How prestigious is Vanderbilt?

[Anonymous]

There are 3 relatively recent threads asking about Vanderbilt. What’s up with that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 3 relatively recent threads asking about Vanderbilt. What’s up with that?

Honest, non-snark answer: "what is up with that" is that high-achieving kids want to go there and say as much. Their parents -- ages 45-60 and living in New Jersey and from New Jersey or living in Bethesda and from Westchester County -- reflexively deflect this proposal from their high-achieving teens. They went to _____prestigious school in the Amtrak corridor themselves, before achieving many things on Wall St, the media, or DC, and they assumed that their kids would also target Penn.

When pressed to name excellence anywhere south of Georgetown's latitude, they can cite only Duke. They are skeptical about endorsing something they vaguely associate with Deliverance, the Dukes of Hazard or Gone With the Wind. Still, their high achieving teens persist in keeping Vandy on their short list. Thus, mom and dad post here for elucidation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Compared to the other schools ranked 11-25.

Ignore all the people who are comparing it to tippy top T10, that is not what you asked.
Among the T11-25, Vanderbilt is not as prestigious as the lower ivies (Dartmouth/Cornell are typically below T10, Columbia ha been recently and Brown was always below until they snuck in this year), and not as prestigious as UChicago(which should be T10). Vanderbilt is generally viewed as similar prestige level to Rice, Washu, Notre Dame, a bit above Georgetown/Emory, and absolutely above UVA, Michigan and UNC no question. In other words, it is solidly a T20, borderline T15 and in academic circles is thought of as right below Ivy and Ivy-plus(which has been defined in many studies as the quartet of MIT/Stanford/Duke/UChic). Some consider it on par with JHU and Northwestern which are solid T10: most consider it just below those.

TLDR Vanderbilt is definitely prestigious, no question, just not quite ivytype level.

Washu/notee Dame is the same as Georgetown/Emory.Thr former two don't get better students than the latter two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 3 relatively recent threads asking about Vanderbilt. What’s up with that?

Honest, non-snark answer: "what is up with that" is that high-achieving kids want to go there and say as much. Their parents -- ages 45-60 and living in New Jersey and from New Jersey or living in Bethesda and from Westchester County -- reflexively deflect this proposal from their high-achieving teens. They went to _____prestigious school in the Amtrak corridor themselves, before achieving many things on Wall St, the media, or DC, and they assumed that their kids would also target Penn.

When pressed to name excellence anywhere south of Georgetown's latitude, they can cite only Duke. They are skeptical about endorsing something they vaguely associate with Deliverance, the Dukes of Hazard or Gone With the Wind. Still, their high achieving teens persist in keeping Vandy on their short list. Thus, mom and dad post here for elucidation.

So true. Was such a parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is doubting that Vanderbilt is a great school. However, many people (even highly educated people) are not aware of how good it is.
My kids just visited and I've talked about it with about a dozen DC friends over the past week or two. All of them were shocked at how hard it is to get into Vanderbilt in 2024. No one had ANY idea that it has a 6% acceptance rate. These are all highly educated DC professionals who are hiring managers for good jobs at top companies--not people who are off the turnip truck in middle America.

I'm telling you, if you don't have a senior or you're not in academia you very likely think of Vanderbilt as being a very good but not elite school.

Remember, the Vanderbilt acceptance rate even in the early 90s was 65%! I'm 49 and I graduated from high school in 1992. So people who are now in their late 40s likely viewed Vanderbilt as a pretty sure bet when they applied to college. Not an elite school. Unless you've had a kid apply to college since there, you likely don't know (or have given any thought) to much things have changed with Vanderbilt admissions. And MANY hiring managers are in their late 40s. So I'm sure many will not be as bowled over by a Vanderbilt degree like they would by say a Yale degree (although Vanderbilt is now just as difficult to get into as Yale.)

Just to be clear, in 1990, UChicago and UPenn had acceptance rates near 50%, yet they were - and still are - great schools. Admissions for ALL schools used to be much more regional than they are today, though schools even today pull most strongly from their region. But, within their region, Vanderbilt and UChicago were always considered top schools.

this, plus Northwestern.

It's 1990, Kansas City. Affluent white suburb that looks like Falls Church or Potomac. Doctors' kids and the like.

The genuinely bright, hard-working handful of kids in my Class of '90 were easily admitted to Northwestern. Also Grinnell, Marquette, and SMU. These full-pay kids all applied to this list of schools and got into all of them, NBD. Nobody thought Northwestern was "tippy top elite" compared to SMU or Marquette. None of the Northwestern-bound kids in my school -- and there were many -- had "national level ECs" or legacy or football recruit status. Just regular, bright kids with a 32 ACT and full pay parents.

