<p>I am strongly considering Vandy for an ED, because of atmosphere, location, and prestige.</p>
<p>But they aren’t really known for anything, are they?</p>
<p>What courses/majors offer the most outstanding education at Vanderbilt? Alumni connections?</p>
<p>Is it just well-rounded? Or is it indeed known for a few things.</p>
<p>What warrants it a top 20 US News school</p>
<p>Thanks for your input.</p>
<p>You’ve started numerous threads about Vanderbilt, and still don’t seem convinced it is what you are looking for. Therefore, I really think it is a bad idea to apply binding ED. Have you visited yet? Talked to professors? Sat in on classes? </p>
<p>Binding ED is for students who know–without any doubts–that the school is for them. You are spending so much effort determining what other people think about Vanderbilt, that you don’t know if it is right for <em>you</em>. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that many of the posters on this forum have absolutely NO experience with Vanderbilt, but that will not stop them from expressing an opinion.</p>
<p>If you want to know why it is a Top20 USNews school, read the information available on the USNews site about how the score is obtained.</p>
<p>If anything Vandy is probably underrated. It’s student body statistics are comparable to schools generally considered in a qualitatively more elite category, such as Northwestern/University of Chicago.</p>
<p>Statistics are rarely indicative of the quality of a student body, much less the total quality of education. If Vanderbilt students were stronger, they would simply win more awards and have higher graduate placement rates.</p>
<p>The question of whether or not Vanderbilt is overrated is a subjective one. Some people absolutely love it, and others will dislike it and think that it doesn’t warrant its prestige. The best way to know is to visit and/or ask current and past Vanderbilt students about their opinions of the school - but the opinions of people on CC who have no connection to Vanderbilt will probably not be worth much.</p>
<p>But at this point, if you need someone to convince you that it’s a great school, then you shouldn’t about Early Decision. Early Decision, as midmo already mentioned, is for students who are at least 95% that they want to attend a particular university next year. I can even see some people deciding to do Early Decision for schools at the tippy-tippy top when they are slightly less sure, because despite what admissions officers say the acceptance rates seem much higher for the ED pool (for whatever reason). But I don’t think that Vanderbilt warrants that.</p>
<p>Why do you want to apply ED so badly anyway? Regular decision is just as good.</p>