I’m seriously considering Vanderbilt but I’ve read so many mixed things on CC and now I’m very confused. I am visiting the campus in October but I don’t know if that is going to give me a good idea as to whether or not the rumors are true.
Can a Vanderbilt student possibly tell me a little bit more about the campus culture? Is it true that everyone is the superficial party type and that Greek life is all people care about? Also - what about the guys at Vanderbilt? Is it true that they’re all douchey? What is the dating scene like? Is it true that the girls are super hot but the guys aren’t?
I know that this stuff isn’t all that important but I want to go to a school with more of an intellectual environment for a nerd like me, where I can have a serious conversation at 12 in the morning - not a play hard party school. Thanks
I do not think Vanderbilt is the place to go if you want to look for an intellectual environment. I don’t mean that the students aren’t smart; they’re obviously very smart if they got in. However, the focus of the social life is on partying. I remember when I was a freshman, I thought that college was going to be about intellectual stimulation and debates and all that. Turns out it wasn’t.
Whenever my hall would hang out or go eat, all the guys would talk about is frats and football. There is little to no exaggeration here. It was actually pretty interesting to see. I was amazed that they could talk about which frat had the best parties for 3 hours.
Now, that doesn’t mean that EVERYONE at Vandy is like this. However, that’s what the FOCUS of the Vandy students is. You may get lucky and find that one other person who’s a nerd, but it’ll be like finding a needle and a haystack, and you guys will definitely be in the minority.
That being said, Vandy is work hard play hard. Cliche as it is, I don’t think anyone would argue against this. People almost always go to class, take solid notes, study, and do homework before they go partying. In fact, the only person I know who got a 4.0 in my freshman year was a frat guy (an engineering major) who went out every single weekend.
Point of this entire post is: even though the students at Vandy are very smart, it’s not something that they talk about. Sure, they might talk about how hard their classes are and which professors are the easiest, but it’s rare to see stimulating discussions when they could be talking about last night’s football game. Personally, I feel like the students value their education very much, but they want to seem like the hardcore party type to their peers, so they almost deliberately don’t talk about their academics.
Personally I was in a fraternity and found myself surrounded by people who were rarely superficial at all. Just normal, intelligent guys trying to make the most of their college social experience despite participating in very rigorous academic classes. Admittedly, it wasn’t very often that we sat around late at night to discuss Aristotle or poetry (though we certainly did debate about politics and policy and science fairly often). Some people imagine their ideal college environment looking like that. I’m not sure where that type of environment is predominant, but no, it’s probably not Vanderbilt.
I was just very happy/comfortable being at a school surrounded by really intelligent and talented people who were also social and fun. It wasn’t like highschool where there’s almost a social stigma against being smart and caring about your schoolwork.
For the record, Greek students make up less than half of the campus. That means the majority of students do not participate and do not care about Greek life.
I would agree that if you are looking for a “nerdy” type environment, Vanderbilt is not the ideal school for you. I would say one of the biggest draws to Vanderbilt is that it has top 20 academics paired with a very active social scene. If you aren’t interested in that kind of social scene at all, then you should really think about what’s drawing you to Vanderbilt rather than some other top school. We still have most of them beat on weather and location, but many have us beat on academics and intellectual life.
Haha yea I mean, I don’t mind if students aren’t up until 2 am talking about Aristotle. What I am more concerned about is if there is a social stigma against caring about school, but I’m glad that you cleared it up for me. I was attracted to Vandy because it seemed different from the Ivies in the sense that it combined academics with a really vibrant community of sociable students, but I guess I’m just scared of an overwhelming frat/party/douche scene lol? I appreciate your reply so much tho !!
Definitely no stigma against caring about school. In fact, almost everyone admires you if you do well in school, including the frat stars. I’ve never heard anyone call anyone else here a nerd (unless it was in a joking manner). You have to realize that most people at Vandy were in the top 10% of their high school class. Academics is very important to students here (and at any other top university).
Agreed. When someone chose to stay in and study when our friends were going out, my response was always admiration for their work ethic/discipline and guilt that I wasn’t staying in to studying.
