Anonymous
Post 04/17/2026 11:49     Subject: Vanderbilt vs UVA?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:UVA will have more of the preppy, wealthy vibe. It's present at Vanderbilt but the academic rigor is heightened a notch compared to UVA, which will bring in more normal work-hard play-hard kids. I would go for Vanderbilt.


I completely disagree. Apple Martin goes to Vanderbilt. There are kids with serious family money there. My child would not fit in in that environment. Greek life is huge and it’s in the south. In addition, you want to save money since med school is going to be so expensive. I’d go cheaper undergrad and UVA had an excellent med school.


False. False false false. As an actual parent of an actual current student I see it as my mission to correct all the TikTok misinformation on Vandy

Tons of current students, including every single one of my kid’s friends except 2, are middle class and get financial aid. Three of my kid’s very close friends are from lower middle class households in the Southern states. This is anecdata so look at the actual data for percentages of kids on FA.

The apple martins and alexa cubans run in their own tiny circles- and they’re don’t set the tone, because this type doesn’t mingle. And by the way, they're present at every top 20 school.


Cost of attendance at Vandy is $100,000 a year, and UVA in state is half that. It's not a tiny circle of Apple Martin's, full pay is about 40 percent of the class.
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2026 11:45     Subject: Vanderbilt vs UVA?
Anonymous wrote:UVA will have more of the preppy, wealthy vibe. It's present at Vanderbilt but the academic rigor is heightened a notch compared to UVA, which will bring in more normal work-hard play-hard kids. I would go for Vanderbilt.


Hard disagree, the private colleges always have way more wealth. There will be a distinct private school wealthy scene at Vandy that will dominate the campus.
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2026 11:14     Subject: Vanderbilt vs UVA?
Anonymous wrote:UVA OOS vs Vanderbilt? We are DC residents so get $15K off UVA from DC Tag.
This is a girl who is very mainstream in look and interests but is unsure about Greek life and does not want to be on a campus of only "preppy, wealthy people." (I realize both schools have an element of this but these are the choices she has).
Major is Neuroscience, pre-med.
Is Vanderbilt worth $15-25K more per year?
Thoughts?


Vanderbilt reports a higher premed first time acceptance rate to medical school than UVA has historically reported. Vanderbilt reported 78% in the link below. UVA does not currently provide a premed acceptance rate report on its website but has historically reported 52% to 60% acceptance rate.

Vanderbilt does have higher standardized test scores and higher test scores correlate to higher MCAT scores, so that could be a factor.

https://www.vanderbilt.edu/hpao/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2024/06/2023-Annual-Report.pdf
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2026 10:44     Subject: Vanderbilt vs UVA?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:UVA will have more of the preppy, wealthy vibe. It's present at Vanderbilt but the academic rigor is heightened a notch compared to UVA, which will bring in more normal work-hard play-hard kids. I would go for Vanderbilt.


I completely disagree. Apple Martin goes to Vanderbilt. There are kids with serious family money there. My child would not fit in in that environment. Greek life is huge and it’s in the south. In addition, you want to save money since med school is going to be so expensive. I’d go cheaper undergrad and UVA had an excellent med school.


False. False false false. As an actual parent of an actual current student I see it as my mission to correct all the TikTok misinformation on Vandy

Tons of current students, including every single one of my kid’s friends except 2, are middle class and get financial aid. Three of my kid’s very close friends are from lower middle class households in the Southern states. This is anecdata so look at the actual data for percentages of kids on FA.

The apple martins and alexa cubans run in their own tiny circles- and they’re don’t set the tone, because this type doesn’t mingle. And by the way, their present at every top 20 school.

And UVA is a public school with something like 18000 students.

I don't know why people are trying to position one of these schools as a High Point-like country club.
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2026 10:40     Subject: Vanderbilt vs UVA?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:UVA will have more of the preppy, wealthy vibe. It's present at Vanderbilt but the academic rigor is heightened a notch compared to UVA, which will bring in more normal work-hard play-hard kids. I would go for Vanderbilt.


Academic rigor is not “heightened up a notch” at Vanderbilt. I have kids at both schools and this is just not true. People just make things up on here.


You really do not. Speaking of made up

Anonymous
Post 04/17/2026 10:39     Subject: Vanderbilt vs UVA?
Anonymous wrote:Vanderbilt is very preppy, rich, and Greek. If your DC wants to avoid those things I would avoid both UVA and Vanderbilt.



