Vanderbilt Thriving In Trump Era With Apolitical Atmosphere: Bloomberg

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you believe all the anti-Asians, Vandy will soon lose its luster with the crowd that supposedly is the subject of this article as the Asian population is now approaching 20% and rising.

Yes, and then the high achieving whites who want to balance academics with a robust social scene will move elsewhere and another school will become hot and then it too will change over time.
It happened at Duke and Northwestern. My freshman is at Dartmouth and it's happening there too---the crowd has really changed since a cousin attended 5 years ago.
The smart but socially-oriented kids will move on. Probably next to somewhere like Wake Forest or back to University of Chicago (which is becoming more chill).

I know people will say this is just racist but it's just kids trying to find a place of balance.

Agree.
I personally like wake forest, Washington &lee, or even UVA, as long as white is the dominant majority, it’s fine.

White is the dominant majority at nearly all schools.

It’s funny how the mediocre white folks are coming out of the woodwork. No pretense that they can compete anymore so just retreat.

BTW, UVA is 31% Asian…also continuing to rise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you believe all the anti-Asians, Vandy will soon lose its luster with the crowd that supposedly is the subject of this article as the Asian population is now approaching 20% and rising.

Yes, and then the high achieving whites who want to balance academics with a robust social scene will move elsewhere and another school will become hot and then it too will change over time.
It happened at Duke and Northwestern. My freshman is at Dartmouth and it's happening there too---the crowd has really changed since a cousin attended 5 years ago.
The smart but socially-oriented kids will move on. Probably next to somewhere like Wake Forest or back to University of Chicago (which is becoming more chill).

I know people will say this is just racist but it's just kids trying to find a place of balance.

Agree.
I personally like wake forest, Washington &lee, or even UVA, as long as white is the dominant majority, it’s fine.

WTAF?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vanderbilt is a pretty place, but I don't understand the hype. None of their departments are ranked top 10 nationally. The school gamed the USNWR metrics to ascend the rankings and now they're taking advantage of the political environment to gain an edge on peers.

Can you cite some evidence for this? Things Vandy has done in the past five years or so that we’re not also done by other top 20 schools

Vandy certainly cried the loudest when they dropped like 4 slots. Most students and alums were fairly embarrassed that the administration would whine so much in public about it.

+1000 chancellor wined like a three year old. Vanderbilt was a nothing burger not too long ago.

The darling of this thread, Penn, had 34% admission rate in the 90s. Just like Vanderbilt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-09-05/vanderbilt-university-thrives-under-trump-amid-attacks-on-higher-ed

According to the Bloomberg article, Vanderbilt University has seen their stock rise meteorically by branding themselves as apolitical and fun instead of an activist hotspot like the Ivies. they're seen huge increase in interest from families across the country that want their kids to evade left-wing monoculture at the Ivy League and are now getting kids that in other years would've gone to HYP.

LOL there is no chance any student in their right mind is turning down Harvard, Yale or Princeton for ... Vanderbilt.

For a Vandy free ride vs HYP 500k they probably would. Vanderbilt is well endowed and gives out a number of free rides to those who would get in HYP but probably would not get any money…they are not easy to get but if a kid is getting in HYP they probably would be on the short list for one of vandys full rides

DC got one of the Vanderbilt full tuition scholarships, but turned it down for HYP (got into all HYP).

[Anonymous]

Anyone who sends a kid to a Tennessee in this political climate is a sucky parent especially a dd

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like Vandy is trying to carve a niche as an Ivy-alternative for politically moderate or conservative families that want elite academics without the intense left-wing political atmosphere. The incessant protests at many elite colleges spooked a lot of families, especially Jewish families.

Vanderbilt is leaning into their southern, apolitical, athletic, socially balanced image because they know it's an asset in an era where people are tired of being inundated with progressive agendas.

These same people are those who are dumb enough to believe that all of the Ivies are non-stop protests and activism. Yes, it happened, but it wasn't constantly in your face like Fox News would lead you to believe. I think the Ivies are in some ways better off without these people as they are too dumb to think critically and evaluate news sources. And I say this as a Jew with an ivy league degree - not thrilled with how my alma mater handled things, but that is just one of many data points and it wasn't that bad.

