<p>How much less selective do you think Vandy admissions officers are if you declare this major? I know Peabody accepts a higher percentage than the College of Arts and Science, but is it a lot less selective or just a bit? Thanks!</p>
<p>the acceptance rate is in the mid-40's compared to arts & sciences upper 20s but the applicant pool is fairly self selecting. basically, if you take your stats and compare them to the net vandy undergrad stats and see your chances as slim they won't be significantly improved with peabody. if you don't have the hooks that the typical "strong" applicant has but think you have a niche somewhere or just overall balance and are set on vandy you could always go ED with peabody. net ED acceptance is somewhere around mid to low 40s compared to high 20s for net RD acceptance. throw the two together and you've got at the very least improved chances over an RD arts & sciences applicant.</p>
<p>while you may claim that the peabody applicant pool is self selecting, numbers don't lie. the only way you could call peabody self selecting in comparision to arts and sciences is if their acceptance rates were different but their average scores were the same. but the fact of the matter is peabody's average sat score is significantly lower than arts and science. if you go back a few posts i know there is a thread about class of 2011 admissions data and the average sat scores did differe, which would lead me to believe that it is easier to get into peabody.</p>
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the acceptance rate is in the mid-40's compared to arts & sciences upper 20s but the applicant pool is fairly self selecting
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<p>So you're saying basically that Peabody is easier to get into than the school of Arts&Sciences?</p>
<p>honestly, it is.</p>
<p>if you really want to work the system and don't feel that you can get into a&s but love vanderbilt as much as any other sane person, apply to peabody and then transfer to a&s after a year. while it's not guaranteed that you'll get that transfer, it is very possible especially if you have a decent gpa.</p>
<p>While the percentage rates of applicants being admitted to Peabody certainly seems higher than the percentage at A&S, I don't know whether stats like SATs or GPA are any lower. It seems more likely to me that students applying to Peabody really are committed to going there and what is taught there. And that their ECs, recommendations, essay and alumni interviews really show it.</p>
<p>People applying to A&S can apply to many other schools if what they are mainly looking for is a good general education at a prestigious school. But students looking for what Peabody has to offer don't really have as many options, especially if they also want a highly rated school. Peabody was recently ranked the number three school of education,behind Harvard and Columbia Teachers College. Thus it is likely that a greater number of solid students who are also committed to Peabody's curriculum apply there, that their applications demonstrate a strong interest in the curriculum, and that they are applying because they want to remain there. </p>
<p>As a result they are admitted in greater percentage numbers than those who apply to A&S.</p>
<p>The percentage rate of students applying and being admitted is also higher for Blair. Would you apply there and hope to transfer later? Probably not, because Blair requires an audition and a showing of strong interest in music. I think you may be underestimating both Peabody applicants and the acuity of Vanderbilt's adcoms.</p>
<p>In reponse to thread number 6...</p>
<p>I completely disagree with your post and agree with brian's post. There is absolutely no way you can argue that it is the same difficulty getting into Peabody and A&S. Please search the stats for the class of 2011 and it shows that the average SAT score was 100 points lower than Peabody than A&S. It is honestly way easier to get in, and if you really want to come to Vanderbilt, and you may not be up to par with the A&S stats then you can go to Peabody as HOD. </p>
<p>As a student at Vanderbilt I feel like the caliber of students at Peabody is less than that of A&S. This is only personal observation and if anyone wants to disagree that is fine. But the fact of the matter is that the kids who are in Peabody have stats much lower than A&S kids.</p>
<p>Nicole, I don't claim to know anything, because I don't, I'm only trying to interpolate from the data and what Vanderbilt itself says.</p>
<p>But I did, as you suggested, look at 2011 stats and saw that A&S had about a 28% admit rate while Blair had 40.65%; A&S's bottom 25% SAT was 1360 while Blair's was 1280. From that you might be tempted to assume that it's much easier to get into Blair than A&S, but try doing that if you don't play an instrument (very well), don't read music and don't have ECs which show that you have been and plan to continue to study music.</p>
