First, congratulations to your child! Second, I will choose Yale.

I would pick Yale as an easy call, but he should go to Visitas and Bulldog Days and see which place excites him more

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an aside, if Vandy really wants its scholarship to compete with the top tier of schools (HYPSM), why on earth don’t they give it to donut hole families? I mean 360k for Harvard vs. $0 for Vandy is a different discussion entirely: most donut hole families would pick Vandy.

Everyone is up for the named scholarships at Vandy regardless of income.

Sure, officially. But it is embarrassing when kids don’t accept, if you catch my drift.

Harvard of Yale without a doubt.

I would personally pick Yale.

Anonymous wrote:As an aside, if Vandy really wants its scholarship to compete with the top tier of schools (HYPSM), why on earth don’t they give it to donut hole families? I mean 360k for Harvard vs. $0 for Vandy is a different discussion entirely: most donut hole families would pick Vandy.

Everyone is up for the named scholarships at Vandy regardless of income.

Duke is Duke!

As an aside, if Vandy really wants its scholarship to compete with the top tier of schools (HYPSM), why on earth don’t they give it to donut hole families? I mean 360k for Harvard vs. $0 for Vandy is a different discussion entirely: most donut hole families would pick Vandy.

That's a nice decision to have. I think most people will say go to Harvard. But four years is a long time for an 18 year old, so I'd look at where they are going to have the best experience. I'd really suggest visiting if you can to get a feel for each school.

We looked at three of those four schools. My own personal opinion is that Yale is better than Harvard for undergrad. And Vanderbilt is better than Duke for undergrad. If interested in Wall Street, of course Harvard. But for the best undergrad experience, I think Yale or Vanderbilt. But visit. All four schools will be good for law school. Vandy and Yale both have good vibes for undergrad. But - looking at a calculator - 0$ is still 0$. Those Vandy scholarships are hard to get.

Anonymous wrote:Is the vandy scholarship named? That may have more prestige on a law school application.

This is a great point actually. DD is on a full ride scholarship and puts it on her resume saying that only 8 were awarded it out of 50,000 applicants. She is getting interviews and internships at the most competitive companies.

What family income gets that much aid these days?

I grew up poor and took the prestige school discounted with financial aid and student loans instead of full ride at a safety school. I think it was a good move career-wise but I did feel under prepared at HYPS and sometimes wonder what it would have been like to be one of the smarter kids at the less prestigious school instead of feeling like just squeaking by. It was a little rough on the self esteem.

Harvard over the full ride, Harvard over Yale, Harvard over Duke.

Duke is a great school, but in neither Harvard nor Yale’s league — you esteem it too highly. In fact, Duke is closer to Vandy than it is to Harvard.

In any case, you are paying almost nothing for school; it is basically free tuition everywhere, but Vandy is also coughing up room and board.

So you are really asking, “Should I reject free tuition at Harvard for tuition, room and board at Vandy?” Put this way, I hope you can see that picking Vandy over Harvard just for a room and board benefit is silly.

Is the vandy scholarship named? That may have more prestige on a law school application.

Anonymous wrote:Harvard or Yale duh. Why would you even consider Vandy. It’s for dumb rich kids. Duke is slightly better but still a big drop below HY

Maybe in the 90s, but that hasn't been true in a long time. Vandy's average ACT is 34. They're competing with several Ivies for students now, and they are very hard to get into. The unique mix of Greek life, SEC sports, and warm weather has made them extremely enticing to a lot of high school seniors.

Yale and don’t gove it a second thought.

Yale at $14k is a complete steal. So many DMV families would be sobbing in euphoria if their kid had that opportunity. That isn't something you pass up.

Vanderbilt is a great school, but simply not on the level of Harvard or Yale. None of their programs have high departmental rankings. It's a very beautiful place with raucous Greek life and beautiful southern girls, which has made it popular with a lot of 18 year olds.