Anonymous wrote:Rank these schools in order of student social life/fun/balance?

Vanderbilt
Northwestern
Stanford
Duke
Cornell
Penn
BC
Wake
Rice
Emory
WashU
Michigan
USC

Anonymous wrote:Rank these schools in order of student social life/fun/balance?

Vanderbilt
Northwestern
Stanford
Duke
Cornell
Penn
BC
Wake
Rice
Emory
WashU
Michigan
USC

Anonymous wrote:biggest sports win by a T20 in god knows how long. yeah Duke blah blah coach K set college hoop back 20 years with his obnoxious control of mcdonald’s recruits - success handed to him - vandy truly a great story today. Will be harder to get in next year, with all the hs kids seeing the celebratory atmosphere - great day in nashville

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
A college where more kids try to get in based on their sports team success is not a college my kids are interested in.

That being said, congrats on the win! It was well-deserved.

This!

I think this theory works for the larger SEC schools, where kids would be on the fence between choosing Clemson or Auburn or UGA or USCarolina.

The students that are Vanderbilt ready or not the students that are chasing a sports team bandwagon. They may be between an ED to Duke or Vanderbilt, but a lot of these students with 4.0 unweighted and over 1500+ on the SAT are deciding between small private top 20 schools like Wash U or Emery or Northwestern or Boston College.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
A college where more kids try to get in based on their sports team success is not a college my kids are interested in.

That being said, congrats on the win! It was well-deserved.

This!

I think this theory works for the larger SEC schools, where kids would be on the fence between choosing Clemson or Auburn or UGA or USCarolina.

The students that are Vanderbilt ready or not the students that are chasing a sports team bandwagon. They may be between an ED to Duke or Vanderbilt, but a lot of these students with 4.0 unweighted and over 1500+ on the SAT are deciding between small private top 20 schools like Wash U or Emery or Northwestern or Boston College.

Northwestern and BC also have Power 5 sports and that is one of the reasons they are more popular than Wash U and Emory which are not even D1 schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:insane win - what the mom and dad dcum strivers on this site don’t realize is that yes, as intended ur kid going to an ivy would impress your work colleagues, old college friends, and people in town - however, most cool/smart kids want to enjoy their college experience - unless you’ve brainwashed ur mini me into thinking tunnel vision ivy or bust, or your
progeny is a total nerd. My daughter told me that her friend group from top DCUM private were all sending around the vandy partying / goalpost in nashville videos last night. Will 100% impact applicants

This really doesn't change anything. There are less than 10 kids at my kid's top DC private who have the stats that Vandy wants and they were already applying (or in many cases-not). it doesn't matter whether the kids in the lower 90% of the class are now on the Vandy bandwagon--they're not getting in (they get rejected from our school each and every year like clockwork.)

Kids who might have ED to northwestern or Penn might pivot to Vandy.

Nnnnoo. Not going to happen. Students who want a top10 that is slightly more social than other T10s might pick Penn or NU or Duke over other t10. No one who was leaning ANY top10 will now be leaning Vandy. Vanderbilt is fine, but let’s be real: it’s peers are Emory, WashU, Rice,Georgetown, ND. Not ivies, not Northwestern, not even Duke(head to head admit data shows Vandy is never picked over any ivy or Duke , barring a free ride).

Northwestern and Vanderbilt get the same kids. Duke students tend to be a little nerdier. And all three schools get students who are not fixated on Ivy League or bust. Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Duke typically get a large percentage of their class in the early decision round. Which means the schools were their first choice. And all of those admitted students are more than qualified for any Ivy League school, but they clearly have different priorities and wants.

Among 18 year olds, Vanderbilt more than holds its own against any school. There remains some generational bias from older people, but times change. And beating Alabama and having a fun big time sports moment is something that is very appealing to a lot of smart and social students. Watching your school beat Alabama on national television is far more exciting than yet another desultory game between Columbia and Penn. It's a vibe that's very appealing to a lot of people. And the difference in prestige or opportunities between Vanderbilt and Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Columbia, or Penn outside of Wharton is negligible. A lot of students today would choose Vanderbilt over the Ivy League. And yesterday's game will only cement that.

Mic drop. Kids that lost years of childhood to COVID desperately want what they saw on TV at Vandy last night.