The crazy-accomplished few kids targeted Georgetown

Huh. I graduated HS in the '90s in suburban PA, close-ish to NYC, and Northwestern was certainly a known quantity back then. Definitely on par with the lower Ivies, maybe a half notch down, but still considered "elite." Husband is from Minnesota, and his perception of Northwestern was similar - definitely attracted more "crazy accomplished" kids than Georgetown, at least.

Vanderbilt was a bit of a non-entity, on the other hand, although I understand that has changed a bit in recent years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is doubting that Vanderbilt is a great school. However, many people (even highly educated people) are not aware of how good it is.
My kids just visited and I've talked about it with about a dozen DC friends over the past week or two. All of them were shocked at how hard it is to get into Vanderbilt in 2024. No one had ANY idea that it has a 6% acceptance rate. These are all highly educated DC professionals who are hiring managers for good jobs at top companies--not people who are off the turnip truck in middle America.

I'm telling you, if you don't have a senior or you're not in academia you very likely think of Vanderbilt as being a very good but not elite school.

Remember, the Vanderbilt acceptance rate even in the early 90s was 65%! I'm 49 and I graduated from high school in 1992. So people who are now in their late 40s likely viewed Vanderbilt as a pretty sure bet when they applied to college. Not an elite school. Unless you've had a kid apply to college since there, you likely don't know (or have given any thought) to much things have changed with Vanderbilt admissions. And MANY hiring managers are in their late 40s. So I'm sure many will not be as bowled over by a Vanderbilt degree like they would by say a Yale degree (although Vanderbilt is now just as difficult to get into as Yale.)

Just to be clear, in 1990, UChicago and UPenn had acceptance rates near 50%, yet they were - and still are - great schools. Admissions for ALL schools used to be much more regional than they are today, though schools even today pull most strongly from their region. But, within their region, Vanderbilt and UChicago were always considered top schools.

this, plus Northwestern.

It's 1990, Kansas City. Affluent white suburb that looks like Falls Church or Potomac. Doctors' kids and the like.

The genuinely bright, hard-working handful of kids in my Class of '90 were easily admitted to Northwestern. Also Grinnell, Marquette, and SMU. These full-pay kids all applied to this list of schools and got into all of them, NBD. Nobody thought Northwestern was "tippy top elite" compared to SMU or Marquette. None of the Northwestern-bound kids in my school -- and there were many -- had "national level ECs" or legacy or football recruit status. Just regular, bright kids with a 32 ACT and full pay parents.

The crazy-accomplished few kids targeted Georgetown

Huh. I graduated HS in the '90s in suburban PA, close-ish to NYC, and Northwestern was certainly a known quantity back then. Definitely on par with the lower Ivies, maybe a half notch down, but still considered "elite." Husband is from Minnesota, and his perception of Northwestern was similar - definitely attracted more "crazy accomplished" kids than Georgetown, at least.

Vanderbilt was a bit of a non-entity, on the other hand, although I understand that has changed a bit in recent years.

Grew up in Michigan, graduated high school in 1997, and Northwestern was as good as Ivy back then. Certainly more impressive than someone trudging off to Dartmouth at least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is doubting that Vanderbilt is a great school. However, many people (even highly educated people) are not aware of how good it is.
My kids just visited and I've talked about it with about a dozen DC friends over the past week or two. All of them were shocked at how hard it is to get into Vanderbilt in 2024. No one had ANY idea that it has a 6% acceptance rate. These are all highly educated DC professionals who are hiring managers for good jobs at top companies--not people who are off the turnip truck in middle America.

I'm telling you, if you don't have a senior or you're not in academia you very likely think of Vanderbilt as being a very good but not elite school.

Remember, the Vanderbilt acceptance rate even in the early 90s was 65%! I'm 49 and I graduated from high school in 1992. So people who are now in their late 40s likely viewed Vanderbilt as a pretty sure bet when they applied to college. Not an elite school. Unless you've had a kid apply to college since there, you likely don't know (or have given any thought) to much things have changed with Vanderbilt admissions. And MANY hiring managers are in their late 40s. So I'm sure many will not be as bowled over by a Vanderbilt degree like they would by say a Yale degree (although Vanderbilt is now just as difficult to get into as Yale.)

Just to be clear, in 1990, UChicago and UPenn had acceptance rates near 50%, yet they were - and still are - great schools. Admissions for ALL schools used to be much more regional than they are today, though schools even today pull most strongly from their region. But, within their region, Vanderbilt and UChicago were always considered top schools.

this, plus Northwestern.

It's 1990, Kansas City. Affluent white suburb that looks like Falls Church or Potomac. Doctors' kids and the like.

The genuinely bright, hard-working handful of kids in my Class of '90 were easily admitted to Northwestern. Also Grinnell, Marquette, and SMU. These full-pay kids all applied to this list of schools and got into all of them, NBD. Nobody thought Northwestern was "tippy top elite" compared to SMU or Marquette. None of the Northwestern-bound kids in my school -- and there were many -- had "national level ECs" or legacy or football recruit status. Just regular, bright kids with a 32 ACT and full pay parents.

