Stressing over financial aid situation please help!!!

Vandy has shown you the love, go to Vandy! Even if you don’t end up in med school, after 4 years you will be in a much better position financially.

I understand that you’re in love with Brown, and if you think you’ll really regret not going there, and your parents can afford it, then do it. But ask yourself this: What if your parents agreed to split the difference with you if you attend Vandy? They save $135k, and after you graduate, they give half of it to you - to help pay for med school, or to put a down payment on your first house, or just to give you a cushion so you don’t have to worry so much about money your first few years after college. What would your answer be - would it be worth it to you to give that up to attend Brown?

@dodgersmom

I think the problem is that it’s not real money to a student unless they’re poor or have worked to earn it.

I still do not understand the numbers. Brown is about 65k a year x 4 = 260-40 = $220k. Vandy is free. How is that a $135k difference?

To be honest, for $220 I would encourage most kids to go to Vandy, for the $135 the OP mentions, it would depend on his reasons and how much his parents could afford. Named scholar is something because no one will ever ask if that was your most presitigious option.

As for the southern aspect, nerdy typically northeast kid got into Cornell, UVA and Vandy. Visited all 3, found UVA too southern. Was fine with Vandy and chose it over the other 2.

As for med school, delve into the numbers. Do they select who can apply to med school? Are the classes very weedy at either place? It is not 90% or whatever if only certain people are allowed to apply. No idea but something to look at. Try the pre med forum and the school forums for both schools.

how could you be smart enough to win a full tuition scholarship to Vanderbilt and dumb enough to turn it down?

these are peer institutions. one will cost $140K more to attend. if you can stop traipsing thru a fantastical Ivy dreamworld of rainbows, unicorns, and Open Curriculum for a moment and reconnect with reality, you will realize that is pantload of money – a potential debt load that might make medical school unattainable even if you get accepted.

someone is offering you a free Mercedes and you are considering paying full price for a BMW instead because you like the cupholders better.

take a few days to daydream about Brown all you want, but then wake up,be reasonable and go to Vandy.

For the cost difference, choose Vandy.

@SeekingPam I think the OP has tuition and study abroad covered at Vandy which is not a full ride. Still has to pay room and board and potentially fees.

If you want to go to Brown, and your parents are willing to pay, then go to Brown. You should be having a long heart to heart discussion with them about finances, not soliciting opinions here. If they are really on board, fantastic. If they express that they are concerned, but simply are finding it difficult to say no to you, then you have some soul searching to do.

This is such a no brainer for me… Take the scholarship and go to Vanderbilt. It’s beyond money. What you seem to be missing is you will be academic royalty at Vanderbilt with your scholarship. You will be well supported (cosseted, even) by administration and faculty. You will get extra attention not directed to the average, typical student. At Brown, you will be that average, typical student. Worse, you have to pay way more money to be that average, typical student.

“Open curriculum is a better fit” doesn’t convince me. In the end you will have to fulfill your major requirements for math and if you want to attend med school, those pre-med requirements as well. While you have a broader choice of courses at Brown, you will have to meet these requirements and meet the writing requirements. Brown may not be as “open” as you imagine given your med school goal.

@SeekingPam

Vandy is NOT free for this student. She or he still has to pay room, board, personal expenses, transportation.

Brown is 135K more and with comes with “a bit of difficulty” for the OPs parents to pay this amount. How much is “a bit”? Only the parents know what this means. OP, I suggest an open discussion about finances with your parents that includes being open to the idea of attending Vandy and its accompanying perks.

To others reading this thread…apply to colleges you would be happy to attend if accepted. If you really don’t plan to attend a college…please apply elsewhere.

This student not only applied to this school, but also met the requirements for the CV scholarship. I want to add…there are other students like this one who don’t receive sufficient aid from schools that give only need based aid, and seek out merit aid possibilities in the application process. Many would be thrilled to have this scholarship from Vandy come their way.

To the OP…agree with others…talk to your parents. It sounds to me like you were hoping folks here would give you a substantive reason to convince your oarents that Brown is the better choice. Honestly, based on what you have posted here…I can’t do that.