SOME kids want that. SOME. Mine both did not apply to ND or Vandy because the vibe was not right, especially ND--way too much sports focus. Felt like UVA, which they hated. They both loved Ivies, Williams, Davidson, William&Mary. Both are at Ivies and have a lot of fun, just not big game loud sports crowds fun. Picking a school for sports is unfathomable to many students. Kids are all different. Doubt Vanderbilt apps will go up.

i have one at Vandy and one at an ivy - let’s just say my son always visits my daughter and wishes he went to her school, while my daughter never has had any interest in visiting my son in Ithaca

Why yes, but all the other Ivies except Columbia are more desirable.

NP- What an absolute classless comment. If you make comments like this in real life, I can't imagine you have any serious friends (or teeth) left.

Anonymous wrote:
A college where more kids try to get in based on their sports team success is not a college my kids are interested in.

That being said, congrats on the win! It was well-deserved.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:insane win - what the mom and dad dcum strivers on this site don’t realize is that yes, as intended ur kid going to an ivy would impress your work colleagues, old college friends, and people in town - however, most cool/smart kids want to enjoy their college experience - unless you’ve brainwashed ur mini me into thinking tunnel vision ivy or bust, or your
progeny is a total nerd. My daughter told me that her friend group from top DCUM private were all sending around the vandy partying / goalpost in nashville videos last night. Will 100% impact applicants

This really doesn't change anything. There are less than 10 kids at my kid's top DC private who have the stats that Vandy wants and they were already applying (or in many cases-not). it doesn't matter whether the kids in the lower 90% of the class are now on the Vandy bandwagon--they're not getting in (they get rejected from our school each and every year like clockwork.)

Kids who might have ED to northwestern or Penn might pivot to Vandy.

Nnnnoo. Not going to happen. Students who want a top10 that is slightly more social than other T10s might pick Penn or NU or Duke over other t10. No one who was leaning ANY top10 will now be leaning Vandy. Vanderbilt is fine, but let’s be real: it’s peers are Emory, WashU, Rice,Georgetown, ND. Not ivies, not Northwestern, not even Duke(head to head admit data shows Vandy is never picked over any ivy or Duke , barring a free ride).

Northwestern and Vanderbilt get the same kids. Duke students tend to be a little nerdier. And all three schools get students who are not fixated on Ivy League or bust. Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Duke typically get a large percentage of their class in the early decision round. Which means the schools were their first choice. And all of those admitted students are more than qualified for any Ivy League school, but they clearly have different priorities and wants.

Among 18 year olds, Vanderbilt more than holds its own against any school. There remains some generational bias from older people, but times change. And beating Alabama and having a fun big time sports moment is something that is very appealing to a lot of smart and social students. Watching your school beat Alabama on national television is far more exciting than yet another desultory game between Columbia and Penn. It's a vibe that's very appealing to a lot of people. And the difference in prestige or opportunities between Vanderbilt and Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Columbia, or Penn outside of Wharton is negligible. A lot of students today would choose Vanderbilt over the Ivy League. And yesterday's game will only cement that.

Mic drop. Kids that lost years of childhood to COVID desperately want what they saw on TV at Vandy last night.

SOME kids want that. SOME. Mine both did not apply to ND or Vandy because the vibe was not right, especially ND--way too much sports focus. Felt like UVA, which they hated. They both loved Ivies, Williams, Davidson, William&Mary. Both are at Ivies and have a lot of fun, just not big game loud sports crowds fun. Picking a school for sports is unfathomable to many students. Kids are all different. Doubt Vanderbilt apps will go up.

i have one at Vandy and one at an ivy - let’s just say my son always visits my daughter and wishes he went to her school, while my daughter never has had any interest in visiting my son in Ithaca

Why yes, but all the other Ivies except Columbia are more desirable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:insane win - what the mom and dad dcum strivers on this site don’t realize is that yes, as intended ur kid going to an ivy would impress your work colleagues, old college friends, and people in town - however, most cool/smart kids want to enjoy their college experience - unless you’ve brainwashed ur mini me into thinking tunnel vision ivy or bust, or your
progeny is a total nerd. My daughter told me that her friend group from top DCUM private were all sending around the vandy partying / goalpost in nashville videos last night. Will 100% impact applicants

This really doesn't change anything. There are less than 10 kids at my kid's top DC private who have the stats that Vandy wants and they were already applying (or in many cases-not). it doesn't matter whether the kids in the lower 90% of the class are now on the Vandy bandwagon--they're not getting in (they get rejected from our school each and every year like clockwork.)

Kids who might have ED to northwestern or Penn might pivot to Vandy.

