Anonymous wrote:We were gossiping about upcoming college applications for next year's seniors, and so many kids want to apply to Vanderbilt. Does anyone have any clue why it has gained so much popularity and traction with families in this area?

It is just the make B students feel better

There's always strong demand for a school that's perceived as being both smart and fun. That used to be Stanford. Then it was Duke. Then it was Northwestern. And now it's Vanderbilt. It has a very nice campus in a cool city. It has SEC sports. And Vanderbilt is actually competitive now in both football and basketball. Its students are generally regarded as pretty social - work hard, play hard. It's excellent in fields like pre-med and places very well in consulting. It's generally regarded as one of the happier colleges, which is increasingly important for students. The administration did pretty well with handling protesters in a way that valued free speech while ensuring that education wasn't interrupted. Vanderbilt was already a big deal in the south and midwest. Now I think they get a very large percentage of students from the west coast, especially California, and increasingly the northeast. There really isn't much to dislike.

Anonymous wrote:Our Big3 doesn't matriculate anyone to Vanderbilt because for years Vandy hasn't taken anyone from the school without top Ivy level stats. And those kids end up going to a top Ivy.

It's not for lack of trying (many do)... they simply don't take anyone under a 3.9+ from our school. And if you have a 3.9 you probably have a better option than Vanderbilt.

Agree

I mean, undergrad doesn't matter very much. Most DMV kids are going to a grad program such as law school. Vanderbilt for undergrad combined with a T14 law school makes for a satisfying experience.

Test optional. I will say it louder for those in the back: TEST OPTIONAL

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were gossiping about upcoming college applications for next year's seniors, and so many kids want to apply to Vanderbilt. Does anyone have any clue why it has gained so much popularity and traction with families in this area?

Huh? I haven't heard about it in our magnet students super-achiever circles?

Those kids (or parents) only want HYPSM or Caltech.

Anonymous wrote:We were gossiping about upcoming college applications for next year's seniors, and so many kids want to apply to Vanderbilt. Does anyone have any clue why it has gained so much popularity and traction with families in this area?

Huh? I haven't heard about it in our magnet students super-achiever circles?

Anonymous wrote:It’s hot everywhere.
It’s the new Duke.
Beware of some of the social vibe if a girl though.

Vanderbilt very popular with east coast. I think Rice is more popular with west coast.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our Big3 doesn't matriculate anyone to Vanderbilt because for years Vandy hasn't taken anyone from the school without top Ivy level stats. And those kids end up going to a top Ivy.

It's not for lack of trying (many do)... they simply don't take anyone under a 3.9+ from our school. And if you have a 3.9 you probably have a better option than Vanderbilt.

Are they applying ED or only RD?

Both. It's just a very hard admit from our school---they only want the Yale/Duke/Stanford etc level kids so really only the top half dozen kids in the class. And those kids don't choose Vanderbilt. So year after year no one matriculates.

Anonymous wrote:Our Big3 doesn't matriculate anyone to Vanderbilt because for years Vandy hasn't taken anyone from the school without top Ivy level stats. And those kids end up going to a top Ivy.

It's not for lack of trying (many do)... they simply don't take anyone under a 3.9+ from our school. And if you have a 3.9 you probably have a better option than Vanderbilt.

Are they applying ED or only RD?

Anonymous wrote:Smart but attractive kids.

Have you been to many other top20 schools? They look like revenge of the super nerds.

(signed, parent with no affiliation with Vanderbilt).

+1000 It is one of the only top 20 schools with normal looking kids. I have visited a lot. Plus, they are test optional. My kid loved Vanderbilt and Tulane. Obliviously, everyone on DCUM loves to hate on Tulane (no need to tell me how awful it is DCUM), but my DC found it had a similar vibe of smart, friendly kids with a pretty campus set in a fun city.

Anonymous wrote:There will always be a people in the NE and Mid-Atlantic who can’t fathom that a quality education exists outside of their region, but UVA, W&M, Duke, Vanderbilt, UNC, and Davidson are all fine Southern schools. If people actually visited these schools and familiarized themselves with their decades of high achievement, they might realize that intellectual pursuits are not restricted to their narrow set of “elite” schools. Further, if NYC/Boston did not have their historical good fortune of being the country’s base for trade/commerce/banking and those jobs were located elsewhere, it’s unclear that outcome-obsessed parents would even care about the Ivy League.

+ 1 million

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Smart but attractive kids.

Have you been to many other top20 schools? They look like revenge of the super nerds.

(signed, parent with no affiliation with Vanderbilt).

It is also considered an “acceptable” southern school, similar toto Duke. Most other southern schools are looked down on, even those with low acceptance rates.

ROTFL - kisses, a Tar Heel

Our Big3 doesn't matriculate anyone to Vanderbilt because for years Vandy hasn't taken anyone from the school without top Ivy level stats. And those kids end up going to a top Ivy.

It's not for lack of trying (many do)... they simply don't take anyone under a 3.9+ from our school. And if you have a 3.9 you probably have a better option than Vanderbilt.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
ED1 to Vanderbilt has around a 30% admit rate.

Source?

Official site only says 13% ED acceptance rate.

That's the blended Ed1 and ED2....ED2 is actually a waste.
ED1 was in the 20% range this year, I think.
ED2 was 6%?