OP you have been given some great advice. I really like Dodgersmom’s suggestion on post #21. I hope you visited Vandy’s admitted students day to have a fair comparison.

OP, I think some of the posters were kind of harsh when giving their advice, even if it may be sound advice. I completely understand the draw of an open curriculum since most high schoolers are forced to take the same basic curriculum throughout their four years. People have preferences, and you obviously prefer Brown to Vandy. If your parents can truly afford it (and they are comfortable with your going there), then go with your gut and choose Brown. But have that serious talk with them about finances - it is VERY important to go through the financials. If it is going to be a hardship or perhaps take medical school (if you choose to go that route), off the table, then you may have to go to your #2 school, Vandy, which is a fantastic university. Good luck to you!

I’d say go Vanderbilt. It sounds like your parents can’t easily afford to pay for Brown, and it’s not as if Brown is much more prestigious than Vandy, in case that matters. Things might be different if it was Vandy vs HYPSM, but it isn’t. FWIW, I don’t think the named scholarship adds much (whenever people list their named scholarships on resumes or on profiles or whatever it always sounds a little insecure to me). Bottom of the line, they’re both excellent but not quite top tier universities, maybe Brown has an edge in terms of fit or whatever, but it doesn’t sound like you can afford the extra money.

Hi everyone, thanks for all the advice! Couple things I’d like to clarify: Vandy isn’t giving full ride. I have to pay around 22K per year. Brown has given around 10K in grants and around 6K in loans. With the CV scholarship, Vandy knocked out all the other schools I was considering, narrowing it down to just Brown and Vandy.

To those who claim I am being selfish, my parents and extended family actually do want me going to Brown. It was me who brought up finances to them, and how I would be fine with going to Vandy to save them money. Granted, I obviously do love Brown a lot more, but I don’t want to place that much financial burden on my parents, which is why Vandy is fine with me. However, my parents talked to my Vanderbilt interviewer, who is the mother of a friend, and she even said that she thinks I should go to Brown over Vandy. Additionally, my Stanford interviewer said if my parents can afford Brown undergrad, I should go to Brown. It’s not that my parents can’t afford college at all. They can afford Brown undergrad with no major issues; its the idea of going to med school. My parents don’t really want me to graduate med school with a boatload of debt, but at the same time, they won’t be able to pay for med school. However, after they discussed my situation with a variety of other people and myself, we agreed that since I am not 100% set on doing med, I should go to Brown. My Vandy interviewer says she can see me as a MD/PhD student, and my parents think so as well. I am also interested in doing MD/PhD in the future, and those programs are usually almost free (although extremely hard to get into).

Just curious, where else did you consider? Not sure where the Stanford interviewer fits into this? My K was told by the Stanford interviewer (I think) who was young that they are not supposed to have further contact with the applicants (not in a mean way! and interview was fine but not exceptional).

If you can see yourself in MD PHD which are EXTREMELY difficult, you will need to do a lot of research. I would ask both schools about their connections and acceptance rates to those programs. If you are tied to a geographic area I would also ask where they get their graduates positions.

Other schools that I was considering are UCLA with a scholarship, Berkeley, Rice, WashU, Michigan Honors College, and Rutgers full-ride. And yes, I agree I have been looking into these programs a lot more, and I will definitely do more research into them the next week.

@bbman888 Sounds like you are doing due diligence. I’m sure you’ll do fine wherever you go. Brown and Vandy are both excellent schools, however they are very different environments, so I think your feelings about fit, curriculum, etc., are accurate. I will not advise one way or another because I think you are already looking at all the angles.

I will say that I would have had my D apply to Brown except for the single digit acceptance rate, while I did not encourage her to apply to Vandy because I felt it would not have been a good fit, even though the prospect of excellent FA there was very enticing.

@alooknac Thank you for your understanding! If the environments were more similar, such as maybe Cornell vs. Vandy, per say, I would definitely be choosing Vandy. The schools are very different, however.