Nnnnoo. Not going to happen. Students who want a top10 that is slightly more social than other T10s might pick Penn or NU or Duke over other t10. No one who was leaning ANY top10 will now be leaning Vandy. Vanderbilt is fine, but let’s be real: it’s peers are Emory, WashU, Rice,Georgetown, ND. Not ivies, not Northwestern, not even Duke(head to head admit data shows Vandy is never picked over any ivy or Duke , barring a free ride).

Northwestern and Vanderbilt get the same kids. Duke students tend to be a little nerdier. And all three schools get students who are not fixated on Ivy League or bust. Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Duke typically get a large percentage of their class in the early decision round. Which means the schools were their first choice. And all of those admitted students are more than qualified for any Ivy League school, but they clearly have different priorities and wants.

Among 18 year olds, Vanderbilt more than holds its own against any school. There remains some generational bias from older people, but times change. And beating Alabama and having a fun big time sports moment is something that is very appealing to a lot of smart and social students. Watching your school beat Alabama on national television is far more exciting than yet another desultory game between Columbia and Penn. It's a vibe that's very appealing to a lot of people. And the difference in prestige or opportunities between Vanderbilt and Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Columbia, or Penn outside of Wharton is negligible. A lot of students today would choose Vanderbilt over the Ivy League. And yesterday's game will only cement that.

this describes our kid, at Vandy now. Parent #1 (ivy / ivy) took some time but they finally came around to full support for what was inevitable anyway.

Some kids really don't want ivy at any cost, just to be able to say 'ivy.' I will probably be pilloried for this. but it has been my experience that very high achieving white, non-FGLI kids are the ones who are more likely to be comfortable in their choice to skip the ivy-or-bust mania that seems to grip other demographics. Like the not-small group of kids that apply to all 8 ivy schools for some reason, as if dartmouth and columbia had similar vibes or did the same things well in similar physical environments.

+1000 Especially after touring a handful of ivies and see a TON of nerdy, bookish kids everywhere. Some smart kids want fun, sports and parties too.

Vandy has an increasing number of nerdy, bookish kids as well.

This. The cohort of bookish(thought provoking intellectuals ) at Vanderbilt is increasing. If they want to be seen as T15-20 this will need to increase a bit more. The level of intellectual intensity is strong at ivy-plus. WashU is on track to capture this vibe before Vanderbilt, and may have already done it. With two at top 10 (Hopkins, ivy) Iam biased toward the ivy-type nerd who is a thinker first, social being second. I think the push of Vanderbilt toward ivy-+ will only help it. Let UNC and USC and UVA continue the smart but not brilliant social life counts more vibes: Vandy should chase almost ivy students to increase their perceived worth and rank. Football presence is counterintuitive to these goals

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:insane win - what the mom and dad dcum strivers on this site don’t realize is that yes, as intended ur kid going to an ivy would impress your work colleagues, old college friends, and people in town - however, most cool/smart kids want to enjoy their college experience - unless you’ve brainwashed ur mini me into thinking tunnel vision ivy or bust, or your
progeny is a total nerd. My daughter told me that her friend group from top DCUM private were all sending around the vandy partying / goalpost in nashville videos last night. Will 100% impact applicants

This really doesn't change anything. There are less than 10 kids at my kid's top DC private who have the stats that Vandy wants and they were already applying (or in many cases-not). it doesn't matter whether the kids in the lower 90% of the class are now on the Vandy bandwagon--they're not getting in (they get rejected from our school each and every year like clockwork.)

Kids who might have ED to northwestern or Penn might pivot to Vandy.

Nnnnoo. Not going to happen. Students who want a top10 that is slightly more social than other T10s might pick Penn or NU or Duke over other t10. No one who was leaning ANY top10 will now be leaning Vandy. Vanderbilt is fine, but let’s be real: it’s peers are Emory, WashU, Rice,Georgetown, ND. Not ivies, not Northwestern, not even Duke(head to head admit data shows Vandy is never picked over any ivy or Duke , barring a free ride).

Northwestern and Vanderbilt get the same kids. Duke students tend to be a little nerdier. And all three schools get students who are not fixated on Ivy League or bust. Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Duke typically get a large percentage of their class in the early decision round. Which means the schools were their first choice. And all of those admitted students are more than qualified for any Ivy League school, but they clearly have different priorities and wants.

Among 18 year olds, Vanderbilt more than holds its own against any school. There remains some generational bias from older people, but times change. And beating Alabama and having a fun big time sports moment is something that is very appealing to a lot of smart and social students. Watching your school beat Alabama on national television is far more exciting than yet another desultory game between Columbia and Penn. It's a vibe that's very appealing to a lot of people. And the difference in prestige or opportunities between Vanderbilt and Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Columbia, or Penn outside of Wharton is negligible. A lot of students today would choose Vanderbilt over the Ivy League. And yesterday's game will only cement that.

