@liska21 congrats to your D16.
Posting this here and on the other 2019 parents page to save some people a lot of discomfort once their child moves into their chosen school. I belong to quite a few other groups and right now theyāre are blowing up over their children being uncomfortable with their roommates having overnight guests. It is important that you research the rules regarding overnight guests in dorm rooms at the schools that your children are considering . Every school is different with different rules regarding how many nights per month, how many days in a row, etc. You may also want to investigate the availability of private rooms. I know that this is not always a comfortable subject , but it should be addressed before choosing a school if someone has strong feelings about it. Just throwing this out there.
My husband finally signed the kiddo up for driving school last night. It would be nice for him to be able to get himself to school and back. Weāre getting my fatherās car in November when he gets a new one so we will have 3 vehicles. Fingers crossed that weāll have 3 drivers too.
First day of school WAS scheduled to be today, but there was a problem with the air conditioning so the school is closed because the heat index is going to be deadly today. Kiddo is really bummed. He was so looking forward to seeing everyone again. Before we heard the building was closed he was complaining about not being ready to go back, once he heard the building was closed he started stressing about missing everything and everyone.
I hope he remembers this when school gets annoying and stressful like it inevitably does.
I brought D17 to the airport Sunday morning so she could head back to college for her second year. She has a single room and after a long day of travel she learned of her good fortune in getting a room with an air conditioning unit! The dorms are generally not air conditioned so given the current heat wave, she is super happy. Sheās not as excited about the reading to come. I didnāt think she could top the number of books assigned last fall but yes, she has to get 28 books for this semester! Better her than me. 
Now to get back to focusing on S19 and bugging him about his essays.
S19 (who started school last week), actually said he was bored yesterday and wished he had school! Iām sure that wonāt last long! (And he wasāt quite bored enough to start the common app essay - āOh yeah, I forgot I have to do that.ā Heās read a few examples of āgoodā essays and thought they were all pretentious and annoying.
He spent a good chunk of time camped out in his GCās office the first two days, but seems happy enough with his classes/schedule now. Only one really boring teacher, but he can put up with that if he has friends in the class. Heās really glad he signed up for Calc AB - even though he has a sub for the first two weeks. Some of his friends in BC calc are already considering dropping down.
Anyone here looking at Vanderbilt? We are thinking of adding a few universities to S19ās list. Nashville, good weather, happy students, 800-900 kids in their A&S college. Not so, so much bigger than his LACs with 500 kids per class. We havenāt visited and wonāt have a chance unless heās accepted. Last year, our school had eight kids accepted and seven went. All seem to have grades and scores right around S19ās.
Iām a little concerned about Greek life but the Vandy rep at school today told the kids that frats are non-residential now. I know itās a work hard, play hard kind of place but I get the impression itās less intense than a Northwestern or Chicago.
@homerdog We visited and really liked the school overall. Didnāt get a stressed out vibe at all, of course it was over the summer.
I know there is no necessary correlation, but their Engineering majors retention is so high, I ranked it as a normal stress level school.
D19ās feedback was that sheād like it more if she was in the Arts and Science school. That was because that school had the most student representation at the open house, and is the largest school. There were multiple guides double majoring between Arts and Science and the Peabody School. The A&S Core sounded fun, so I think that was a bummer for her. They talked about it so enthusiastically. I recall they were a big Residential House school, with a heavy focus on that competition. Greek was higher for women. Donāt remember the number, but recalled being surprised, and it being our highest Greek % school. Of course, they said it was a community focused Greek Life. Kind of interesting that some professors lived in apartments in the dorms.
Canāt beat the weather, but the first time we were going to visit was during an event in January. Their offices were closed a few days before because of snow/ice. Then we decided not to do the drive because Atlanta had snow.
Thanks @peachActuary73 !
S will be applying and we havenāt visited yet. Iām hoping weāll get there sometime this fall but maybe not. Iām not feeling great about that 7% RD rate but oh well. I definitely have liked what Iāve heard and read and Nashville seems like a great city.
We would definitely have looked at Vandy if my kid had been willing to look at anything below the Mason-Dixon line. My high school boyfriendās younger brother teaches there. Iāve kept in touch with the brother far more than the ex-boyfriend and he offered to put us up and show us around if we came. But, alas, it wasnāt on our list.
For the second day, the start of school has been postponed due to extreme heat index. From the looks of the forecast, Iād be surprised if they opened school before next Monday. Well, I guess that gives them more time to finish construction and get the classrooms ready?
