jsmom

I hear Vanderbilt is a big Greek school. My son is a liberal Quaker from the Northeast who is not interested in the fraternity party scene - he would like to double major in music and math. Would Vanderbilt be a good fit for him socially and how about academically? He is in the top 15% of his class, 3.9 GPA, 32 ACT, SAT's 760 M, 690 CR, 750 W. SAT II's 800 Math II and 780 Math I, 680 Bio.

frazzled1

While I am a big proponent of the idea that Vanderbilt is a place where many different kinds of people can have a rewarding experience, I've got to admit that the combined words "liberal," "Quaker," and "not interested in the fraternity party scene" do not immediately leap to mind when I think about Vandy students . My d is a liberal northeasterner, unchurched, and hasn't found Vanderbilt's social atmosphere to be daunting in any way. However, she went in there determined to bloom where she was planted.

Vandy does have a very strong music program in the Blair School of Music, where admission is by audition. In addition to degrees in performance, music education, composition/theory, and musical arts, Blair offers a non-professional liberal arts major in music (music as a second major), which is available to students in the College of Arts and Science, the Engineering School, and the Peabody School. So it would seem as if it's possible for your son to double major in music and math, depending on his musical ambitions.

Most of the undergrads at Vandy were top 10 percent in hs, though I imagine that top 15 percent at a particularly challenging school, or with special strengths in certain subject areas, would not be a problem. Your son's math and writing stats look great - he's at Vandy's 75th percentile for Math, and above for Writing. The 690 in CR puts him solidly in their middle 50 percent. I'd say he looks like a solid applicant who would certainly fit in academically.