Mic drop. Kids that lost years of childhood to COVID desperately want what they saw on TV at Vandy last night.

SOME kids want that. SOME. Mine both did not apply to ND or Vandy because the vibe was not right, especially ND--way too much sports focus. Felt like UVA, which they hated. They both loved Ivies, Williams, Davidson, William&Mary. Both are at Ivies and have a lot of fun, just not big game loud sports crowds fun. Picking a school for sports is unfathomable to many students. Kids are all different. Doubt Vanderbilt apps will go up.

i have one at Vandy and one at an ivy - let’s just say my son always visits my daughter and wishes he went to her school, while my daughter never has had any interest in visiting my son in Ithaca

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:insane win - what the mom and dad dcum strivers on this site don’t realize is that yes, as intended ur kid going to an ivy would impress your work colleagues, old college friends, and people in town - however, most cool/smart kids want to enjoy their college experience - unless you’ve brainwashed ur mini me into thinking tunnel vision ivy or bust, or your
progeny is a total nerd. My daughter told me that her friend group from top DCUM private were all sending around the vandy partying / goalpost in nashville videos last night. Will 100% impact applicants

This really doesn't change anything. There are less than 10 kids at my kid's top DC private who have the stats that Vandy wants and they were already applying (or in many cases-not). it doesn't matter whether the kids in the lower 90% of the class are now on the Vandy bandwagon--they're not getting in (they get rejected from our school each and every year like clockwork.)

Kids who might have ED to northwestern or Penn might pivot to Vandy.

Nnnnoo. Not going to happen. Students who want a top10 that is slightly more social than other T10s might pick Penn or NU or Duke over other t10. No one who was leaning ANY top10 will now be leaning Vandy. Vanderbilt is fine, but let’s be real: it’s peers are Emory, WashU, Rice,Georgetown, ND. Not ivies, not Northwestern, not even Duke(head to head admit data shows Vandy is never picked over any ivy or Duke , barring a free ride).

Northwestern and Vanderbilt get the same kids. Duke students tend to be a little nerdier. And all three schools get students who are not fixated on Ivy League or bust. Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Duke typically get a large percentage of their class in the early decision round. Which means the schools were their first choice. And all of those admitted students are more than qualified for any Ivy League school, but they clearly have different priorities and wants.

Among 18 year olds, Vanderbilt more than holds its own against any school. There remains some generational bias from older people, but times change. And beating Alabama and having a fun big time sports moment is something that is very appealing to a lot of smart and social students. Watching your school beat Alabama on national television is far more exciting than yet another desultory game between Columbia and Penn. It's a vibe that's very appealing to a lot of people. And the difference in prestige or opportunities between Vanderbilt and Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Columbia, or Penn outside of Wharton is negligible. A lot of students today would choose Vanderbilt over the Ivy League. And yesterday's game will only cement that.

this describes our kid, at Vandy now. Parent #1 (ivy / ivy) took some time but they finally came around to full support for what was inevitable anyway.

Some kids really don't want ivy at any cost, just to be able to say 'ivy.' I will probably be pilloried for this. but it has been my experience that very high achieving white, non-FGLI kids are the ones who are more likely to be comfortable in their choice to skip the ivy-or-bust mania that seems to grip other demographics. Like the not-small group of kids that apply to all 8 ivy schools for some reason, as if dartmouth and columbia had similar vibes or did the same things well in similar physical environments.

+1000 Especially after touring a handful of ivies and see a TON of nerdy, bookish kids everywhere. Some smart kids want fun, sports and parties too.

Vandy has an increasing number of nerdy, bookish kids as well.

This. The cohort of bookish(thought provoking intellectuals ) at Vanderbilt is increasing. If they want to be seen as T15-20 this will need to increase a bit more. The level of intellectual intensity is strong at ivy-plus. WashU is on track to capture this vibe before Vanderbilt, and may have already done it. With two at top 10 (Hopkins, ivy) Iam biased toward the ivy-type nerd who is a thinker first, social being second. I think the push of Vanderbilt toward ivy-+ will only help it. Let UNC and USC and UVA continue the smart but not brilliant social life counts more vibes: Vandy should chase almost ivy students to increase their perceived worth and rank. Football presence is counterintuitive to these goals

Ugh. WashU is awful awful from a student life perspective.
Blech.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:insane win - what the mom and dad dcum strivers on this site don’t realize is that yes, as intended ur kid going to an ivy would impress your work colleagues, old college friends, and people in town - however, most cool/smart kids want to enjoy their college experience - unless you’ve brainwashed ur mini me into thinking tunnel vision ivy or bust, or your
progeny is a total nerd. My daughter told me that her friend group from top DCUM private were all sending around the vandy partying / goalpost in nashville videos last night. Will 100% impact applicants

This really doesn't change anything. There are less than 10 kids at my kid's top DC private who have the stats that Vandy wants and they were already applying (or in many cases-not). it doesn't matter whether the kids in the lower 90% of the class are now on the Vandy bandwagon--they're not getting in (they get rejected from our school each and every year like clockwork.)

