Advice for Entering Freshman?

Hi, I will be attending Vanderbilt in the fall as a Chancellors Scholarship recipient. I wanted to know about moving in, debate (and other academic clubs), parties, being black at vandy, best/worst professors in philosophy/polisci/gender studies, and anything else you might think is important.

Bring a mallet for lofting beds. Move-in day is hectic and exciting, but the move crew is really helpful and they get stuff up in your room really quickly. There is also a Target nearby, so if you see your room and find that you need something else, you can always go there. Get a couple of extension wires. I also got a mattress pad (the memory foam one) which made my bed really comfy.

As for clubs, my best advice would be to go to the student org fair early on in the semester and sign up for things you might like, even if you haven’t done it before in high school. Be open to joining clubs you thought you never would have joined before. It’s a great way to explore new passions. Also, you might want to look through Anchor Link (https://anchorlink.vanderbilt.edu/organizations) and check out 500+ clubs we have on campus. We do have a debate club you can join. I have a few friends in it and they seem to really enjoy it.

Best/worst professors…hmmm sometimes Rate My Professors is reliable but not always. I wouldn’t worry so much about that…you can always add/drop classes for a certain period of time if you don’t like a professor, but I still rely on RMP. You can also check out Vanderbilt Voice View course evaluations if you already have a VUnet ID.

Anything else that might be important? Ahh there are so many things I could tell you if you have any specific questions. But in the meantime, have a restful summer, and message me if you want to talk more! Congrats on becoming a Commodore!

Thank you so much! What is a mallet exactly? Lol

Lol it’s like a hammer that will help for lofting beds. http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ResEd/main/video-how-to-unloft-and-loft-your-bed/

There are so many little ways your freshman year will offer you guidance opportunities. Our son was a Chancellor’s. One of the things I really appreciated was the freedom the merit scholars had to find their own way to live and to contribute. They had dinner together a few times a year but their lives were really their own to define–what a gift.

I think in general students that get into Vanderbilt have had such rigorous lives in high school that some of their personal growth can get tamped down. Allow yourself to breath!! And to adjust and attach to Nashville and new faces and friends. I would suggest you allow yourself some trial and error. Friends who you dine with freshman year may not be who you spend time with sophomore year. Our son was on the debate team for a year but didn’t return. He didn’t enjoy the travel weekends. He really enjoyed having his weekends free both for studies and personal time. What may seem like “sloth” (if you don’t really want to fiercely pursue a former interest) can actually allow you to grown in a new direction, whether it be research, sports or the arts or a new field of study. He contributed to life at Vandy in unexpected ways in a new direction.
do a semester abroad perhaps as a junior --as well as use that summer stipend once your time has taken some shape and direction. You are only young once. Don’t waste your time at Vandy trying to be as perfect as you had to be in high school to get here.
Our son really liked Alternative Spring Break and always enjoyed the people he met in his group. You don’t choose your spring break group…it is chosen for you although you can list preferences. Everyone makes friends with people they would possibly have totally missed out on in these weeks together.

Everyone should study something really refreshing at Vandy at some point. example…our son took a terrific course in Film Scores in Blair School of Music.
Make up your mind to make the effort to cheer on your classmates in their endeavors— which won’t be like yours at all. That alone takes up a bit of time if you are listening to what others are attempting to do.

Go see a good percentage of the people who show up to speak on interesting topics. You won’t feel up to this when you are employed later in life–and there are terrific speakers in the grad schools and undergrad colleges often.

Realize things are worth doing even if you are only “average” at Vandy. Your ideas about excelling and being at the top need to take a shift now.

The Symphony is more than the “first chairs” in each instrument, yet being part of it, or part of a singing or arts group is very rewarding for all who show up. Our son was lonely at times and I think this is the case for all but the most extroverted souls. But he went to see films made by friends, see dance performances, ethnic food nights, half time shows at games, recitals by music majors, theater productions with friends in the chorus, meetups for basketball or sports at the gym, Symphony both on campus and downtown, movies at the Sarratt and at the Belcourt etc.

don’t let the freshmen rush season dominate your experience in your mind’s eye no matter which way you go. Before you have finished your second year, you may be planning a semester abroad and when you return you will be preparing for your final year run at Vandy. Give everyone you meet more than one chance. Some of us are much more able to be our better version of ourselves after the first year is over.

