@bobsmith5101 It’s not all about ranking. He just gave several good reasons as to why Vandy is only a semi-target.
For those of you that may know, is it true that last year nobody was accepted off of the transfer waitlist?
I think it is though for investment banking and consulting you know @Jazzgtr1 and sorry I do not know about that waitlist stuff
@bobsmith5101 I’ve looked into it myself since I have an interest in working in private equity eventually, and he’s right. Ranking is important, but some schools have done a better job of having the resources via the business department, career center, alumni, etc.
It sounds like you really want to go to Vandy, if that’s the case, then just go, but you’ll have to work somewhat harder to make sure that you’re a competitive applicant because of it’s status as a semi-target.
the thing is…I am also a junior transfer 
… do you know where to find out targets versus semi-targets? where are you at now… are you really wanting to go to vandy/ what other options are you weighing up ? @Jazzgtr1 what do you think about Boston College Finance Major versus Vandy
@bobsmith5101 I go to a mid-tier state school currently, which is a completely non-target. I’m not really worried about my ability to “break in” because going to an unknown, unranked, and unnamed school, I’ve already secured a summer internship in private equity. I chose Vanderbilt for the culture, and I like their program for my specific major, which actually isn’t directly related to business or finance.
If I don’t go to Vandy I might go to a LAC, stay and finish my degree, or take an extra year. I haven’t really decided. I’m on the waitlist, though, so my odds of getting in are probably slim to none.
Targetlist:
Harvard
Penn
Yale
Columbia
Princeton
Cornell
Dartmouth
Brown
Stanford
MIT
Duke
NYU
Georgetown
Williams
Amherst
UChicago
Northwestern
Hopkins
Michigan
Berkeley
Carnegie Mellon
There are several other schools that are on the edge of that, and Vanderbilt is one of them.
@Jazzgtr1 Yes, according to admissions counselors last year they did not take any person off the waitlist. When I asked in late May my admissions counselor said
“Thank you for your email. At this time the transfer class is full, so it seems very unlikely that we will be making wait list offers.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.”
Meanwhile, another transfer student traveled to Vanderbilt in mid to late June and talked with his counselor, and she said that there was a record number of students who accepted their spot and so they were not going to admit anyone off of the waitlist. However, this year they have been doing things ENTIRELY differently than last year. There have been a LOT of waitlists. Looking at the Vanderbilt transfer fb group alone, there are about 170 people in it including transfer group leaders. The normal incoming transfer class is 210, however my admissions counselor did say they were going to have a smaller transfer class this year. Keeping in mind many people who are accepted will eventually decline their spot even after depositing, they potentially could admit some students via the waitlist- depending on how accept heavy they go the next wave.
@somehmonggirl Thank you! That was very informative. That’s a little disheartening… I’m not going to hold my breath then.
If you don’t mind, I’m a little unfamiliar with the whole process. Things go in waves. So does that mean that they are still potential transfers that haven’t received an admissions decision?
@bobsmith5101 higher rankings don’t necessarily mean better in every thing. Vanderbilt is higher ranked than UMich and NYU, but Ross and Stern are one of the best undergrad business schools and are highly recruited target schools. One school’s department can be much better than another school’s department, but fall behind in overall rankings i.e. UT-Austin is lower ranked than Vanderbilt but has a better computer science program. Tech firms and google recruit more at UT-Austin than Vandy even though Vandy has an overall higher rank.
As for Georgetown, 3 things:
- Georgetown is much closer to NYC so it naturally has better connections to Wall Street
- Georgetown has a very good undergrad business program. Undergrad business programs aren't necessary for IB, and a lot of target schools don't even have undergrad programs (most ivies, uchicago, northwestern, etc.), but a high caliber undergrad program such as McDonough can offer better networking and concentrations. I don't know how good Vanderbilt's Economics program is, and you should look into it.
- Georgetown McDonugh is regarded as a high caliber MBA program. As Georgetown MBA graduates go back to Wall Street, they build a stronger presence of Georgetown on Wall Street.
Over time, I think these factors accumulated to a stronger presence of Georgetown, stronger alumni networking, and OCR.
It isn’t impossible to make it to Wall Street from Vanderbilt, just a tougher hill to climb. There are people from many different schools, and I am sure there are people from Vandy on Wall Street. Look up where Vandy grads have ended up on LinkedIn.
Yes, there are definitely people who still have no gotten a decision. How many is unknown to us! Lol. They’ll probably have them all out soon. I think they’re doing less waves but more decisions per wave this year. Thats just my guess since they haven’t been giving them out very often according to this thread.
@bobsmith5101 BC CSOM is a solid undergrad business program, but I would still say it is only a semi-target for recruitment. It’s location in Boston definitely helps, but the downside is that there are also other top schools in the area you’d have to compete with, notably Harvard and MIT. It certainly isn’t impossible and there are a decent number of BC grads on Wall Street, but again, it just isn’t a target school. If you are a top student with a good GPA, you will get offers. You will have better luck in the middle market in Boston than NYC.
If you personally prefer Vandy over BC, CSOM probably isn’t worth choosing it over Vandy since it would only be marginally helpful if at all.
A lot of bc accounting majors end up in the Big 4 though.
@bobsmith5101 If you are choosing between Vandy and BC, consider other factors like cost, overall undergrad experience, personal fit, because basing your decision on working in IB would be splitting hairs at this point.
Did you get into Columbia? Because that would be the obvious choice if you only look at IB.
(Also I meant “its location” in my previous post. I was typing on my phone and autocorrect messed it up)
thank you all for advice… yes I got into columbia but $… Also I like that BC does not have greek life, is in boston closer to nyc/ my vibe… but I am worried about prestige and IB, I think that Vandy is really prestigious and good for IB, it is also in a cool city, Nashville, and culture is probably good? Such a tough decision @Dontskipthemoose
I will sacrifice for my career @Dontskipthemoose
also, I think Vandy may be better for recruiting at top tier consulting firms like mckinsey, bain, bcg right @Dontskipthemoose
For those still waiting on a decision, nothing here this morning. Given that they released last wave last Monday at 10 AM est, I’m starting to think we might not hear back until after 2nd wave admits deposit deadline (May 22nd) like they did with 1st and 2nd wave, meaning May 29th.
They also could release at a random time at some point today or tomorrow, but who knows.
@deterr really? I thought they came out at 2:15 or something. Waiting is hard
@plzacceptme22 yes, generally I believe that is the case. It was 2:15 on a Tuesday for the first wave, but the second wave came at 10:00 AM last Monday.
I think they might release another wave at any time today or tomorrow (most likely at 2:15) but I’m also worried they’re going to make us wait until May 29th or something along those lines…
Fall 2018 transfer here. Congrats to everyone accepted! I do have a question for accepted students. For some reason, I think I read somewhere that Vandy requires you to accept or decline admission within two weeks of getting your acceptance. Is that true?
@anewtransferacct Yes. Many others only give 2-3 weeks for transfers, which is rather annoying because there is no universal notification date.
@usualhopeful then can I accept admission at the first school I get into and cancel if I get into a higher choice? Vandy will be one of the first I hear from