I know plenty of conservative kids and Jewish kids at Ivies that say it isn't truly as bad as the news made it out to be. However, the non-stop coverage and disruptiveness of the protesters tainted the image of these schools in the eyes of many people. Seeing students proudly sporting flags of foreign terrorist groups made these schools look horrible.

💯
The Hezbollah flag flying at these schools…
What?!?!?

And the fact that these schools never enforced their own permitting/ gathering/ loitering rules….
You can’t disrupt other people’s lives at college with your protest in favor of terrorism.

That is your viewpoint. Others think politically active college students is a good thing. Many esteemed scholars now believe that Israel is conducting genocide in Gaza so the college protesters were prescient and more aware than the general public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like Vandy is trying to carve a niche as an Ivy-alternative for politically moderate or conservative families that want elite academics without the intense left-wing political atmosphere. The incessant protests at many elite colleges spooked a lot of families, especially Jewish families.

Vanderbilt is leaning into their southern, apolitical, athletic, socially balanced image because they know it's an asset in an era where people are tired of being inundated with progressive agendas.

In this world, apolitical means conservative and upper middle class white, because they can afford to be apolitical in this climate because they are the only people who feel that they have nothing to lose under this new regime. Their daughters will still be able to get safe abortions in secret, they won’t be disappeared by ICE (only their household help, and they will just be forced to hire new help with papers), they are not gay or trans.

So of course they can go to schools like Vandy and have a blast in a bubble surrounded by other kids from similar families.

Well said. I agree completely

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand most of these articles. Nearly every top 100 school has seen a big jump in applications over the last 5 years.

You could write the exact same article about every top 20 school and just find and replace a couple of location-specific comments.

The one hard truth is that test required always results in fewer applications. Brown applications were through the roof through 2023 and then dropped 15% when test required. MIT applications dropped 25% when back to test required.

You will see similar drops with the other schools re instituting test required.

You clearly aren’t in the same finance/PE circle I’m in. Or private school circles. And yes many in this circle are centrist Dems too.

This article was in Bloomberg. Not somewhere else. The school is actively cultivating Wall Street (NY and Palm Beach campuses?) along with donors.

No one in my circles is talking about any other college right now for their kids - ED - other than this. People are looking for private counselors who specialize in Vanderbilt. In some ways I think it’s like the Dartmouth of the 1990s. A little insulated bubble that’s fun and studious.

There’s a weird frenzy about Vanderbilt in the top .1%. My kids private school this senior class - 10% are ED to Vanderbilt. Including class president with 3.95uw and 35.

Note: my kid doesn’t attend Vanderbilt but did get in and turned it down for a T10. Still wondering if made the right decision.

You're very self-impressed, Ms. Humblebrag. Why don't you focus on enjoying your yacht rather than blessing us average, ignorant folk with your wisdom?

This is such an exaggeration. There is some minimal basis in truth, but not much. Ironically, it actually sounds more like Duke to me, though even Duke is not this extreme.

Exactly. That nutso person is completely exaggerating. My kid is applying to college right now and none of his friends are talking about Vandy. It’s a fine school but there are many other good schools as well. Not sure what the agenda is for some of these Vanderbilt boosters. It is very strange

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This isn’t rocket science. They followed a formula. It worked.

Do some research on who their leader is and what he is trying to do. He came from University of Chicago!

He has made a huge name for himself in the education sector. I wouldn’t be surprised if an Ivy tried to poach him.

Oh how to finagle rankings! Test optional, 2 ED rounds and tons of mailings/press.

They are 50% test optional as elites go test required the rich need a place to send their kids that can’t score well no matter how much $ they pay.

This past cycle is the first year some of the top 20s reverted to test-required But Vanderbilt has had a <10% and declining admission rate for years. What was the secret sauce in the past several years? It wasn't distinguishable for being TO. Hm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:None of those schools have sports though. This particular school is actively looking for a different kind of kid. From our non-DMV private it’s not the kids who are competitive for Harvard or Stanford or Princeton who are getting in.