Kids who might have ED to northwestern or Penn might pivot to Vandy.

Nnnnoo. Not going to happen. Students who want a top10 that is slightly more social than other T10s might pick Penn or NU or Duke over other t10. No one who was leaning ANY top10 will now be leaning Vandy. Vanderbilt is fine, but let’s be real: it’s peers are Emory, WashU, Rice,Georgetown, ND. Not ivies, not Northwestern, not even Duke(head to head admit data shows Vandy is never picked over any ivy or Duke , barring a free ride).

Northwestern and Vanderbilt get the same kids. Duke students tend to be a little nerdier. And all three schools get students who are not fixated on Ivy League or bust. Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Duke typically get a large percentage of their class in the early decision round. Which means the schools were their first choice. And all of those admitted students are more than qualified for any Ivy League school, but they clearly have different priorities and wants.

Among 18 year olds, Vanderbilt more than holds its own against any school. There remains some generational bias from older people, but times change. And beating Alabama and having a fun big time sports moment is something that is very appealing to a lot of smart and social students. Watching your school beat Alabama on national television is far more exciting than yet another desultory game between Columbia and Penn. It's a vibe that's very appealing to a lot of people. And the difference in prestige or opportunities between Vanderbilt and Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Columbia, or Penn outside of Wharton is negligible. A lot of students today would choose Vanderbilt over the Ivy League. And yesterday's game will only cement that.

this describes our kid, at Vandy now. Parent #1 (ivy / ivy) took some time but they finally came around to full support for what was inevitable anyway.

Some kids really don't want ivy at any cost, just to be able to say 'ivy.' I will probably be pilloried for this. but it has been my experience that very high achieving white, non-FGLI kids are the ones who are more likely to be comfortable in their choice to skip the ivy-or-bust mania that seems to grip other demographics. Like the not-small group of kids that apply to all 8 ivy schools for some reason, as if dartmouth and columbia had similar vibes or did the same things well in similar physical environments.

+1000 Especially after touring a handful of ivies and see a TON of nerdy, bookish kids everywhere. Some smart kids want fun, sports and parties too.

Vandy has an increasing number of nerdy, bookish kids as well.

This. The cohort of bookish(thought provoking intellectuals ) at Vanderbilt is increasing. If they want to be seen as T15-20 this will need to increase a bit more. The level of intellectual intensity is strong at ivy-plus. WashU is on track to capture this vibe before Vanderbilt, and may have already done it. With two at top 10 (Hopkins, ivy) Iam biased toward the ivy-type nerd who is a thinker first, social being second. I think the push of Vanderbilt toward ivy-+ will only help it. Let UNC and USC and UVA continue the smart but not brilliant social life counts more vibes: Vandy should chase almost ivy students to increase their perceived worth and rank. Football presence is counterintuitive to these goals

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:insane win - what the mom and dad dcum strivers on this site don’t realize is that yes, as intended ur kid going to an ivy would impress your work colleagues, old college friends, and people in town - however, most cool/smart kids want to enjoy their college experience - unless you’ve brainwashed ur mini me into thinking tunnel vision ivy or bust, or your
progeny is a total nerd. My daughter told me that her friend group from top DCUM private were all sending around the vandy partying / goalpost in nashville videos last night. Will 100% impact applicants

have a junior and a sophomore at a DCUM private, often referenced here - my sophomore son was watching the bama/vandy game with me and said “wow what a cool place to go to school” and he wasn’t talking about bama. My wife rolled her eyes as she’s one of the ivy striver parents lol, and we are both ivy grads. My junior daughter sitting with friend in kitchen and said something about Vandy being a dream school for her and friends. Cornell? bleh - and I’m an alum

ok, well hope they are top 10%, preferentially top 5% in their classes. Vandy is almost impossible from DC privates.

I should add that Cornell is a much easier admit from our DC private (per the data over the last 3 years).