The crazy-accomplished few kids targeted Georgetown

Huh. I graduated HS in the '90s in suburban PA, close-ish to NYC, and Northwestern was certainly a known quantity back then. Definitely on par with the lower Ivies, maybe a half notch down, but still considered "elite." Husband is from Minnesota, and his perception of Northwestern was similar - definitely attracted more "crazy accomplished" kids than Georgetown, at least.

Vanderbilt was a bit of a non-entity, on the other hand, although I understand that has changed a bit in recent years.

Grew up in Michigan, graduated high school in 1997, and Northwestern was as good as Ivy back then. Certainly more impressive than someone trudging off to Dartmouth at least.

Umm. I graduated high school in 93 and graduated Northwestern in 1997. Dartmouth and Georgetown were considered peers if not better schools in 1993.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 3 relatively recent threads asking about Vanderbilt. What’s up with that?

Honest, non-snark answer: "what is up with that" is that high-achieving kids want to go there and say as much. Their parents -- ages 45-60 and living in New Jersey and from New Jersey or living in Bethesda and from Westchester County -- reflexively deflect this proposal from their high-achieving teens. They went to _____prestigious school in the Amtrak corridor themselves, before achieving many things on Wall St, the media, or DC, and they assumed that their kids would also target Penn.

When pressed to name excellence anywhere south of Georgetown's latitude, they can cite only Duke. They are skeptical about endorsing something they vaguely associate with Deliverance, the Dukes of Hazard or Gone With the Wind. Still, their high achieving teens persist in keeping Vandy on their short list. Thus, mom and dad post here for elucidation.

PP. Thanks for the insight.

I’m a parent in the age range you mentioned, and I grew up in the Midwest. People there (I’m now in DC) think about Vanderbilt, Northwestern, UChicago, and WashU the same way that people on the East Coast think about the Ivies. And, ditto for their LACs. Midwesterners think Carlton, Grinnell, Oberlin, and Kenyon are pretty great schools and comparable to the range of LACs on the East Coast.

I attended one of these schools and my sibling attended an Ivy. In chatting about our experiences, the primary difference seemed to be cultural, not academic.

Students from the NE who attended my Midwestern school tended to be kids who wanted a rigorous education, but wanted out (at least for four years) of the hyper-competitive, cutthroat, money-obsessed, prestige game that is pervasive from Boston to DC.

[Anonymous]

I’m a parent in the age range you mentioned, and I grew up in the Midwest. People there (I’m now in DC) think about Vanderbilt, Northwestern, UChicago, and WashU the same way that people on the East Coast think about the Ivies.”

I grew up in the Midwest as well. Vanderbilt, which obviously is not in the Midwest, was never thought of in the same way as the Ivies. The only privates in the Midwest that were considered Ivy equivalent were located in the Chicagoland area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I’m a parent in the age range you mentioned, and I grew up in the Midwest. People there (I’m now in DC) think about Vanderbilt, Northwestern, UChicago, and WashU the same way that people on the East Coast think about the Ivies.”

I grew up in the Midwest as well. Vanderbilt, which obviously is not in the Midwest, was never thought of in the same way as the Ivies. The only privates in the Midwest that were considered Ivy equivalent were located in the Chicagoland area.

Yes, Vanderbilt is in the South, but it borders the Midwest and gets a lot of students from there. People in the Midwest definitely know about and respect Vanderbilt.

[Anonymous]

Parent of a current student from the Northeast - people here understand what a great school Vanderbilt is, how much kids want to attend, how hard it is to be admitted. FWIW

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a current student from the Northeast - people here understand what a great school Vanderbilt is, how much kids want to attend, how hard it is to be admitted. FWIW

💯

Seems to have the work hard/play hard balance that other schools used to have - a few decades ago - but have lost (looking at you Northwestern and Duke).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that it is prestigious in some circles but I agree with that it doesn't have the universal name recognition of the ivies and elite publics. If I hadn't looked at the ranking before writing this post I would have thought that it was ranked similarly to BC and BU.

This is off. Vandy is top elite -- is it MIT, Uchi, HYP -- no but it is in the next tier. Rankings are all messed up now. You cannot use them for anything. There are about 40 elite schools. Yes some are more elite than others but there are about 40. BC is in there -- BU is not. Not the same kids/same results.

If I can't use rely on the rankings then how would I know that Vanderbilt is prestigious, elite or top elite. I have been told my entire life that Ivies are prestigious, that MIT and Stanford are prestigious and that UCLA, Cal and Michigan are prestigious. I have never heard much about Vanderbilt except for them being a perennial SEC football doormat.