Congrats on your good fortune, and good wishes.

Time management skills/not procrastinating is extremely important if you want good grades and a good social life especially if you’re pre med or something. Otherwise pick one

You will be placed in a VUcept group and will have weekly group meetings with your VUceptor, which will be super helpful! Every freshman is put in a group. Your VUcept group will become a little family and be super helpful!

@Living61 Was that really your experience with your Visions group? My friends and I thought it was a complete waste of time. No one did the “required” summer reading, half the people didn’t show up every week, and the activities and discussions were for the most part pointless. Don’t think I ever really hung out with anyone in my group after it ended. But that was a while ago and it may have changed.

Moving in day is definitely hectic but it was pretty organized. And when I moved in they provided a mallet to deloft your bed so no need to bring your own.

The only polisci class I took was Intro to American Gov with Geer for the US AXLE credit. I enjoyed it and he is a very good lecturer. The two philosophy classes I had were both taught by grad students who have both since graduated. They were both very good though(some intro writing class and gen. logic).

If possible I’d take 12 hours your first semester. It will give you a chance to acclimate to college life. If you are a guy(which since you mentioned gender studies I highly doubt you are, let’s be real) it will give you more time to spend on rush, which is very important.

I’d recommend you check out VSVS. It’s an organization where you teach science lessons in the Nashville public middle schools. It’s not that big of a time commitment and it is very fun. You can tell the kids love the lessons. Also it looks good on your resume.

There will be frat parties basically every weekend. These are rapidly declining in quality but can still be fun(talked about this in another post). There are also Towers parties(which in my opinion suck), Mayfield parties(again not very fun), McGill parties(not my thing) pregames at the frat houses, off-campus parties(frats that got kicked off, rugby team house, etc.) Girls, no matter what they look like, have no problems getting in usually.

@Vandy93 : Why are assuming that they want to rush? Is that some expectation for girls coming there or something? I’ve never heard of that stereotype before. Also, they said something about being black at VU which may even lessen their chances of being as interested.

@bernie12 I said if they are a guy it would give them more time to rush(although certainly guys do rush and pledge(in the spring semester with 15 or more hours). Most guys here do rush. Sorority rush for girls is very different and less time consuming but most girls do end up joining a srat. Even if you are a guy and don’t plan to rush I’d still recommend taking 12 hours if possible. And I’m not sure which stereotype you are talking about.

@Vandy93 : Whichever gender rushing at Vanderbilt…you said it very casually as if it were an expectation or assumption for guys. That’s what I was thinking. I know a lot of folks there are in Greeklife (high 30s or low 40%), but didn’t think rushing would be that much of a thing (as in well over 40% or something). And 4 courses is likely just normal for freshman at schools on the Carnegie 3 unit system especially if any courses you take may end up challenging (even if it is just one). Still an adjustment. I think 15-17(5) becomes more common afterwards.

@bernie12 The percentage of guys in Greek Life is less than the percentage of girls. Most girls are in Greek Life. The report says most guys aren’t. I’ve heard that the report was taken before the freshmen finish pledging so those numbers may be lower than the actual numbers but I’m not sure if that is true. Also most guys do rush but not everyone who rushes ends up in a frat.

Anyways, my point is that it is important for guys to take rush seriously if they want to end up in a decent house. And at Vandy it is very important for a guy to be in a fraternity if they want a typical college social life, which is why I said rush is very important. That is just my opinion of course.

Vanderbilt seems plenty of “traditional college experience” fun even for an outsider. I doubt you have to actually be in the Greek orgs. to enjoy it. However, I don’t know how exclusive a lot of the parties are there so can’t comment. I and some friends drove up there one weekend and attended one (can’t say I remember which one it was, but it was in the tower). While it of course was not like a state school (UGA would be my benchmark), it was fun enough. Guess my standards are much lower than yours and I was of course just used to a more “study hard” atmosphere overall so things like the “parties”(if that is what you want to call them became stale after while). I eventually started opting for more not affiliated with Greek orgs (just like house and dorm parties). The way you describe, it reads as if the Greek scene influences those a lot too though.

