<p>To all those who are considering Vanderbilt for the upcoming school year:</p>
<p>I am currently a Vanderbilt student. I sincerely hope that is no longer the case next year, as I am in the process of transferring to another school. Let me tell you why.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is a wonderful school -- for some. The academics are very challenging, the weather is beautiful (as is the campus), school spirit is abundant, and the teachers (for the most part) are quite qualified and good at what they do. HOWEVER, the social scene at Vanderbilt is 100% abysmal if you are anything but a privileged partier. Sure, you can have friends if you're not the stereotype, but the overall feeling of hatred and disdain on the campus will permeate any happiness you might find. Those who consider themselves the "Vandy elite" essentially run the school, and you will find yourself adhering to their ideas of what your college experience should include. I went through sorority recruitment, joined a sorority, and hated the outcome. I lived in a specialty dorm, and they have now shut down that hall. In my experience, following your own path at Vanderbilt is extremely difficult.</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong. Of course there are things about Vanderbilt that I will miss. I certainly love several of my professors very much and have grown to have good relationships with them, and they will be difficult to leave. I will miss my sorority sisters a lot, as well as the religious life at Vandy. However, I look forward to going to a place where walking around in Converse, jeans, and a t-shirt is not considered heinous fashion sense; where you are allowed to be gay, black, Jewish, foreign, etc. without being shunned; where the fraternity house lawns are not carpeted with beer cans not just after a night of partying, but after long days of drinking and cornhole; where Greek life is not a segregationist method of asserting elitism; where the administration cares more about the welfare of its undergraduates than one or two more points in the USNWR National Universities Rankings; where the arts are actually celebrated and adequately funded; and where I don't have to pay through the nose to be subjected to all of the above bull****.</p>
<p>If you are a wealthy applicant who is very concerned with outward appearances, if you don't care about an arts or culture scene, and/or if you love football and insane pressure to conform to a set standard, Vanderbilt will be paradise for you. If you are an artsy person who sometimes gets paint on her jeans and doesn't see the point in wearing makeup at 8 AM every day, look elsewhere.</p>
<p>Strange, but when my daughter auditioned at Blair, it seemed that this was not the case at all. All of the low brass section who hung around to welcome her seemed like real regular kids from all over the place, not privileged preppy types at all. They all expressed genuine happiness and satisfaction at their choice of Vanderbilt and with the Blair music program. The fact that they saw a girl auditioning and actually made an effort to hang out and meet her spoke volumes to me about the kind of kids in the music program. And these were not kids who were working as official greeters or tour guides, these were just kids attending classes that day.</p>
<p>to CED2015: They have not changed quickly at all. I have spent two years at Vanderbilt and sincerely regret my decision to come here.</p>
<p>to woeishe: there actually isn’t pressure like that at all schools. Get out of the bubble. Explore a little.</p>
<p>to Moonmaid: Blair is the rare exception. I started my Vanderbilt career at Blair and found the most genuine and kind Vanderbilt students to be there. I had the same response when I auditioned there. However, you will find that Blair kids are rather isolated at Vanderbilt, tend not to have friends outside of Blair, and are looked down upon by a large part of the university as being the kids who weren’t actually smart enough to get into A&S, Peabody, or Engineering.</p>
<p>It is absolutely relevant, and I found it quite appropriate to reply to you. You stated that there is pressure like this at all schools. That is simply not the case – not like it is at Vanderbilt. There are quite a few schools of which I am aware that do not practice shallow, materialistic judgment on a scale as great as Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>The comment was not relevant, and slightly immature because you made preconceived notions about me when I’m probably as liberal is you are. You confirmed that my statement is correct, just not at the scale as Vanderbilt.Vanderbilt is a shallow school. I completely agree with you. I’m just saying, don’t think there is not going to be pressure at other schools. At liberal schools, a prep will have just as much pressure as a liberal at Vanderbilt. It is inevitable.</p>
<p>macaroni870- your posts in April of last year were raving about how much you loved Vandy and felt that you fit in there. That seems like a quick change to me.</p>
<p>@woeshie, Right out of the gate, your reply came across as hostile (to me anyway). </p>
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<p>Are you feeling a little defensive for some reason? I mean, why blame the OP for the opinions he/she holds and decided to share. What’s it to you? Why does “fault” have to be distributed?</p>
<p>It is simply not true that there is pressure like that at all schools. And you seemed to be holding a few preconceived notions of your own prior to replying to OP’s post. </p>
<p>Hey, guys. I’m a prospective for Vandy, and I gotta say, I’m gonna support what macaroni870 is saying. I’ve heard the same two replies from everyone I ask. </p>
<p>“It’s awesome, especially social life/Greek” (paraphrase)</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>“People are shallow, obsessed with appearance and, in some cases, phobic to anything that isn’t rich, white and straight.” (paraphrase)</p>
