<p>Thank you, Pancaked and experienced parents (and I’m sorry Spring Break is over!). Also making flight reservations, though not yet for Tgiving. I see that Fall Break weekend begins October 16 – so do students leave late on the 15th? Are there also shuttles then?</p>
<p>My son didn’t come home for fall break as we had just seen him at parents weekend and he wanted to stay at school. He said most students that had to fly home didn’t go home that weekend and it was nice to be at school and not have classes. Though, next year we may skip parents weekend and see if he will come home for fall break instead.</p>
<p>Not sure about when to leave or shuttle service that weekend. My son takes a cab to the airport that he sometimes shares with friends. He thinks it’s easier than the shuttle with its schedule.</p>
<p>Can you take Econ 100 and Econ 101 in the same semester? I understand Econ 101 has a pre-requisite of Econ 100.</p>
<p>Some thoughts on breaks from a 1st year parent with a student that has to fly across the country to come home.</p>
<p>Although the dorms close at a set time, students do not have to leave the dorm. They just need to inform housing using an online request of the days they will be in the dorm during breaks.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt plays Tennessee in football on the Saturday after Thanksgiving this year. If your student wants to attend the football game they may want to return to campus on Friday or Saturday morning. We won’t know what time the game is until a couple of weeks before.</p>
<p>Son did not come home for Fall Break. He enjoyed his time on campus and there were plenty of other students there.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt’s Spring Break is earlier than the schools son’s friends attend. He spent more time with us this past week (Yeah for us!) but was disappointed that he didn’t get to hang out with friends. I won’t be surprised if he doesn’t come home next year.</p>
<p>We’ve already made flights for Thanksgiving. As soon as the fall schedule is finalized, I’ll make the arrangements for coming home at Winter Break.</p>
<p>Great thread. Questions on transportations on and off campus:
How big is the campus? In general, what percentage of students drive, bike, or walk? If walking, how far/long does it take from dorm to dinning hall and to classes in general? Any shuttles available?
DS is not a huge fan of biking so I am always interested in how students get around campus.
How about off campus? From reading posts above, I see cab to airport is $25 and shuttle is $25 both ways. How about around town?</p>
<p>Our daughter will be in the Class of 2018 so does not start at Vandy until the fall, but, based on two visits and countless hours of reading through CC, here is what we have gleaned: Most students seem to walk around campus. (We are going to assess the need/desire to have a bike once D is settled in.) The Vandy Vans run from 5pm to 5am, I believe. You can walk from the Commons, where freshmen reside, to most parts of campus within about 15 minutes. For off-campus fun, there are many restaurants/cafes/shops within walking distance in the HIllsboro area, and students can take taxis to areas that are a bit farther, e.g., downtown (probably < $10). Also, students can use Commodore Cash in the taxis (which, I understand, might mean it feels “free” to the kids!).</p>
<p>Hopefully, I got most of that right. To get the best feel though, you should try to go visit – we loved it immediately!</p>
<p>Thank you, Go9ers, for explaining that they’re not kicked out of the dorms during breaks – good to know. (Am hoping, however, that our daughter will be coming home for most of those!) Glad we’re on a Southwest route and can make flight changes without penalties.</p>
<p>My freshman went on her first ASB experience. Definitely an amazing and life changing. My oldest went on a fun trip with a dozen or so friends. To answer a few questions, campus is big, but not huge, and depending on where classes are, they can easily walk 2-3 miles a day. Helps keep off the pounds from the delicious food! My youngest had to get a bike because one class commute was about a mile and a half, and she only had 10 minutes to get there. She loves having her bike on campus and meets friends in the village for coffee, dinner, etc. Nashville busses are free on the Vandy card, and once they learn the routes, it makes it pretty easy to get to green hills mall, downtown, etc. Symphony cards are $25 for the whole year, and my girls took full advantage of that. Dress up, share a cab, cheap night out! </p>
<p>There is hope – sophomore came home for spring break after spending a few days in New Orleans with friends. </p>