No. This is fan fiction perpetuated by outsiders on SM. Most students now are serious and … plain, if not grindy. Sorry
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2026 10:37     Subject: Vanderbilt vs UVA?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:UVA will have more of the preppy, wealthy vibe. It's present at Vanderbilt but the academic rigor is heightened a notch compared to UVA, which will bring in more normal work-hard play-hard kids. I would go for Vanderbilt.


I completely disagree. Apple Martin goes to Vanderbilt. There are kids with serious family money there. My child would not fit in in that environment. Greek life is huge and it’s in the south. In addition, you want to save money since med school is going to be so expensive. I’d go cheaper undergrad and UVA had an excellent med school.


False. False false false. As an actual parent of an actual current student I see it as my mission to correct all the TikTok misinformation on Vandy

Tons of current students, including every single one of my kid’s friends except 2, are middle class and get financial aid. Three of my kid’s very close friends are from lower middle class households in the Southern states. This is anecdata so look at the actual data for percentages of kids on FA.

The apple martins and alexa cubans run in their own tiny circles- and they’re don’t set the tone, because this type doesn’t mingle. And by the way, their present at every top 20 school.
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2026 10:16     Subject: Vanderbilt vs UVA?
All this talk about rigor and whether the students are "serious". Have you never heard the expression that A students work for C students?
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2026 10:06     Subject: Vanderbilt vs UVA?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Did your kid get dinged by schools up north or out west?


Didn't apply out west. On a lot of waitlists in the north.


Interesting— haven’t thousands of words been spilled on how no one wants to attend schools up north and they are cooked and everyone is applying to attend a school in the south??




Sigh. Yes but we all know that it isn't true. Yes, the Southern schools have increased in popularity and former safeties like Tennessee and Clemson now have 40% admit rates but the Northeast schools are harder than ever and have by far the highest number of highly rejective schools in the country. By far.
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2026 09:00     Subject: Vanderbilt vs UVA?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Did your kid get dinged by schools up north or out west?


Didn't apply out west. On a lot of waitlists in the north.


Interesting— haven’t thousands of words been spilled on how no one wants to attend schools up north and they are cooked and everyone is applying to attend a school in the south??

Anonymous
Post 04/17/2026 08:40     Subject: Vanderbilt vs UVA?
UVA pre-med kids are very serious, top notch students as well as engineering (my kid) and kids serious about McIntire. Yes there are party kids, but it is big enough to be both things.
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2026 08:40     Subject: Re:Vanderbilt vs UVA?
Anonymous wrote:We have a similar issue Georgetown vs UVA- same kind of kid who isn’t into Greek or southern prep. I’m thinking they will ultimately go with GU. Charlottesville is too country for them. I saw a bunch of country cosplay videos at UVA frat/sorority mixers…and it was enough to turn me off. I’m a New Englander at heart.


Georgetown is test required. Vandy and UVA have 40-45% of student body that had scores too low to submit. There will be a noticeable difference in rigor and it will be noticeable in peers at GU.
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2026 08:19     Subject: Vanderbilt vs UVA?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:UVA will have more of the preppy, wealthy vibe. It's present at Vanderbilt but the academic rigor is heightened a notch compared to UVA, which will bring in more normal work-hard play-hard kids. I would go for Vanderbilt.


Academic rigor is not “heightened up a notch” at Vanderbilt. I have kids at both schools and this is just not true. People just make things up on here.


I'm the OP. Can you elaborate more? And touch on the social side of things? Thank you in advance for any thoughts.
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2026 07:46     Subject: Vanderbilt vs UVA?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:UVA will have more of the preppy, wealthy vibe. It's present at Vanderbilt but the academic rigor is heightened a notch compared to UVA, which will bring in more normal work-hard play-hard kids. I would go for Vanderbilt.


Academic rigor is not “heightened up a notch” at Vanderbilt. I have kids at both schools and this is just not true. People just make things up on here.


In your opinion. Maybe your kids study archaeology and gender studies, so they find rigor to be equal.
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2026 07:27     Subject: Vanderbilt vs UVA?
Anonymous wrote:UVA will have more of the preppy, wealthy vibe. It's present at Vanderbilt but the academic rigor is heightened a notch compared to UVA, which will bring in more normal work-hard play-hard kids. I would go for Vanderbilt.


Academic rigor is not “heightened up a notch” at Vanderbilt. I have kids at both schools and this is just not true. People just make things up on here.