UF (Full ride) vs Vanderbilt (Full Tuition) for Pre-med - 1 day left...

[DecisiveCookie]

I am a Florida resident with 2 days left to decide my undergrad institute. I plan on majoring in biology and minoring in data science.

-With Vanderbilt cost is $30K/year after full tuition merit scholarship (Cornelius Vanderbilt). This comes with an honors program (I personally don't think is very useful because its already a private school).

- UF I make around $50K in four years after full ride +Other scholarships (National Merit, Presidential, etc, all Merit and not need based) (Comes with honors and research scholars program which gives priority for class enrollment and research - very good since its a big public university.)

- I am 100% on this take home $$ since I know tons of students taking home money in Florida with Benacquisto and Presidential. People who does not live in Florida do not know this.

I will be mostly in top 5% with the type of scholarships in both schools and ultimate goal is to go to T20 -T30 Medical school because I want to match into a competitive residency and potentially go into academia. What do you think the better option is?

I personally think I am capable of getting enough opportunities wherever I go and I don't need the private school level of abundance of opportunities. For example in high school I got NIH and NSF paid research internships.

UF PROS:
-Closer to home (can drive home once a month if I want)
-Bringing home money
-Better weather/ Nicest dorms ever/ No travel hassle (just a few hours from home)
-Slightly easier to maintain higher GPA
-I am bringing in 70 college credits from high school so a lot more flexibility/free time for extracurriculars.
-Better chance of getting into UF's no MCAT BSMD.

UF CONS:
-Less prestige, lower ranked? (I don't care much about this prestige difference, my only concern is if it affects med school admissions.
-Premed opportunities are very saturated. Very hard to get clinical/shadowing opportunities. Research is still possible, just more cold emailing, not a big concern. I can always come home for summer and get this done.
-Lower chances of getting T10/T20 med school??
-More rural area.

Vanderbilt PROS
- Much better med school and medical center on campus.
-Tons of clinical and research opportunities.
- Slightly more prestigious (for med school admissions?)
-Increased chance of admission to Vanderbilt Med school.
-Bigger city? I really don't care much about this though.

Vanderbilt CONS
-Can only bring 30 college credits from High School, which is still acceptable.
-Slightly harder/more stressful courses (especially weed outs) that makes it hard to get 4.0 GPA. 3.9 still possible.
-Farther from home
-Required to live on campus all 4 years with mandatory meal plan.


I will fortunately not need to take loans for Vanderbilt but money is money and if it is not necessary to be spent on undergrad, it can always be used for med school.
Also Vanderbilt is not HYPS or at that level so I personally don't think it is worth that much more than UF? Does anyone think otherwise?

Thank you so much.

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[wysdoc]

I don’t think you properly understand how things work if you have been awarded several scholarships.
You can google “scholarship stacking”.
If you have awards from several places the college will probably credit you with the grants & outright scholarships first, then school based scholarships, leaving any remaining expenses to loans if needed.
You will not be getting more money than the total cost of attendance, or as you put it, bringing home money or making a profit by going to that school

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Okay, this is for entry as an undergrad.

I agree... I'm not sure that's how your financial aid works. Undergrads will get more grants than loans.

Which school has the better student support, including their prehealth advising community, for you?

We also are not taking into account any plans you have to side-hustle like many of your undergrad peers could be doing (monetizing your own vlog/IG/TT "my life" influencer videos).

 

[DecisiveCookie]

I don’t think you properly understand how things work if you have been awarded several scholarships.
You can google “scholarship stacking”.
If you have awards from several places the college will probably credit you with the grants & outright scholarships first, then school based scholarships, leaving any remaining expenses to loans if needed.
You will not be getting more money than the total cost of attendance, or as you put it, bringing home money or making a profit by going to that school

I spoke with the university and the scholarships do stack. UF awarded a full cost of attendance scholarship plus the UF presidential scholarship which 100% stacks.

 

[DecisiveCookie]

Okay, this is for entry as an undergrad.

I agree... I'm not sure that's how your financial aid works. Undergrads will get more grants than loans.

Which school has the better student support, including their prehealth advising community, for you?

We also are not taking into account any plans you have to side-hustle like many of your undergrad peers could be doing (monetizing your own vlog/IG/TT "my life" influencer videos).

I am not getting any financial aid. This is all merit scholarship money.

 

[wysdoc]

I spoke with the university and the scholarships do stack. UF awarded a full cost of attendance scholarship plus the UF presidential scholarship which 100% stacks.

They will stack UP TO the full COA as determined by your school’s financial aid office.
I know you think you’re right but you will see.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Yes, confirm this. Most financial aid offices like to spread award money around. Congratulations!

 

[AJS59]

Yeah I don't think you're going to be making income off of just scholarships alone; schools won't send you a check for anything above cost of attendance unless your scholarship specifies that you are getting a stipend.

Anyways, the more valuable way to look at it is this: approximately 120k in loans/parental contributions for undergrad for Vandy, vs. 0k for UF. You're right that Vandy offers more opportunities than UF but I don't think it's that much more, and if you hustle you'll find a way. .

Undergrad prestige carries generally little weight in admissions; only for the Harvards of the world does it really weigh into account and even then not that much. What matters more is being able to crush it in your classes and take advantage of your opportunities, for which you'll find plenty in both Gainesville and Nashville. Likewise, going to Vandy does not necessarily give you a leg up in admissions for Vandy specifically (source: Applied to my own undergrad's MD program and was summarily rejected pre-II).

I think the question to ask is do you see yourself significantly happier at Vandy (for whatever reason) than at UF for the next 4 years. Remember, college is an experience you get once and only once. If the answer is no, then take the cheaper outcome and don't look back on it.

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

It is not hard to get premed opportunities at UF. As a non-trad out of school for 10+ years and locked out of UF-specific opportunities, I still got hundreds of clinical and nonclinical volunteer hours and shadowing. I built a strong mentorship with a PP physician as well who wrote me a great letter and let me shadow/MA for her.

If you can't find opportunity at UF, you're not doing it right.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Nobody cares where you went to undergrad, they care about your GPA and MCAT and research output. Vandy may help in the research sense, but it certainly isn't enough to justify the cost of 4 years of living.

Go to UF

 

[DecisiveCookie]

Yeah I don't think you're going to be making income off of just scholarships alone; schools won't send you a check for anything above cost of attendance unless your scholarship specifies that you are getting a stipend.

Anyways, the more valuable way to look at it is this: approximately 120k in loans/parental contributions for undergrad for Vandy, vs. 0k for UF. You're right that Vandy offers more opportunities than UF but I don't think it's that much more, and if you hustle you'll find a way. .

Undergrad prestige carries generally little weight in admissions; only for the Harvards of the world does it really weigh into account and even then not that much. What matters more is being able to crush it in your classes and take advantage of your opportunities, for which you'll find plenty in both Gainesville and Nashville. Likewise, going to Vandy does not necessarily give you a leg up in admissions for Vandy specifically (source: Applied to my own undergrad's MD program and was summarily rejected pre-II).

I think the question to ask is do you see yourself significantly happier at Vandy (for whatever reason) than at UF for the next 4 years. Remember, college is an experience you get once and only once. If the answer is no, then take the cheaper outcome and don't look back on it.

Thank you so much and 100% agree. Don't mind can I ask you which undergrad you went to?

 

[Goro]

Always go for the full ride.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

After confirmation: well then... money is good to have, but spend it wisely. Save it up for all the medical school application stuff ahead.

 

[chilly_md]

Moved to hSDN