Vanderbilt - way down.
We went to the Open House event from 8am-1pm. The visit was underwhelming. The first impression started off well as they had actual breakfast food. Not just pastries and bagels but breakfast sandwiches, fruit, and some version of a chik’fla sandwich. The food was ok but A+ for effort.
We started with the usual student led campus tour. Didnt go inside any building other than the student center - no library, dorms, none of the colleges. Things were described but nothing was available to be experienced first hand. A video tour wouldve probably accomplished the exact same thing - which was disappointing considering we flew in from New England just for this. We learned very little other than what we could’ve read from a magazine or their website. It was the usual discussion of dining hall swipe cards, dorm room stories and anecdotes of how nice everyone is. Does anyone care that upperclassmen help freshmen move their stuff in when they arrive on campus or that the faculty may attend your dance recital on campus? The message was: the faculty cares about you and are accessible - which is nice but every tour highlights the same thing. Professors want you to succeed and are available for you. The only missing cliche was the “there are so many student orgs there’s even one for Taylor Swift fans!” - though they did mention Taylor Swift in two other different contexts. Tour guide was enthusiastic but the tour shouldve been more dynamic.
The information session was even worse than the student led tour. The president spoke about admissions but said nothing about admissions. He mentioned that they were looking for rigor and that they were test optional. Then he spoke about financial aid and that everyone could afford Vanderbilt - with no specificity. Everything in his speech was just a thin superficial coating of something but no details. It felt like a descriptive summary from a 3rd party magazine.
Second session was all about their residential colleges. They mentioned that Vanderbilt’s residential college system was “unique”. Hmmm, Rice’s residential college system has existed far longer than Vanderbilt’s?? This was literally a long discussion of faculty living at the residential college, pictures of their family, and how the residential colleges have a fighting spirit and they compete for a trophy at the end of the year. And they are still working out the kinks and adapting to get more people interested in the residential college system beyond the freshman year? It seemd like an odd topic to spend so much time on. Perhaps it was their effort to minimize their Greek reputation and focus more on inclusivity.
Next was a panel discussion from the career center, study abroad program, student safety advocate? and a representative from one of their colleges. This was by far the worst session. No interactive opportunities with the audience. No videos. Just a panel session that yielded little interesting information that would scream, yes, Vanderbilt is the one! Vanderbilt requires immersion learning and study abroad meets that requirement. Students can study abroad and half the students do. Ok. Career center - alumni will help you, there’s some workshops, and they work with employers to help you find jobs. Nothing specific about about networking, what companies recruit from Vanderbilt, what percentage of students are employed after graduating, the interview process, and overall outcomes that make Vanderbilt unique from their peers. Student safety person - We care and about you. You will feel safe at Vanderbilt. At this point, half the kids were either on their phones, asleep or doing both at the same time. The parents had this glazed look on their face as if they were watching a documentary on the migration habits of wombats.
Next, everyone separated into individual colleges. We attended the Arts and Science session. Quick static slides and then Q&A. Another generic talk about intellectually curious, freedom to explore multiple interests, pursue your passion, etc etc.
Not surprisingly, the students wanted more meat on the bone type questions: How many AP credits do you accept? Do they satisfy AXLE requirments? What does foreign language proficiency mean? Do you admit by major? Do you have campus jobs and work study? How many classes are large lecture style classes? Is it ever difficult to get some classes? Can you park on campus your freshman year?
After this session was over, the students and parents went back to the student center where they held an Q&A fair. The highlight of the event - if you went around and visited five different organizations, you received… a Vanderbilt cowboy hat. This was actually the best swag we received on any campus tour. My D wore it in the Uber to the airport, at the airport, and all the way home. That was a home run! The second best part of the trip - got upgraded to first class on our plane ride home.