Hi all, thank you so much for your responses to the intial question! It truly means a lot to have so many of you giving such thoughtful responses. If anyone has any other thoughts to share, please feel free to do so!
@COLLWGE1227 – Another vote for Vandy. The CV Scholarship is a great honor and and that nearly $250K of scholarship money will come in handy for med school. Given that she “loves both schools” there’s really no reason to pay such a huge premium for her to go to NU (unless you truly have money to burn).
You have a choice:
A new top-of-the-line Mercedes in blue, for almost free… or a new top-of-the-line Mercedes in green for tens of thousands of dollars.
Which do you pick?
The Cornell Hotel school is not only private but its alums give more than any other school to Cornell. A hotelie endowed Cornell Tech. It’s graduates work on Wall Street and around the world. Seriously, UNLV? People offer opinions here without factual basis.
The cv is not 250, it’s tuition only, that doesn’t change analysis but important to get facts right.
Measuring prestige from an IB Office is quite limited and only reflects one point of view. On international rankings Dartmouth and Brown drop out of site and Cornell is top twenty or thirty. Not a Cornell grad but prestige in Darien for Cornell is quite Different than prestige in a London or Tokyo. Again, everything on this site, including my comments, should be taken with skepticism.
Go to Vandy. Natural science and premed are not the fields you would want to spend much more for. The ROI isn’t typically there to justify it even when the two schools are not peers. The decision should be easy now that they are peers.
@simba9,
Northwestern has a phenomenal science program called ISP that rivals CalTech in rigor and outcome. It also has one of the best chemistry departments in the world. Northwestern excels in many disciplines, not just Econ and journalism.
I would go with Vandy as well because of the savings and being able to put the Cornelius scholarship on resume, linked-in etc, but I have also heard that the Chem program at NU is superb. The other thing that would lean to NU is that if you switch majors, NU is a little better across other majors, esp if you’re considering engineering. Say you start out pre-med, and you decide biomed engineering is better and you really like econ or history and would like to minor in it. NU would be the place to attend then.
@COLLWGE1227 , just about all the feedback you have received is consistent. Unless your child is repulsed by Nashville and Vanderbilt, I fail to understand why there is even a question.
Northwestern is not significantly more prestigious. They are not renowned for “natural sciences”. Vanderbilt has a first rate medical school and I can attest they are doing some really interesting and important research. Being close to the medical school is a huge plus. Your child might be able to shadow at Vandy Medical School or take some upper level courses or help with research over the summers.
Additionally, and just as importantly, it is crazy competitive to get accepted to medical school right out of college. If she needs to work and gain extra experience to beef-up her application post BS degree, having contacts and connections at Vanderbilt is a huge plus. She might be able to get some great job for a year or two in one of their many specialty clinics while she studies for her MCATs and applies to med schools.
The thought of my child being saddled with the cost of medical school at over 350K (not including the add’l deferred interest costs if she choose to specialize in a field requiring many additional years of commitment) is not just concerning but flat out nauseating.
One other factor, if she is the recipient of the Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship, that is a feather in her cap for future admissions to graduate/medical school.
So, I would counsel my daughter simply: " if you got, use it!". In other words, take the darn scholarship!
What are we missing? Why is there even any question about not saving tuition costs now?
@CallieMom
Please see my post above. Northwestern is renowned for chemistry. But as I mentioned before, I agree with you that the OP should take the money.
The OP should know that @prezbucky’s list is one person’s opinion.
Good morning! Thank you all for your responses! She said that your insight has truly been so helpful as she makes her decision:) Can any parents who have sent kids to Vandy talk a little bit about the safety of the campus? I’ve seen some stories/rankings online about safety that made me a little worried about it.
Anyone else with thoughts about the decision feel free to comment as well!
Vanderbilt prestige + personal accomplishment prestige of being Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholar + huge $ savings = easy decision
@COLLWGE1227 - I sent you a PM. we were in same situation last year, Vandy with CV vs U Penn with summer research scholarship and went with Vandy and 100% satisfied.
@COLLWGE1227, I don’t have a collegekid at Vandy, but know (and have known over the past 5 years or so), quite a few students there (relations, kids of friends). They feel that personal safety is no more of an issue at Vandy than most college campuses. None of them have had issues, or had close friends with issues. Interestingly, of the ones that I asked, the daughters all cited a particular incident that they had heard of, but were not involved with.
For most girls at college the biggest risk is not strangers, but guy students (who pretty much never think of themselves as bad guys!). In some ways that makes it harder for girls to get their head around, b/c there of the implicit trust of a fellow student. There are a lot of conversations to be had there before she goes to college- no matter where she goes. And no matter how savvy she thinks she is. When the swoon-worthy student in your study group drops by your dorm room to talk about a class project, it’s hard to believe that their understanding of the relationship could be that different than yours- or how badly it can end (recent experience of a friend’s daughter at a different university).
My soon-to-be DIL did an internship in Evanston last year. There are areas that are “sketchy” for lack of a better word. Several schools have surrounding areas where one should be careful of their surroundings, but this thread is about Vandy and Northwestern. Please start another thread to talk about off-topic issues.
Prestige is an irrational emotion that drives people to do crazy things…like spend $250k on a bachelors degree. Unless she’s coming out of that school with a medical degree in the next 4 years, it would be just plain nuts to drop that kind of money on a bachelors, especially when she’s getting a top college for free. That sounds like a no-brainer.
My daughter and son have both graduated from Vandy. They loved their time there! My daughter never felt unsafe on campus or nearby. However as with any campus she knew she had to use good sense, not travel alone at night, etc. Vanderbilt has the Vandy Vans which run late at night and you can always request an escort.
Safety on any campus should not be taken lightly no matter where she goes.
Not much difference, so go to Vandy with significant scholarship for sure.
Your daughter must have had to actively apply for this major scholarship , got it, and yet may turn it down for a comparable school . And she “loves both schools.” I do think we’re still missing a piece of the puzzle here.