Rutgers SAS Honors (full ride) vs. Vanderbilt

SoundOfSilence
Sun, 12 May 2013 19:00:38 +0000

Hey everyone,

(First, a disclaimer: some of you may remember me posting a similar thread earlier, and the situation here is nearly identical - this time, however, it’s Rutgers vs. Vanderbilt). Apologies if this annoys you in any way, haha. I certainly don’t have anything against revised advice, though!

I was recently taken off of Vanderbilt’s waitlist and offered a spot in the College of Arts and Sciences as a member of its freshman Class of 2017. However, I had already been offered a full-ride scholarship (Presidential) to the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences Honors Program and committed/deposited there before hearing from Vanderbilt, and am now very unsure as to which school I should spend the next four years at. Here’s a summary of my situation:

-I don’t have a single concrete (or even semi-formed, really) idea as to what majors/fields of study I truly want to pursue in my undergraduate/graduate studies, and in my future career path(s); all I really know is that I will almost certainly pursue a BA (or preferably and if possible, BS) in some natural science (or perhaps economics) and that law, medicine, and business - in that approximate order of descending preference - are the only three professional paths that I’ve ever genuinely felt interested in (although it should be noted that I want to have a college experience where I’m exposed to as much as possible so that I can find my true passions, which I feel I currently know very, very little about).

I’ve never been too clear on whether it’s better to go for free to a decent school or to pay a sizable amount to go to a Top 20 school when one is (almost completely) undecided regarding majors/etc; some insight here would be much appreciated.

-Even though Vanderbilt is obviously highly-regarded and Nashville’s a relatively large city, I want to make sure that going to school in the South does not restrict my chances of returning to the Northeast (where I hope to spend the overwhelming majority, if not all of my professional life) in any way - I’m not trying to be condescending, but have occasionally heard that Vanderbilt alumni often end up working, etc. in the South.

That aside, I’m sure I’d enjoy the social life, culture, surrounding areas, etc. at Vanderbilt quite a bit more than I’d enjoy those same types of things at Rutgers (New Brunswick). Also, based on what I know, I feel that the research/internship opportunities at the two schools wouldn’t be too different - correct me if I’m wrong, though!

-Opportunities to get into (and still be able to afford) the nation’s top (ie. Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Duke) graduate programs, especially those in the busiest Northeastern cities is *paramount[\i] in regards to my future goals - whether it be medicine or law (my preferred options) or business (would still appeal), I sincerely want to go to a school that has at least consistent history with feeding into those graduate programs/being recruited by big-name employers, but without accruing a crippling amount of undergraduate debt (this is where the money, which is really the only thing stopping me from immediately choosing Vanderbilt, comes in - more on that below).

-Anyways, here’s the financial situation:

Vanderbilt (through grants and Work-Study) is offering me about $33,000 in aid per year - this, with the ~$61,000/year cost of attendance, means that I would be paying about $28,700 per year to attend. I’m not sure whether there are any merit scholarships I can still apply for (or apply after my freshman year there), so $28,700/year seems like it would be the final price to attend Vandy. Based on loan calculators and whatnot, I’d be going into ~$150,000 of debt after four years (my parents says they won’t contribute anything, and would rather I take out loans).

Rutgers, on the other hand, is offering to fully cover the $24,700/year cost of attendance for me to attend its School of Arts and Sciences Honors Program, for four years - this essentially means that I’d be attending the honors program for four years for free (excluding what little rises in tuition that might occur).

If I was certain that I’d be going into graduate school (as of now, I’m only fairly confident), then Rutgers would be a no-brainer choice for me.

But I’m a bit worried: does Vanderbilt’s prestige superiority over Rutgers (and specifically, over even Rutgers SAS Honors) justify an undecided student’s going there over Rutgers Honors? For perspective, my parents make around the $120k/year range and ardently favor my attending Rutgers, but I’m sure they would support my decision either way.

My general question is: given my academic/social, but most importantly financial situation, what reasons (preferably supported by facts/stats, although I would definitely appreciate anyone’s opinion just as much) can one come up with for attending either school over the other? In addition to the above factors, I’d also like to add that studying abroad (probably in the UK and China, in no specific order of preference), getting prestigious internships in the Northeast/research anywhere, perhaps winning a Rhodes/Gates scholarship, and (most importantly) not at all limiting my chances of attending one of the very best (ie. Harvard/Yale/Stanford) graduate schools are all rather important in my decision.

Sorry for the super long post, and again: I appreciate with all my heart any advice anyone (attending either of the schools, or even any other school) can give.