<p>Hey, I was just referring to IBclass06’s post like you were and was suggesting a thought. No need for your rice to burn.</p>
<p>I think IBClass06 might be referring to geographical diversity and academic strength of the university based on the NRC ranking reports (as opposed to racial diversity and selectivity/SAT scores of the entering student body).</p>
<p>I could be wrong about the former and the latter 
I’ll let IBClass06 explain this himself.</p>
<p>“You can pick and choose data your like or dislike. Business Week is business week”</p>
<p>You’re trying to provoke me or something, but I don’t really care. I’m sure everybody at Wharton would transfer
to McIntire at the first chance they got, because after all, business week is business week.</p>
<p>Rice’s acceptance rate is being affected by their increase in school size over the past and future few years by an approximate planned 30% (if I recall correctly-). With such a small school, to increase attendance they have to increase acceptance, which may affect their acceptance rate during this transition. I am pretty familiar with both Emory and Rice. They are both great schools, but Rice is a stronger school than Emory.</p>
<p>As for Vandy, there was a poster a few years back who turned down Yale for a big scholarship at Vandy, and really loved it. Did extremely well, had great experiences, opportunities, internships, etc. I think his SN was evil robot. He posted a follow-up thread at the end of his educational career. Take a peek-- its a great thread.</p>
<p>
Sure they can. Professors at Stanford are usually more well-known and established than professors at Northwestern or Emory. That’s not a slight to any of these schools, because they’re all great – but to imply that faculty quality is uniform among top universities is misleading and untrue.</p>
<p>Of course, this matters relatively little at the undergrad level. Even at the grad level, Emory (#37) has only a virtually insignificant lead on Rice (#41), and both are only slightly better than Vanderbilt (#52). In other words, all three are peers in every sense.</p>
<p>
Yes, great thread. Here’s the link:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/37237-long-financial-road-matriculation.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/37237-long-financial-road-matriculation.html</a></p>
<p>(There was also one on the old board, but I can’t find it. Anyone?)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Can you prove this?</p>
<p>And I am strictly speaking for undergrad (the NRC rankings have not been updated in more than 10 years anyways).</p>
<p>What I meant anyways, was comparing Rice and Emory, just a number apart on the rankings, as having professors “stronger” or “better” than ones at the other university. I’m sorry if you confused it with meaning another university much higher up in the rankings in comparison.</p>
<p>IMO, many of the posts in this thread are outdated and use the historical conception of Vanderbilt rather than its current state. It has always been in that threesome of colleges (with Rice and Emory) mentioned just after Duke as the top southern colleges, but today its position merits greater national attention and regard. </p>
<p>My belief is that Vanderbilt has very intelligently and effectively tapped into the expanded universe of strong high school students across the USA and the increased willingness of these top students to consider schools like Vandy that haven’t historically been as bright on the collegiate radar screen. Today when comparisons with the historical elites actually get made, many are surprised to discover how well Vanderbilt compares and some attractive differences in experiences that it can offer. </p>
<p>Vandy also has effectively used merit aid to attract top students (many CC examples including evil asian dictator and midmo’s son who currently attends-search their posts for details). These folks have reported great experiences in Nashville and examples such as theirs spreads the word that Vandy is not some insular Southern school, but a university deserving of a much higher appreciation in the national picture. </p>
<p>Ten years ago, Vandy students didn’t really compare statistically with the elites of the Ivy League and other top colleges. That has changed. Now on many commonly used metrics, Vandy is very competitive with all of the non-HYP Ivies and slightly ahead of Cornell. However, overall awareness of this and any acceptance by status quo defenders that this could possibly happen at a Southern college other than Duke has been much slower. Thus, and to answer the OP’s question, I would still say that, in certain sections of the USA and when compared to the historical elites, Vanderbilt’s prestige among aspiring top college students remains comparatively lower. </p>
<p>While on most metrics, Vanderbilt is much improved over the last decade, I don’t know about the school’s prestige among academia (is it rising or falling? USNWR PA says neither although in other surveys, the school has improved its position), but I’m not sure it matters to folks who are there. It’s a pretty great place with an undergraduate focus, happy students, and a highly selective and spirited student body that is increasingly national in scope. </p>
<p>Along with Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Rice, and Notre Dame, Vanderbilt is one of the USA’s premier schools for offering a differentiated undergraduate experience that delivers the very best of great academics, great social life, and great athletic life. Such an undergraduate experience may not be the objective of every student, but if you want fun and balance to go with your academics as part of your undergraduate experience, then few places can match what Vandy has to offer.</p>
<p>I’ll give some evidence about Vanderbilt’s prestige, compared to other southern private schools, in the midwest (northern part):</p>
<p>According to naviance, the approximate average weighted GPA accepted into:
Vanderbilt=4.6
Duke=4.9
Emory=4.9
Rice=5.15
and, for comparison, Stanford=5.25</p>
<p>Now, this tells me that the very top students at my school aren’t applying to Vanderbilt (which seems to be true based on where my peers are going). Because if they were, the accepted GPA average (assuming they would be accepted, which is likely) would be higher. These top students are applying to Emory, Rice, etc. And it’s not like our GCs aren’t recommending one school over the other (in fact, mine said for me to apply to Vanderbilt and not Rice). But, because of a lack of prestige up here, Vanderbilt doesn’t draw the top applicants.</p>
