UMich vs. Vanderbilt vs. Safety

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So, the ivy league adcoms crushed my dreams by sending me a tsunami of rejections this week. Here is how my college decisions played out:</p>

<p>Rejected- Penn (Wharton ED), Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, JHU, NU</p>

<p>As an asian applying to engineering, these results are understandable. I was mainly upset by my rejection from Duke, which was my #2 choice after Princeton. At the same time, I am not terribly unhappy since it is not my loss. I will accomplish my life goals no matter what school I attend this fall. (Just an attempt at displaying some confidence :D) I can't stand most ivy kids anyway. Luckily, my achievements were not completely overlooked. My 2360 SAT, 3.8 GPA, and enormous list of ECs were not good-for-nothing:</p>

<p>Waitlisted- WUSTL, Rice
Accepted- Vanderbilt, University of Michigan- Ann Arbor, Safety (Full Ride)</p>

<p>Now I must weigh my options and I need A LOT of help. I was accepted to the engineering schools at both Vandy & UMich as well as my state school. My question to you is, as a PRE-MED student, which of these schools would be best for me? I received $15,000/yr in fin aid from Vandy and $2,000/yr from UMich. I received a pres scholarship or full ride of $25,000/yr at my state school. I plan on attending med school (need good GPA, MCAT Prep, Internships, Research Opportunities). I live in the Northeast region and location/distance from home is an important factor as well. Other factors are campus, social scene, food, housing, athletics, intellectual atmosphere, weather etc. Please help me. I need to know which of these options is best for my future*</p>

2

<p>Med school is so expensive, it’s best not to waste $$$ on undergrad, especially not expensive as hell UMich. Go wit the safety.</p>

3

<p>SgtDonut, why do you single out Michigan? Vanderbilt is more expensive than Michigan. Even after factoring in FA, Michigan ends up only $5k more than Vanderbilt. </p>

<p>According to their respective websites:</p>

<p>TUITION
Michigan: $39,000
Vanderbilt: $42,000</p>

<p>ROOM & BOARD:
Michigan: $9,500
Vanderbilt: $14,000</p>

<p>OTHER COSTS (books, recreation & entertainment etc…):
Michigan: ~4,000
Vanderbilt: ~$4,000</p>

<p>TOTAL:
Michigan: $52,500
Vanderbilt: $60,000</p>

<p>[Office</a> of Financial Aid: Cost of Attendance](<a href=“http://www.finaid.umich.edu/TopNav/AboutUMFinancialAid/CostofAttendance.aspx]Office”>http://www.finaid.umich.edu/TopNav/AboutUMFinancialAid/CostofAttendance.aspx)</p>

<p>[Financial</a> Aid Facts | Financial Aid | Undergraduate Admissions | Vanderbilt University](<a href=“http://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/financial-aid/facts.php]Financial”>http://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/financial-aid/facts.php)</p>

<p>After FA packages:
Michigan: $50,000
Vanderbilt: $45,000</p>

4

<p>Full ride at your state school.</p>

5

<p>Other posts indicate that you are in New Jersey. If your full ride safety is Rutgers, go there, since it is a good school for a lot of subjects and the full ride will let you save your money for medical school if you happen to get into any. (I don’t understand why so many students from the northeast and mid-Atlantic seem to think so poorly of the better state schools there that they do not even want to name them.)</p>

<p>Your application list does look kind of strange for engineering, though.</p>

6

<p>If your goal is med school, take that full ride and don’t look back.</p>

7

<p>Is $25K/yr a full ride? Probably not but it is also probably still the best deal. Take it, do well in classes, do well in MCAT, go to Med School.</p>

8

<p>Many, many students change their minds about med school. If Rutgers is your state school, go with Vanderbilt. Great opportunities for research,McJobs at huge medical center, too. Wonderful campus, weather and social scene.</p>

9

<p>Yeah, Vanderbilt is definitely worth the $200 K price tag if your parents can afford it. Some people on CC think that either no school is worth $200 K regardless of the family’s financial situation or only HYPSM are worth that. The new Freshman Commons at Vandy looks pretty awesome too.</p>

10

<p>OP mentioned engineering (as well as pre-med and also implied business/economics in applying to Penn Wharton)… if not going to Rutgers, would Vanderbilt necessarily be preferable to Michigan?</p>

11

<p>* as a PRE-MED student*</p>

<p>how certain are you about this?</p>

<p>How would you pay for the other schools? loans?? what??</p>

<p>I wouldn’t pay that much for UMich, but Vandy is more worth it with the $15k in aid. </p>

<p>If you’re sure about med school, then go to Rutgers. Is it free tuition or a free ride?</p>

12

<p>“I wouldn’t pay that much for UMich, but Vandy is more worth it with the $15k in aid.”</p>

<p>Many students pay full freight at Michigan to attend from out of state. I guess they would disagree with your viewpoint. Michigan is a world class institution of higher learning. The school doesn’t have to bribe most top students to attend like some other schools. Still I would recommend the OP go instate for the free ride.</p>

13

<p>sweetpuri -</p>

<p>Here is the calculator that you need to help sort through all the financial offers: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid) If you are good enough to get into all of those schools that look less affordable for your family, you certainly are good enough to really rock the joint at your home-state public U.</p>

14

<p>In the event that OP does want to go pre-med, it only makes sense to take the full ride safety. If they are unsure, it makes sense to go to the safety because it is free and they will have time to figure out what it is they want to do. Once they find out what that is, they can simply transfer to Michigan (or any other school) and save over 100k, since UMich only gave them 2k.</p>

15

<p>Are your parents willing to pay for the higher-priced options? If they can absorb the cost and are willing to, then go with the school you like best. If the money is a concern for UG or, later, for medical school/graduate school, then pick your state safety. Any of these options would be fine for your future.</p>

16

<p>Dear All,</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your thoughtful responses! I greatly appreciate your advice! Many of you have given different opinions but they all coincide with the feelings that my parents and I are having. </p>

<p>To answer some questions… Yes, the safety school I speak of is in fact Rutgers and as a presidential scholar, I will be part of the honors program if I enroll. The scholarship covers the full cost including both tuition and room & board. Also, my parents certainly CAN afford to pay for one of the higher priced options if they think it is worth the money. The only problem is the added cost of medical school. </p>

<p>That being said, Rutgers seems to be the most practical solution especially financially. At the same time, several of you have shown that Vandy & UMich may be worth the money due to extra resources and better academics. I simply want to have the best chances possible for med school while having a good college experience. I plan on visiting Vandy over break (I have already visited Rutgers & UMich since I have lived in Michigan). After seeing the campus, I will HOPEFULLY make a final decision with my parents :)</p>

<p>Please continue to post your comments/suggestions</p>

17

<p>Hey guys, just a quick update: I DID choose Rutgers. SO happy with the decision so far, will start college in the fall :D</p>

18

<p>Thanks for letting us know sweetpuri. Best of luck at Rutgers! :-)</p>

19

<p>Hi sweetpuri, we are in the same situation. My D has full ride at Rutgers and $60K/yr at Vanderbilt, she is wait listed at both JH and Duke. She is also wants to do either BME or pre-med. Like to know how is your experience with Rutgers so far? How is there pre-med support etc. Thanks in advance!</p>

20

<p>The OP hasn’t posted since August, so I doubt he will respond. After you have posted 15 times, you will be able to PM him.</p>