<p>I realize I should post this in the grad forum but I’m leery of venturing out of the parents section. My daughter has been accepted into the Peabody School at Vanderbilt University for graduate school. She will be visiting for the first time soon. None of us have ever seen it before. Disclaimer - I had nothing to do with applications or any research and will not be able to accompany her for the visit. I didn’t know where she had applied until she was done. Just looking for any opinions about the college or perhaps Nashville.</p>
<p>We have a good friend whose entire family (parents and all her siblings and her) all are Vandy grads, and some Vandy grad school grads too. She and her husband still live just a few blocks away. That part of Nashville is really nice. I’ve actually been quite impressed in how Nashville has kind of reinvented itself. I can’t say anything about the school, but I really am kind of impressed with the city. Where did she do her undergrad work at?</p>
<p>I really enjoyed my visit to Nashville and the Vanderbilt campus. It has a very good location in a mostly residential area that’s convenient to the downtown. The undergrad social scene wouldn’t be my cup of tea, but that won’t be a concern for grad school. The people I know on the faculty at Vandy are terrific scholars and kind teachers.</p>
<p>Is she the kid interested in education? The Peabody school is terrific for that!</p>
<p>This is my grown daughter. She graduated College three years ago and spent one year teaching in China, one year at a Middle School and is currently teaching at a charter school in Harlem. She thinking of changing directions and has been accepted into a program for International Education and policy.</p>
<p>D was accepted to Vanderbilt for undergrad and we visited for an accepted students event. The campus is beautiful and as others have stated, in a terrific part of the city.
I live in the South and Vanderbilt has a wonderful reputation as an excellent university for undergraduate as well as graduate studies. Congratulations to your D on her acceptance–it is not easy to get in there!</p>
<p>Although my D made another choice (driven by finances), she had a good friend who attended there and loved it. He ended up in an ivy for med school. If it were my D going there, I would be proud. Then, I would be looking forward to visiting! Nashville is actually a pretty cool city and in a very scenic part of Tennessee. No worries–what a wonderful opportunity!</p>
<p>Kathiep:
Vandy would be great for what she wants.</p>
<p>I have a Vandy grad student and live in Nashville. If you want to PM me, I can give you my daughter’s email address. Peabody is awesome and you can’t go wrong. (My D is not in Peabody- she is a Divinity student). Nashville is as good as it gets. Wonderful quality of life and Vanderbilt campus is great. Excellent housing options, too.</p>
<p>The graduate education program at Vanderbilt is very highly rated. Various rankings put it at or near the top for many of its programs.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.insidevandy.com/drupal/node/10188[/url]”>Inside Vandy;
<p>I don’t know if you have been following Arne Duncan and the Dept. of Ed’s “Race to the Top” grant program, but Tennessee is one of two states to win the initial round of funding. Much of that grant money will be administered through Vanderbilt and Peabody. The main author of the grant is on the Peabody faculty.</p>
<p>It is a reform-minded program. Many of the faculty have PhDs in other fields such as economics, statistics, psychology. </p>
<p>I think your daughter knew exactly what she was doing when she zeroed in on Vanderbilt for her graduate studies. </p>
<p>I am personally more familiar with Vanderbilt’s undergraduate program, since my son is a junior there. The campus and the university are fantastic, and Nashville would be a great place, IMO, to be a graduate student.</p>
<p>Wow, what positive posts! Thanks for the offer of a contact person MOW and love the linke midmo. Finaid is what’s going to make this work!</p>
<p>Peabody is top-notch, and Vandy is a great school. Absolutely beautiful campus. Great part of town with restaurants, shops within close walking distance. Only a short mile or two to the downtown night clubs.</p>
<p>Vandy is an un-and-comer and is pumping $$ into finaid to attract top stat kids and raise their standing (following the lead of WashU and USC).</p>
<p>I have visited several times in the context of business travel and been very impressed with the school and the opportunities. It’s really made a lot of leaps from excellent regional school 25 years ago to excellent national school.</p>
<p>Hi Kathiep
you know me and you know where I am…my son is however a freshman at Vandy and my husband did a grad degree there…we lived and worked in Nashville twice…love it! Peabody is the absolute best thing she could do for herself in her field…how lucky she is! Only number one in the USA…always in top three…we have a friend (older) who is there now getting a Masters and she is working SO hard among people who are highly published and respected. The town is heaven. </p>
