hey all. does anyone know first off how hard it is to get into Vanderbilt transfer and also how hard it is to adjust to the community. Are people welcoming or do transfers have issues making friends there? Any advice would be immensely helpful.
My D transferred to Vandy after freshman year. She had been accepted during senior year of high school, but she decided to attend a different school. The admissions office was great when she contacted them to let them know that she was interested in transferring.
As far as making friends goes, I think that is an individual thing. D was not big into the social scene - she had no interest in greek life & she wasn’t a partier. She did find a group of friends, though. She got involved in clubs that interested her, and she held a couple leadership positions during her time at Vandy. She also hosted a radio show. She got a top notch education, had some great internships, did a semester abroad, and got a degree from a very highly-regarded school. She is really happy that she transferred, and she attributes her career success to having attended Vanderbilt.
@kelsmom thank you so much
All the top 25-ish colleges have extremely high retention of enrolled students from year-to-year. So none of them actually “need” to take transfer students. But a number of schools in the 10-25 band (NW, Vandy, Cornell, WUSTL, Emory, Gtown, USC) build their model assuming that the class size will grow over the four years due to the planned addition of transfer students. Among other reasons, taking in transfers is a good way to manage/manipulate your USNWR ranking numbers. USC, in particular, is the king of transfers.
So good news for you.
First, it seems to be a bit easier to get into Vandy as as transfer applicant (30% admit rate) then as a freshman. Second, it means that there will be lots of other incoming transfers with you (about 200 per year). Third, because it takes a lot of transfers each year, Vandy has things set up so that it is pretty good at integrating the new kids.
Good luck.
I transferred to Vandy in the fall (2018) as a junior and it’s been the best decision of my life! I would highly encourage anyone to apply. Vandy fully supports their transfer students and all the transfers I know are so glad they made the decision to transfer. The transfer rate to Vandy is definitely higher than most equivalent schools, so it is easier to get in and you have a whole community of other transfers. I didn’t struggle in my transition in terms of academics (though it can be a learning curve for some people), and my social experience has been awesome too. The main thing socially is to be open minded because no matter where you are coming from, it will be a different experience and being open to that is key. One thing I do not enjoy here is how ingrained the Greek “tier system” is compared to my old school, but I’m still in Greek life and it has been an awesome experience. Everyone here is awesome, passionate, and happy to get to know you whether you’re a transfer or not. Good luck!!
Thank you guys for sharing. I am a fall 2020 transfer here. Did you guys get the major you want when you transfer?