<p>Why not at least entertain the same view of Peabody applicants and students?</p>
<p>You seem fully prepared to base admission criteria for Peabody students on a single criteria: SAT scores (btw, Peabody's bottom 25% was 1270 in that year ~ comparable to Blair and the percentage of admits was 46%, also comparable). Both those schools will by definition attract students who want to study in specialized or pre-professional areas and whose high school records and ECs should reflect that. Someone with higher SAT scores who doesn't have any of those indicia might not be a shoo in at those two schools. </p>
<p>I've read that HOD is the most popular major at Vanderbilt. So there must be a lot of A&S students taking those classes at Peabody. Do you have any data showing that A&S students do better in those classes than Peabody students?</p>
<p>My point is, perhaps it does require higher SAT grades to get into A&S than it does at Blair or Peabody, but I doubt those are the only criteria Vanderbilt uses. Nor do the average lower scores ipso facto mean those students are less bright or that it is "way easier to get in".</p>
<p>Of course,it's not totally surprising you feel that way; except for Sen Chris Dodd, many look down on the importance of education and teachers. Or feel that a career making big $$ in IB is the the only path worth striving for by an intelligent person in America.</p>
<p>mhc, no need to get on the defense. if i were to guess, you talk as though your son or daughter is in peabody.</p>
<p>apples are not bananas, just as blair and peabody aren't nearly as comporable as you seem to view them. blair is extremely self selective as evidenced in the mandatory auditions. while most of peabody's majors (childhood development, etc...) are specialized, HOD is not. it is in fact designed as one of the most widely applicable majors at an undergraduate level for use in in business or whatever...as opposed to more specialized majors such as french or econ, music theory (i.e. blair) or mechanical engineering (i.e. school of engineering) that are designed to prepare a student for a particular career path. </p>
<p>HOD is the most popular major at vanderbilt. few a&s students take classes at Peabody unless they are planning on transferring out of a&s and into HOD...which is a common problem. those numbers don't affect the statistics of majors. this is not a stereotype: recruited athletes generally are HOD.</p>
<p>in regards to your concluding remarks, nobody at vanderbilt looks down upon anyone else. i can assure you we all respect each others' passions whatever they be.</p>
<p>it is easier to get into peabody than a&s. it's that simple and there's no dancing around that fact. the acceptance rate is slightly higher and the standardized test scores are slightly lower. this however does NOT mean that peabody students are any less intelligent or as useful as a&s, blair, or engineering students. i have a close adviser that works in the HOD department and i have seen the data regarding grades in a&s classes. for the most part, there is a VERY small difference in the average grade of a peabody and a&s student in a&s classes, so small that it is statistically insignificant...which just goes to show that the adcoms are indeed good at their jobs.</p>
<p>LOL, close enough guess Brian, my son plans to apply to Peabody.</p>
<p>Out of choice, not because he thought his stats required it to get into Vanderbilt. </p>
<p>But I honestly have to wonder now how he might feel, if upon enrolling and arriving he finds that the prevailing view is that he's automatically of a lower "caliber" than others he'll meet in the Commons. Or is taking one of Vanderbilt's equivalents of Criminal Justice, a major for football players. </p>
<p>Thankfully he's too busy and uninterested to be reading here on CC. But if views of Peabody are as prevalent as you and nicole reflect, I wonder whether I ought to begin steering him to his other top choice school.</p>
<p>haha, i'll go out on a limb here and say that's an overreaction, but heck, if this whole college decision is yours and not his, steer that fella wherever you desire.</p>
<p>but again, if you were to read that previous post, peabody might be statistically a little easier to get into, but nobody really looks down upon anyone else at the school.</p>
<p>and yeah, one would tend to think that most kids would be applying to peabody out of choice probably. there are a good number of full rides only available in peabody as well.</p>
