<p>Evil Robot - it is so nice to hear how you are doing. Be sure to continue to keep us updated!</p>
<p>It would be nice if Xiggi posted his own follow up message (well, many of us know he's doing well, but it would be great for kids currently looking at their decisions to hear his story). And, I'd love to hear from some of the other last year "regulars" as well.</p>
<p>Evil robot, I LOVE it when you post. You offer such a great perspective. And I'm so happy to hear that Vanderbuilt is everything you hoped for.</p>
<p>ER, it sounds like you are having the penultimate freshman experience--along with thousands everywhere. What a heartwarming post!</p>
<p>I hope you post a version on the Yale board--along with an assessment of what made you so "Yale mad" in the first place. That's the crux of the issue--broadening minds to consider all the possibilities...</p>
<p>Of course, all the possiblities includes Yale freshman having a university experience like yours--and living with huge financial burdens. I went through private university with some of those financial worries. I never, ever think about it now.</p>
<p>Haven't read for a while.........and am out of touch,....... but nice post from someone who contributed a lot to the board a year ago. Good luck</p>
<p>Congrats! My d. is in a similar situation, and is contemplating four years with no loans. It means (in her case) contemplating summers (with at least one paid internship), where she can further her education, or simply feed her soul, rather than the college kitty. She is using the next one going to India to build houses in tsunami-affected areas (and learn another language), by way of Cambodia (where she will visit a friend of mine who runs AIDS hospices.) (Folks at the school are helping to raise funds to send her, but that's just a bonus.)</p>
<p>The flipside, of course, is that you and my d. are folks that have hit the lotto. Too many worthy kids these days are not so lucky (and, yes, I ascribe a great part of it to luck.) I do know so many lower and middle-income folks who are wrestling hard with this issue, though, thankfully, I think it has become easier over the past decade or so, as many schools are turning down entire classes of applicants academically as competent as those they accept (or so THEY say), and those folks are going elsewhere, radically lessening the gaps among the top 50-75 schools.</p>
<p>Great post!</p>
<p>Evil Robot!!! How good to see your phosphors. Great post, I'm glad to see things working out well for you. I hope you can come back and give us updates every few months or so.</p>
<p>evil_robot, </p>
<p>I remember your dilemma from last year. You are wise beyond your years... how nice it must be to fall asleep every night without having to worry about how you're going to pay off that $100,000.</p>
<p>Thanks for the story, but it really helps to name names in order to understand the dilemma, otherwise the story is just vague. I hear that Vany is a very good school, but it is so obscure to ppl in Calif. I think dd will have to turn down top colleges for financial reasons and we are willing to do so, but did not leave enough match and safeties on the table, from not understanding the non-custodial parent deal. The matches and safeties were totally interesting, too. Now I'm thinking gap year in order to apply to colleges that are less expensive and would give merit, or more publics so loans are less. It would be a shame because gap year not needed or desired, but perhaps no choice.</p>
<p>Amen to that, evil_robot.</p>
<p>bettina:
Yale is the dream school mentioned.</p>
<p>Some of the other schools I applied to included Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, UCLA, Harvey Mudd College, Carnegie Mellon, and UC Irvine. From inside California.</p>
<p>More details are available in the archives, but I kept this as general as possible for the largest possible audience.</p>
<p>And yes, I know Vandy is obscure in California, being that I live there :). Trying to spread the good word...</p>
<p>Bettina, I have worked with kids applying to colleges for years, and the last 5 years has brought a lot of top drawer kids interested in Vandy, Tulane, Miami. Part of it is the merit aid, but when they visit the schools, that clinches the deal. I have posted this on other threads as well. Sewanee is another school that is getting some interest along SMU. College of Charleston and U of South Carolina are also showing up on lists more.</p>
<p>Robot, I hope you don't mind, but what scholarship did Vandy offer you? I've put myself in a similar position and could really use the info.</p>
<p>Evil Robot,
We are having a snow day here in TN, and I expect you are experiencing some snow in Nashville as I write. I hadn't joined the CC community when you were making your decisions, but I am very impressed by the way you went about making your choice. (I just invested about half and hour reading the archived posts. What a stir you got going!) I went to Vandy for grad school and loved the campus and the opportunities afforded there. So glad you are happy. Should my S be faced with a dilemma anything like yours (a big if) I will surely refer him to your posts. Keep us informed!</p>
<p>To the OP - I totally enjoyed your post about your experience at the college that may not have been your first choice - very well said. Good example that going to college is not just about the name of the place - but about the actual experience and appreciation for what is being offered to you. Kuddos to you.</p>
<p>I would say Vandy is definitely prestigious.
A very hard choice to make, but I think the choice would be more complicated if i was between an unknown state school and a prestigious private school.
That was a great post because so mayn ppl are making that choice right now, including me. Thanx.</p>
<p>All: Thanks for the positive feedback! I didn't think this would be that well received, given the angst and drama that followed my last personal outburst ;).</p>
<p>dlindhol: It's a full tuition scholarship with $2500 thrown in (from NMC the first year, from Vandy the next 3) for room and board.</p>
<p>Evil_robot-
It is an honor to have you on the parents forum! Us old geezers don't remember your last "personal outburst", and I doubt you want to refresh our memory :)</p>
<p>Your post reminds me a bit of the thread a few months back about how kids were doing that didn't get into their first choice school. The good news is that most everyone is happy, enjoying the college experience, as are you. And isn't that what college is all about? A blend of fun and education.</p>
<p>Oh- ER-- I just looked- You WERE one of the posters on the EA/ED happiness thread! 9.9!! Just that leeeetle room for improvement?? Always have to have a goal to reach for... eh??</p>
<p>Hi ER, welcome back. I always like to hear from the "old" CC students. Now if we could hear from serena, sunshine, twinkletoes, noshiksagoddess, becks, rowan, ...... and so many more.</p>
<p>Evilrobot- I'm so glad to hear that your compelling admissions tale has a happy ending!</p>
<p>Evil, I am interested in the Continuum Hypothesis proof. Could you offer a bit more information? I couldn't find any reference to it in the problem sets I read? The problem sets seemed relatively long but involved basic set and subset problem exercises.</p>