Ivy League colleges give a good start in life though. But I can understand you and your daughter. But you both can regret not taking this incredible opportunity.
@LoveTheBard - I guess it comes down what you are looking for in a college. My DS has zero interest in Greek life and he already found good service organizations and was offered an excellent research opportunity. Only 43% of students participate in Greek life and administration is keeping a close eye on Greek activities.
This is one comment from the thread you mentioned
The greek life scene is popular, and a lot of people participate. It is based on white culture, and can be difficult to integrate to as a minority. I completely understand, I am not a part of greek life, and I have felt not so integrated at times because of it. But, as @Sophie1295 says, Vanderbilt isn’t high school. You can have your own definition of cool, and act accordingly. You can never interact with the frats.
@LoveTheBard @Testingearly One difference between FrosoCo and the the ILEs is that there is really no required classes/programming. Son loves it.
@srk2017 Yes, 43% Greek (for women, btw, it’s over 50% Greek; for men is ca. 35% Greek) constitutes a significant presence on a college campus. Yes, you don’t have to interact with frats, but they still pervade the overall culture and contribute to the lack of integration that we (and others) had perceived. Glad your son didn’t perceive it or find it off-putting. Glad my D had other choices. Vandy’s a good school. It’s just not for everyone.
@Rivet2000 - FroSoCo does look like a great community, but a bit too far from the main parts of campus where’s D’s classes will be. She’s happy with the SLE programming as it’s exactly what she was looking for (i.e., a Great Books-type exploration into Western and non-Western culture.) Glad to hear that your son loves FroSoCo. Is he a freshman?
@lovethebard - He’ll be a sophomore in the fall. Remaining at FroSoCo, keeping him close to the golf course and the engineering quad (where he lives). Housing options at Stanford a big plus. Summer research opptys also top.
@LoveTheBard - 43% is considered minority (I know one popular president got elected with that percentage 
) . I agree no one school satisfies every kid and parent. As new applicants and parents seek advice on these forms I want to add another perspective. Like your D, my S had excellent choices but he felt Vandy suits him. Hopefully works out well for all the kids regardless of where they end up.
@srk2017 - Yes, and the truth is, at the end of the day --with the exception of the occasional “why was I shut out?” thread – most kids to end up where they belong, which oftentimes is very different that where they thought they initially wanted to go. That’s one of the reasons that I hate ED so much – there’s a lot of growth between November and May of kids’ senior years, and it’s in their best interest not to commit so early on (except for the rare cases in which kids are 100% sure and when finances don’t come into play).
I have received several messages asking about where my daughter accepted. I am thrilled to report that she found an university with an outstanding reputation. She will be attending the University of Michigan in the Fall. She did not apply at any Ivy League schools. Closest was MI and we are thrilled for her. Thank you all for your support and guidance last summer.
@calmom - happened upon this old thread and enjoyed reading through it. i have a question about your comment: “We could name the particular niche quality that would make my daughter stand out from other applicants, and we knew which colleges would likely place value on that quality; my daughter was strong in a department that was severely underenrolled at some” - how would I go about gathering information as to whether a department is underenrolled? My D is also interested in a major that usually has a small # of students, and we are narrowing our search to schools that are strong in that area of study. Hope your daughter is thriving!
@lucky18 –
Various sources of information. Some examples:
- IPEDS data at https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/ -- you can look up a school and see how many students are graduating with a particular major each year.
*College website department pages, faculty lists – colleges usually have a web page or section for each department and list their faculty for that department. The title “Professor” usually indicates a tenured faculty member. An “Asssociate” Professor is also generally tenured – whereas an “Assistant” professor is not, and an “Adjunct” Professor, “Instructor” or “Lecturer” would not be tenure track positions. So simply counting up tenured faculty can give a sense of the level of commitment the college or university has toward retaining a major – it’s worth checking the biographical data of faculty as well to get a sense of their age – as if the tenured faculty is nearing retirement age it makes it easier for a college to take steps to eliminate a major or department.
- Some colleges have current course offerings and enrollment numbers easily visible online -- so comparing the classes in department X actually offered with courses listed in the catalog, and looking at current enrollment information can give a sense of whether courses are underenrolled or overenrolled. Also, the course offerings give a sense of the depth of commitment -- if the beginner level classes seem to have a healthy enrollment but intermediate & advance offerings are sparse, that could be a a sign of trouble.
- Colllege publications -- magazines, student newspaper, etc. - may give some insight as to the value that a college places on a specific department. That's more of a serindipidous source of information - maybe there will be information there or not, but when the info does pop up it can be a rich source of information. For example, when my DD was developing a list, there was something of a conflict between students/faculty and administration over the underenrolled department -- the admin. wanted to cut back and eliminate the major, and the students/faculty were protesting with a "save department X" campaign. I dropped that college from the list I was developing based on that info.
While I didn’t choose to do this, I also think an email sent to the department chair is likely to be a direct and useful approach – if the faculty feels they need more students, then they are going be llikely to welcome email from a prospie. It is very rare for faculty to have any direct influence for admissions – but emails to/from the faculty could provide useful fodder for the “why this college” question on the applcation.
@calmom - great info! many thanks for taking the time to reply 