<p>You will be so eager to visit. PM for specific places to stay although you really can’t go wrong on your own figuring that out.</p>
<p>bestest!</p>
<p>We just returned to the midwest from Nashville late last night. We were visiting our daughter, who is a junior at Vandy. LOVE the school, the opportunities, the city, etc, etc, etc. Peabody is a great choice for grad school!</p>
<p>My D is staying the summer this year, and she is beyond excited. The city is amazing, and she is so looking forward to spending a bit more time exploring it (her school schedule is very, very hectic … so while she will be busy with an internship & research, she will still have more time than usual on her hands!).</p>
<p>In addition, D was fortunate enough to get off campus for housing in the fall. She will be happily searching for a place she & her roommate can rent … she is subletting for the summer in a GREAT house. She is staying in the Hillsboro Village area & is hoping to find something for next year there, as well.</p>
<p>Can’t say enough good things about both the school & the city!</p>
<p>Hi Faline! I’ll be down in your neck of the woods in two weeks!</p>
<p>We’ll find out if she can afford Vandy pretty soon. I think this is a perfect fit for her but it sure is funny not having anything to do with it. If it works out, I’m sure we will be part of her moving team and Nashville sounds like a great place to live.</p>
<p>So happy to read all the Vandy love here! 
kelsmom, my 2009 Vandy grad lived off campus senior year too. She knew she wanted to spend a lot of quiet time applying for jobs, grad schools, programs, etc., and thought that the more social atmosphere in Towers would have made it difficult.</p>
<p>She and her best friend wound up in a 2-bedroom apartment at Village at Vanderbilt. Expensive (about $850/month per person), but very safe, parking was included, she was in walking distance to everywhere she needed to go, and she economized on food (no meal plan). I recommend it for parental peace of mind. If your d is interested, she should be sure she’s signing the lease for the period of time she thinks it is (long story there :rolleyes:).</p>
<p>Thanks for this thread - my DD has just decided, it is off to Vandy for law school in the fall. We’re happy, it is a lot closer to visit than undergrad - much closer to family, too, some are in Huntsville.</p>
<p>Anymore apartment ideas? I think she is planning to go through the university roommate finder service - the kids she knew at Vandy are all graduated now.</p>
<p>What is the housing market like in Nashville now? DH and I have toyed with the idea of buying a condo, butdon’t feel comfortable because we know nothing about the market.</p>
<p>We are looking forward to getting to know Nashville.</p>
<p>Hi Frazzled and kelsmom and Vandymoms in general…cangel…vandy is a super law school…spouse is a grad…great place…competitive but warm and friendly.</p>
<p>no wisdom on housing within the last 30 years to offer. Our housing was off of Granny White Pike at that age…in a duplex…with no kitchen cabinets and a lot of mice. Not recommended.</p>
<p>LOL! Faline, I remember mice from undergrad - that was a big part of apartment picking for med school - NO MICE. Roaches, unfortunately were another story - roach killing is one of the best uses for husbands IMHO.</p>
<p>yeah…husband at law school was church mice poor. He didn’t even sign up for heat for his apt and studied with coat and hat on all winter. Can you imagine. I can’t. Only had a bicycle with which to even find us an apartment. He rode his bike to the Public Defender’s office for a 20 hour a week paid job during law school… a burden I can hardly imagine placing on my own children. Perhaps though we deprive them of that great sense of being self starters sometimes. His roommate from a small town in Georgia…was in the phone booth telling his mother he arrived safely as a first year student at Vandy Law and was held up while talking to his mother in the phone booth by gun…she got to hear him hand over his wallet and watch before the robber hung up the phone. He turned around and drove home! That took place near the White Roach…the old apts where a nice Hampton Inn stands today…ha.
OK…let me say that I feel my son is tons safer in Nashville than my elder boy was in Durham
when friends visited his law school apt, and had to sleep on the floor…well…things got difficult. We built mice barrier forts around our friends…which is ridiculous…and must have been just for their imaginary sense of safety. Even though I hope my children have learned lessons that have to do with “doing without” material things…I know we would probably try to rush in so that they didn’t experience that level of material want.</p>
<p>When you are young and happy and fulfilled, poor or rich…Nashville is a huge treat.
Lots of good places to get experience in law around Nashville…happy for your DD</p>