If you graduated college in the 90s/00s which schools shocked you with their change in status/competiveness?

[Anonymous]

Less information available to a lot of people pre-internet and big cities were seen as more dangerous back then. Some parents thought twice before letting their kids attend certain schools in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and NYC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern
Vanderbilt
Any of the SEC schools for OOS kids
NYU
USC (when I took the SATs they were doing the stuff Chicago does now- sending the biggest and most mailings of anyone and generally acting desperate)

Nope. Vanderbilt has been competitive and difficult to get into for a long time.

+1 There's considerable ignorance (and prejudice) showing up in this thread. No surprise, given it's DCUM.

Yes, but in the 90s it was not nearly as competitive or difficult to get into as it is now.

Back then, Vandy was a full step down from Duke - a likely/target for high stat kids who were reaching for Duke.

Now, that gap is much narrower. My understanding is that no one can consider Vandy a likely/target at this point.

Which is disappointing. The two schools are similar in many ways (midsized + highly academic/research schools + high-profile D1 sports + work hard/play hard vibe) and there are few likelies/targets that fit that exact profile, even for kids with 4.0/12 APs/1500+/strong ECs

[Anonymous]

It doesn't really matter if they shock us or not. It's a whole different ballgame these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I graduated college in the 90s. USNWR rankings existed but I don't know anyone who was really aware of them. This was pre-internet so you would need to buy the magazine or go to the library. Pretty much everybody went to a public college except one who went to West Point and one to Princeton.

https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2023/10/09/vanderbilts-criticism-us-news-tone-deaf-opinion

"Vanderbilt is in some ways a victim of its own success. It is among a group of nouveau riche institutions that have become dramatically more selective over the past 30 years. In the 1990s, Vanderbilt admitted 65 percent of its applicants (per, ironically, the 1993 edition of the U.S. News ranking), whereas today that number is under 10 percent. Is Vanderbilt that much better today? Probably not. Has that success led to institutional hubris? Perhaps."

Disagree. Btw the RD acceptance rate is under 5%. They have poured investment into every corner - literally transformed the campus with new academic buildings and housing, hired world class professors, new stadium. It is a marvelous place offering a great education. Parent of Vanderbilt student

[Anonymous]

To PP above - correct - Vandy not a target likely for anyone, regardless of stats

[Anonymous]

SLAC rises

Denison
Fairfield

Flagship: Maryland

[Anonymous]

Places I got into with a 3.3 and 1200 from MCPS in the early 90s: UMD, USC (Cali)- probably because I was full pay, UConn, Syracuse, IU, UC Boulder, Illinois- and I was told to apply to Ohio State because the acceptance rate was like 90%. So all of those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern
Vanderbilt
Any of the SEC schools for OOS kids
NYU
USC (when I took the SATs they were doing the stuff Chicago does now- sending the biggest and most mailings of anyone and generally acting desperate)

Nope. Vanderbilt has been competitive and difficult to get into for a long time.

+1 There's considerable ignorance (and prejudice) showing up in this thread. No surprise, given it's DCUM.

Yes, but in the 90s it was not nearly as competitive or difficult to get into as it is now.

Back then, Vandy was a full step down from Duke - a likely/target for high stat kids who were reaching for Duke.

Now, that gap is much narrower. My understanding is that no one can consider Vandy a likely/target at this point.

Which is disappointing. The two schools are similar in many ways (midsized + highly academic/research schools + high-profile D1 sports + work hard/play hard vibe) and there are few likelies/targets that fit that exact profile, even for kids with 4.0/12 APs/1500+/strong ECs

Back then, Vandy and Wake were pretty similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern
Vanderbilt
Any of the SEC schools for OOS kids
NYU
USC (when I took the SATs they were doing the stuff Chicago does now- sending the biggest and most mailings of anyone and generally acting desperate)

Nope. Vanderbilt has been competitive and difficult to get into for a long time.

+1 There's considerable ignorance (and prejudice) showing up in this thread. No surprise, given it's DCUM.

Yes, but in the 90s it was not nearly as competitive or difficult to get into as it is now.

Back then, Vandy was a full step down from Duke - a likely/target for high stat kids who were reaching for Duke.

Now, that gap is much narrower. My understanding is that no one can consider Vandy a likely/target at this point.

Which is disappointing. The two schools are similar in many ways (midsized + highly academic/research schools + high-profile D1 sports + work hard/play hard vibe) and there are few likelies/targets that fit that exact profile, even for kids with 4.0/12 APs/1500+/strong ECs

PP here. I'm one of the older DCUM posters and agree with what you've said. Duke has always been very top tier in the south.

[Anonymous]

I grew up near UF. It was a party school and the default choice for most college bound kids at my school.

It’s had an active campaign to strategically raise its ranking, and Florida Scholars has help stop swamp brain drain with rising cost of college — when I went to my private school the cost was about the same as in-state with aid (though for me with Florida Scholars it would have been free).

[Anonymous]

HS class of 1987. In VA, W&M was a harder admit than UVA among my classmates from a public Central VA school.

That year, JMU was more competitive than VA Tech but that has now changed.

Mary Washington was much more selective than now.

Christopher Newport was a commuter school and one step above a community college.

Hardly anyone went OOS.

[Anonymous]

Vanderbilt

[Anonymous]

GWU- all they did was raise tuition and it became more popular.

[Anonymous]

Duke is far superior to Vandy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To PP above - correct - Vandy not a target likely for anyone, regardless of stats

Sad but true. Quick thoughts on comparable targets for kids who are reaching for Duke and Vandy? Maybe Wake?