As for the decline…you’ll live assuming Vanderbilt eventually moves up academically (and not just the rankings and scores). Your degree will be worth more that way, but I suppose it will eventually look more like the competitor schools after a while (socially- I’m thinking it will be more like a Duke or Penn…still relatively fun, but becoming kind of stuffy and competitive). But I am willing to bet that such a thing is quite a ways out.

@bernie12 You can have fun and not be in a frat if you are a guy. What I’m saying is that if you are a guy who likes to party your experience will be much better if you are in a frat. Not to mention you get the brotherhood and all the networking connections. My problem with Towers parties(which you seem to have gone to) is that even in a suite there is not nearly enough room. You also have to worry about some lame RA shutting it down if it is unregistered or if there are too many people there.
Vandy makes organizations register parties and they put security guards at the frat parties and tailgates(stupid, I know). Off-campus parties(as Vandy makes most people live on campus there aren’t as many as other schools) and unregistered events (pregames, pong nights) can be more fun as you don’t have to deal with all the BS rules from the admin (no kegs, BYOB, etc.)

You seem to think that the Greek Life decline will correlate with an increase in ranking. I’m not sure how true that is. As you seem to know a lot about colleges in general I’m wondering how quickly you see Vandy moving up and if you think they will ever crack the top-10 in the US News Rankings.

@Vandy93 : No, I don’t think there is any such correlation as Dartmouth does very well and so does Duke. The main correlation is scores/selectivity and endowment. Why? Scores/selectivity attract positive (even if misplaced) attention from HS GCs and peer reviewers and endowment being high of course allows you to invest more into research and academic infrastructure which actually grabs more attention than the former (it is honestly better to have many depts more well known among academics and achieve an excellent world ranking among several publications than to worry too much about USNews UG rankings, but this helps both) as it strengthens ones ability to attract higher caliber faculty who engage in risky and rewarding research while also being able to pay them more (which BTW, goes into the ranking). Vanderbilt lacks the latter right now (in comparison to peers), but if it can grow it a bit more, I would expect it to be solidly between 10 and 15 IF it carries through some academic changes it has on the map.

Many schools slightly above the Vandy, Emory (okay, my school is odd mainly because it lacks the selectivity of the others named here, but it has some of the " very academically busy/oriented" elements of some of the more stuffy places because there are so many darned pre-profs and it is D-3…similar things can like be said for WUSTL), Rice, Cornell, Brown, ND, WUSTL, and GT tier…(.I’m limiting comparison to “medium” sized privates) are known for either a) more intense academic offerings/environment or b) more special (and even specialized) academic experiences that keep the students more academically busy and I guess makes the overall environment more stressful and less socially exciting in the context you imagine.

I am going by what strategic planning documents have stressed about where the admins and faculty want to take Vandy’s academics. They describe for example, “immersion” experiences which could somewhere down the line equate to more students perhaps completing honors and senior theses (you know, like Princeton) or a lot more students participating in academic capstone experiences (there are soft ways to complete such a thing if it became a requirement such as studying abroad though, but I am willing to bet more will be pushed toward hardcore academic projects). Some of their plans, which look very much like the stuff my school has had for a while (and yes such things will make even the most pre-prof. school more nerdy or more entrepreneurial), have been recently implemented or at least piloted from what I read. Vanderbilt will likely remain very social due to the students it currently draws (even if it implemented such programs, it is difficult to change the “type” of student you attract) but eventually the social environment may morph to look a little different than now.

There is no telling if Vanderbilt will ever become a top 10 but academically, it may (and in some ways is now, as are many top privates) eventually become more comparable (have many of the same academic and environmental qualities- and I am not talking about raw “quality”…I just mean certain programmatic offerings and options will begin to look more similar. Many top 10s share similar structuring and tiering of courses in things such as STEM for example and DO indeed have cores or more departments requiring true capstone experiences) to them. Depending on which top 10s, this may be viewed as a good or bad thing.

I mean, I am not the person to ask, because if you look at the top 10 today, you never know, and one thing is definitely being revealed as true. Among the medium-sized privates the rankings appear to lesser so correlate with selectivity and scores/GPA, but monetary funds and how well they are allocated. For example, I would say that WUSTL is actually underperforming in the rankings as it has similar endowment to Duke and higher scores. Emory is also really under-performing as it also has an extremely high endowment (in line w/Duke and WUSTL). I believe both of these schools have “Health Care and Medical system is a money sucker” syndrome. Their academics are great but they could probably both do even more interesting things at the grad and undergrad. level that is attention catching if the monetary allocations were not so health sciences and medicine biased. IMHO, Vanderbilt is over-performing or performing about on par. It’s endowment isn’t as good as competitors but it has been able to stretch it to attract high scoring students and move the rank up steadily.