I think the problem is when people equate social scenes to traditional “parties”, clubs, and sports…just throwing it out there. Many other schools have very vibrant social scenes but they happen to be more diverse I suppose and often involve development of scenes and traditions that are more nerdy or quirky so to speak. Even a huge impromptu art scene can count (or a debate scene). Some Ivies are well known for the possibility of plays/theatrics breaking out on a quad for example…Columbia has things like orgo. night. Other schools can pack (talking 100’s without it being a contest or hosted by admins) a somewhat random event that emphasizes various types of poetry and can get tons of students to volunteer. I think it’s ironically why more and more Duke students for example want to see more of the events and traditions they see at some Ivies and other elites. It’s because they know they are driven and sociable, but wish that the intellectual/cerebral side of them would lend itself toward develop new avenues for socializing that more so emphasize that aspect. I think no one hates on how sociable a school is, but the diversity instead. My point, is be careful with the limited ideas one has of “social vibrance”.
I feel that definition maybe uses state schools as a point of calibration and I don’t know if it is fair to apply it to elite privates, many of which attract a completely different type of student. While most places universally deem those 3 as a part of social vibrance, most places have “extras” that also play a large roll in their social atmosphere. It just depends on preference. Some expect mainly only the first 3 so want places where that is scaled up, and some want more of the additional elements being obviously present. One thing that is true is that pretty much ALL students at these schools care about school and their work. You wouldn’t bust your behind to be in a position to potentially get in if you weren’t. That alone basically makes it worth considering any these types of schools if you have solid credentials and can get the money. Being surrounded by and collaborating academically with other talented students is worth a lot in and of itself in my opinion. I would only worry about being so picky over these issues once your choices are final (as in, you’ve gotten into a couple of solid or excellent medium sized privates). And honestly, even then I would first consider whether there are any academic differences (yes, well-ranked schools have academic differences and different strengths/weaknesses…surprising but true), especially if it is in a popular major or pre-professional track.
Vanderbilt is like a combination of state school social life and top private school academics. That being said, the social life is a little more withheld compared to a large state school (ie UW Madison, Alabama, etc) and the Academics may be a little weaker compared to like Harvard and such.
You really get the best of both worlds: no one shames you for caring about academics, but there are many opportunities to go out if you want to have some fun.
That’s just my impression. Not saying Vanderbilt is the only school like this, but it’s a pretty good description
50% of the women and 30% of the men are greek. As such, greek life is a significant part of the social fabric of the university. However, there are plenty of other avenues for socializing other than “greek life”.
The vast majority of the students care about and value their education. I have never heard or heard about anyone being put down as a “nerd”. No one cares if you are a “nerd”, but if you are unsocial than you probably won’t fit in anywhere.
I always see that statistic on this forum. “only 30-40% of Vandy students are Greek”. That doesn’t tell the whole story though.
I am absolutely certain that the distribution of Greek students is dependent on ethnicity. More whites go Greek than blacks/Asians/Hispanics. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that 10% of minorities are Greek, while 70% of whites are Greek. I think that’s why it SEEMS like Greek culture is so huge at Vandy; the raw statistics are misleading.
The fact of the matter is that the majority of students at Vanderbilt are not a part of Greek life. I don’t understand what you’re trying to suggest. It seems like you are saying that Greek life appears “so huge” just because white students are more likely to be involved. Why is ethnicity relevant in that conclusion??
Greek life feels so huge at Vanderbilt because Greek students may only represent 40% of the student body but they represent 95% of the sanctioned parties and the majority of large organized unsanctioned social outings (pregames, pong, bar tabs, date parties). Non-Greek students certainly host events as well but just don’t have the funding or organization to do it with the frequency/magnitude of Greek students.
The more social students tend to go greek at Vanderbilt. That’s why Vanderbilt’s social life seems centered around greek life.
It’s probably because of all of the stupid regulations Vanderbilt has in place if someone wants to host their own social event. Drink on commons? Probation. Upperclassmen that wants to host an event (loud and/or with music) at the upperclass dorms with more than 10 kids? Gotta register it.
You get the idea.
I mean, they even have police at the greek events like tailgates now.
Funny, I am having this same struggle thinking about Penn with my son. My daughter goes to Vanderbilt and has absolutely found her niche with working at the writing center, a music sorority, and through her English major. She is aware of the fraternity scene but has never been to a party. She knows of superficial people, but they are not in her life. She loves being in Nashville and going to concert and eating out. The English department teachers are top-notch. She has noticed people she has met are more religious than she is used to, but she has just found it interesting. I give two thumbs up for Vandy.
