Vanderbilt v. George Washington

IN_DC
Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:59:54 +0000

Very sorry for one more “v.” thread. While there are certainly biases in those who respond to posts on the Vanderbilt board, I am hoping to find as much of an objective response as I can. I have narrowed my choices to two schools: GW and Vanderbilt. I am a biology major. I have a completely free ride to GW, and I currently live in DC. I have been lucky to get a good amount of money for Vanderbilt, and will graduate with ~$20K in loan debt. Certainly, no debt is better than having debt, but my question is: is Vanderbilt worth that amount of debt, over being debt free from GW. Since I am a biology major, and not political science or international affairs, which school has a better reputation among graduate schools, and does that really matter?

Oh yeah, and all of this is complicated by the fact that I have a “guaranteed transfer” to Cornell for my sophomore year. So, I could go to GW for a year for free and transfer.

I know this is late, but like you, I have to make a decision very soon. Any advice?