@homerdog My Vandy data is probably 3-4 years old - my nieceās impression is that Greek life was very dominant. (Keep in mind if you met her you would think āsorority girlāā¦the alpha girl variety - smart, athletic, hardworking, enjoys social life.) She was also struck by how wealthy the kids seemed (and she comes from a very wealthy family). But she loved the school and it was on her list. (She ended up at Notre Dame which she adores.)
Weāve thought about Vandy off and on for a while. It has so many positives D likes, but she is the opposite of a sporty greek girl. Still so unsure about where she wants to apply.
Thanks @SwimmingDad and @SunnyFlorida22 I think Vandy is really trying to change that image of wealthy, Greek school.The rep was at our school yesterday and told the kids that the fraternities are non-residential. They are also starting residential colleges as another way for kids to socialize. I have a feeling the change is slower for the girls in their fancy sororities. I donāt love the wealthy thing either but Iāve PMād with a few CCers who say all socioeconomic groups are definitely represented. S19 is coming from a school with wealth. I donāt think he would feel out of place but he was hoping to see a different scene for college.
Once again, visiting would help. I think the vibe would be pretty easy to pick up after being on campus. The rep said that only ten percent of classes are over 100 kids and a large percentage are under 30. After looking exclusively at LACs, I do wonder about advising, etc., at a school like Vanderbilt. Itās has to be less personal. And I have heard that there are TAs teaching class. One person made a comment that the TAs can even be better than the professors because the TAs would specialize in the content of that class and the professorās experience may be in something slightly different. Hm. I donāt know about that. Expensive school to be taught by TAs. Not sure how much it happens though. At this point in the game, Iām overthinking pretty much everything.
If anyone has a son or daughter thereā¦or has visited and can give any more guidance, Iām all ears!
My ex and I are looking hard at Vandy for S19 for a number of reasons. I was actually very close to purchasing plane tickets for next weekend to go visit, but his aunt will be there this Fall before the early application deadline, so heās planning to meet her there at that time. I really hope the trip pans out. It would be a haul, and heās already told me no Southern schools and not too far away. He ruled out Chicago finally because of distance, and Vandy would be about as far. But I think airfare deals would be easier to come by. Anyway, I was heartened to learn that his girlfriendās mom wants her to look at Vandy also, because we are concerned heās making decisions with thoughts of keeping close to her in mind.
Anyway, be glad to update you once heās visited if I can get anything out of him.
@homerdog - is your son looking at Hamilton at all? I canāt remember if it made the list or not. They have a very strong math department, and I know your son is a math kid. When we were there, we met the chair while trying to get into the dining hall. He expressed that all the professors were great, as he had hand selected them. Lol. Anyway - 10% of the student body majors in math, compared with 2-3% as a national average. Iām an alum - there are definitely wealthy kids, but admissions seems to try to draw a wide variety of students. Greek life is non-residential, but they still host campus-wide parties. Itās a very friendly, down-to-earth place. Strongest/most popular majors would be Math, English, biology (lots of doctors and scientists), political science, economics, anthropology. Geology dept is also strong.
@Trixy34 Thanks! I just did the virtual tour online and it looks so big. S19 will definitely see a difference between Vandy and every other school we have visited. Even the freshmen dorms in Ingram Commons look big. I guess itās all relative but heās used to seeing the little dorms at LACs. Looks like campus buts right up to Memphis. S19 was really against an urban campus and, while most of Vandyās campus looks fairly contained, some of the newer buildings look like they are on the edge. I am also still a bit concerned about how formal the school may feel. In the virtual tour, all of the girls were in dresses, etc. S19 is a pretty casual kid.
And, yes, Hamilton is on the list. I like everything about it except the location. We have friends with a son there and itās just a pain to get there from Chicago. Itās low on S19ās list only because we have not visited and they offer no merit. S19 hasnāt really paid any attention to it yet. The rep is visiting our school next month and S19 is signed up to meet her. I think itās a really good fit for him so I hope he will find some time to look more at the website and I really hope the rep is engaging!
@homerdog Vandy is in Nashville.
@janiemiranda LOL of course. Need to get coffeeā¦
Itās only September 5th and I am already sick of the application process, lol. With some luck son19 will just be done with all of this nonsense in a month. Then just another long wait until acceptances get released.
I am usually not one to wish time away, but at this point in my life Iām ready for this aspect fo be over.