<p>They look SO SWEET. Everything is BRAND SPANKING NEW. The only thing is..it opens for the Class of 2008! The Class of 2007 is the "hiccup year" meaning we are the last class to do the old Vanderbilt way and miss the brand new Commons system for the 2008ers. I look forward to everything Vandy except this..I'm so upset we miss the sorting..and the houses..and the brand new facilities...and pretending like I'm doing something similar to HYP..cuz those schools all use the Commons/Harry Potter sorting style..</p>
<p>Wait, I don't get why there are already students living there. Have they opened up some of the new dorms but just not the whole project or am I totally off base?</p>
<p>Two dorms opened this year and two more are under construction with completion expected for this fall; additionally, I believe they are renovating the existing Peabody dorms as part of this project. This project has been underway since oldest child's official campus visit in Sept. '01; planning activities took much longer than their estimates at that time. Once this project is complete, I believe the long range plan is to then address other campus residential halls (Kissam Quad, Carmichael, etc.) Word from D's sorority sisters who live in the new dorms is that they are very nice.</p>
<p>Freshman will all live together for the first time in a long while. The current system divides the freshman class into three major groups: one going to live in Branscomb, one to Kissam, and one to Vandy-Barnard. Each area has its own set of distingushing characteristics that lead to very different atomspheres for each area. Now, all freshman will be together as one group.</p>
<p>The major difference is the location. The commons are on the southern end of Peabody campus. Short of people the commons on the other side of Blakemore Avenue across of Blair, this location is as far-flung as the Vanderbilt campus get. With the exception of Peabody students, the freshman will now have to cross 21st avenue and skim the Medical center just to get to main campus. This is a much different situation that the current one where Kissam is next to Wilson et al, and Branscomb is close to Jacobs-Featheringill and Stevenson Center. Another factor is the Greek System. Branscomb is located right next to Greek Row, but the Commons are on the other side of campus.</p>
<p>Basically, the freshman class is being unified together and segregated from the rest of the student body.</p>
<p>Yeah everyone complains now that Kissam is far away from everything (it's not..), so it will be interesting when the Commons open. You don't actually have to cross 21st though, since there is a bridge.</p>