<p>Hey, I go to Ohio State and get paid about 5.5k over every year because I have a full scholarship. Thing is, I got into Vanderbilt (and am waiting to hear back from Penn and Cornell). Vandy is only going to charge me about 2.5k a year.
I'm majoring in econ and OSU doesn't have a master's program in econ (strange, I know).
What should I do?
Thanks.</p>
<p>Only 2.5K? I’d say go for it, 2.5k is nothing!</p>
<p>well, it’s just that there’s an 8k/year difference between the two schools. will vanderbilt open more doors for me for grad school than ohio state?</p>
<p>Maybe slightly but ohio states econ program is well respected. It will depend more on how you do in whatever college you attend.</p>
<p>Well, I know their econ program is respected, but that’s at the grad level, right? And since the only grad program they have is a PhD, I don’t know that that would make a difference for me when I apply to grad schools. Doesn’t general undergrad reputations matter more than grad program rankings in my subject area? Or am I wrong?</p>
<p>I’d say that Ohio State is a very good school 
then again, Vanderbilt IS Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>It’s up to you. Here I’d actually leave it to which school’s atmosphere you like better etc.</p>
<p>Yeah, most of my friends tell me to go to Vanderbilt because “It’s Vanderbilt.”
But is Vanderbilt really all that prestigious? I mean, I’m from Ohio, so a lot of people around here have never heard of Vanderbilt but think Ohio State is the best thing since sliced bread…</p>
<p>Laymen’s opinion, do you really care about that? Vanderbilt is definitely well-respected and I would think that employers are updated and aware.</p>
<p>Well, it is hard for me to tell how good a school is seen as, since I come from a very uneducated family. How much better is Vanderbilt than OSU in the eyes of most people? Especially in terms of when I’m applying for grad school…</p>
<p>Here’s what i’ve seen (haven’t actually been through it myself). Graduate schools do consider the school you went to for undergrad and it may help you out in the sense that if you have a 3.5 at vanderbilt you can get in where you might have to have a 3.7 at ohio state. But your GRE scores are independant of school, so is the rest of your application, and your resume. So it doesn’t matter that much. Also, I forget where I saw this but I saw that ohio state had a ranked top 30 undergraduate econ program and vandy wasn’t much higher. Vandy isn’t necessarily known for economics like they are for some other programs.</p>
<p>That’s an interesting dillemma to be in. I’d love to be getting paid to go to a public school, but Vanderbilt is a great school. Consider student population as well as student resources in the decision. If you do decide to go to Vandy, I hope to see you at transfer orientation!</p>
<p>aren’t duke and mit up there for well respected econ programs for ugrads? i have a colleague at osu studying econ who was w-listed at duke who is considering transfer for fall 10.</p>
<p>why does your full scholarship give you 5.5k over what you need a year?</p>
<p>^^^Probably a full ride from Ohio State + outside scholarships. At least that’s what happens at UMichigan in such cases.</p>
<p>The full scholarship I got included miscellaneous expenses. Basically, they gave me all the money that the average college student spends per year on everything from tuition to books to music. It was pretty nice, but I’m transferring to UPenn…</p>
<p>OSU is a fine institution. Vanderbilt is more prestigious, but if you do awesome at OSU then I am pretty sure the same opportunities will be available at Vanderbilt. Maybe a few more opportunities will be available at Vandy, but getting 5k a year extra is more valuable IMO. That 20 grand if you stay all 4 years. Save it and thats a nice chunk out of your grad school tuition…just my opinion.</p>