vanderbilt vs. MTSU
Thanks to those of you who have been keeping up with my life (and are reading this post); I sure haven't been, lately. This is the first time I've even logged on to LJ in over two months. I've been keeping myself far too busy... The semester is ALMOST OVER!
I've been accepted as a Transfer Student to Vanderbilt, starting with the Fall 2007 semester.
Do you think I should go? I'm trying to list every cost and benefit of attending each university. MTSU has several problems, but I've gotten settled, have made friends, and the most important department to me, the Physics department (my major), is good. Those things aside, the rest of MTSU is kind of bad. Generally low standards, mediocre environment: but it's cheap! As far as the dorms, landscaping, and facilities go, you get what you pay for, and for the price, it functions fine. (Well, the dorms suck, but the buildings and landscaping serve their purpose.)
Vanderbilt is so expensive! Approximately $50000 per year, not including any financial aid. By the time I'd graduate, the amount I'll owe could buy a house. I've heard that physics is physics, calculus is calculus, that it doesn't matter where you go for your undergraduate degree; all that matters is what you can do when you leave... and that their department isn't any better than MTSU's. In fact, the reverse could very well be true: MTSU has no graduate Physics program, and so their department is devoted to helping their undergraduates. Vanderbilt has a lot of research, and so they have more faculty that are more interested in research than teaching. That doesn't help me out.
I'm very indecisive... any thoughts? I feel compelled to accept, simply because Vanderbilt is so famous -- it seems like a once-in-a-lifetime offer...
I've been accepted as a Transfer Student to Vanderbilt, starting with the Fall 2007 semester.
Do you think I should go? I'm trying to list every cost and benefit of attending each university. MTSU has several problems, but I've gotten settled, have made friends, and the most important department to me, the Physics department (my major), is good. Those things aside, the rest of MTSU is kind of bad. Generally low standards, mediocre environment: but it's cheap! As far as the dorms, landscaping, and facilities go, you get what you pay for, and for the price, it functions fine. (Well, the dorms suck, but the buildings and landscaping serve their purpose.)
Vanderbilt is so expensive! Approximately $50000 per year, not including any financial aid. By the time I'd graduate, the amount I'll owe could buy a house. I've heard that physics is physics, calculus is calculus, that it doesn't matter where you go for your undergraduate degree; all that matters is what you can do when you leave... and that their department isn't any better than MTSU's. In fact, the reverse could very well be true: MTSU has no graduate Physics program, and so their department is devoted to helping their undergraduates. Vanderbilt has a lot of research, and so they have more faculty that are more interested in research than teaching. That doesn't help me out.
I'm very indecisive... any thoughts? I feel compelled to accept, simply because Vanderbilt is so famous -- it seems like a once-in-a-lifetime offer...