<p>I have been accepted as a sophomore transfer to Vanderbilt. I am thinking of accepting the offer, but I have also heard about Vanderbilt transfers being discriminated against by regular admission students. Since getting in as a transfer is perceived to be much easier than getting in as a freshman, transfers are considered less qualified and talented than everybody else. My experience seems to correlate with the stereotype. Of the 6 colleges within the top 20, Vanderbilt was the only one to accept me. I see the transfer acceptance rate has always been about twice as high as the regular admission rate. Last year, 16% of high school students were accepted, compared to 31% for transfers.</p>
<p>I know transfer discrimination exists at Vanderbilt, but I want to know how prevalent the discrimination is. Some people say the transfer resentment is widespread on campus; others say the feelings are shared by only a few students.</p>
<p>It has been a while since I was in school, but it sounds like you are being paranoid. On a campus with thousands of students you will constantly be meeting new people. No one will ever ask you if you are a freshman admit or a transfer. After a couple months on campus, I cannot believe anyone would care.</p>
<p>Back when I was in school, my alma mater had “January admissions” in order to smooth the numbers. While most of the class was admitted under the regular program, they offered a couple dozen students from the Wait List an opportunity to enroll in January. Everybody knew they were probably weaker applicants when they showed up a semester after the rest of the class but no one really cared.</p>
<p>Follow your dream. Enjoy the journey. Don’t concern yourself with how others might (or might not) perceive you.</p>
<p>Where did you hear this…? Transfer students may get a RARE joke from friends… but all friends make fun of eachother… Peabody students get a TON more flak than any transfer students.</p>
<p>There is hardly any transfer discrimination. This gives the illusion that Vanderbilt is a cutthroat academic community… It’s not.</p>
<p>My D was a transfer student. No one had a clue - or cared, for that matter - how she stacked up compared to others. She actually was accepted freshman year, but turned down Vandy for another school. Seriously, she never had to pull that fact out to defend herself. ;)</p>
<p>I think the OP has made a very interesting point and may have a valid question. Many responders seem to think the OP must be making this up or imagining it. Nice to see that the OP has some back up for this impression. I hope a Vandy transfer (who, after all, would know) chooses to respond.</p>
<p>Important takeaway from the article: “Diebel said she had only felt discriminated against that way once or twice, and that it doesn’t bother her when people refer to her as a transfer.”</p>
<p>Like I said, while a transfer student may get an occasional joke, it’s nothing like the jokes made about HOD students… lol. There is a stereotype that it’s a little easier for transfer students to get in, but it is not a big deal.</p>
<p>From the CollegeConfidential post: All I can say is that’s one student’s experience. I certainly wouldn’t call that “resentment,” but it does seem unusual, particularly from the professor. As for her trouble making friends, that’s something you will find at ANY university- as a sophomore transfer you’re joining a group of students, 96% of whom just spent an entire year together. It’s going to feel a little “clique-ish” because everyone establishes their core group of friends during freshman year. Not a Vandy issue, just a transfer issue (though it may be more prominent at Vandy because of the Commons experience really bonds the class together).</p>
<p>Either way, “resentment” is DEFINITELY the wrong word. That would imply that other students hate transfers… That’s totally ridiculous. The stereotype likely does still exist and transfers may get “poked fun at” occasionally, as friendships are built around making fun of eachother, but there is no resentment.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t take the experience of one transfer student as reason to be worried. There are a few transfer students in my fraternity and they have never had any issues. Would be nice to hear from some other transfers here though.</p>
<p>It’s silly to think you will be treated any differently then the rest of the student body. People will like or not like you for many reasons. The fact you are a transfer student will not be the reason.<br>
It is true that it’s easier to make a lot of new friends as an incoming freshman at any school however.</p>
<p>Absolutely. Its a littler weirder with sororities because of formal rush-- I don’t think there’s a recruitment process in the fall semester, so you’d go through everything with the freshman class (I could be wrong). But very easy and normal with fraternities.</p>
<p>For fraternities, f you were to rush/pledge in the Fall, your pledge class will be entirely transfers/other sophomores (and the occasional junior), though you would be rushing with freshman as well (who cannot pledge until Spring).</p>
<p>As a transfer student who just finished up his first year at Vanderbilt, I was definitley concerned with this issue. I had heard the rumors, seen that other CC post, etc. and I was nervous I was only going to be friends with transfers and not branch outside. Yes, there are a few self-concious jerks that will think of you differently because you are a transfer student and you got in the ‘back way’. But my experience is that those jerks represent maybe 5% of the student population. The other 95% of students don’t even care if you’re a transfer. I will be the first to admit that there are certainly some transfer students I have met who would have NEVER in a million years gotten into vanderbilt as a freshman due to high school grades/scores, but again that is such a small amount of individuals who are accepted as transfers. Most transfers students are very intellegent, went to great schools, and never even considered vanderbilt when they were applying to colleges the first time around. I know from personal experience that I would have had a great chance at Vanderbilt if I applied as a freshman with my grades/scores, but I had zero interest in Vanderbilt at all and thought I would be better off at a different school. I realized quickly that a school like vanderbilt was in fact perfect for me and that’s why I transfered. </p>
