Visit Report by bjs_7 (Member since June 06 2007 with 69 posts) Visit Date - July 2007
Visit to Vanderbilt University in July 2007 by bjs_7 (Student, HS Class of 2008)
Visit Activities:
Admissions Interview:
No - Vanderbilt doesn't conduct interviews unless there is an alumni in your area that is interested in meeting up with you (this is what the admissions lady told us). Information Session:
Yes - They gave us all the essentials about Vanderbilt. My head was definitely spinning from the information, but I'd rather have too much than not enough as far as information is concerned. Campus Tour:
Yes - The campus is located on 330 acres in the heart of Nashville. All of the buildings were architectually interesting and appeared to be well cared for. Classroom Visit:
Yes - We saw an empty classroom in Buttrick Hall. It was small, well furnished, and comfortable. It was equipped with all of the usual chalkboards and projectors and such.
Vanderbilt University Campus:
Friendliness/Courtesy of Students: 5 - Excellent -
Because it was summer, there were very few students on campus. However, the ones I did see seemed happy and friendly to help out a fellow peer.
Friendliness/Courtesy of Staff: 5 - Excellent -
The event was well-staffed, and everyone was extremely knowledgeable. The Southern hospitality was very prevalent here.
Appearance of Campus: 5 - Excellent -
There are hundreds of varieties of plants and trees on campus, and every single one was green and thriving despite the extreme summer heat. There is also a 3:1 ratio of squirrels to students. :)
Building/Facilities Maintenance/Cleanliness: 5 - Excellent -
Despite school not technically being in session, everything looked top notch and well-cared for.
Dormitories: 4 - Very Good -
Unfortunately, we didn't get to visit the dorms. The good news is that they'll be opening for the class of 2008 and will be brand new! I'll explain this in more detail below.
Security/Safety: 4 - Very Good -
Vanderbilt uses the blue light system and has phones placed strategically around campus to contact the VPD. Basically, just use your head and you should be fine.
Overall Campus Impression: 5 - Excellent -
It's very rare that you get that feeling where you're experiencing the best of both worlds. I definitely enjoyed Vanderbilt's intimate feeling coupled with the big city feel.
Off-Campus:
Area Immediately Around Campus: 5 - Excellent -
Vanderbilt is amazing because you get so many feelings from one campus. On one side, you've got the rushing downtown life, but just a few blocks over, you feel as if you are in a quaint college t
City/Town/Community: 5 - Excellent -
It's Nashville, and it's amazing! I personally believe that this city is so underrated because a lot of people are turned off by the country music scene. Believe me, there is a ton to do in
Campus Visit Notes for Vanderbilt University:
Visit Description:
I enrolled in the PreVU event to get a look at all Vanderbilt had to offer. There were about 400 other rising high school seniors in attendace. We got a campus tour, admissions presentation, financial aid presentation (this lady was hilarious), and a session with a Dean of one of your areas of interest among other things. I liked the fact that they felt honored to have us in attendance and were extremely friendly. I know a lot of top notch universities act a little pretentious just because they are ranked highly.
If you do the PreVU event, you get a free Vanderbilt t-shirt from the bookstore and a free lunch from Rand Dining Hall. Those are both bonuses in my book. :)
The Commons are the name of Vanderbilt's new housing system that they'll be implementing starting in 2008. With the new system, every single incoming freshman will live in this community. They said that they are doing this so that every freshman will have the same experience. Using their experience, they will then be able to build off of that and expand (supposedly). However, I'm not really in favor of this because of my like of feeling like an individual. I honestly feel like they're doing this just to try and "compete" with Harvard and other colleges that do something similar. This was a very controversial topic on campus and a lot of current students felt slighted. One student told me he'd rather see $150 million go toward academics rather than a bunch of dorm rooms.
About 40% of students are involved in Greek life at Vanderbilt. However, very few students live in the actual houses. That is normally reserved to just the top 6 or so officers for each house. Greek life is available, however, it's not overpowering or too influential from what I heard.
I noticed a lot of students seemed to be very "preppy." This isn't an issue for me, but I feel that it is still something worth being reported because of VU's conservative nature. They were still friendly though, preppy or not.
If anyone has any questions, just try to contact me and I'll try to help you out. Obviously I'm not going to have the knowledge of a current student, but they did cram our brains pretty full of information!
Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments:
We stayed in a Holiday Inn Express about 1.5 miles away from Vanderbilt. It was big, clean, affordable, and within walking distance of downtown Nashville.
Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:
For our main dinner, we ate a P.F. Chang's right next to Vanderbilt. I was very impressed by it considering I don't like most Asian food. It's a chain, so I'd recommend for you to
Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.):
This was an admitted downfall of Vanderbilt. Many students commented on how they hated the parking, or lack thereof. In fact, they said some students join Greek life so that they'll be ensured a
-
Because it was summer, there were very few students on campus. However, the ones I did see seemed happy and friendly to help out a fellow peer.
-
Unfortunately, we didn't get to visit the dorms. The good news is that they'll be opening for the class of 2008 and will be brand new! I'll explain this in more detail below.