<p>I am sorry that your daughter has not felt welcomed at Vanderbilt. My daughter goes there and loves it! And she has many friends from all over the country, even the north. She has friends from Chicago, OH, NY, CT, NJ just to name a few. And they all love it. So to state that Northerners are not welcomed is just not true. </p>
<p>I hope you daughter finds a school that is more to her liking.</p>
<p>Another here who can say with certainty that there are many Northerners who thrive at Vanderbilt and love it. I respect that the OPâs experience has been her experience which has gone from enthusiastic to disappointing, although it wasnât comparable to what my kids had (and when you get two at the dinner table talking about the common experience, you do get to know what they think about their school). However, the Northern comment is just beyond belief!</p>
<p>BTW, the Impact forum is next week and I have driven down to go to several of those presentations through the years. I always saw a huge student presence during the lectures I attended (Madeline Albright, Harold Ford, Tucker Carlson & Paul Bergala).</p>
<p>MOST college-aged kids are welcoming to kids from different part of the country and world - they are accepting of all races. This is the same at Vanderbilt. Itâs amazing to me that people actually believe that college kids at Vanderbilt are somehow totally different than they are other places. Nothing is for everyone - Both of my older kids have college friends from all over the country and definitely didnât pick them because of where they are from. Thatâs absurd. Yes, Vanderbilt kids are involved in the world around them. During the 2008 presidential campaign, both republican and democratic rallies were equally attended. The good news was that both groups were treated respectfully by students with opposing views. Vanderbilt isnât perfect - no university is - the education is outstanding and the setting is perfect. Itâs up to the individual as to whether or not he/she is happy, itâs not up to the school.</p>
<p>Thereâs almost as many Northerners as Southerners at Vanderbilt now. Saying Northerners arenât excepted is complete BS.</p>
<p>When I was a student, I couldnât get into many of the lectures because they had no more room/tickets were sold out. And some of them were students only. So I find it hard to believe students donât attend them unless they are required.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt may be a little more professional track oriented than other top tier schools, but I personally like that aspect a lot. However, if you are looking for intellectual conversation, it can be found. To say there is none on campus is silly.</p>
<p>jbstewsaff, </p>
<p>what Northeast colleges are her friends at/is she considering transferring to?</p>
<p>Ouch. All those CAPS AND EXCLAMATION MARKS!!! this early in the morning have my eyeballs hurting!!!</p>
<p>But hey, itâs good to know what my son has reeeallllly been up to all these years. Here I thought he was busting his behind with double majors, multiple degrees, published research, conferences, clubs, service activities and what-not, and he has actually been GOING WILD! half of every week.</p>
<p>Not to mention all that effort heâs been expending pretending to be a southerner, the only possible explanation for all those friends he has.</p>
<p>Golly. Donât hold back, jbstewsaff - tell us how you really feel. </p>
<p>Of course youâre entitled to your opinion. Facts are nice too, of course. Iâm not sure what you mean by
because Vanderbilt makes no claims regarding the percentage of students âdominatedâ by Greek life. They do, however, provide figures for the number of students involved in it: <a href=âhttp://www.vanderbilt.edu/greek_life/stats/Membership%20Statistics%2009%20-%2010.pdf[/url]â>http://www.vanderbilt.edu/greek_life/stats/Membership%20Statistics%2009%20-%2010.pdf</a> Thatâs 48% of the women, 31% of the men, and 40% overall. I like to think that the non-Greek students at Vanderbilt have too much on the ball personally and academically to allow themselves to be âdominatedâ by Greek life. Could you clarify your meaning here?