<p>Senior,
That’s good data, though probably reflective more of Vandy’s historical status than today’s. In truth, none of the four Southern schools are hurting for top applicants and all have been successful in enrolling a lot of top students. </p>
<p>Consider the following for enrolled students along with your GPA data and how these colleges compare with the non-HYP Ivies:</p>
<p>SAT 25/75, % over 700 on CR, % over 700 on Math</p>
<p>1340-1540, 60%, 68% Duke
1310-1530, 53%. 64% Rice
1310-1500, 45%, 61% Emory
1330-1500, 47%, 66% Vanderbilt</p>
<p>1330-1520, 52%, 70% U Penn
1360-1550, 64%, 66% Columbia
1330-1550, 65%, 67% Dartmouth
1300-1500, 41%, 64% Cornell
1320-1540, 57% 66% Brown</p>
<p>ACT 25/75, % over 30</p>
<p>29-34, 72% Duke
29-34, 71% Rice
30-33, 75% Emory
30-33, 82% Vanderbilt</p>
<p>30-33, 75% U Penn
29-34, 73% Columbia
29-34, 73% Dartmouth
29-33, 69% Cornell
28-33, 66% Brown</p>
<p>They’re aren’t any really great outliers in here, to the upside or the downside (biggest would be Cornell, Emory and Vanderbilt for % of CR scorers above 700). </p>
<p>Despite the above, I would agree that all of the Ivies, due to their historical status, have greater “prestige” among aspiring students, particularly in areas like yours and the Northeast. On this and on most metrics, the strongest challenger among the Southern schools is Duke. But it’s not like the Vanderbilt of today (and Rice and Emory) are distant stragglers. That is what has changed, even if this has not fully translated thru to your and probably many other high schools across the USA.</p>
<p>yea vandy should be in the conversation for being one of the best schools in the country. just look at our median gpa and sat scores. the student body is awesome because we’re not a bunch of ivy league weenies who study all day long. i turned down cornell and brown cuz i wanted more out of college</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is ridiculous…what ever happened to being proud of a 4.0? My high school didn’t weigh GPAs, and to see an “average” GPA of 5.25 for a school just boggles my mind. To most people, 4.0 implies perfection, and seeing “GPAs” of 4.5 or 5.25 or anything like that is just baffling. Why can’t the admissions people just use a 4.0 scale instead of whatever it is that they are using?</p>
<p>And, for the record, Vanderbilt is an excellent school. One of the best in the South, with exciting (although not always successful) athletic programs to boot.</p>
<p>^We have different levels of classes. So someone in the AP level that gets Bs will have the same weighted GPA as someone in the normal levels that gets As. Our high school reports both to colleges, but the only one on naviance (and the one most people in our school refer to when talking about these things) is weighted GPA. It probably doesn’t matter much, as your transcript (individual classes and grades) is more important than just one number. </p>
<p>My friends and I calculated it once: realistic “perfection” for our high school is about a 5.45, although this can be beaten if, say, one were only to take AP classes.</p>
<p>Because all schools grade differently and hold students to different standards. An “A” in one high school might translate to a “B-” in another tougher and more academically rigorous high school. That’s why there are weighted GPA’s to set apart those students pursuing AP’s and honors classes versus students coasting along high school getting 4.0’s but just taking regular classes and never challenging themselves.</p>
<p>What seems to be important about prestige is that there is something about a college that sets it apart from other colleges. For example, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, and U of Chicago don’t have anything that really sets them apart from the Ivies…so they tend to be places which few people would choose over Ivies.</p>
<p>On the other hand, places like Notre Dame, Northwestern, Duke, Stanford and Vanderbilt all offer wonderful academic options IN ADDITION TO the social event excitement of bigtime Division I sports. It’s like the best of both worlds.</p>
<p>Actually jym626, Rice’s acceptance rate went down this year, because of the increase in applications. Rice accepted roughly the same number of students, but there was an increase in applications of about 2000. The yield also went up this year, so class size jumped from ~750 to ~920, putting Rice ahead of schedule (student body-wise) in the V2C.</p>
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</p>
<p>Although to be fair, it has been a little while since any of the schools you listed (with the possible exception of Stanford and Notre Dame) have been terribly successful with their sports programs. Vanderbilt’s football team started off strong this year and ended up choking bigtime, while Note Dame had a subpar year (by their standards) as well. Duke had a typically dismal football season, and Northwestern’s 6-6 season was exciting but their first good one in a while. As far as basketball is concerned, none of the schools listed have been terribly remarkable in recent years.</p>
<p>Basically, there is a big difference between having big-time sports programs and excelling at them. Duke (basketball) and Notre Dame (football) have great legacies to fall back on, but in recent years neither program has lived up to the high expectations of its students/alumni/fans. When I think of universities that offer the “total package” of great academics and successful athletic programs right now, places like USC, UCLA, UNC, UTexas, and maybe even Michigan come to mind. Although this can change every 3-5 years, depending on how each school’s athletic programs progress. In 2013 we could be looking at a very different list of schools.</p>
<p>
To be fair, Duke has won the ACC championship 8 times in the last 11 years. Of course, this comes nowhere close to matching the craziness of Carolina’s two recent NCAA championships. :p</p>
<p>^Actually, last year Northwestern went 9-3 in the regular season and took Missouri down to the wire in the Alamo Bowl before losing in overtime. And their basketball team was able to pull off some big upsets.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Or the agony of being swept by Carolina four straight years at home! (Couldn’t resist) ;)</p>
<p>
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<p>My mistake, I looked up the wrong year when I was getting the stats. Come to think I remember watching that bowl game on tv, it was pretty nuts.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is almost never mentioned here in New England.</p>