I just worry that if it doesn’t grow the endowment some more or use it more effectively beyond UG recruitment, it may plateau between like 12 and 15 like WUSTL. I suspect Vandy admins are finally addressing the concern I always had. They’ve got these students who are theoretically very talented (can certainly test well), but they know they have to push and “activate” them a bit more academically to truly compete with schools that still outperform it or tie it output wise. Like WUSTL and Emory, it can likely benefit from strengthening certain areas of research (maybe physical sciences and engineering some more? Though I must say, at least at the UG level, Engineering and physical sciences look as if they may give students what they deserve and should be able to handle…life sciences…much better for research and at the graduate divisions I suppose probably because they support the health care system in many ways).

The bottomline of this long post is that there is probably a stronger correlation between the strength of academic offerings at a school and its rank and it just so happens that many of the very elite schools, while having wonderful traditions and interesting social scenes and EC’s, certainly do not “feel” like Vanderbilt and schools it may be compared to for the most part. Different social and even academic preferences exist at most of such places.

@bernie12 Duke is significantly wealthier than WUSTL and Emory because it also receives substantial funding from an independent endowment that is valued at over $3 billion.

http://dukeendowment.org

@NerdyChica : The endowment they list and give to USNews, etc is about the same as the other two and unless they are using MOST of the funds from that (and hardly no school uses most or really even a significant fraction of the endowment. Typical the principle on the interest is spent) it does not matter. The point still remains that they have allocated their funds extremely well and put it in places that helped the place actually grow in important areas (perhaps areas where they weren’t traditionally strong) and are doing much more than putting on a show. Also, even if that truly matter, that only further proves my hypothesis overall but perhaps lessens the “Duke’s efficiency” hypothesis some. If anything, perhaps JHU is one of the most “efficient” places that has an unusually strong undergraduate environment (but I actually think it is somewhat smaller than other peers in terms of UG student body…despite the huge post-grad population. Chicago is similar but has a much larger endowment).

Yes, your point still stands. I was just making a factual correction. They may not report the number from the independent endowment to US News but the money is all managed by the same people (DUMAC) and Duke benefits significantly from the independent endowment’s largesse.

@bernie12 WUSTL has some of the biggest construction projects for engineering, sam fox, and sciences going on right now. So, it appears to be heading in the right direction? In the future, we could see more solid departments pop up at WUSTL, not just its life sciences, as it sets itself up for next-gen research and recruiting more professors and whatnot.

@FireBallsDJ : Yes, I actually saw that a couple of years ago (kind of like an engineering neighborhood). This will likely begin to effect its standing in world rankings if it plays its cards right. I just wonder if it will trickle down to undergraduate (as in, we know it is primarily for research as all schools doing such construction in STEM make it for-but some go the extra mile and innovate in the UG and even graduate education as well). Admittedly, I think WUSTL already tries decently hard in STEM education for example and are better than a lot of comparable places in at least caring about quality (it has Centers for Science Education for example). WUSTL, however, just has the potential to maybe do something cool at the UG level in physical sciences and engineering since it has them. There is no doubt that the traditional STEM strengths (as in they have traditionally been more radiant than physical sciences and engineering) at the grad. and UG level are life and biosciences related at WUSTL and that such success shows up in the UG offerings and curricular. I don’t know whether or not anyone currently considers WUSTL’s engineering program particularly special in comparison to peers (much like how Duke and JHU are for BME now), as in ones that aren’t primarily STEM schools. Note that I recognize that it is also very good outside of STEM, but I am just biased toward STEM because a) it is my primary interest(research and education) and b) at US institutions it typically attracts the most attention (and of course attracts and needs lots of funding). Also, other than starpower, it appears that research infrastructure and STEM teaching is often the most variable between similar caliber schools (this is likely because of all of the pressure in the recent decade or so to improve it across all levels of education and even elite schools respond to these pressures and dramatically different rates and in different ways).