It’s kids who would otherwise go to Duke or Northwestern or Notre Dame or Columbia or Brown. One kid was struggling between Dartmouth and Vanderbilt. Very different, right? But not really for vibe in their mind. Think sports culture won.

I would have picked Dartmouth over Vanderbilt without any question. My kids would have too as they loved their visit to Dartmouth

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you believe all the anti-Asians, Vandy will soon lose its luster with the crowd that supposedly is the subject of this article as the Asian population is now approaching 20% and rising.

Yes, and then the high achieving whites who want to balance academics with a robust social scene will move elsewhere and another school will become hot and then it too will change over time.
It happened at Duke and Northwestern. My freshman is at Dartmouth and it's happening there too---the crowd has really changed since a cousin attended 5 years ago.
The smart but socially-oriented kids will move on. Probably next to somewhere like Wake Forest or back to University of Chicago (which is becoming more chill).

I know people will say this is just racist but it's just kids trying to find a place of balance.

Agree.
I personally like wake forest, Washington &lee, or even UVA, as long as white is the dominant majority, it’s fine.

White is the dominant majority at nearly all schools.

It’s funny how the mediocre white folks are coming out of the woodwork. No pretense that they can compete anymore so just retreat.

BTW, UVA is 31% Asian…also continuing to rise.

You mean 'compete' by posting a 1600 superscore and a couple of "national" EC accolades that were purchased by your dad in Seoul and perfected over a period of 15 years? Sure.

Turns out there are myriad other important factors for winning the long game, and the Harvard lawsuit document dump put those out there on display for the world to see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you believe all the anti-Asians, Vandy will soon lose its luster with the crowd that supposedly is the subject of this article as the Asian population is now approaching 20% and rising.

Yes, and then the high achieving whites who want to balance academics with a robust social scene will move elsewhere and another school will become hot and then it too will change over time.
It happened at Duke and Northwestern. My freshman is at Dartmouth and it's happening there too---the crowd has really changed since a cousin attended 5 years ago.
The smart but socially-oriented kids will move on. Probably next to somewhere like Wake Forest or back to University of Chicago (which is becoming more chill).

I know people will say this is just racist but it's just kids trying to find a place of balance.

Agree.
I personally like wake forest, Washington &lee, or even UVA, as long as white is the dominant majority, it’s fine.

White is the dominant majority at nearly all schools.

It’s funny how the mediocre white folks are coming out of the woodwork. No pretense that they can compete anymore so just retreat.

BTW, UVA is 31% Asian…also continuing to rise.

You mean 'compete' by posting a 1600 superscore and a couple of "national" EC accolades that were purchased by your dad in Seoul and perfected over a period of 15 years? Sure.

Turns out there are myriad other important factors for winning the long game, and the Harvard lawsuit document dump put those out there on display for the world to see.

Too funny. Turns out getting rid of affirmative action didn't help the white boys go party at vandy like they thought it would. Should we get affirmative action back for the white boys to go to vandy??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like Vandy is trying to carve a niche as an Ivy-alternative for politically moderate or conservative families that want elite academics without the intense left-wing political atmosphere. The incessant protests at many elite colleges spooked a lot of families, especially Jewish families.

Vanderbilt is leaning into their southern, apolitical, athletic, socially balanced image because they know it's an asset in an era where people are tired of being inundated with progressive agendas.

These same people are those who are dumb enough to believe that all of the Ivies are non-stop protests and activism. Yes, it happened, but it wasn't constantly in your face like Fox News would lead you to believe. I think the Ivies are in some ways better off without these people as they are too dumb to think critically and evaluate news sources. And I say this as a Jew with an ivy league degree - not thrilled with how my alma mater handled things, but that is just one of many data points and it wasn't that bad.

