<p>So, the 'net-net' question is? Is it worth is to spend $13K/year more to go to Vanderbilt than to go to UGA Honors? Student will likely go to grad school and would end up with about $35K in loans at Vandy vs no debt at UGA (parents pick up room/board and free instate tuition). Also, option of Masters in 4 yrs @ UGA Honors due to AP credits. Really need an employer perspective on this. Thanks</p>
<p>I know someone who is at Vanderbilt right now after turning down UGA Honors. I think the most important factor is the importance of post grad activity for your kid. If money is an issue, it might be a better idea to go to UGA then shoot for a top tier grad school (what most employers say really matters), something that may be a bit difficult to do with Vandy debt.</p>
<p>I would take Vanderbilt, but I'm not doing Law and won't bother with an MBA until a few years out anyway. If I were going straight to grad school though, yeah, probably would choose UGA Honors.</p>
<p>pumpkin5, does your son have a strong preference? </p>
<p>(Sorry, I'm not in a position to give an employer perspective.)</p>
<p>Your field of grad school is very important. If you are headed to the sciences, you will be (most likely) getting payed all 5-6 years and incur no debt. However, other disciplines will force you to pay.</p>
<p>If you are headed to the sciences in grad school, 35k might be worth the research opportunities at Vandy (which are abundant). Then again I am not too familiar with UGA's research opportunities or honors program.</p>
<p>My son has the same decision to make - a big state school with a great Engineering program or Vanderbilt. We have gotten some advice that Vandy isn't well known for Engineering and questions about how well regarded the program is nationally...even though it has a much high profile as a total school. Also, he will likely get his MBA or Masters right after school - so we are considering that too. Vandy is so expensive - even with some help - but wonder if it is worth it in Engineering. Appreciate the comments on Vandy Engineering and the benefits.</p>
<p>The most important question is what do you feel that your child will be most successful and less on rankings. Both my son and my wife had choices of free vs student loans and they picked Vandy and are happy that they did. As far as engineering and grad schools are concerned, everything is probably equal unless the school specializes in one field, like Vandy has a great Bio-medical eng. program with lots of research opportunities. My son is Bio Medical and his first semester a group of four made a prosthetic arm for a patient out of the Childrens Hosp. This past semester they were working on artificial hips. As far as Grad Schools are concerned, Grad School rankings are more important than Undergrad rankings if that is your intent. Thus were you go to undergrad doesnt matter as much. So pick a school that you can advance as an individual because you will do most of your growing up during these years. UGa is a big school and you can get lost unless you are a very strong individual. Vandy is small and looks after you as an individual. Good luck either way you will be fine.</p>
<p>TexasMom,</p>
<p>My son is a sophomore in the engineering school. Benefits of the program for him have included a lot of personal contact with professors from the start, research opportunities from his first month on campus (but see below<em>), more opportunity than most engineering programs to take courses in A and S, sufficient credit for his many AP courses (and some university courses in hs) that he has been able to enroll in advanced courses, a chance to complete a master's degree at the same time as the bachelor's degree (again, see below</em>*), a "small school" environment in the engineering program, where individual students are known. The courses he has taken have been rigorous.</p>
<p>Courses in A and S have been rigorous, and have given him a chance to get to know non-engineers. In fact, most of his roomates are not engineers.</p>
<p>All of the engineering majors are ABET certified (computer science is not strictly engineering and, to my knowledge, is not ABET certified anywhere). The fact that the engineering school is somewhat less well known than big engineering powerhouses with huge graduate programs is not, in my opinion, a factor, although opportunity to do actual research and get to know faculty (future references) is very important; that has not been a problem for my son. I was told by one of the deans that every student has the opportunity to be involved in research by junior year, many by sophomore year and some during freshman year (again, I address this below). If you peruse the engineering web site and the sites of the individual departments and the research centers, you can get an idea of what sort of research is/is not going on. Of course there are fewer types of research than mega-programs, but that is not particularly important for individual students as long as the fields of interest are covered.</p>
<ul>
<li>A couple of points about getting involved in research at an early stage. First, my son actively searched out an opportunity by talking to a professor doing work that interested him. Second, his math and science background was stronger than most incoming students; he had a couple of post-Calc BC courses at a university prior to graduation from high school, and I think this was a factor in getting this opportunity as a new student.</li>
</ul>
<p>**Again, it is not terribly rare for students to apply for entrance to the dual bachelors/masters degree, but only students who enter with significant AP and/or univ. credits and who have taken a full load of courses will be able to finish in four years.</p>
<p>Is it worth the extra money for YOU? Really, that is a calculation only you can make. Vanderbilt has been a great find for our family, but (this is a big but) son attends on a full tuition merit scholarship. </p>
<p>One further note. I don't know what other programs you are looking at, but a conversation with a friend of my son last week left me wincing. This young man is a very good student. For financial reasons, he is enrolled in engineering at our state's public flagship, a decent school but not a power house. The student won a research scholarship this year and started off on his project with great excitement. As of last week, the project was dead in the water because of a shortage of equipment (many students, including graduate students, sharing it) and broken equipment that should have been repaired or replaced two months ago. Frustration. So, consider the financial state your public options are currently facing when you do your calculations.</p>