<p>I think that a Vandy degree would get you pretty far or at least get your foot in the door for a good grad school. Apart from that, the environment is nice. The urban environment, if you’re into that, is vibrant and the people aren’t snobby like I thought they’d be when I visited. You might be able to make some good connections too that will help you out, who knows?</p>
<p>osucowboys, you are wrong on all counts. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Neither my husband, nor I, nor any of our many, many friends and coworkers with PhDs, including in economics (!), paid for graduate school. TA positions in economics are not particularly hard to get, and furthermore, they are not needed by the many graduate students who have research assistantships. If a student has to pay his/her own way in a graduate program, that means he/she is at the bottom of the list, and probably should not accept an offer of admission. In my program, those were the students who did not get past the comprehensive exams.</p></li>
<li><p>Furthermore, you have a faulty memory if you think I always side with private schools over public universities. Think hard, now. </p></li>
<li><p>Finally, my daughter will almost definitely be attending a public university; her choice and ours. Son attends a private school, but it is on a full merit scholarship. </p></li>
<li><p>I have no “elitist desires” for myself. Never did.</p></li>
<li><p>And, as you may have figured out by now, I am not a student. Sure was for a long time, though.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you truly like Vanderbilt, that’s really a small price to pay. But if you don’t, OSU is working out great for you, and you are getting money that enables you to be academically focused, and not have to worry about money, and get the money for grad school, and I think you should stay at OSU. </p>
<p>There’s no grad school that you are excluded from, coming out of OSU vs. Vanderbilt. So, it really comes down to, if you actually really like Vanderbilt or not.</p>
<p>I don’t know midmo, do you always side with private over public? You probably don’t I take it…I wasn’t trying to personally attack you or offer any insight into you as a person, just your post. To me that one post came off as kinda elitist, but lately a lot of what I read on this forum comes off that way from posters that are high school students pretending to be Ivy League students assuming you have to be condescending towards even the really good public schools.</p>
<p>There are so many posters on this forum, I can hardly remember who said what and in which thread…so my apologies if I am forgetting something obvious. It would be easier if we had little user pics under our username on this forum or whatever…I remember pictures easier than names.</p>
<p>Clearly Vanderbilt. $2k is a bargain. That’s about as cheap as Community College! Hella better than OSU.</p>
<p>Ohio State University- Columbus</p>
<p>osucowboys, I will send you a PM to jog your memory.</p>
<p>Yeah, my main goal is to get into a good grad school, but there are plenty of other things factoring into my decision.
I am leaning toward Vanderbilt, though.
You guys have all been quite helpful, and I appreciate it. :)</p>
<p>The bottom line is just to go to which school you like better. You don’t need practical reasons when you are in as envious a position as you are, my friend. You may look at OSU athletics, or the architecture of the Vanderbilt campus…or try comparing Nashville to Columbus. Something like that maybe?</p>
<p>Athletics don’t matter unless you actually play 'em.</p>
<p>Vandy should have been the answer from the beginning.</p>
<p>Well, there’s a lot of things, really.
One of them is that I want more of a challenge than Ohio State. I’ve spent a year here, and still haven’t gotten any B’s. I want to have to struggle to get an A.
Also, it is hard to get the personal attention of a professor. I mean, the classes aren’t all that large for honors students, but the professors still have tons and tons of students to deal with on a daily basis.
Plus, I’m not a big fan of telling people I go to a school and immediately being forced into a conversation about football. Sure, I love the Buckeyes, but I don’t like mentioning where I go to school and immediately getting into a conversation about the latest sports news.
Basically, the challenge is probably the biggest factor here.</p>