No. No one really cares.

Chicagoan here. We don't care about Vanderbilt. It's kind of meh when you've got so many Chicago and Northwestern grads flooding the halls.

As the parent of a recent college grad and two current students (none at Vanderbilt), I know that Vanderbilt is becoming increasingly well known. That said, what really matters, though, OP isn't whether you'd see lots of Vanderbilt stickers in the parking lots at Whole Foods in the NY/Boston/Chicago/LA or SD or SF areas, but whether employers in the field your son is interested in recognize the value of a Vanderbilt degree. You can try to suss this out in various ways -- for example, if your son wants to go into a field where on-campus recruitment is a major route to finding a job (e.g., consulting, investment banking), check the website to see whether recruiters in that field are coming to campus. If that's not the kind of job your son is interested in, the reality is that no matter where he goes to college, he'll have to hustle and use all the connections he can to find summer internships and, ultimately, a post-grad job. For those jobs, it can certainly help if there's a critical mass of alums from your school working in the field and city you're interested in, but hustle and resourcefulness are still going to be necessary.

Anonymous wrote:No not really. It's known as a rich kids school for students who can't break into the top tier (say top 20 universities and SLACs).

I'd say GW and USC (in LA) are more-so known for that.

No not really. It's known as a rich kids school for students who can't break into the top tier (say top 20 universities and SLACs).

I found that many people associate it with southern belle type/frat guys, though I think that's changing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it has a national name.

Out west not really.

True, but that's the case for all East Coast schools outside Ivy.

false - jhu and duke are known and respected out west.

jhu, just for medicine.

duke, no one cares.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it has a national name.

Out west not really.

True, but that's the case for all East Coast schools outside Ivy.

false - jhu and duke are known and respected out west.

Anonymous wrote:Your son knows where he wants to "settle" before he's even gone to college?

I think most of his friends have similar goals; coasts or Chicago, period.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it has a national name.

Out west not really.

True, but that's the case for all East Coast schools outside Ivy.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it has a national name.

Out west not really.

Your son knows where he wants to "settle" before he's even gone to college?

Yes, it has a national name.

I dont know about "clout" but I have friends who graduated from Vandy who have succeeded around the country.

My son wants to settle in a big, likely coastal city. Does Vanderbilt have clout outside of the mid-Atlantic/south?