Frequently Asked Questions

Most definitely; every year undergraduates participate in seminars, research tutorials, and Honors Program. Many perform important, publishable research in close collaboration with faculty. Vanderbilt offers close to 100 interdisciplinary centers and institutes that enable students to identify faculty mentors from every major. One often overlooked way to get involved in research is by connecting with your freshman-year professors.

Yes, classes are available for Vanderbilt students during May Session and Summer Session.

As mentioned above, Vanderbilt expects students to have stretched themselves academically with advanced coursework in high school, and in many secondary schools these courses carry either an Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) designation. Vanderbilt recognized the educational value of such courses by awarding credit and/or placement for students‘ performance on AP or IB exams. Credit is generally awarded for most scores of 4 or 5 on the AP exams, and for scores of 6 or 7 on the IB exams. For more information on what credit is awarded for specific tests, please consult the AP and IB charts.

A 8:1 student-to-faculty ratio places each and every Vanderbilt student in close contact with faculty of prominence in every area of academic study. This diverse, talented group of full-time professors is united by one goal: to provide our undergraduates with a challenging, comprehensive education that teaches them to think critically and broadly.

Students in the College of Arts and Science and School of Engineering are assigned a pre-major adviser who helps them determine their major. Engineers must decide at the end of their freshman year; A&S students must decide by the end of their sophomore year. Students in Blair School of Music and Peabody College of Education and Human Development are assigned an adviser in the major they were admitted to freshman year but have the option to change advisers.

Vanderbilt recognizes the rigor of the AP curriculum for many high school courses and we strongly recommend that students take the AP exam for each high school AP course in which they enrolled. The decision of how to award credit for AP exams is made by each of the four undergraduate schools. In general, Vanderbilt awards three to eight hours of credit for each AP exam score of 3, 4, or 5. A chart outlining the list of exams and credit given is available online. A maximum of 18 hours can be earned by any combination of AP, IB, advanced international credit, and credit by exam that may count towards the minimum hours required for graduation.

In order to receive Vanderbilt credit, AP exam results must be officially sent from the College Board to Vanderbilt. We will not grant credit for AP scores reported on high school transcripts or on student test reports.

The Office of the Dean of Students or the Psychological and Counseling Center are the Vanderbilt resources available for students with a learning difference.

Yes, through the Vanderbilt Career Center students can take advantage of resources including individual career advising, career exploration tools, and the career resource library. Last year close to 600 employers were on campus at career fairs allowing all Vanderbilt students to meet with potential employers about internships or full-time positions.

Yes, you may change your major up until the fifth day of classes your senior year as long as you complete the necessary requirements.

Yes, Vanderbilt strongly encourages students to pursue double majors and minors, especially in unrelated academic fields. The exception is the School of Engineering, which only allows engineers to major in engineering fields. Students interested in pursuing double majors and minors do not indicate this on their applications. Instead, the declaration of such plans is made after matriculation.

A Vanderbilt education leads to a degree with distinction. Most recently, 36% of our graduating seniors entered graduate or professional school and 47% went directly into the workforce. Another 17% volunteered, entered the military, or had other plans.

There are endless opportunities for involvement with more than 350 student organizations, a student newspaper, a campus radio station, approximately 40 club sports, 40 intramural sports, musical ensembles including a 200-member marching band, fraternities, sororities, and Division I-SEC sports with enthusiastic student cheering sections. And Nashville is located in a major metropolitan area with about 1.5 million people. Vanderbilt is in the West End district, located just minutes from a lively downtown scene and within walking distance of all that Nashville has to offer.

A student earns credits for the successful completion of each course for each academic term. The average Vanderbilt student takes 12 - 15 credit hours (4 - 5 courses) per semester.

Eighty-nine percent of students graduate in six years.

Vanderbilt has more than 50 majors within four undergraduate schools and colleges and ranks as one of the top universities throughout the nation. Read more about our rankings. The great thing about Vanderbilt is that even if you change your mind once you enroll, you‘ll have so many top-rated programs to choose from, you can be confident of your preparation for a career, graduate school or professional school.

Vanderbilt encourages students struggling with issues or problems affecting their academic performance to meet with their professors or consult with their academic advisers right away. Other options for assistance include: Pre-major advising, The Writing Studio, Tutoring Services, and the Opportunity Development Center.

Students in the School of Engineering declare a major at the end of freshman year. Students in the College of Arts and Science declare a major at the end of sophomore year. Students applying to Blair School of Music and Peabody College of Education and Human Development must declare a major when they apply but have opportunities to change majors, double major, or add minors, as do students in all four undergraduate schools and colleges.

Information on Pre-Professional Programs is available online. Vanderbilt offers pre-professional advising for students interested in pre-medicine, pre-law, pre-business, pre-architecture, and pre-journalism.

Entering freshmen who have received college credit prior to their offer of admission to Vanderbilt must report such work to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. At the student‘s request, the dean of the school will determine whether such work may be credited toward the Vanderbilt degree. Credit will be awarded only if the course is regularly offered by an accredited two-year or four-year college or university, if the teacher was a regular faculty member of that institution, and if a majority of the students in the course were candidates for a degree at that institution. This question of credit at Vanderbilt must be settled in advance of the student‘s first registration.

Under most circumstances Vanderbilt does not offer dual enrollment credit. If the course in question appears on both the high school transcript and a college transcript, the student will only receive credit one time for the completion of that course.