It’s clear to me that OP and her daughter would choose MIT over Vanderbilt if the cost weren’t an issue. Are you getting a different impression?
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I have no clear impression about that as the OP has only posted twice. The most recent post was 8 days ago. She seems to be exploring both schools and wanting advice, wants to keep options open for her daughter.
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OP, Come baaaaack!
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Yes, that’s the challenge of being a big fish in a big pond. The fish get renormalized and then the top firms select the right tails! Why wouldn’t they? They have their pick…
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I don’t get that impression at all. OP can speak for themselves, but I think getting various perspectives was the exact point of starting this thread.
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I don’t understand the hostility on a lot of threads re: differences in opinions. I’d pay the extra $ for education over a new car, kitchen whatever. But that’s based on my life experiences. And if someone needs/doesn’t want to spend an extra 100K or let their kid take that out in loans, believe me I get it.
We have very close friends. They own a thriving business. I mean $$$$. They sent their twins to the state college because it was financial a good choice. They are frugal. They bought a house near the college because they thought the rent for housing was too high. Then they rented out the other rooms, again they are rational businesspeople.
We made very different choices educationally. I remember many years ago talking about it. No angst or anger. Just different choices.
We all love our kids. And we all make rational decisions based on weighing what factors we think are most important. It’s not easy.
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What happened to OP?
How would I know? Someone mentioned OP hasn’t been seen in a while? I haven’t tracked them. Any reason why you are asking me?
Its not uncommon in threads like this one to find the OP is less interested in the discussion than many of the people participating in it. Speaks volumes.
On a prior thread you commented…
“People who think there are limits to human judgment and arrogance just need to spend some time on this site. Been here for years and it still amazes me sometimes. Clap. Clap.”
I am starting to agree with your former comment based on your most recent one😀
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So you haven’t seen “is it worth it” threads with an OP who participates briefly, then disappears (often ignoring requests for additional info) yet the thread continues? Its happened in this thread. 2 posts by the OP (ever on this site), multiple requests for additional info and the thread continues over a week past last OP post. And in the process a number of people providing their own gap fillers for many factors about which the OP said nothing.
Or maybe you don’t think it says a lot that that happens?
I don’t judge because as you highlighted previously doing so would be arrogant. Ironic as it is, I am agreeing with you.
I didn’t mean to ask you. I just meant to post but I don’t know how to do that. Sorry for the confusion!
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Just click on the “Reply to Thread” button to make a general reply. Clicking on “Reply” under a specific post will make a response to that post (and will reference the person to made that post).
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Hey, assuming there is no financial barrier, which school is a FIT? Did you visit and research, what feels like HOME for four years of your life? Where do you see yourself thrive? Where are your people?
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Hello everyone
It took me a while to figure out “OP” meant me! What is OP anyways?
I thought you were all talking about another kid’s initials
As someone noted, I have only posted twice ever, zero knowledge of the jargon
I have to say, all the comments have been very helpful and I am so grateful for the time and effort y’all have poured into this discussion
We have not make a decision
In fact, next week we will be driving around to visit several schools to just look around
Planning to see UF, FSU, GA Tech, Vanderbilt, Rice
We don’t really have guided tours lined up but want a feel of the location and school
Truly not an expert at this, we are pretty much swinging it
There is an accepted student weekend at MIT and I am definitely taking her there for that
We’ll see, maybe she loves it, maybe she hates it
Teenagers, who understands them?
Here is an example of what I meant by driven
She picked the schools, she wrote the essays, she did the research for the scholarships, she wrote more essays
She has been the only person involved in all this process, I would not know where to start
Ultimately she will make the final decision as well
My general impression is Vanderbilt is more geared towards pre-med and MIT is more geared towards engineering but I know zero about these schools other that what I read in the website and they all sound amazing there
**Personally, I would like her to be at a place where she has the most options and opportunities to advance her knowledge and skills, to pursue her passion to the fullest **
So far she has expressed interest in computer/electrical engineering, robotics and AI
Are there really options and opportunities at MIT that may not be readily available at Vanderbilt for her fields of interest? And if so what are they?
How is the general culture of both campuses?
Is it better to be in a very selective group of scholarship students that the university seems will put extra effort in supporting thru? or being another outstanding student in a see of outstanding to exceptional students?
If most projects are team oriented, is it better to be able to have your choice of outstanding students that you can work with harmoniously or have a steady group of selected students that you know well?
my head is about to explode
please keep the comments coming, you people are great!
And thank you!
“The OP?!” (havanamama)
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OP in relation to a person means “original poster”, and in relation to a post, it means “original post.” In both cases, it refers to starting a thread, like you did!
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D17 faced the same decision 5 years ago and chose Vandy. She never looked back, and loves, loves Vandy!
She is into economics, and the questions she kept asking were “what additional opportunities I would have at MIT that I wouldn’t have in Vandy? And are they worth $200K? What is my payback period for the extra $200K?”
Vandy engineering and CS has great placement records, and Vandy students are go-getters, at least from her experience and the friends she has.
Best of luck deciding!
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Just to clarify for future readers, the OP’s decision involves a difference of ~$220k over four years, assuming the Vanderbilt scholarship covers tuition but not room and board (if those are included, difference would be closer to $300k).
The references to a difference of $100k were for a different family awarded need-based financial aid that brought the cost of MIT to 50k/year and Vanderbilt to 25k/year (@TheVulcan did those totals include room & board?) The size of the difference will be meaningful to some families and not to others – just wanted to clarify that OP is not making a $100k decision.
@havanamama1959 if you can share any information about how you would pay for MIT and whether it would impact your retirement, I think that would help everyone give better insight as to whether they think it’s worth it.
Congrats to your daughter on being so independent, and enjoy your southern road trip 
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This is COA as listed on each institution’s site (Tuition, Room&Board, Fees, Books & Supplies, and personal expenses) minus scholarships (need-based at MIT and CV at Vandy).
And since DS now plans to graduate in three years, actual difference may be closer to $75K (though we did not know that at the time of making the decision).
As I wrote, he was also in the running for Stamps at GT (which is full ride plus, and a lot of personal attention), and despite the emotional misgivings we would be fools to turn that one down as GT is a top 10 CS program, and with the Stamps cachet there would be no shortage of opportunities. So we were very relieved when that option was taken off the table 
With Vandy the total cost difference was significantly smaller, and the difference in the caliber of the two programs significantly greater. So we didn’t dwell on it for too long, despite the whole thing unfolding at the beginning of the pandemic.
But, again, as I said several times, what was right for us may not be right for everyone.
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