DS was admitted as a sophomore transfer to both Vanderbilt and Notre Dame Engineering programs. Interested in Mechanical/ Aerospace. Assuming out-of-pocket costs are about the same - which should he choose?
He has visited ND, but not Vandy. Looking for a complete college experience, not just academics.
Not interested in Greek Life but was frustrated with how much Greek life controlled the social scene at current school.
Concerned that ND is isolated and is attracted to Vanderbilt’s location.
Big into sports. Likes the whole college pride, and sports atmosphere. Looking to participate in Club sports but also cheer on school teams.
Pros and cons for both schools. Have about 10 days to decide, and cannot visit Vanderbilt in that time.
Definitely look into the influence of Greek life at Vanderbilt. From what I understand it’s pretty large and dominates the social scene. If that is the reason your child is unhappy where he is Vanderbilt may not be a good fit.
Would be helpful to know your son’s current school in order to offer comparisons. Is it a large Southern flagship ? An LAC ?
Since your son is worried that Notre Dame might be too isolated, Vanderbilt and Nashville win in this area.
What attracted your son to Notre Dame ? Same question regarding Vanderbilt ?
FWIW The overall engineering programs at Vanderbilt & at Notre Dame were both ranked (tied) at #36 by US News along with Virginia, UNC, Brown, and Arizona State (ASU).
I can’t speak to the differences in the engineering schools but my D had the same choice as a sophomore transfer and ultimately chose Vanderbilt for many reasons.
The transfer credits Vanderbilt offered were much more generous than ND. She was also interested in taking a few business classes and ND is very protective of Mendoza so that was not going to be an easy option. Vandy has an undergrad business minor.
Nashville weather and the overall city was preferred over South Bend. Also we have a direct flight to Nashville versus connecting thru Chicago or driving from there to south Bend.
ND Dorm life was a big draw at first but as a transfer the school said she was unlikely to get into one bc of a housing crunch which meant living off campus and she was concerned about integrating into the sophomore class and making friends since most of the social life revolves around the dorms.
Vandy’s transfer orientation is about a week long and is very well run. They have a large transfer class each year which gives students lots of opportunity to meet people. I don’t know if this is true but a fellow transfer student told my daughter that ND transfers receive t shirts that say “transfer” on them rather than their assigned dorm/hall during orientation. The prospect of that was a bit unappealing.
Vandy is spending large sums building 5 new residential colleges. 4 are done and 1 is under construction. They have singles, doubles and suites along with dining halls, study spaces etc… My D was fortunate to receive a single in one of the residential colleges as a transfer. ND dorms are nice but the rooms we saw were smaller and they often housed more kids per room than seemed comfortable to my D….think 3 lofted beds with the desk and wardrobe underneath in one room. I don’t know if there are other types of housing available at ND, (such as suites or apts) for upperclassmen.
The general education requirements were more numerous at ND vs Vanderbilt.
My daughter’s impression was that ND dorm life is similar to Vandy Greek life. The dorms seem to the driver of the social life at ND. She wasn’t interested in Greek life although she did choose to join a sorority. However, it contributes very little to her social life as she spends more time with her clubs. She did say that Greek life is a bit more important for men than women if you want to go to parties. My D was in the unique position of transferring after a gap year and she turned 21 that fall so she was able to enjoy the night life in downtown Nashville without a fake ID.
FWIW we heard ND’s dining hall food is superior to Vandy’s.
The sports culture and school spirit at ND is almost impossible to replicate. That was initially very appealing to my D. But she isn’t a huge sports fan and was concerned the bloom would be off the rose after the first few games and was a bit concerned that too much of the social life would center around athletics. Vandy has D1 sports and people definitely attend but it’s more low key.
Make sure your son is comfortable with the parietals at ND. There are what some might consider unusual/old fashioned rules about guests of the opposite sex in the dorms.
Overall Vandy seemed more welcoming to transfers. ND’s attitude seemed a bit more take it or leave it, especially as far as housing and flexibility in changing majors.
If your son has specific questions feel free to PM me.
We are from the Northeast and he goes to our state flagship school. ~20k undergrad. It’s too big!
Agree that location- wise Vandy is winning.
He likes the national name recognition of Notre Dame and the sports atmosphere. We liked the quality of education and the lack of Greek life.
Vandy - like I said he has not seen it, so the research has been all online.
He was strategic in where he applied. Schools that had reasonable acceptance rates for transfer students/ good academics/ solid engineering programs seemed to attract him in his application process.
Thank you for all this information. May I ask what year your D transferred to Vanderbilt?
The admissions/transfer process has been tough the last few years due to COVID. I think some years have been more adversely affected by the unpredictability of yield during the admissions process leading to over-enrollment of freshman classes.
I need to have him try to figure out what his housing situation would be. I was aware that Notre Dame does not guarantee housing for transfers, but they do try very hard to have them on campus.
I also need to have him compare which of his past coursework will be accepted ND and at Vandy. ND did say in the acceptance letter they are committed to the student graduating on time and look for applicants who have coursework that will support that goal.
Another factor to consider is that a good percentage of the transfer students come from the Gateway program. Those students have been on ND’s campus, joined clubs, made friends during their freshman year etc….
ND told my daughter she could apply for on campus housing but they couldn’t guarantee it and she could be offered housing after the semester started. We thought that an odd offer because we’d have to secure off campus housing with a lease so getting on campus housing after school started wasn’t a positive in our analysis.
Also regarding gen ed, it may not be as big an issue because your son is an engineering student and at least at Vandy they have different/fewer requirements than the other schools.
If on-campus housing is an issue at Notre Dame, then Vanderbilt is probably the better option in your situation. I love Notre Dame, but living off campus during one’s first year would adversely affect the experience. Is this an issue at Vanderbilt as well ?
Vandy requires transfers to live on campus at least their first year. I believe students can apply to live off campus starting Junior year but there’s a cap on requests granted. Unlike many universities Vandy is spending huge sums to enlarge and improve their housing capabilities.
I don’t know which has better Eng programs, but overall these are academic and reputational peers.
It looks like Vandy has the advantage of being in Nashville, but the con of having Greek life.
As far as sports scenes, while Vandy is a D1 SEC school, it won’t compare to the football hysteria at Notre Dame. So if I wanted to really be a big fan, the ND sports scene would hold an advantage.
I don’t think there’s a wrong choice here as long as he can fit academically at both. He just needs to figure out which social and environmental variables are the most important.
While true that ND does not have greek life, as noted above, the residence hall life echoes greek life in many ways – with residence halls having their own intramural sport teams, socials/formals, community service etc. (check out Zahm hall and the University’s decision to close Zahm after efforts to rebuild the hall’s culture failed).
Academically, keep in mind that all students, regardless of College/major, must take 4 courses related to Catholicism/religious tradition as well as meet other core curriculum requirements.
Without guaranteed residence hall housing as an incoming transfer, a student could find it difficult to transition to ND’s on-campus life. Even the Holy Cross Gateway kids have had a full year together as a small cohort, and have their connections well-established before becoming ND transfers.
Thank for you your response. He liked the community the residence hall provides as a substitute for a fraternity ( turned off by Fraternity hazing).
Yes definitely concerned if he cannot get a spot on campus that he would be isolated. We will have to call Residence life/ admissions to determine the realistic chances of being on campus in the fall.
But are students assigned to ND residence halls randomly, as opposed to the selection, pledging, and sometimes hazing process at fraternities? Someone who dislikes the latter aspect of fraternities may like the ND residence halls.