Transfer Decision...

[chicken23nugget6]

I have a BIG decision to make. I am currently a sophomore at Vanderbilt, but I am pretty unhappy here so far. Everyone seems really stressed out and sad, and I just get negative vibes in general. My teachers are not great and classes are crazy hard. Nobody cares about sports. The boys are ugly and cannot talk to girls (shouldn’t be that important, I know), but it makes the parties really boring and also nobody dances at them??? the meal plan is wack. Club sports are basically a joke. People are really nice, but I am having trouble really having fun with them and am pretty bored honestly. Okay sorry enough complaining. Things I really like include the area (Nashville is sooo cool) and the campus location because it is easy to walk to restaurants and coffee shops, and there are tons of cute boutiques. I really want to get involved in more clubs and service organizations, but Vandy is so busy and I feel like everyone does everything for there resume.

I applied to transfer for next semester. I would really like to be in a sorority, have good school spirit, good professors, be able to study abroad (I am a biology major, might switch to Econ), play club sports and intramurals, and have a good social life (options to go out 3-4x a week). I also wanted to reduce my stress by going to a slightly less insanely hard school, but I do want a work hard/play hard environment.

I got into: Wake Forest, Villanova, Tulane, Boston University, and Boston College
I know Vanderbilt is technically a better school, but I honestly just want to be happy. For reference, I am a girl from New England and pretty preppy, I like to dress cute for class usually. Also I love Boston itself but not a huge fan of the cold.

[UGG2023]

Have you visited Wake’s campus? It’s very different from Vandy. You cannot really walk to stuff off campus because Wake is not downtown. My DD seems to think classes are moderately hard but Wake is very work hard play hard. She says there are many cute boys, the parties are very fun including a lot of dancing.

From the schools you mentioned Nova is the only one not in a city like Wake. Also, you can fly direct to GSO airport from Philadelphia, Newark, LGA (not sure where you are from) and GSO is 30 minute Uber to Wakes campus.

My DD who is very studious and didn’t have a huge social life in HS is having an amazing life at Wake, the work life balance is much better than HS. She LOVES is at Wake!

[UGG2023]

And my DD is coming home today for winter break, so if you have any more questions I can ask her directly or put you in touch with her.

PS we are from the northeast also, and toured all the same schools you mentioned in your other post.

[rickle1]

OP - what you’re describing as a wish list can happen for you at Wake (witht he exception of walking to restaurants and shops - although downtown WS is pretty cool and only 10 minutes away).

However, I would ask if that isn’t actually available at Vandy (soroity, club sports, etc.).

Academics at Wake are pretty rigorous and you’ll find they get tougher as you advance (and get more interesting the further you delve into major / minor). I would describe the scene at Wake as Academic AND Social vs. Academic AND Introverted. Lots of activiities always going on, many which draw the whole campus (which is very cool).

I don’t know Vandy other than form websites. It is a great school. It sounds to me like you just haven’t found your tribe. Determine if it’s findable before you make a big change.

Good luck in your decision.

[chicken23nugget6]

Thank you for your input!

At Vandy, clubs sports and sororities etc are definitely available. With the club sports, I have found that they really are not taken seriously, and my team is huge and people skip practice all the time, so it hasn’t really been a community or a great way to meet people. Greek life is definitely huge here, and I would be rushing next semester if I chose to stay. I am also considering changing my major (currently molecular and cellular biology), so I would be taking different classes next semester. I think it could make a big difference, but I am nervous do rely on that changing the way I feel about my experience here… Really leaning towards Wake as of right now! I think that if there is enough stuff to do on campus, being so close to a city would not be as important.

[chicken23nugget6]

@UGG2023
I did visit Wake’s campus a few years ago and really loved it! It is nice being able to walk to restaurants/cafes/shops from Vandy’s campus, and that is probably one of my favorite things about the school. One thing I am concerned about is the distance from the airport because it would just make traveling less convenient (from New England so would be flying to/from school), but I think if my quality of life is better and more balanced that those factors are not so important.

[jjorda22]

Hi! Not sure if you’re still checking this thread, but I’m in a similar situation. The way you feel about Vanderbilt is exactly how I’m feeling at my university. I’m a current sophomore, and I was accepted to both Wake and Vandy and am planning to transfer this coming fall. Just wondering what you chose to do and if you have any advice! I think Wake is my top choice, but it’s definitely hard to turn down Nashville.

[WFUparent1]

I can’t comment on differences between Vanderbilt and Wake, but our daughter definitely had an active social life at Wake. She was out at least three times a week and very busy with her sorority. There were lots of cute sociable boys from what I could tell. I think the key is that you will need to pledge with a sorority, and that can be competitive, although I’m not sure how it compares with Vanderbilt. I don’t think any of my daughter’s friends were not in a sorority. I do see posts here from male students and their parents saying you can have a good social life at Wake without being in a fraternity, but I don’t know if that’s the case for women. I think the intramurals are supposed to be pretty good. Non-Greek clubs may be a little thin as, similar to Vanderbilt, there’s a strong pre-professional culture and people are looking to get involved to build their resumes. Our daughter had a car which made the downtown nightlife a lot more accessible, and also made getting to the airport pretty easy.