Feeling really grateful for how my cycle turned out and looking for some perspective.

I was fortunate to receive an acceptance to JHU today, but I don’t qualify for need-based aid. I was also offered a full-tuition scholarship at Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt is an incredible school with a really supportive culture, and realistically anything I’d want to pursue (research, academics, service, etc.) I could absolutely do there. Financially, it’s also the much more responsible choice, and I recognize how lucky I am to even have that option.

That said, I’m having a bit of a hard time emotionally letting go of Hopkins. Part of me wonders if I’d regret turning down the chance to go somewhere like that on the East Coast, especially since I made a similar decision for undergrad to save money for med school.

I know this is a very fortunate problem to have, but I’d really appreciate hearing how others approached (or are planning to a approach) similar decisions between cost and a “dream” school.