Scholarship from MSU vs Vandy?

[MonkeyCheese]

In light of the USM/Vandy question (that was raised because of Tip McKenzie'scommitmentto USM over Vandy (was it acommittableoffer?)) someone posed the question about sending your son to Vandy or not instead of a offer to play football at MSU?<div>
</div><div>What would you do? Your son is a great high school football player. Vandy has offered, but so has Mississippi State. Your kid is pretty smart and you think he has potential to do quite well both on the field and in the classroom. How do you decide? Is it a hard or an easy decision?</div>

 

[MonkeyCheese]

In light of the USM/Vandy question (that was raised because of Tip McKenzie'scommitmentto USM over Vandy (was it acommittableoffer?)) someone posed the question about sending your son to Vandy or not instead of a offer to play football at MSU?<div>
</div><div>What would you do? Your son is a great high school football player. Vandy has offered, but so has Mississippi State. Your kid is pretty smart and you think he has potential to do quite well both on the field and in the classroom. How do you decide? Is it a hard or an easy decision?</div>

 

[coach66]

also depend on the position and playing time, etc. etc. As I said in the thread earlier Vandy is a very unique opportunity!

 

[Chickamauga]

It's not. I seriously think a lot of its prestige lies in the fact that it's expensive and private.

Students who are truly looking for the caliber of education Vanderbilt offers can find it easily at any state university in the SEC.

 

[seshomoru]

That's all on your own personal work ethic and talent.

If I'm smart enough to get into Vandy and have it paid for, it would be pretty hard to turn down.

 

[hatfieldms]

....

 

[coach66]

know and have worked with but the contacts you make there are incredibly useful in your professional career in most cases and while that can be said of most SEC schools I think it is huge at Vandy.

 

[ckDOG]

If I'm paying my own way through school, there's no way in hell I go to Vandy or any other school that expensive. I can be adequately educated at a State University without being crippled by mounds of debt and likely have a more realistic outlook on careers progression and what it takes to advance (there's a sense of entitlement amongst the graduates of high-priced institutions).

However, if I'm going for free, I'd take the Vandy education. It's still a better education, just not worth the money you have to shell out to get it.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

I know Duke grads make a shitload more. It's not even funny. People getting over 100k right out of school.

 

[codeDawg]

[No message]

 

[Chickamauga]

that you'll do fine if you're smart enough to get into Vandy but decide to go to Ole Miss or State.

What can you do to make $100k with just a bachelor's degree anymore, anyway? Investment banking?

 

[Chickamauga]

grindinku</p>

 

[thatsbaseball]

Diddy owns the company

 

[boomboommsu]

should you want to quit football and focus on academics, at MSU it wouldn't be a problem, but at Vandy the cost would probably prohibit it.

other than that, the schools are close enough academically (especially in engineering, maybe not in some other areas)that that shouldn't be the basis for a decision. if you like Nashville better, that's reason enough. same if you'd rather be closer to home, would rather not be surrounded by insufferable rich a-holes, etc.

 

[seshomoru]

If I'm paying my own way through school, there's no way in hell I go to Vandy or any other school that expensive. I can be adequately educated at a State University without being crippled by mounds of debt and likely have a more realistic outlook on careers progression and what it takes to advance (there's a sense of entitlement amongst the graduates of high-priced institutions).

<span style="font-weight: bold;">However, if I'm going for free, I'd take the Vandy education. It's still a better education, just not worth the money you have to shell out to get it.</span>

Free ride to MSU vs mounds of debt at Vandy? Go Dogs.

Getting a free ride to both? Go 'Dores.

 

[boomboommsu]

maybe not in this hiring environment, but before the recession at least a handful of state grads got that per year. usually to oil companies.

i think top investment banker hiresget grad degrees.

 

[thatsbaseball]

nm

 

[benatmsu]

What can you do to make $100k with just a bachelor's degree anymore, anyway? Investment banking?