<p>Do Peabody kids have to fulfill the same AXLE requirements as A & S? If so, then any kind of disparaties that may have existed at admission should be eliminated by graduation. My husband is an engineer, and while some people would call that a "harder" major than English or Child Development, believe me, he would have failed many of the courses required to earn a degree in those disciplines!</p>
<p>I think if the college of arts and sciences isn't at all in your range academically, thats probably an indication that it is not the right school for you. you don't want to finagle your way in through the peabody school, transfer, and then find out that vanderbilt academics are too difficult for you. i also just don't really think its a fair or honest thing to do. of course, that doesn't stop people from doing it.. but it's dishonest towards the school, and unfair to the kids who really want to go to peabody because it's one of the best education schools.. i personally am applying to the college of arts and sciences, and i absolutely love vanderbilt and want to go there more than anything.. but i would not apply to the peabody school to increase my chances</p>
<p>to mhc, i don't attend vanderbilt so i can't speak for the student body, but i wouldn't think anyone there would be viewed as less intelligent simply because their genuine interest is in peabody.</p>
<p>ok, this is scaring me now, I applied to peabody, cus I love the sound of that HOD major, seems right up my ally, I have a 1500( 800 math, 700 verbal) sat score, now is the peabody school were all the "less qualified" applicants go? And what about if your double majoring in two different schools, is that possible, cus I wanted to do a double major in economics and HOD?</p>
<p>Relax. Don't let anyone scare you out of Vanderbilt. Peabody genuinely is a great school (And I've heard this from recent graduates of Vandy). But the admissions counselors actually pay careful attention to the majors you choose and try to see if you have any experience in it. (It MAY seem strange if you want to be a Early CHildhood Major, yet you have no experience with children whatsoever and show no desire to do so .) Bottomline, it's lying and morally incorrect. Don't do it lol
Also, the earlier comment about "caliber" depends on what your own definition of the word is. Stats are hardly the most determining factor in my own definition. And personally, I tend to stay away from generalizations. (No offense! You're definitely entitled to yourown opinion, especially becaus eyou actually go there!) Does anyone know the rate of transfer out of Peabody into A&S?</p>
<p>From what I've heard its really easy to transfer out of a&s and into the other schools but it is more difficult to get into a&s. I'm sure the stats are somewhere, and i'm sure its doable if you have a decent GPA.</p>
<p>I agree with Brian, there is no way to dance around the fact that peabody is easier to get into. The numbers prove this fact. Not many students in A&S take peabody classes. Also, we are both students at Vandy, we see and hear what goes on in regard to a&s and peabody. </p>
<p>Peabody students do not have to fulfill AXLE. I think they have thier own list of requirements but I don't think it is as strict as AXLE is. I hear a lot of students complaining about fulfilling axle req's but I rarely hear Peabody students complaining. Engineers have a strict tract that they follow. My roommate is an engineer and she has very little flexibility with her schedule, since it is pretty much decided for her.</p>
<p>I wonder if we haven't strayed away from the question initially posed by the OP.</p>
<p>Yes, on looking into it, 46% of applicants to Peabody were admitted vs. 28% of applicants to A&S. But A&S had 9,224 applicants in 2006 and admitted 2,734 whereas Peabody had only 834 applicants and admitted 380. So clearly, a lesser number of students (less than a tenth) applied to Peabody and they applied for a lesser number of potential spots. To me that sounds like the Peabody applicants were indeed self selecting.</p>
<p>That conclusion is further supported by the fact that only 36% of the students admitted to A&S actually enrolled (997), whereas 62% of the students admitted to Peabody enrolled (237). </p>
<p>The students who applied to Peabody, it seems, really wanted to attend. In far greater numbers than those who applied to A&S. Again, sounds self selecting.</p>
<p>I would have to believe that their applications reflected those students' interest and commitment to becoming and remaining Peabody students. And that the adcoms were choosing based on those criteria.</p>
<p>That being the case, I'd guess that applying to Peabody because someone thought they couldn't get into A&S, and hoped to transfer later, would be fairly transparent to the adcoms and would not be an effective strategy or make it an easier way to get into Vanderbilt.</p>