<p>I was accepted into Vanderbilt 2 days ago and I wanted to know what kind of reputation Vandy has - I know it's a great school, but am not 100% certain about what people think about the school, since I don't live in the States.
I heard that when you go to New York, people don't consider Vandy as a good school? Is that true?
The acceptance rate last year was 12.7%. Is that low or is that just average? Could someone please explain what acceptance rate is high and what is low?</p>
<p>And PLEASE don't comment on my ID - don't waste you time on how I want to go to Vanderbilt when my ID is Stanford. It's not worth it. I love and am proud of the fact that I got into Vanderbilt-Peabody.</p>
<p>Vandy and Duke are arguable the two best schools in the South. Vandy has more of a Southern twine and is in one of the greatest cities in the US. It’s definitely a lot more respected in the South than in the North, but it’ll still turn heads. I have never heard anyone say Vandy isn’t a good school though. </p>
<p>Acceptance rate is extremely low, only the Ivies and Stanford are lower… However, it wasn’t always this low, it has dramatically become an extremely difficult to be accepted to over the past couple of years. This may be why it’s not as well respected as Duke up north. Also it has a reputation of having a pretty heavy party scene which may be incomparable to other top universities. </p>
<p>I would say anything below 20% is a pretty low acceptance rate, of course the Ivies are single digit but they are in another league of their own. </p>
<p>Overall, Vandy is probably one of the greatest schools in the US in one of the greatest cities. You’ll get a true feeling of the culture of the US as well our southern hospitality. You made the right choice.</p>
<p>Also, Vandy’s peabody is extremely reputable on any ranking system. </p>
<p>Vanderbilt and Duke (I had sons at both schools) are basically the same now re selectivity. Vanderbilt has rocketed up the charts since it offers no loans in its financial aid packages. Vanderbilt was always a school with a national reputation for excellence, and it was a regional powerhouse for generations. However the new graduates are changing the faces of the alumni. Vanderbilt is truly a national student body. Our son had many many friends who were international or first-second generation Americans. Atlanta Georgia still has the largest Vandy Alum club in the nation, but many Atlanta alum are saddened with the level of difficulty of getting their own high stats kids into Vanderbilt today. Vanderbilt is the number two employer in the state of Tennessee and the Vanderbilt medical hospitals are the region’s best. Of course, Vandy has its strong points in different specializations, just as say Duke is ranked 2nd in undergrad biological engineering…Vandy’s Peabody grad school is number one in the USA in education policy and in teaching.</p>
<p>I also just got in to Vanderbilt, Arts and Sciences though, not Peabody. I have literally been searching the internet for something bad about it, and cannot find anything. One guy actually made a post asking people if they had anything negative to say about it at all, and there was only one reply from an engineering major saying he wished linear something or other had been mandatory. Their dining hall is ranked in the top 5 in the country they’re known as the Harvard of the South, and Peabody itself is very highly ranked. This year in particular, it was difficult to get in, so give yourself a massive pat on the back! Congrats!!!</p>
<p>Just anecdotally (I’m from NYC, daughter a Vandy freshman), since I’m no social scientist, I would say that Vandy’s recognition factor among New Yorkers is rising, and rapidly. Why? Could it be the increasing national diversity of the school (a ton of NYers now attend Vandy), the increasing admissions selectivity, the higher profile of Nashville itself in recent years…who knows…it wasn’t a factor for my daughter. She fell in love with the place itself – and thinks it’s pretty amazing. I agree. </p>
<p>As usual, it depends on whom you ask, and what they know. Vanderbilt has a very good reputation in certain Wall Street firms in NYC, for instance. I’d agree with StringPop that VU’s reputation is rapidly improving in the NorthEast. Keep in mind that reputation is a lagging indicator.</p>
<p>My own experience (through my son) is this: I’m very impressed with VU. The quality of the student body reflects the statistics you see. The quality of the teaching varies, as at every school, but tends to be high. My son raves about some of his profs.</p>
<p>So yes, Vanderbilt is amazing. Score of 9.8 out of 10. Cheaper and closer to home would have made it 10.8 out of 10.</p>
Helps a lot!</p>