Well, I grabbed the ED rates from the CC Class of 2023 admissions statistics thread for Duke and NU. I googled Vandy’s and took their ED rate from their website:
The answer is NU. I’m kidding of course, since I have no idea how many recruited athletes and developmental cases are accepted into each school. And how you would fit into each class, in the view of the college.
thank you, those stats are helpful. I love this site! I am waiting for an epiphany but am ultimately going to have decide over the little things, acceptance being an important one!
A quick trip to Nashville is recommended. If necessary, just go visit the town and campus on a weekend and don’t sweat going on an official tour. You could easily do it in one day (if you needed to) without staying overnight from Texas. So no excuse not to do it as a full pay family.
Since your base option is UT, I’d offer that Vandy (where my kid goes) would have the most similar look/feel to UT. Southern, cool town, music scene, warm weather, state capitol, river runs through the middle of the town (but no bats under the bridges), and big time college sports. The Vandy football team is usually bad and the games are lightly attended; the football tailgates, however, are first class.
If you like one of those schools pretty well, no harm in throwing your one ED dart. I wouldn’t try to overthink the relative admit chances. Even with ED, each of these schools is pretty reachy.
Thats very helpful. I had the most interesting tour guide at UT and i think it made me like it more because I related and connected to a student there. My dad says Vanderbilt bc he is convinced there is some sort of geography calculation that determines were students get in (rolls eyes). I have calmed down a bit by grounding and reminding myself that this is not a likely possibility, but worth a shot. Hopefully Nashville works out, my next two weekends are booked so I am hoping for a monday or tuesday trip in and out… I will let you guys know how everything turns out!
How much push back can you offer to your parents?
I ask this because you seem uninterested in the three options you’ve listed. By your own admission, you’d be perfectly happy with UT-Austin, and the things you have said you want (a work hard/play hard culture, big sports, nice social life) are present at UT-Austin. There are also other fine schools in the Texas public university system - Texas A&M comes to mind as a big one, and Texas Tech, too.
From your post, it seems like you say the top 20 status is the main thing that your parents care about. Choosing a college is (or should be) the first major decision you make in your new adult life for yourself - with guidance and support from your parents, of course. But you are the one who has to attend and live with your choice every day for your college career and beyond. ED is, as others mentioned, a binding decision. Do you like any of these schools enough to definitively state right now, or by the ED application deadline, that you definitely want to go there over UT-Austin?
Vanderbilt really cares about high standardized test scores and focuses on that much more than NW and Duke. Your best shot at an ED acceptance is NW. Good luck!
Keep in mind that you’re in school to gain marketable job skills, so you’re major is going to be more important than the school you go to. Take a good look at your interests and choose something that has a list of potential majors you might find interesting. You want a school that has both interest and flexibility. NEVER choose a school based on rankings. That’s the fastest way to find a mismatch, and 4 years of misery.
Most recent US News rankings:
Northwestern #9 National University
Duke #10 National University
Vanderbilt #15 National University
For the best chance at a highly ranked school under ED admissions: Consider the #1 ranked LAC–Williams College which has an ED admit rate of about 34%.
My suggestions are simply based on schools with outstanding academics & high ED admit rates. Curious to read your response to my suggestions in order to better understand your preferences.
Also, for a work hard / play hard environment for a potentional International Relations or Law & Society major, Claremont McKenna College in California, ranked #7 LAC, might be of interest as it is part of a group of outstanding colleges which offer cross registration privileges.
I love the idea of UT-Austin, but it might be interesting to experience a different region of the country during your college years.
Also, I do not think that a resident of Texas would have any advantage regarding admission to Vanderbilt as Vanderbilt receives a lot of applications from Texas residents.
At most schools geography helps only if you’re in-state (and they are the large public school in-state) or if you are from a state where they have few students apply and they want to improve their geographic diversity. I would not think being from Texas and applying to Vandy would apply here. If you were from North Dakota and applying to Vandy you’d probably have a much better shot based just on geography.
Another option is to talk to your school guidance counselor and see if she has any insight regarding whether any students in the recent past have gotten into those 3 schools and how your application stacks up compared to theirs.
Is there any reason you’re not considering Rice since it’s a top school and closer to home so you could probably visit?
Texas is a huge state. So TX geography isn’t going to help you at any of these schools (and probably at no schools in U.S. frankly). At Vandy, the top sending states are TN, FL, IL,NY, TX, CA. Any chance your family is moving to ND, SD or WY soon? : )
All these schools like high test scores, but Vandy seems to dig the high numbers a lot.
But again, don’t overthink it. Even applying ED, all of these schools are reach-ey – 25% or less. And those stats will include some hooked applicants (legacies, URMs and a few athletes). So if you are unhooked, the admit rates are even lower/reach-ier.
Applying ED maybe doubles your chances of admission, but the odds are still very long.
You are going to college for you, not your parents’ bragging rights. The 3 you listed are great schools, but will be very different experiences. UT is no slouch school. I assume you got auto-admitted to UT. Did you apply to one of the honors programs? Let’s also look at the costs of attendance, assuming you live on campus:
UT in state: $28K
Duke: $73K
Vandy: $73K
NW: $79K
So we are looking at around $200K over 4 years. Even if your parents have this saved away, this could be applied to grad school or other uses. Now some families choose to make this expenditure for perfectly rational reasons (debated endlessly on CC), but this type of decision is normally based on some aforethought on the benefits of $$$$ college vs State U, especially if this is where the kid wants to go. Here your parents are asking you to potentially get locked in to a school that you don’t necessarily prefer (or at least prefer strongly) over your in-state school. At least make this decision with due deliberation based on your own research/diligence.
@BKSquared : I think that full pay students at any of Duke, Vanderbilt or Northwestern are looking at a $300,000 COA for four academic years. However, is OP a full pay applicant ? If in need of financial aid, all three universities are generous.
The real issue remains: What are the OP’s primary interests, likes & dislikes ? That is why I am trying to draw out a response regarding elite LACs.
^ Believe OP said he was full pay up thread. The $200K is the 4 year differential between UT in state and the other 3 assuming full pay.
If you don’t have a clear favorite, do not apply ED. There is no rule that you need to have an ED school. Many kids do not.
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From your post, it seems like you say the top 20 status is the main thing that your parents care about. Choosing a college is (or should be) the first major decision you make in your new adult life for yourself - with guidance and support from your parents, of course. But you are the one who has to attend and live with your choice every day for your college career and beyond. ED is, as others mentioned, a binding decision. Do you like any of these schools enough to definitively state right now, or by the ED application deadline, that you definitely want to go there over UT-Austin?
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Not really, however when I have pushed back they think it is due to a lack of ambition and work ethic.
I do not want a Liberal Arts College…a slightly bigger college with sports is ideal. I totally get the UT Austin and I think I like it so much because it is comfortable
Our guidance counselors are notoriously bad at getting students into good schools. I looked at Rice and as soon as I stepped on campus I was treated rudely. I did not even finish the tour because the ladies who checked us in were being so rude - talking loudly about us.
I am unhooked and agree completely!
Yes auto admit and applied to Liberal Arts Honors Program.