Vanderbilt seems like a school where legacy admissions would run rampant. Something about the south, a great baseball program, and a $10.9 billion endowment just makes it feel like Vandy is a place that would care about legacy admissions. We work with legacies all the time and get constantly asked about legacy admissions at Vanderbilt. Unfortunately, Vanderbilt is extremely tight-lipped when it comes to legacy admissions data. Nevertheless, we wanted to break down what they have said about legacy admissions, what we know, and tips for getting in as a legacy.
Does Vanderbilt do legacy admissions?
The short answer is yes. In 2020, the Vanderbilt Hustler (**extremely cool name alert**) published one of the most confusing articles about legacy admission we’ve read. The article was titled, “Vanderbilt brings back legacy admissions as a factor in admissions.” This sent up a red flag for us, mainly because we weren’t convinced that it ever went away in the first place. The author asserts that “Vanderbilt did not consider legacy status during the academic years spanning 2005 to 2007 and began considering legacy status in admissions once again during the 2007-2008 academic year.” Honestly, even if they did stop considering legacies for two years, that was long enough ago that we wouldn’t worry too much about it.
Why even bring up this article then? Well, unfortunately, it contains some of the only information available about Vanderbilt and its legacy status that has been published by someone connected to the school. Before every application season, we comb through data, talk to insiders, and read up on any new policies/trends set out by colleges. This includes looking at legacy trends, however, Vandy publishes almost nothing about legacy admissions and admissions officers keep a lot of information on this subset extremely close to the vest.
What do we know about Vanderbilt and legacy admissions?
The only information Vanderbilt’s website has about legacy is from their alumni page. There is says, “Each year, many children and grandchildren of alumni apply for undergraduate admission to Vanderbilt. These legacy families are a significant part of the Vanderbilt tradition and a shining example of Commodore pride for our alumni community.” This is important because they mention grandparents. Many schools only count parental legacies but Vanderbilt reaches further. They also say, “While alumni affiliation by no means ensures admission to Vanderbilt, we are honored to partner with and assist alumni families with helpful information and tools to navigate the admission process.”
We also know from that previous Hustler article, “14.8 percent of Vanderbilt’s class of 2023 are legacy students.” This is important because this is fairly industry standard. Most top schools have around 13% of their class as legacy students yearly. These numbers can fluctuate but usually fall between 11% and 16%. Vanderbilt’s recent-ish 14.8% tips us off that they probably have similar numbers to other schools that we are tracking.
That article has two other important takeaways, one which we believe, and one which we aren’t so sure about. The one we know is true is that students have to self-report legacy status. The second is about how much weight Vanderbilt gives legacy students. The article says, “At Vanderbilt, legacy status is considered at the same level as other non-academic factors, such as geographical residence, volunteer experience, work experience, first-generation status, and racial/ethnic status, according to the website for Vanderbilt’s Office for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness. This makes it more important than demonstrated interest and religious affiliation, factors which are not considered, according to the Office for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness website, but less important than extracurricular activities, personal qualities, and talent/ability.” It should be noted that the website that they refer to no longer displays this information.
We think this is a bit of an oversimplification. We think what the author is trying to say, is Vanderbilt has a holistic admissions process. This means they look at everything about an applicant to decide if they get in or not. We however would venture to guess not all factors are always weighted the same. Basically, Vanderbilt is going to look at legacy status but it isn’t everything.
Ok, but will my kid get in?
One thing we see across the industry is that when it comes to legacy admissions, is that not every legacy gets in at top schools. The highest legacy acceptance rate we have seen at top schools is around 30%. While we don’t know what Vandy’s rate is, it isn’t 100%. Their acceptance rate overall has been seeing historic lows.
If your student is serious about Vanderbilt, our first tip is to consider ED. Vanderbilt has an early decision 1 and an early decision 2. ED 1 has the highest acceptance rate. For the Class of 2026, the ED 1 acceptance rate was 24.1% while ED 2 was 10.3%. Regular decision for the Class of 2026 was only 4.7%. Legacy or not, ED is a great way to stack the deck in their favor.
The second thing your student needs is a great application. You might be asking yourself, “but what makes a great application?” Legacy status will help, but your student also needs to have great grades, test scores, activities, and essays. Not all legacies get in, so they need to be competitive amongst other legacies. We work with many legacy students and they are usually very motivated to have good test scores, grades, etc. Pushing them to craft the perfect resume and dynamic essays is what changes a good application into a great one. And we push our students to stand out of the pack by working with them to make the best application possible.
We know it can be frustrating navigating admissions especially when admissions offices keep a lot of their data to themselves. It’s something that also makes our heads ache. But that’s our job. If you are nervous or vexed, you are not alone. College admissions can be very stressful: both for parents and students. We are always here to help. Navigating admissions at top schools is our job and our passion. So while Vandy might not tell you everything, we always will.
Need more help? Contact us here! We are happy to help!