<p>I think a great analogy is comparing transfer/regular admitted students to freshman who apply ED vs Regular decision. (Or even comparing a transfer to a waitlist student). If we are looking at acceptances rates alone it is easier to get in as a freshman if you apply ED nearly anywhere. After about a month of being here, no one will care if you applied early, were waitlisted, came in as a transfer, etc. At the end of the day you are getting your diploma from Vanderbilt. Yes, I have occasinally gotten jokes from friends about being a transfer student, but they are friends and they could really care less. A lot of my transfer friends do just as well and often better than regular admitted students. In fact many of my transfer friends had no problem making dean’s list. </p>
<p>I think that the only issue that comes with being a transfer student is not being ‘discriminated’ against, but moving on from the transfer bubble. Many transfer friends of mine went greek, joined clubs, played an intermural sport, etc. to get themselves integrated in the vandy community. Living in Kissam (which ya’ll won’t have to do) made it super easy for transfers to band together with each other and only hang out with themselves. There is nothing wrong with having only transfer friends, but I know from personally experience that when I made a solid group of friends who were not transfer students half way through my first semester I finally felt like I was finally a Vanderbilt student, and not a Vanderbilt transfer student. From personal experience, I think going greek was the easiest and best way to meet a large group of friends fast. But there are plenty of other ways to move outside the transfer bubble fast as well. Even meeting people in class is super easy. </p>
<p>Sorry this is a long rant, but I understand where your fears are coming from, but just know not to worry. Yes, it is inevitable that your first few weeks might be spent only hanging out with transfers, and perhaps feeling like people look down on you because you are a transfer. That phase will end very quickly. My friends constantly forget I’m a transfer and do not give two ****s that I am. I guess the best piece of advice I can offer that will help you completley get rid of this fear is to just do your best to integrate yourself in the vanderbilt community, and not only the transfer community. Transfers are awesome and some of my best friends at vanderbilt I met during transfer orientation. But it was always great to meet hundreds and hundreds of other students outside of the transfer bubble.</p>
<p>I suppose I will have the opportunity to verify your experience, NYUtransfer. I am hoping the Vanderbilt student body is as transfer-friendly as the administration is, but I still have my doubts. Then again, I was going to accept Vanderbilt’s offer regardless of how everyone else on campus would treat me. Social atmosphere is a rather minor factor in my decision, considering the leap in prestige from my previous school.</p>
<p>I am looking to hear from an oppressed Vanderbilt transfer student. I have heard from one already who wished to avoid being identified in public, but there appear to be other reasons why he/she loathed social interaction beyond her status as a transfer.</p>
<p>Finding your way is a challenge for anyone, whether or not they had the support offered on the Commons or showed up at age 19 as a sophomore. Vanderbilt has wonderful classrooms and teachers and you will not be disappointed in your education although it is not as cozy and intimate as a small liberal arts colleges. The trade-offs are however excellent in terms of breadth of offerings, and opportunities to try new things and to use Vanderbilt’s depth of resources. Join one or two things. Contribute to them. It’s a start. I told both of my sons when we left them at Duke, Vandy and at Hopkins for summers when they were younger that dealing with aspects of loneliness is part of getting a grip on your new station in life as a young adult. If you take an interest in others’ lives, dreams, disappointments and frustrations, others will take an interest in yours. One thing for sure is that all of your classmates are as smart as you are but are gifted in different ways from each other. Everyone was “good at school” and everyone is “good at life” in different ways. Look at everyone including yourself as a “work in progress”, don’t discriminate against Greeks or non Greeks, have an open spirit and good things will come your way. The area around Vanderbilt is awfully good for places to go and things to do whether or not you are left out of already in place social parties etc. Lots better than the campus access to host town, village and businesses than many other fine colleges have to offer. Congrats on your admission. Please keep in mind that the entire class could easily be replaced by 1600 people on the wait list and you would still have an outstanding academic peer group. That is reality and they know that no one is admitted as a transfer who can’t keep up and also contribute. Be happy.</p>
<p>I am looking to hear from an oppressed Vanderbilt transfer student.</p>
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<p>Why??? If you expect the experience to be negative, it probably will be. Instead of seeking out unhappy transfer students, why not think positive and expect the best?</p>
<p>You heard from one unhappy transfer student. My D and her friend are two happy transfer students. Two is still more than one, even with new math. Go into it without looking for the bad, and you are more likely to find the good.</p>
<p>I am confident they exist out there. I suspect there are at least a few Vanderbilt transfers who underwent social stigma because they were transfers, but are keeping quiet about their experiences because they wish to keep to themselves. Everyone has admitted the problem exists, but in recent years, there are fewer negative experiences being shared. I doubt the problem has gone away when even some professors are discriminating on the basis of admission. So, all I ask is for current Vanderbilt transfers who have experienced resentment to come on out and share their story.</p>
<p>Maybe they don’t exist. But I would rather make a wrong guess and be positively surprised when I get there, than to ignore my suspicions and face them later on.</p>
<p>I still do not understand why you are looking to have negativity validated.</p>
<p>My D never received a grade lower than A- at Vandy. If any of her profs even knew she was a transfer student, they didn’t care. She even did summer research for a prof.</p>
<p>Again, stop looking for trouble, and maybe you won’t find any yourself.</p>
<p>I would understand if you are trying to decide between schools, but it seems you have already paid your deposit and you are going to vandy. This negative attitude is discusting. Why do you care so much when you are going to discover for yourself in 2 months.</p>