<p>I’ve also heard from many who visited the campus on days like Mosaic before entering the school that the full extent of the culture wasn’t made clear to them in their 3-5 day visit, and that it took a while, sometimes a whole term, for them to realize what they’ve got themselves into. </p>
<p>I’m personally very hesitant about the culture at vandy, and I thank you, macaroni, for pointing these issues out publically.</p>
<p>She should that researched/asked questions about Vanderbilt before applying there. I hold no preconceived notions. I just don’t like it when people criticize a school but didn’t do enough research to avoid said schools. I believe my posts are pretty nice (except the first one, which, I agree, seems harsh) and pressures are gonna be at ANY school. There will never be a college that is pressure-free.</p>
<p>I am sorry, macaroni, that things are not going well for you. It sounds as if you may have run into some very troublesome personal situations. No school is right for every student. If you feel you will be happier elsewhere, then you are wise to transfer. However, do be careful to research the schools you are considering in order to make sure that you find what you are looking for. Being happy is definitely important.</p>
<p>My D did not go to Vanderbilt freshman year because she was not impressed with the attitudes of the students on the accepted student facebook page. While she enjoyed her social life at the school she originally chose, she felt that Vandy would offer her more of what she needed academically. She transferred in with her eyes wide open. I will not pretend that it has been a piece of cake socially, especially since greek life holds no interest for her whatsoever. She has forged her own path, finding lots to do that interests her. She has excelled academically, participated in activities that interest her, held leadership positions, had internships, hosted a radio show, etc. She loves Nashville and definitely takes advantage of the culture available in the Nashville area.</p>
<p>It helps that my D is more interested in her future than in what is happening on Friday night. This observation is not meant to put anyone down who IS interested in going to parties and fitting in. What I mean to show is that everyone is different, and even those who are not like those the OP describes as typical Vandy students CAN be happy. But again, no school is for everyone.</p>
<p>My feeling is that the more students who come to campus who are not rich, preppy, elitist partiers who look down on those not like themselves, the more the school will be welcoming and comfortable for those who are different. But it does take time to change a culture, if that is indeed the culture.</p>
<p>@woeshie, the preconceived notion that you held (still hold) is that macaroni did not do any research. You do not know that. I think part of macaroni’s point is that, despite the research she did, she did not find what she expected to find at Vanderbilt. There’s nothing wrong with that. It happens all the time. It’s not easy to research and completely “know” a school based only on a few short visits, books, and CC posts. Lots of college kids sadly discover that they made a wrong choice for themselves. I always feel compassionate towards people who feel that way. There’s a lot of investment – emotional and financial, when choosing a school. It’s sad when it doesn’t work out. She’s not saying Vandy is a lousy school. She’s just saying that it didn’t meet her expectations and she doesn’t think it’s working for her. You feel entitled to harshly judge her because you “don’t like it” that she didn’t do enough research?? Based on your hunch?? Yuk. </p>
<p>Nice post by kelsmom. I agree with all that was said.</p>
<p>I will agree with mostly everything Kelsmom has written.</p>
<p>To address the Woeishe/Macaroni fight, I will have to agree that these things exist everywhere. Macaroni can perceive the issue to be significantly greater at Vandy than it really is, but this is the real world. I’ve been to and had fun at the greek parties but never joined a greek organization (I certainly wasn’t going to pay for my friends). I had a very fulfilling life outside of the greek system and to be honest, I found it pretty easy and simple. I take extreme offense to “where you are allowed to be gay, black, Jewish, foreign, etc. without being shunned,” “where the administration cares more about the welfare of its undergraduates than one or two more points in the USNWR National Universities Rankings,” as well as a myriad of other things in her post. </p>
<p>Perhaps Macaroni wants an environment that will comfort her and emotionally support her as she matures or gains the strength to be independent. I don’t know. I can’t say because I don’t know her, but at the very least I certainly can say I do know Vanderbilt. </p>
<p>Before someone suggests I should “explore a little,” I currently attend graduate school at one of HYPS. One of your perceived bastions of liberalism.</p>
<p>My s and I just returned home yesterday from a trip to vandy. I was, as always, very skeptical going in. I have read tons of posts explaining that Vandy can have an “elitist” attitude and wasn’t the most accepting of others.</p>
<p>As a result, my S and I really went out of our way to try and find this “elitist, non acceptance” mentallity. Now granted, the kids were on Spring break but there were still kids on campus. We visited a frat house (jewish), spoke with an african american student, international student, grad student (white) and just a regular white kid that was in a frat for 2 years and left it and we know a boy from NY who is gay. Everyone loves it there. No one felt shunned. </p>
<p>We didn’t set out to meet people from all different ethnic backgronds, it just worked out that way. So I don’t know what to think when people say things like are posted here. Its scary because we definitely didn’t see what people are stating. </p>
<p>Also, could this feeling of materialism be more prevalent amongst the girls on the campus?
