Vanderbilt Over Yale?
Posted on April 30th, 2010 in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »
A high school senior, blogging on NYTimes.com, reflects on a choice he will likely regret for the rest of his life: choosing Vanderbilt over Yale.
I’m now officially a Vanderbilt Commodore, and it couldn’t feel more right. Vandy has everything I’m looking for, and in thinking about the incredible opportunities the school will give me, I feel excited and even a little giddy….
Yale may have dodged a bullet here.
9 Responses
4/30/2010 11:46 am
Why will he regret it?
4/30/2010 12:04 pm
Also, he won a Vanderbilt merit scholarship — which makes it quite a bit different, and quite a bit less likely that he will regret it. People turn down Harvard and Yale for Duke — when they win a Robertson or AB Duke.
4/30/2010 1:03 pm
Yeah, Richard. What gives? Shed some light; I know you’re not a snob.
4/30/2010 2:41 pm
No, not a snob, and if Vanderbilt is really the right place for him, good on him for choosing it. I just think that, though Vanderbilt is a fine school and nothing to shake a stick at, the quality of the education can’t match Yale’s, and having a degree from Vanderbilt versus one from Yale has economic implications down the road.
I wouldn’t turn down Harvard or Yale for Duke based on academics, certainly. Weather, maybe. Social life, perhaps. But academics, not a chance.
4/30/2010 4:42 pm
The only trouble is, if you go to Yale you’ll be murdered:
http://gawker.com/5525178/doctor-fatally-shot-in-another-ivy+league-murder
4/30/2010 4:45 pm
Oopsy, wrong link - here it is: “Yale - Murdertown of the Ivies”:
http://gawker.com/5358958/yale-university-murdertown-of-the-ivies
5/1/2024 2:54 pm
Not in the South, my friend…..
5/1/2024 2:56 pm
So, exactly why did Yale dodge a bullet? Are you implying that this
person is an idiot?
5/3/2024 10:33 am
The economic implications of going to Yale with no scholarship versus going to Vanderbilt with a scholarship are significant. I believe he’s playing his cards right. Using his current logic, he’ll continue to avoid a life of indentured servitude.
As someone with an Ivy undergraduate degree, I believe the degree does help land the first job in a well-established entity. Yet, the salary is still barely enough to move out of your parents’ place unless you go into the economics, accounting, or finance fields. Intelligent enterprising people will always find their way — it make take them longer, but they can do so without going to an Ivy.
Besides, he can always go to Yale to get a graduate degree after he’s made his money. The higher degrees are what really count when it comes to making the big bucks. After two or three years of working professionally, the undergraduate degree is just a nice little bonus — but not a make/break factor in landing career positions.