Iâm going to vigorously contest this. Youâre reporting your unhappy freshman daughterâs viewpoint; Iâm reporting the viewpoint of a 2009 grad who graduated summa cum laude and PBK, and took full advantage of the many additional lectures, forums, and opportunities afforded her. She was one of many. And I would love to know how you can prove that students only attend outside speaker lectures if they receive course credit. Seems like a less-than-objective observation from a student who is at a poor fit school.</p>
<p>Since the fit is so bad, despite her social (âtop sororityâ) and academic success, best of luck to her in her transfer applications. Her academic success at Vanderbilt will surely position her for admission to a great school. The retention rate at Vandy is 97 percent, btw, which means either that a lot of Vanderbilt students decide to suck it up and endure a life dominated by Greeks, drunks, and/or pre-professional non-intellectuals - or else that a lot of them actually like the school.</p>
<p>I wish CC had the âlikeâ button that fb does because Iâd give frazzled1âs response a big thumbs up. Retention is an excellent objective pointer to overall satisfaction among all of these subjective responses.</p>
<p>Another mom of a ânorthernerâ ⊠she plans to stay in Nashville after graduation, so it canât be all that unwelcoming. :)</p>
<p>I will actually disagree here with the statement that no one goes to lectures or other things. Sure, the international lens film series isnât the most popular thing on campus, but last year when Elie Wiesel and Mitt Romney came to campus, Langford (which seats 1100, if I remember correctly) was PACKED. Dtotheustin, youâre right; Iâve found myself in the same predicament of not being able to get tickets to events. Thatâs why I got my ticket to the Tim Gunn lecture EARLY this year! :D</p>
<p>Frazzled, although you make an excellent point about the retention rate, I would like to point out that even though Vandy has an exceptionally high retention rate, and that is mostly a good indicator of school satisfaction, I know quite a few students who are staying at Vanderbilt (and chose it in the first place) only because of scholarship money. My roommate freshman year wanted desperately to go to Yale and wasnât given enough money there, but got a huge scholarship to Vandy (Cornelius Vanderbilt) and came here. She, too, is unsatisfied with the Jewish life and performing arts life (sheâs a dancer) and feels very out of place, but cannot afford to go elsewhere. My next-door neighbor has told me many times that the only reasons he stays at Vanderbilt are the name and the scholarship â otherwise, heâd be back home at Auburn. Two of the girls that live across the hall have expressed how happy they are to be graduating and getting away from Vanderbilt, and that they wish that they had had more options because of money (one will be going to Stanford or Georgetown next year for her Masterâs on a full ride, and the other one will be going to Israel with a similar scholarship). One of my best friends in the theatre department has lamented many times that he wishes he didnât have the scholarship here so he would feel freer to transfer somewhere where the performing arts have a bigger role (his dream is NYU). You are totally right that a vast number of students do love the school, and I have many friends who absolutely love their Vandy experiences and wouldnât trade them for anything. However, I have just as many, if not more, who stay only for the scholarship. I think thatâs worth taking into account when talking about the retention rate.</p>
<p>Jbstewsaff, I agree with you to a large extent about the pre-professional programs. It seems like almost everyone here is pre-something! Iâm actually pre-nursing myself. 
I think that a lot of students come to Vanderbilt to get a leg up for graduate school, not necessarily because of any reputation for undergraduate education. That said, Vandyâs graduate schools are exceptional.</p>
<p>To that end, I would love to come back to Vanderbilt for my nursing degree (MSN). It will absolutely be my top choice. Heck, they have the number 3 midwifery program in the nation! And Nashville is a great town. I think that, for me, once the undergraduate drama is over, I would be delighted to call myself a Vanderbilt student once again.</p>
<p>Macaroni, Iâm sorry you feel this way about Vandy, but it sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder, in which case you would have felt this way anywhere other than a state school. We donât all start in the same place thatâs why itâs a good policy to measure your achievements against your own personal best, not anyone else. Realize that your degree has required more personal sacrifice than it possibly has for othersâthis can translate into more self-discipline and a stronger work ethic. Invaluable traits. </p>
<p>Also, speaking of state schools, why on earth would anyone who wanted to study nursing not have gone into a really solid program at big state U? Pre-nursing? Why not a BSN? With family members (Harvard hospital nurse managers with grad degrees making serious money) I can tell you that where they got their degrees (happens to have been state U) is irrelevant after 5 years of experience. At a certain point, performance and work experience count more that where you got your degree.</p>
<p>Macaroni, maybe your classmates who came to Vanderbilt because of its exceptional no loans financial aid and because they might also be the beneficiaries of generous academic merit scholarship programs at Vandy that are not options in Ivies when they would ârather be at Yale or in the heart of theater life at NYU but canât pay for it etcâ are doing âalrightâ with their âsacrificeâ. </p>
<p>âone will be going to Stanford or Georgetown next year for her Masterâs on a full ride, and the other one will be going to Israel with a similar scholarship.â </p>
<p>So that means that their essays, grades and Vanderbilt faculty references and local activities garnered two of your friends full rides to graduate school. Nice Outcome! Vandy professors and programs served them so very well. For thousands of people this would be a dream come true.</p>
<p>It is not at all unusual for a student to get great mileage out of their Vandy years and still be glad to move on to an even better fit in life in grad school. My son finds the Greek scene at Vandy to be dissonant and told us in December of his senior year of high school that Vandy was âlast on his list.â He gave up admission to schools with cultures âmore like himâ for financial reasons and because he came in April and really found that Nashville and Vandy have an exceptional groove as town-gown partners.
