<p>BUMP!</p>
<p>Thrilled to report that my daughter will be joining the class of 2018! Can’t wait for Family Weekend. I was wondering if an experienced parent could talk about how the academic class registration works. </p>
<p>Congratulations go2mom! I’m the parent of a Class of 2017 student with 3 semesters of class registration experience. It’s a very easy online program. The key is to put your class selection in your cart prior to your registration time, then periodically monitor to make sure those ahead of your student in registration have not filled the class. On registration day, log into the YES (online program) a few minutes prior to your time and hit the submit button as soon as it becomes available. Son has successfully gotten the schedule he wanted every semester.</p>
<p>Son learned a good lesson when registering for his first semester. I had him get up at 6 AM PDT so that he could register for class when his time opened up at 8 AM CDT. The chemistry class he wanted and enrolled in filled up in less than 15 minutes.</p>
<p>Wait. Is a student ever going to learn how to do it himself if you do it for them every semester!? Step away from the counter! (as they say on Chopped. I think 
My son was late to register for this semester and got a lot of 8am classes! But lesson learned without my help! (And he said the classes and professors are good, just that his day starts early.) </p>
<p>Thanks, @Go9ersjrh, for explaining the registration process.</p>
<p>@Go9ersjrh-Can you believe their first year is ending in a little over a week? It went so fast! I hope your son had a great first year! My son did. He has enjoyed going to all the Vanderbilt sporting events and went to quite a few Titan games as well. He joined a Friday football league that plays year round and has had fun with it. He pledged a fraternity and decided not to play club baseball, a sport he dedicated his and frankly my life to for the past 10 years or so but go figure! He finds his Bio and Chem classes REALLY hard and says there is definite grade deflation (hahaha) but has done well academically otherwise. I have noticed more personal growth in him over this past year than I have in four years of high school. I think being surrounded by all high achieving students lends to the rapid growth.
Anyway, I also wanted to share a few things I learned over this first year that may help out other parents sending off their first to Vanderbilt:
-encourage your student to do a roommate search. I know most random matches work out but some do not. Most students go to Vanderbilt not knowing anyone and if you don’t have a roommate to hang out with in those first few days until you make other friends it can get lonely. Believe it or not, not all students there want to socialize with other students and are happy to be in the dorm room on the computer day and night.
-pack a football/frisbee or such as there is a lot of down time in the first couple of weeks (the first year students can not go to Greek row for the first three weeks) and this helps with meeting other students.
-don’t stress the actual move in at all. It was so easy with all the students there to help. If you’re driving, bring as much stuff with you as you can.
-heed @Falines2’s advise on sending good rain gear with your student. When it rains in Nashville it pours and the pathways to classes tend to flood so something like Bean boots, a good rain jacket, and a small umbrella for the back pack are essential.
-my son’s Grandparents signed him up for the laundry service and he has loved it. It’s dry cleaning service has been really handy especially during pledging when he had to wear dressier clothes every day and has yet to master an iron.
- he hasn’t had a need for a suit but has worn a sport coat and tie on a few occasions.
-the first year meal plan was more than enough food for him.
-ask any questions you may have on this forum. It is a great place to get good info. The other parents (too many to name) and students, especially @pancaked, have been a great source for good information.
I am happy to answer any questions I can. Good luck to all new first year students and parents on this next chapter of your lives!
@go9ersjrh enjoy the summer and next years move in should be a piece of cake as we gained much from the first one!</p>
<p>Thanks Momthreeboys and Go9ersjrh! Helpful practical information…passing on to my s as we start to plan for move in day. </p>
<p>LBowie - I helped him the first semester. He had never done it before. It’s his to do now.</p>
<p>@momthreeboys - It has been a very fast year. S loved his first year at Vanderbilt. The marching band has been great for him. He also played in the pep band for basketball games. He’s involved with a group of students that formed a new club on campus to develop board and card games. He spends most of his Friday nights at Game Night at Hank. It’s been a great place for him to meet other students. He’s been able to continue to pursue music and this semester is in a small jazz combo class with 5 other students. They are performing tomorrow night at Blair. Sure wish I could be there. S has done well academically, but has also found the chemistry class difficult this semester. We’ve told him, just pass the class and move on. He’s doing much better in his engineering, math and music classes.</p>
<p>Here’s my thoughts on some of the things I learned this year:
- Once you know your students schedule for the semester, buy your airline tickets. If Southwest is available, use them since there are free bags and no penalties for changing flight (there may be an increased cost.)
- Students can stay in the dorms even when they are closed. They just have to inform housing online. This is useful if they want to return early from Thanksgiving to attend the VU - UT game on Saturday.