<p>^ Good to hear.<br>
@moonpie – Just peeked at some of the many ASB options, which I know our daughter will be checking out. Does it usually work out that you are assigned to one you request, or are there some that fill up more quickly?</p>
<p>Unless it’s changed, it can be a challenge to get one of your top choices. D did ASB her sophomore year and only got on a team after someone else dropped out. Seems like they try to balance the teams between males and females and they also tried to keep from having multiple team members from the same Greek affiliation. Again, could be different now. It was a wonderful experience after she finally matched with a team.</p>
<p>@lbowie…our kids were there together!! My D1-junior came home for a few days after NOLA also. It was great! @sorrento, D2-freshman put in 3 top choices, and she initially was wait listed. She got her second choice for waiting. She really had an amazing experience, and says she will do it every year! There was a great Mix of majors, a few more girls than guys in her group, and several from each year. </p>
<p>recent grad son did ASB every spring and gained a new set of friends each time. They mix Greek and independent students, and it is refreshing to be with a new set of people you may not have bothered to meet or simply had paths cross with. They try to make sure it is an entirely new set of classmates each spring for each group. Son got his first choice once (maintenance work on airplanes (no they didn’t let him touch the instrument panels…gardening, washing planes, painting) that fly missions of mercy based in St. Louis). Another year, he was prob one of the only people who put down working with multiple homeless programs in Nashville and he got that assignment (most kids like the idea of a new location). Another year he worked in Atlanta. So there was a bit of money shelled out from the parents re the St. Louis destination. In all three of the above situations, they slept on pallets in a local church…in Nashville they slept in a church in charming Franklin. He keeps up with a couple/three grads from each of these 3 experiences. In my view there is nothing wrong with a beach trip or a trip out west to hike etc. But our son found ASB to be rewarding and refreshing. In our experience, “coming home” for the week was never an option in his mind. We instead went to Nashville to hang out with our own aging friends and to see him in briefer 2-3 hour spurts</p>
<p>Excuse me if this has already been asked, Are there zip cars available on campus? go2girl does not plan to bring a car to school but I want her to have the option to drive to appointments if necessary. A zip car membership would be idea.</p>
<p>I do know that zip cars have been available in the past, but am not sure if they still are. However, I noticed this article on InsideVandy last week (my kids laugh at me for continuing to read The Hustler online, but I’ll continue as a Vandy mom until D finishes her grad program in 2016). <a href=“Inside Vandy: Vanderbilt University's student news source”>Inside Vandy: Vanderbilt University's student news source;
<p>Transportation around Nashville does seem to work pretty well. I made a quick run to Nashville on Friday/Saturday and we took a Lyft car from Bridgestone Arena back to her car parked off 21st on Friday night. It was easy, the young man driving was very nice, and the whole thing seemed safe. However, I’m not sure I would have been as comfortable if I was by myself. That’s probably the musing of an old fuddy dud 
</p>
<p>D has used Lyft several times since New Year’s Eve and has been very pleased with the service. Hopefully, some of the other parents and students will weigh in for go2mom.</p>
<p>@go2mom- there are zip cars on campus in several locations. There are about four cars by the Vandy van stop next to the Hank Ingram dorm.</p>
<p>Your kids may also want to consider Habitat trips, rather than ASB. My D started a Habitat Youth group in high school and was committed to Habitat. She did trips at Vandy, and she was site selection and training chair senior year. She absolutely loved it.</p>
<p>@2VU0609 – Do you know whether Lyft is like Uber? Had not heard of it before. We use Uber frequently here at home, though have recently heard some questions about safety and background checks of drivers. Or maybe it’s just as easy for the kids to get cabs when they need….</p>
<p>Lyft and Uber are essentially the same service. I think their process for hiring drivers is a little different. </p>
<p>Students here use both, but cabs are much more common. Cabs regularly peruse certain spots at Vandy so they are typically very convenient, and usually cheaper. </p>