Sometimes I think that girls can be very “catty” and are quicker to pass judgement on others when they don’t dress a certain way etc.? On the other hand, boys can probably get away with dressing more casual, just because they’re guys. I have seen pics of parties etc and the boys wear casual pants, shirt and ties but on a regular day in school is the look more shorts, and a polo/t-shirt?</p>
<p>Dungareedoll, we were in your position 6 years ago. My d had been offered a large merit scholarship at Vandy and felt obligated to give herself every chance to love the school. But she’s quite liberal politically, at the time was not a drinker (she did become a pretty mild one as an undergrad), and was well aware of the negative impression many have of Vanderbilt as a haven for privileged partiers. We went in with skepticism. </p>
<p>My d found her niche, took full advantage of Vanderbilt’s superb academics and student services, graduated with exactly the job she wanted, and is today considering a generous merit scholarship to return for law school. She loved her Vanderbilt experience and even participated in Greek life (with a leadership role, yet). It was interesting to me that her sorority loomed large in her life as a second-semester freshman and first-semester sophomore, and that it became much less important to her as an upperclassman. Certainly my d spent more time on academics and non-Greek volunteer activities. She even had a couple of part-time jobs, because she is not financially privileged and doesn’t at all mind working for a paycheck.</p>
<p>I’m always saying this, but - to a hammer, the world looks like a nail. To people for whom the Greek/party scene is the be-all end-all, it dictates the social environment on campus. To people for whom it isn’t - it doesn’t. It seems to me that many of the highest-achieving Vanderbilt students seem to find the social fray irrelevant - I’m thinking of people I know on CC who will probably post on this thread. But there is undoubtedly a cohort of students who are privileged partiers (as there almost certainly is at Harvard, and Dartmouth, and Wesleyan - they just don’t wear as many polo shirts). If that fact is a major turn-off, you might want another school.</p>
<p>frazzle: On the contrary the polo shirt thing is not a big deal to us at all. I was just saying that maybe for girls it can be more demanding with regard to what you wear and how you present yourself at all times. On the other hand i think for guys it just easier to pop on a polo and walk out the door and look good. Bottom line its always harder on women and maybe vandy’s demands can be too much for some girls who are more natually laid back about their outward appearance.</p>
<p>As a potential Blair student, I think my daughter fully realizes that her grades alone would not get her in to Vanderbilt. But coming from a HS in Texas where band/music students are a bit apart socially from the rest of the kids, but accepted as part of the school, I don’t think this is such a big deal for her. After all, an engineering student would not be able to play a concerto and get accepted into music school. My daughter has all kinds of friends, from rancher kids to drama students to top-of-the-class brains. I also was expecting to find rampant snobbery at Vanderbilt, but we did make an effort to seek out and talk to current students, and it just wasn’t what we found. I am sure that if she is lucky enough to get accepted, life as a student will be a little different, but she has always rolled with the punches (we moved to small town Texas from the NYC suburbs) and done well, in lots of different life situations.</p>