I know plenty of conservative kids and Jewish kids at Ivies that say it isn't truly as bad as the news made it out to be. However, the non-stop coverage and disruptiveness of the protesters tainted the image of these schools in the eyes of many people. Seeing students proudly sporting flags of foreign terrorist groups made these schools look horrible.

💯
The Hezbollah flag flying at these schools…
What?!?!?

And the fact that these schools never enforced their own permitting/ gathering/ loitering rules….
You can’t disrupt other people’s lives at college with your protest in favor of terrorism.

That is your viewpoint. Others think politically active college students is a good thing. Many esteemed scholars now believe that Israel is conducting genocide in Gaza so the college protesters were prescient and more aware than the general public.

Is it possible that maybe, just maybe, the situation on the ground has evolved since Oct 8th 2023 when our first collegiate SJP bullhorns were praising Hamas for their clever use of hang gliders? Perhaps leading some prominent scholars to change their viewpoints as intervening events have taken place over a 2-year period?

It's the Hamas Cheer Squad type that my college senior wanted to avoid when applying. Well before 10/7/23, the writing was on the wall at a number of top schools re: their illiberal environments. Those schools indeed went on to sh!t the bed after that date.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like Vandy is trying to carve a niche as an Ivy-alternative for politically moderate or conservative families that want elite academics without the intense left-wing political atmosphere. The incessant protests at many elite colleges spooked a lot of families, especially Jewish families.

Vanderbilt is leaning into their southern, apolitical, athletic, socially balanced image because they know it's an asset in an era where people are tired of being inundated with progressive agendas.

In this world, apolitical means conservative and upper middle class white, because they can afford to be apolitical in this climate because they are the only people who feel that they have nothing to lose under this new regime. Their daughters will still be able to get safe abortions in secret, they won’t be disappeared by ICE (only their household help, and they will just be forced to hire new help with papers), they are not gay or trans.

So of course they can go to schools like Vandy and have a blast in a bubble surrounded by other kids from similar families.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like Vandy is trying to carve a niche as an Ivy-alternative for politically moderate or conservative families that want elite academics without the intense left-wing political atmosphere. The incessant protests at many elite colleges spooked a lot of families, especially Jewish families.

Vanderbilt is leaning into their southern, apolitical, athletic, socially balanced image because they know it's an asset in an era where people are tired of being inundated with progressive agendas.

These same people are those who are dumb enough to believe that all of the Ivies are non-stop protests and activism. Yes, it happened, but it wasn't constantly in your face like Fox News would lead you to believe. I think the Ivies are in some ways better off without these people as they are too dumb to think critically and evaluate news sources. And I say this as a Jew with an ivy league degree - not thrilled with how my alma mater handled things, but that is just one of many data points and it wasn't that bad.

I know plenty of conservative kids and Jewish kids at Ivies that say it isn't truly as bad as the news made it out to be. However, the non-stop coverage and disruptiveness of the protesters tainted the image of these schools in the eyes of many people. Seeing students proudly sporting flags of foreign terrorist groups made these schools look horrible.

💯
The Hezbollah flag flying at these schools…
What?!?!?

And the fact that these schools never enforced their own permitting/ gathering/ loitering rules….
You can’t disrupt other people’s lives at college with your protest in favor of terrorism.

That is your viewpoint. Others think politically active college students is a good thing. Many esteemed scholars now believe that Israel is conducting genocide in Gaza so the college protesters were prescient and more aware than the general public.

Is it possible that maybe, just maybe, the situation on the ground has evolved since Oct 8th 2023 when our first collegiate SJP bullhorns were praising Hamas for their clever use of hang gliders? Perhaps leading some prominent scholars to change their viewpoints as intervening events have taken place over a 2-year period?

It's the Hamas Cheer Squad type that my college senior wanted to avoid when applying. Well before 10/7/23, the writing was on the wall at a number of top schools re: their illiberal environments. Those schools indeed went on to sh!t the bed after that date.

Yet it has been acceptable for students to display the flag of Israel for decades, a country that based upon the ethnic cleansing, and, now, in Gaza and the West Bank, the mass murder and starvation of the Palestinians.