It's not as uncommon as you might think. You may not be able to live in MS and do it, but you can certainly do it.

 

[ckDOG]

Regardless of institution. Maybe some ivy-leagues can swing an investment banking gig in NYC that pays 6 figures - but what does 6 figures in NYC get you? An MBA from a Vandy or better type school could land you a 6 figure job, but most of the MBA grads at those schools have several years of experience.

ETA: there's probably some engineering jobs out there that are very high paying (in a better economy at least) fresh out school. State Universities probably place as many of those graduates as do the "A list" institutions.

 

[dawgs.sixpack]

know and have worked with but the contacts you make there are incredibly useful in your professional career in most cases and while that can be said of most SEC schools I think it is huge at Vandy.

^ this. the connections and feet in the doors you get just by going to an prestigious private (or elite public) university is worth it alone.<div>
</div><div>obviously paying your own way, not so much, but if it's free, then no doubt in my mind.</div><div>
</div><div>now if you are content to stay in MS or close surrounding areas, a MSU degree and decent grades and the MSU alum connections are probably fine, but if you wanna venture outside of MS and immediate surrounding areas, the vandys and dukes and stanfords and ivy league schools blow avg state schools like MSU out of the water. and believe it or not, even country boys wanna leave the state sometimes.
</div><div>
</div><div>that's not a knock on MSU, just the reality all but a small handful of public universities face (texas, uva, michigan, cal, unc, ucla).</div><div>
</div><div>now once you have plenty of experience, where you went to school doesn't matter, just be able to provide glowing references who'll vouch for the job you did at your previous position. but in the current job market, that first real career opportunity is the hardest to get, and that makes a vandy-type name degree even more worthwhile.</div>

 

[codeDawg]

I think the point is that if you are a mediocre student who happened to squeeze his way into Vandy and intend to do just enough to keep your head above water, there is no point.

However, serious students with serious career aspirations with have, in addition to a superior education, access to higher paying jobs and will be better connected after graduation.

The notion that any SEC school provides just as good an education as Vandy is laughable, but the educational experience is what you make of it.

I'm sure there is anicdotal evidence of this Vandy idiot, or this genius MS grad, but the average salaries don't lie. Per payscale.com, the median starting salary of a Vandy grad is $52,000 and the mid-career salary is $104,000. For MSU it is $43,000 and $76,700. For UM, $41,200 and $76,500. That's a pretty big gap.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

[No message]

 

[codeDawg]

[No message]

 

[ckDOG]

I'm sure there is anicdotal evidence of this Vandy idiot, or this genius MS grad, but the average salaries don't lie. Per payscale.com, the median starting salary of a Vandy grad is $52,000 and the mid-career salary is $104,000. For MSU it is $43,000 and $76,700. For UM, $41,200 and $76,500. That's a pretty big gap.

We need major to major salary comparisons. People don't chose schools based on the school's average beginning and mid-point salaries. I'm an accountant, I'd like to know the Accounting to Accounting comparison. I bet it's not much different and the differences that do exist could be explained away by geographic factors (Vandy has more city-based alum, MSU has more rural-based alum). Of course, there are probably some majors where they blow us out of the water and some where it's so close the discrepancy in tuition costs make it a no-brainer to attend a State University.

Additionally, there could be some serious mix considerations throwing off the institution average. $52k vs $43k could simply be Vandy having more graduates in programs that command higher salaries. If that's the case, comparing institutional averages isn't that valuable.

 

[Chickamauga]

I have my doubts that the median salary of Loma Linda University graduates is really $12,000 more than the median salary of Harvard graduates. I suspect that, like a lot of career surveys of recent college graduates, this one may rely on self-reporting and be deeply flawed.

More fundamentally, though, I'm not comparing an average student at State/Ole Miss to an average student at Vanderbilt. I'm comparing the best to the best. The most elite students at any public school in the SEC are going to be able to match up with their peers at Vanderbilt in terms of jobs and admission to top-tier graduate programs.