<p>I am glad to have read this post. I just booked hotel reservations for move-in weekend and parents weekend in September. The Marriott was already booked…
I also booked a room for the 11/29 FB game Vandy vs. Vols.
Our son was accepted ED. We live in Orange County, California.</p>
<p>Excited to join many of you in making move-in plans (as of last night)! How many days do parents generally stay down there for move-in? Assuming move-in is on Saturday, maybe a day or two before through Sunday night?</p>
<p>Vanderbilt has a continental breakfast on Sunday morning. After that parent are to leave campus by noon. They will keep the students busy and do not want parents around. Plan on leaving after saying good bye. They did have a panel discussion for parents at noon last year that was very interesting and helpful in making the transition to college life for parents.</p>
<p>Thank you. I realize the Founders Walk is for students only, but do you know when that will be?</p>
<p>New Topic:
So how do you find out if your kid made the dean’s list in the fall? Does the school notify parents or students?</p>
<p>Students who make a 3.5 in a semester automatically make the Dean’s List, so students will know if they made it once all their semester grades are in. It is made official by a letter to the student’s Vandy mailbox, and the semester transcript (viewable through YES) will report “Dean’s List” in the “Honors/Awards” section.</p>
<p>The Dean of the School of Engineering also sends a letter home congratulating the student and parents each semester on Dean’s list. </p>
<p>re the Founder’s walk. Son started Vandy in fall of 2009. My husband and I have lived in Nashville (he has a Vandy grad degree) twice so we had plenty of our own friends to go visit after the Sunday brunch and goodbyes on move-in weekend. So here is our personal experience of this Sunday. The brunch, folks, was juice, coffee, fruit and muffins basically…outdoors in front of the Commons if the weather is lovely. By this time, students and parents had made their trips to Target and to Walmart and had responded to the variations in each of the rooms with a few more purchases. (out of towners: Bed Bath and Beyond will hold your online orders for you btw) There is a tent where you pick up books ordered for each student’s fall term and so on. Perhaps there are packages held for your son or daughter at the main post office on campus…they get emails when packages are there. Mercifully, you can arrange the beds in a few ways and there was a video online at youtube with how to move the height of the beds. (At Duke, they actually were selling loft beds from private vendors in tents…then they must be resold or they are all thrown in a discard heap come May each year)…So the Vandy beds are quite nice if you want to raise them high or semi high for storage under. Our son had his chest or was it his desk under his bed. I digress.
I will tell you that the Sunday brunch will find you snapping a few last photos on your phone in morning light. The on Commons Faculty residents are busy mingling and you will have been able to tour the Commons’ Deans home the evening before. If you can, in all the chaos, make a mental note about your student’s house Commons faculty in residence person. Because you should encourage your son or daughter to get to really know them. You don’t need to know them. But students do. Our son’s house faculty resident wrote him many letters of reference as he applied for various things small or large. She also helped sponsor his sophomore year housing plan in a Mayfield Lodge where you have to have a faculty sponsor. Perhaps your son or daughter would like to spare you room and board payments down the road and they might apply to be an RA and be back on Commons. Take a look at the upperclassmen who are around serving the needs of freshmen. Think on it. Son’s SoCal freshman roomie applied to be an RA and served proudly later in his Vandy years. There are also VUCeptors…read about them on Vandy’s pages. And know that your student will also have one of them as a resource for a while.<br>
There is a very finite feeling during muffins and coffee folks. As in “it is time to skedaddle.” </p>
<p>Because my husband and I were young at Vandy ourselves, and because we were especially surprised and moved that our second son was going to make Nashville his home, we were dragging our feet a bit. We decided not to ask to see him again or take him to eat anymore even though we were in town an extra couple of days. I would recommend that you stay an extra night and day and simply soak up a bit of Nashville but stay out of sight. </p>
<p>Yes, we went back to observe the Founders’ Walk because…well, West End, Elliston, Hillsboro Village…all our old stomping grounds. I had seen the bagpipe Founders Walk on youtube. You can, too. </p>
<p>It is not quite possible to blend in with the observers without looking like “Parents who wouldn’t leave”…just warning you. But if you can be very unobtrusive, I would suggest waiting on the opposite side of West End and watching as the march finalizes and turns into Vandy off of West End. Your son or daughter will march with their House Banner. Students who are upperclassmen and who are authorized to be on campus early are on the sidelines as they enter the campus from West End…cheering on the freshman class. ie…The Commodore Marching Band. The Vanderbilt News staffers. Definitely some Greeks waving banners so I guess club leadership is there early. Much of the faculty, all of the Commons staff. The bagpipes are great. We also love our Chancellor Zeppos! We sort of sheepishly trailed after them and the freshman class is seated at the end of the March. The Chancellor addresses the class formally. (we turned and left Vandy here and I think if I had a do-over…wouldn’t have gone where I could peer over and see this sit-down at all.)<br>
It is their first experience as a seated class and it is not for the student’s family. Our son saw us once…and in all honesty…he didn’t mind but perhaps he should have. </p>
<p>RAs get free room, not board.</p>
<p>Faline2 Thank you so much for your post. Wow! Such great advice. This is our first move in day as DS is our first child. I have already made our reservations!</p>
<p>Love the detailed info re the last day, Faline2. So very helpful and fun to get all that detail (and the warnings!).</p>
<p>Welcome all EDII 2018 parents! 
My daughter was accepted EDI … looking forward to the craziness of our first going off to college!</p>
<p>Thank you, KaMaMom – we are thrilled to be here as new Vandy parents! We have been reading all the insights and helpful information on these threads for what seems like years, afraid to get too attached . . . but now we can! Our daughter was admitted ED2, and she is also our first heading to college.</p>
<p>Question for ED1’ers: have you received any more information from Vanderbilt since your acceptance letter arrived in the mail? We have paid the deposit and are wondering whether we’ll be getting a big packet full of information re housing, registering, etc.</p>
<p>Your child will get their “big” packet at the same time all the RD kids get theirs! Welcome! My girls LOVE LOVE LOVE VU!</p>
<p>Nope … we just received the acceptance packet and nothing since. (Paid the deposit back in December.) I saw that they released the freshman book they picked on the admissions blog though! </p>
<p>(The admissions blog also has a countdown til move in day … 184 days and counting! (So bittersweet!)</p>
<p>i do not like that countdown!</p>
<p>Hi all, joining as a new EDII Mom! Great tips and helpful info just from perusing this thread! Thank you for sharing! </p>
<p>taking all your advice and booking a hotel for Family weekend, not sure if I’ll rent a car, does Vandy provide any transportation from downtown to the Family weekend activities?</p>
<p>No, Vandy does not provide transportation. A cab ride from Vandy area to downtown will run you about $15. Some of the hotels in the area also have a shuttle service that will take you anywhere in an X mile radius. Renting a car is nice for trips to Walmart and such though.</p>
<p>When are Freshman supposed to arrive on campus during august. What exact day(s)? Thanks.</p>