My son might have preferred Yale, too but even if he had not been rejected 
HaâŠthey would not have given us a dime and he would have still come to Vanderbilt with an open heart and with excitement and gratitude to Vandy for their scholarship support. </p>
<p>He is getting such great instruction and having too much fun but even so he will be glad to head abroad for a semester and change things up and I am sure he will be glad when it is time to head out for grad school.</p>
<p>The idea that there is not enough intellectual stimulation is completely up to the student. The notebook full of tickets to cultural events that our son dumped at home last summer actually shocked his parents. I would say he sacrificed a critical mass of what might have been study hours busily heading out in the evenings to the grad schools and to undergrad lectures way too many nights to say nothing of his attendance at Hockey Games the Symphony and in nightclubs around town. He writes, publishes and debates with frequency on campus and finds it easy to do so.</p>
<p>We are already so grateful for the faculty care and support our son has received as he has applied for internships and programs. Dissonance is part of every college experience and every job experience.</p>
<p>I canât tell you how many Dukies are opining that they should have been at Princeton or whatever for a few months as freshmen, if only their parents could afford their EFCs, if only the waitlist had gone their way, etc.âvery tiresome to hear frankly when thousands of students with identical test scores and qualifications didnât get into Duke or into Vandy who wanted it as a first choice. All the kids getting into these top 25 schools are a hairâs breadth away from admission or waitlists and have their âif only I was elsewhere and I almost went toâ stories.</p>
<p>I know you are smart, talented and that you invested a lot of your best self in your time at Vanderbilt and in your semesters in Blair working to find your niche. Transferring to a different campus culture (and I believe that campuses really are radically different from each other and there may be a better happier college home for you next) is difficult for you, but I sincerely hope your final college address will be welcoming and fulfilling on every level. There are so many great colleges in the USA and I would have entrusted my son to any college on his final application list happily. I am sure there are those at Vandy who will miss you and who you will remember fondly as wellâŠ</p>
<p>And the Vandy Nursing School is the bombâŠa great schoolâŠhope you consider it next round but regardless, wishing you the best.</p>
<p>Twopence, macaroni did not have nursing on her radar when she began her college journey. Like many 18 year olds, she didnât know this was what she would ultimately end up wanting to do. It is to her credit that she is willing to do the work required to reach a new goal.</p>
<p>I have communicated with macaroni through pm, and she has another school picked out. She has thought everything through, and the new school appears to be one where she will find what she feels is missing for her at Vandy.</p>
<p>I think many students have an expectation that college will âbeâ a certain something (that <em>something</em> varying by individual). Some will adjust their sails and be fine; others will want what they feel they are missing enough to search for it elsewhere.</p>
<p>âSome will adjust their sails and be fine; others will want what they feel they are missing enough to search for it elsewhere.â </p>
<p>well put, KelsmomâŠthe search itself can hold the answersâŠ</p>
<p>I had the opposite impression, too! I auditioned on violin, but I shadowed an ear training class and everyone was incredibly welcoming and congenial to me. I think that the Blair school, being more close-knit and SMALL (200ish students), is more welcoming than the stereotypical regular school. Regardless, I believe the exaggerations above were a bit extreme even in the regular school :)</p>