Need sincere advice regarding Vandy v. UCSD

Faline2
Tue, 17 May 2011 08:55:31 +0000

I don’t think “vandy curves better” can be concluded at all from the ave gpas above. 25% of this year’s incoming class tested near perfect on a standardized entrance exam. The typical Vanderbilt student had an A average in the most demanding curriculum in American high schools before showing up. My son’s friends all work very hard. A’s take a lot of discipline and stellar writing or lab work, B’s take a lot of focused work. Not atypical at all at peer institutions. Same at Duke where eldest son graduated. I believe their average GPA is 3.4ish. Rather than competing with each other, which would be a hopeless enterprise in top 20-30 institutions of students of equal talent, success at these colleges requires individual mettle, self-direction, vision and discipline and running your own race while admiring the talents of your classmates.
Graduate schools have their own formulas and ways of judging the level of difficulty at undergraduate colleges re GPA scores.
Aren’t the real differences between the institutions things like discussion based and/or smaller class sizes, national footprint of student body, and selectivity factors for membership in the freshman class, four years likely of residing on campus, amount of money spent per student, endowment factors, four undergraduate colleges (engineering, arts and sciences, conservatory of music, and HOD Peabody) and alumni networking factors among other ways to compare and contrast? If you have a chosen major or educational focus, you should be judging the institutional resources related to your field of study.
Disappointing your parents by appearing to be willing to spend their money is certainly a chilling factor for anyone your age. However, many people would consider getting an education that costs full price students over 55 thousand a year for 21 thousand to be a really great opportunity…again, an opportunity based on the vast amount of money that Vanderbilt will put toward financial need and merit aid for its students that exceeds the endowment of most institutions.
If you were admitted to Vanderbilt in a year that the waitlist looks just like the admitted list, you can no doubt make an education at UCSD shine and you have the personal power to be a top student there as long as you stay focused. However, are you looking ahead with vision at the possible advantages from Vandy at outcomes for your next round, graduate school admissions if relevant?