Vandy now a monster football program - this school has it all..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you kid doesn’t get into Vandy as a freshman, just apply as a transfer, the acceptance rate is 30 percent. Just one reason Vandy is not a truly elite school.

It’s more like 15-20 percent depending on the year. Their freshman retention rate is about 98 percent.

I’m not sure how Vandy does it, but many “elite” schools actually prefer community college students during the transfer portal. There are a gazillion reasons why a bright student couldn’t go to a four year college right after high school. So they seem look for those students. But again, not sure if Vandy does it that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It has to be a great time to be at Vandy. We were at Stanford when they won the Rose Bowl and were going to bowls every year, and it was awesome. Nashville is an awesome place to be right now! Unfortunately, I don't think their season is going to end up being quite so amazing.

Who is "we?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you kid doesn’t get into Vandy as a freshman, just apply as a transfer, the acceptance rate is 30 percent. Just one reason Vandy is not a truly elite school.

It’s more like 15-20 percent depending on the year. Their freshman retention rate is about 98 percent.

I’m not sure how Vandy does it, but many “elite” schools actually prefer community college students during the transfer portal. There are a gazillion reasons why a bright student couldn’t go to a four year college right after high school. So they seem look for those students. But again, not sure if Vandy does it that way.

Nope, it takes from "lesser" four year colleges and definitely north of or very close to 20 percent in recent years, never as low as 15 percent. Transfer acceptance rate was as high as 39 percent as recently as 2020. They just keep the freshman class smaller for their own reasons, because they go far beyond replacing kids who drop out or transfer from Vandy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you kid doesn’t get into Vandy as a freshman, just apply as a transfer, the acceptance rate is 30 percent. Just one reason Vandy is not a truly elite school.

Why is this? I always thought it was schools that lose a lot after freshman year. Is that not the case? Is it that they don’t require on campus housing for long and can accommodate more after freshman year?

Who knows? Perhaps to make themselves look more selective, USC does something similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you kid doesn’t get into Vandy as a freshman, just apply as a transfer, the acceptance rate is 30 percent. Just one reason Vandy is not a truly elite school.

It’s more like 15-20 percent depending on the year. Their freshman retention rate is about 98 percent.

I’m not sure how Vandy does it, but many “elite” schools actually prefer community college students during the transfer portal. There are a gazillion reasons why a bright student couldn’t go to a four year college right after high school. So they seem look for those students. But again, not sure if Vandy does it that way.

Nope, it takes from "lesser" four year colleges and definitely north of or very close to 20 percent in recent years, never as low as 15 percent. Transfer acceptance rate was as high as 39 percent as recently as 2020. They just keep the freshman class smaller for their own reasons, because they go far beyond replacing kids who drop out or transfer from Vandy.

The transfer acceptance rate that year was likely due to Covid concerns. Vanderbilt has a very well-established transfer program. There was a recent article about it in their school publication. The relatively high number of transfers is not because of kids leaving. As noted above, their retention rate is quite high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vandy boosters working overtime lately.

+1 but let them have fun. They’ve caught lightning in a bottle but will go back to being irrelevant in football soon enough.

Exactly. Been there, done that. It WAS fun while it lasted, but be prepared for a down year as soon as next year, especially with NIL and ability for kids to transfer. Look what happened to Alabama.

Vandy doesn't have enough wealthy alumni to fund NIL?

[Anonymous]

My smart, studious, social daughter loves it there! She’s never cared about sports, but enjoys attending the games with her friends and (gasp) dressing up! She had her choice of several top 20 schools and chose Vandy because of the fun atmosphere and great weather!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for referencing the article, which I am attaching to this post. Vandy just had its largest transfer class ever, 400 enrolled transfers. Most do live off campus. https://vanderbilthustler.com/2025/09/10/vanderbilt-transfer-students-required-to-live-off-campus-or-on-campus-with-random-roommate/

For comparison sake, freshmen class size is 2300, so that is a massive number of transfers. Definitely a back end route in.

[Anonymous]

Lots of Vandy envy out there!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The football gods giveth and they taketh away. It is not uncommon for a team to be great one year and not the next.

Hope your kid enjoys the school spirit this year. The success on the field won't be the same senior year; just plain odds.

It’s not just that. It’s that it’s early in the season. Vandy in recent years has gotten more than its fair share of upsets for sure, but in the end always finishes average at best. This year will be no different.

[Anonymous]

DC will be applying to Vanderbilt this year! Good luck everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of kids purposefully avoid institutions with a lot of "school spirit" and associated sports. Ours included.

exactly - see the comment on “studious kids” above - they are better elsewhere

Kids can do both. Good grief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of Vandy envy out there!

Troll returns.

[Anonymous]

#18 Georgia Tech
#20 Vanderbilt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:#18 Georgia Tech
#20 Vanderbilt

That's great. I love when nerd schools do well in football.