Michigan is not prestigious. It's a humongous state school with a so-so football team.

Lol the poster whose kid got rejected from Michigan is back. The football team just won the *national championship* and kids on the east coast routinely pick Michigan over and among other top 20 schools, but whatever.

Michigan is below Georgetown and Emory in prestige.
It's
1.HYPSM
2.Columbia, Duke, Upenn, Caltech, UChicago
3.Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins
4.Vandy, Rice, Notre Dame, Emory, Washu, UCB, Georgetown
5. Umich, UCLA, CMU, USC, UCLA, UNC

More like...
1.HYPSM
2a.Columbia, Upenn, Caltech, UChicago
2b. Duke, Brown, Johns Hopkins
3a.Dartmouth, Northwestern
3b. Cornell, Vandy, Rice
4a. Notre Dame, Emory, Washu, UCB, Georgetown
4b. Umich, UCLA, CMU, UCLA
5. UNC, USC

Let’s be real. Most people have never heard of University of Chicago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that it is prestigious in some circles but I agree with that it doesn't have the universal name recognition of the ivies and elite publics. If I hadn't looked at the ranking before writing this post I would have thought that it was ranked similarly to BC and BU.

This is off. Vandy is top elite -- is it MIT, Uchi, HYP -- no but it is in the next tier. Rankings are all messed up now. You cannot use them for anything. There are about 40 elite schools. Yes some are more elite than others but there are about 40. BC is in there -- BU is not. Not the same kids/same results.

If I can't use rely on the rankings then how would I know that Vanderbilt is prestigious, elite or top elite. I have been told my entire life that Ivies are prestigious, that MIT and Stanford are prestigious and that UCLA, Cal and Michigan are prestigious. I have never heard much about Vanderbilt except for them being a perennial SEC football doormat.

Michigan is not prestigious. It's a humongous state school with a so-so football team.

Lol the poster whose kid got rejected from Michigan is back. The football team just won the *national championship* and kids on the east coast routinely pick Michigan over and among other top 20 schools, but whatever.

Michigan is below Georgetown and Emory in prestige.
It's
1.HYPSM
2.Columbia, Duke, Upenn, Caltech, UChicago
3.Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins
4.Vandy, Rice, Notre Dame, Emory, Washu, UCB, Georgetown
5. Umich, UCLA, CMU, USC, UCLA, UNC

More like...
1.HYPSM
2a.Columbia, Upenn, Caltech, UChicago
2b. Duke, Brown, Johns Hopkins
3a.Dartmouth, Northwestern
3b. Cornell, Vandy, Rice
4a. Notre Dame, Emory, Washu, UCB, Georgetown
4b. Umich, UCLA, CMU, UCLA
5. UNC, USC

Let’s be real. Most people have never heard of University of Chicago.

And now only from the mass daily fliers and brochures they send. We could have built a house with those fliers and my kid didn’t even apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that it is prestigious in some circles but I agree with that it doesn't have the universal name recognition of the ivies and elite publics. If I hadn't looked at the ranking before writing this post I would have thought that it was ranked similarly to BC and BU.

This is off. Vandy is top elite -- is it MIT, Uchi, HYP -- no but it is in the next tier. Rankings are all messed up now. You cannot use them for anything. There are about 40 elite schools. Yes some are more elite than others but there are about 40. BC is in there -- BU is not. Not the same kids/same results.

If I can't use rely on the rankings then how would I know that Vanderbilt is prestigious, elite or top elite. I have been told my entire life that Ivies are prestigious, that MIT and Stanford are prestigious and that UCLA, Cal and Michigan are prestigious. I have never heard much about Vanderbilt except for them being a perennial SEC football doormat.

Michigan is not prestigious. It's a humongous state school with a so-so football team.

Lol the poster whose kid got rejected from Michigan is back. The football team just won the *national championship* and kids on the east coast routinely pick Michigan over and among other top 20 schools, but whatever.

Michigan is below Georgetown and Emory in prestige.
It's
1.HYPSM
2.Columbia, Duke, Upenn, Caltech, UChicago
3.Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins
4.Vandy, Rice, Notre Dame, Emory, Washu, UCB, Georgetown
5. Umich, UCLA, CMU, USC, UCLA, UNC

More like...
1.HYPSM
2a.Columbia, Upenn, Caltech, UChicago
2b. Duke, Brown, Johns Hopkins
3a.Dartmouth, Northwestern
3b. Cornell, Vandy, Rice
4a. Notre Dame, Emory, Washu, UCB, Georgetown
4b. Umich, UCLA, CMU, UCLA
5. UNC, USC

Let’s be real. Most people have never heard of University of Chicago.

And now only from the mass daily fliers and brochures they send. We could have built a house with those fliers and my kid didn’t even apply.

One mom always slips it in every thread