<p>Well, since there seems to be no information on the ED1 numbers for this year, I am ever hopeful that MAYBE the numbers decreased for Vandy this fall. If you browse at the list of the "CC Top Universities" Vanderbilt has far fewer total posts than all the others on that list. Also, there is no active "Countdown" thread and a "Decisions" thread hasn't been started. Obviously, this site is by no means an absolute accurate way to predict, but comparing it to its peer institutions on this same site, it kind of makes you wonder. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Economic statistics show that when a university has top performing teams that application numbers will go up and Vanderbilt saw this when the basketball team went to the Sweet 16 two years ago. Their football success, particularly early in the season when they were featured on ESPN's Game Day, is likely to have made Vanderbilt very attractive to many potential applicants. Additionally, the fact that loans are being eliminated from need based aid packages will be a big draw. Of course, the economy is the wild card here. I'm predicting that last year's record application numbers will hold, at least for RD, based on the financial aid changes, but I'm anxious to see even though I don't have a child in the application process. I think I remain interested in this process for Vanderbilt because my children have received such great educations from this institution.</p>
<p>2VU0609 - I agree about sports and such making a university seem quite appealing. As a matter of fact, after that ESPN taping I thought about the wonderful exposure for the university and that certainly brings more popularity. The economy is quite the wildcard but interestingly many private institutions have reported an increase in binding ED this year. Go figure. My son has been focused on Vandy for over a year now and applied ED. Last year, I found this site and I remember the appplicants at that time being far more "vocal" on here compared to this year as I mentioned in the opening post. The lack of activity just makes me wonder about the numbers.</p>