economy. We were prob eligible for some loans but didn’t bother…it was 2005! Right? Economy and house values were going up.<br>
Second son had our wonderful state institutions with their honors offers and a couple of fine merit miracle offers. Some apps for merit offers didn’t pan out. We were in a whole new playing field. He did not have the choice of full price private because we learned our limitations.</p>
<p>Inherited wealth makes a difference. Others posting here sometimes have lived very very frugal lives to make this possible for their kids. </p>
<p>The was it worth it question. Takes time to figure out. I am old enough now to have seen many of our sons’ peers/grads from our state flagships doing very well indeed, and to have seen scores of others having squandered their years and gotten a bit lost in large classrooms. </p>
<p>Congrats on a child doing the engineering track at Cornell. I hear that is awesome. Networking helps a lot in jobs for engineering. Our nephew seems to have benefitted by networking post Virginia Tech engineering greatly.</p>
<p>^ I wasn’t arguing with him, just trying to point out the reality of all this. ALL of the kids who apply to Vanderbilt, Duke, Cornell, and schools like those are smart. Most of them are at the top of their high school classes. Sometimes it’s hard to come to the realization that there is always someone smarter, more worldly, more experienced, more whatever than you. They are the ones who get the very few merit scholarships. I have come to believe that it’s not really where you go, but what you do with whatever opportunity you CAN AFFORD is what makes someone successful.</p>
<p>I agree with you (completely). However, as parents in 04-05, I do not think we faced our own personal limitations nor was I personally able to accept that eldest child could not go to any great school that opened a door. I see parents like myself here all the time and know just how they feel re squeezing their eyes shut re costs. I wish our guidance dept had focused on the huge costs of grad school in the old professions of MBA, Medicine and Law. But I wasn’t looking that far down the road then.
Now it feels like we need to be helping our children not make similar deluded errors as they choose grad school and employment paths.
Duke son is actually working and viable without a graduate degree. For now. Grateful for that. He is 26.5 and some grad schools require parental FAFSAs until the age of 28.</p>
<p>Swimmer I think you misinterpreted what I was saying, someone asked what the point of merit scholarships when only the “richest” benefit from them, and I was just trying to explain. The “wealthy” get zero benefit from Vandy’s generous need-based aid system, and merit scholarships give them a chance to reduce an astronomical cost of attendance. That’s all I was saying.</p>
<p>Oh, I got what you were saying! Those of us who choose to pay the astronomical costs of some schools do it by choice. Just wish that universities had a harder time getting the money they ask for - but as long as they can boast 12% acceptance rates, that won’t happen. If people just refused to pay that much AND need-based aid and loans weren’t so available, they’d get the message. Every school we looked had has amazing facilities, living situation, academic building, athletic complexes…they love all the money they are taking in!</p>
<p>I understand. As students though, we do directly see the impact of our tuition. Right now on campus, the rec center is being vastly expanded, a dorm was knocked down to replace it with a much nicer one, and a giant new engineering facility is being built. We get guest speakers all the time, opportunities for free trips and events around Nashville, etc. Some of us paying a lot gives people who can’t pay much the opportunity to still get a great education.</p>
<p>You get a lot more for the price too-- more prestige in your degree, better job prospects, more internship opportunities, more prestigious faculty members, etc etc etc. I’m sure you know all this and I’m not saying it warrants $60,000 a year, but is certainly warrants a raised price.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt has certainly come a long way since I graduated. I don’t think I’d be admitted now…my daughter did undergrad in 3 years and completed the 2 year masters of nursing program. Yes, it was worth it for her. She works as an NP in Nashville. My son finished an engineering degree in 2010 and works for an oil company in Houston. He just got back from a business trip in Canada to test a pie connection he designed. Worth it? I think my husband and I are lucky that our two oldest kids have chosen professions that make the $40,000 a year for the daughter and $50,000+ a year for our son worth it. If we hadn’t been able to swing it, UVA would have given them the same opportunities. They did love Vanderbilt, though!</p>
<p>What range does your family’s income and assets fall?</p>
<p>^I would say that that information is irrelevant to this discussion…</p>
<p>Swimmer
Can you comment on the NP program and if your daughter is happy she followed this option rather than medical school or a physician assitant route.</p>
<p>My daughter is an NP in the SCIU at Vanderbilt and loves it. She works with residents and faculty. She likes managing the unit and teaching. She likes doing more interesting things than nurses do. She likes being in charge. My daughter makes a really good income and has regular hours. Some day she hopes to have a family and feels that nursing fits that better than being a doctor. She also didn’t want to do that much school and training, just wanted to get on with her life. She teaches residents many procedures and helps them with patient care management. She really works as a physicians assistant to the faulty doctors. As medicine is changing so rapidly, she believes the NP field will be more and more in demand. Fewer and fewer people are going to medical school, so the quality of our doctors will likely decrease. Good NPs will be vital to the survival of many patients.</p>