Hi! I hope this is an appropriate place to post this. I’m from Texas and I’m still stuck deciding between UT Austin and Vanderbilt. The main thing making/breaking my decision is my college credits. I’m graduating high school with an associate degree (60 credits) and I would really love if they would transfer so I can get some core classes out of the way. While UT would have to accept my credits bc I’m in-state, the thing with Vandy is they keep saying that some of my credits may transfer. And they also say they won’t be able to know exactly how much may transfer unless I matriculate (enroll), which feels like a gamble. I loved Vandy when I visited last week, but is the prestige of Vandy worth the gamble? I don’t want to waste any of my classes, but also, I’d be graduating within four years anyway.
Did you check out this search tool for Vanderbilt transfer credits?
https://cc.app.vanderbilt.edu/cc/transfer-credit
What I have learned from other colleges and research I have done is that it is not a guarantee that your classes will transfer, but it can give you a general idea.
I have a family member that had VERY few credits transfer. Much fewer than expected. The main situation is that they were not acceptable as pre-reqs so had to take the Vanderbilt equivalent course in order to take the higher level courses. Be sure to look at this as well as just if you get the credit.
The table I linked does seem to indicate whether you just get credit hours, or if it can be used as a prerequisite or to satisfy a major requirement.
For instance, I just checked the math classes my son has done through dual enrollment. Calculus II transfers as credit hours, but cannot be used toward a major or minor. Probability & Statistics, however, transfers and looks like it can be used toward a major.
Interestingly, my other son is doing dual enrollment classes at a different local community college and NONE of those show up as transferable in the Vanderbilt database.
If getting maximum credit for your dual enrollment classes is your top priority, UT Austin is going to be the best bet. Vanderbilt will probably take some of your transfer credits, but almost certainly fewer than UT Austin will.
You heard back from Vandy?
Did you apply as a freshman or a transfer student? If you are coming in as a freshman I would assume that most of the classes would not transfer to Vanderbilt. Private schools like Vandy generally do not let incoming freshman replace their classes with CC credits. If this is your main concern then I think UT Austin is a clear choice. If you don’t care and are willing to spend 3 1/2-4 years at Vanderbilt, then you can choose Vanderbilt but I would definitely not count on most of those credits helping you out.
Even if credits transfer doesn’t mean you finish early. My son came in as a sophomore at his school but still took 4 years. The course sequencing made that so.
Plus some kids will tell u - especially classes in the major - take again.
My son got a WD in Calc 2.
AP, DE, and community college do not equal a four year school.
But if you are worried, go to UT. Vandy will be there for grad school in two years.
Yes, they have economic incentives to have students repeat lower level material so that they have less elective space for (more expensive to the college) upper level courses and are less likely to graduate early (reducing tuition paid).
Economic incentives work the other way for most public colleges where most students are subsidized. Getting subsidized students to graduate as soon as possible means that a given amount to subsidy from the state goes further in number of students. This is also why public colleges sometimes have incentives to graduate as soon as possible (e.g. rebate for graduation after the minimum possible number of credits) or restrictions on enrollment if one has too many credits or semesters (e.g. can only enroll in courses needed for subject requirements to graduate as soon as possible).
So Vanderbilt wants you to repeat all of your college credit (instead of taking more upper level courses that you would take if you got subject credit and advanced placement for them) and stay a full four tuition paying years, while UT Austin wants you to take your credit and graduate in two instead of four years.
My student was in a similar situation, with over 70 earned hours of DE credit. He had acceptances to several “Little Ivy” selective LACs, with the overall cost comparable to our state flagship. Since the LACs took very few, if any, of his DE credits, he opted for the state flagship with Honors. The state flagship accepted all of his dual enrollment credits, so he entered with junior standing and was able to go straight into his double majors and skip almost all of the general education requirements. It just depends on how important those earned hours of credit are to the individual student.
As others have shared, most privates limit DE credits and often require departmental review to determine which they will accept. That review will not happen until after enrollment… usually over the summer so you may not know which credits are accepted until a few weeks before fall semester.
My D’s private follows a similar process. In addition, they state up front that they will not accept more than 30 DE credit hours. DE credits can not count toward major/minor requirements. That said, we know several kids who received the max 30 credits; they still plan to attend 4 years but wanted some cushion for double majors, study abroad flexibility, etc.
You may get some answers from Vandy about the DE credit review process, any limits on what they will accept, etc., but otherwise it will be a gamble if receiving credit is very important to you.
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