<p>According to a number of previous posts here, Vanderbilt is "preppy." I'm not preppy at all, and I know there's going to be some people who are like me (or in other words, I'm going to find my own crowd). But is it so cliquish that the preps won't talk to/ hang out with the non-preps? Or people in frats won't hang out with people who don't? Is the student body like a community like the tour guide said?</p>
<p>Just saying b/c my high school is really cliquish and I don't really like it.</p>
<p>This is college, not high school. Things are WAY different. I’m sure you won’t have a problem.</p>
<p>Vandy is large enough that it should not be a problem for you. However, much depends on what you expect. For example, my D has no interest in many of the weekend activities that take place on campus (or wherever students choose to get trashed). She does go to concerts, she goes to dinner, she attends various events on campus & in the area. She spends time pursuing her interests through various groups on campus. She studies a lot. She has an internship that she LOVES. She had a fantastic study abroad semester in Edinburgh. She has interesting classes, has learned a lot, and is preparing for life after college through the things that she chooses to do. In short, cliques would be irrelevant for her even if they were around - they would not make any difference in her experience. For her, Vandy & Nashville have been great.</p>
<p>Puh-lease. Vanderbilt has about 7,000 undergrads alone. There’s no possible way that cliques could be formed AND be prevalent enough to bug you. The closest thing to that is sorority “rankings” and Greek life “boundaries” between houses, but even that’s kind of a sham. I’m in one of the “bottom” three sororities here, and I have friends in basically every single group on campus (with the weird exception of Pi Phi… I just don’t really know any!). Just get involved in things that you like – don’t pay attention to whatever people say is the Thing To Do or whatever. I’m involved in a few ECs on campus and I have a very diverse group of friends.</p>
<p>Like Kelsmom said, cliques are irrelevant. Whether or not you party three nights a week or whether you’re a classical music aficionado who lives and breathes Blair or whether you want to study and be an academic powerhouse, you can do that here. Yeah, there’s an element of preppiness (this <em>is</em> historically a Southern money school), but by no means does that make the ENTIRE university cliquish. </p>
<p>Honestly, don’t expect to know everybody on campus. Only Fabiani is that ridiculously social. You’ll find your crowd, just like you said.</p>
<p>kelsmom… your “D” has successfully manipulated you into thinking that she doesnt get trashed. Job well done on her part.</p>
<p>
hahahahahha</p>
<p>ALandeta1, difficult as it may be for you to believe … not everyone gets trashed. Some folks don’t drink at all, some drink socially. It’s actually possible.</p>
<p>my brother is a senior at vandy. he says that he is annoyed because the campus is very, very cliquish. for him, he said it seems that you can only be wholly part of one “group” of people. he is in a frat, but really likes the outdoors and camping. when he tried to join the outdoor rec group on a few outings, they immediately judged him as a “frat” kid. he said that many of these groups have their own little group of students that all hang out/eat/room/party together and consequently, the campus is very cliquish.</p>
<p>uh oh. any other opinions?</p>
<p>don’t be completely turned off by this. my brother still wants me to go to vanderbilt, even after experiencing this throughout his time there. he loves the school and says that there are a great deal of people who don’t buy into these cliques and there is always a group of people who you fit in with.</p>
<p>@ ALandeta1 - had to laugh when I read your post. It’s like you read my mind. Of course I mean no offense to you, Kelsmom, as I agree that there are those who chose not to drink.</p>
<p>I went to Vanderbilt a hundred years ago. I arrived in fatigues from NJ. My roommate, from Ft. Worth, had an attack when she saw me. Needless to say, it was an experience. But once I realized that I did not need to go greek in order to survive socially, it was fine. Just get into a group, like theater, newspaper, club sports, anything. I did theater and loved it.</p>
<p>I had hoped it had changed somewhat, though. Sounds like it is still pretty much the same. But you will get a fine education if you can ignore the more obvious prep stuff.</p>
<p>My D is a senior at Vandy and has never had any “cliq” issues. While not an athlete she ended up hanging out primarily with Golf and Tennis players but still went to plenty of the frat parties etc… Not once had she ever mentioned feeling ostracized at all… You’ll encounter worse in your workplace when you finally get to the “real world”.</p>
<p>There aren’t cliques. This is college, not high school, and most people have the good sense by now to realize that judging and excluding others like that is just stupid. Nobody I’ve met here is the “exclusive” or “cliquey” type. People have their friend groups but it isn’t a rigid caste system</p>
<p>Don’t worry about cliques. The biggest cliques you may see are the athletes but even they branch out. I hung out with every type of person you could think of during my time at Vandy.</p>