Vandy 2017er Here To Answer Questions!

Pancaked
Sun, 20 Oct 2013 23:21:19 +0000

I’ll let the OP explain more about clothing and freshman year, but I will say a little:

You will certainly will fit in with groups on campus if you always dress casually. A lot of people do so. However, there are a lot of people who prefer to dress nicely, particularly when going out. Dressing nicely (for a guy) just means khakis (shorts or pants, or jeans work as well) and a button down or collared shirt, and some shoes that aren’t athletic shoes (usually boat shoes). I would say it’s more much casual than your “Sunday best.”

This definitely should not be viewed negatively. For myself, I was a casual dresser in highschool and took the Vandy culture as an opportunity to get a more mature wardrobe. Your wardrobe has to grow up sometime. There’s not social pressure to dress better, but when you see a lot of other students dressing better (and looking good/mature), you kinda feel like you should follow suit (no pun intended). It’s a beneficial change for sure. I’m glad I finally let my highschool wardrobe go. Now I actually have clothes I can wear after college.

As for double majoring… It all depends on what you want to do. Engineering isn’t easy. There are some engineering major combos that have an establish curriculum (ChemE/BME comes to mind) but they are very rigorous. It’s not too tough to pick up a double major in the same discipline… Doing ChemE and Chemistry or Math for example isn’t too much of a stretch.

Combining engineering with a business major like Economics is possible but very challenging just because there is no overlap of courses. You’d need to come in with a good amount of AP credit to get it done. Most engineers pick up a minor, or even two minors. They require fewer credit hours and tend to require more laid-back courses. Minors in managerial studies (kinda the “business” minor) or engineering management are very common.

Regarding business, like many top schools, Vanderbilt does not have a business major. It’s not a very practical major and at many business graduate schools, applying with a business major is actually a disadvantage. Students wishing to go into business usually take Econ, but you can go into business/business school with pretty much any degree at all. There is a “managerial studies” department that offers minors in things like Corporate Strategy (encompasses marketing).