- With careful planning and internet purchases, you can move your student cross country by airplane.
- If you need to store stuff over the summer, book your storage facility early. They do fill up and get more expensive.
- S did wear a suit to one of the dances at the commons. He has not worn his tux. (We thought he may have needed it for a musical performance.)
- If your student is a musician, encourage them to join the Spirit of Gold Marching Band. It is probably not as demanding on their time as their high school band. Plus they get to move into the dorms early.
- The professors really do engage with their students outside of the classroom.</p>
<p>Congratulations to the Class of 2018! You are in for a great 1st year. Like @Momthreeboys said “ask anything you have questions about.”</p>
<p>Sorry @Go9ersjrh I misread and thought you had helped for 3 semesters running so far. I helped my son the very first time too.</p>
<p>LBowie - I reread what I wrote and can understand how you came to that conclusion. It does sound that way. Oh the joys of message boards. : )</p>
<p>@Go9ersjrh: Is your S a music major or minor? How hard is it for those not in Blair to be part of the performance groups? I’m especially curious about string instruments (probably no Spirit of Gold Marching Band…)</p>
<p>Mimama - He’s majoring in engineering and hoping to minor in music. He’ll minor in music if he can make it work. Otherwise he’ll just take as many music classes as he can put in his schedule. First semester he took a music literature class and second semester he took second semester music theory (AP credit for first semester) and the jazz combo class. I was surprised that he didn’t need to audition for the small group. I know that some of the other groups require an audition. I would suggest your student go talk to the administration at Blair to find out how to join a group. </p>
<p>Hey Mlmama: My Duke grad son was admitted to Vandy back in 05, and stopped in and got a word with the Dean of Blair, so do the math on this anecdote as it is out of date. Because he was not going to major or minor in music, he would have to audition for the Symphony (he was a middling violist who was a leader in his regional symphony)…after moving into his dorm room and during orientation, risking not getting a chair based on his possibly not good enough skills compared to Blair students. There definitely are some great players in the Symphony who are not taking music curriculums! I remember hearing a premed speak to new students and he was playing in the Symphony for his own pleasure. Yes, I am saying my son was not a great player. He was better than serviceable and he is a huge classical musicologist and fan. He plays more for his mental health and pleasure.
In all honesty, my Duke son realized he was borderline not good enough for a Vandy/Blair symphony chair, he was not willing to rehearse as much as the Blair students, and he wasn’t talented enough to join up without major efforts. (Duke Symphony had auditions but rehearsals were only 2 nights a week and it was definitely not a conservatory type group.) I can’t comment on the availability of small string or chamber opportunities for players not doing Symphony or music curriculums but I think any determined string player can find someone to play with.<br>
Blair adds a great deal to life at Vanderbilt. Vandy grad son attended his friends’ recitals and performances. He took a wonderful class on film scoring and was so glad he did! I think many Vandy students end up taking at least one class at Blair, and consider it to be a memorable part of life in Nashville. Edgar Meyer had an office we walked by in Blair I recall (awesome). Music in Nashville is definitely diverse. The Nashville Symphony is in a fabulous venue…we adore the Schermerhorn. </p>
<p>@go2mom, I posted this in another thread about first year registration.</p>
<p>This is what the school of engineering sent to incoming freshman to schedule their fall classes last summer. HTH! <a href=“http://engineering.vanderbilt.edu/docs/student-services/Registration-Booklet-Fall-2013.pdf”>http://engineering.vanderbilt.edu/docs/student-services/Registration-Booklet-Fall-2013.pdf</a>. They probably send something similar from the other schools.</p>
<p>(My son had 40+ AP credits, so he did not follow the guide. He spoke with the advisor to choose his courses. He pretty much started in the sophomore year recommended sequence for his major as listed in the course catalog.)</p>
<p>In typical frosh courses, they seemed to open up a limited number of spots for each registration group. If she’ll be starting at a higher level due to AP/IB credits, then she can look here to see what kind of openings are available <a href=“https://webapp.mis.vanderbilt.edu/more/SearchClasses!input.action”>https://webapp.mis.vanderbilt.edu/more/SearchClasses!input.action</a></p>
<p>Thank you, MommyDearest13 for the links you provided! Incredibly informative. I skimmed the first year writing seminars–oh, to be young again! So many interesting topics!I have a question about the number of classes freshmen usually take on their first year. My daughter has the AXLE requirerements–do students generally take four or five classes each semester? Given she has eight her senior year, the reduction in classes will be a welcome change!</p>
<p>go2mom;</p>
<p>Start thinking about numbers of classes vs.number of credit hours. Some classes with labs (AXLE) are 4 credits, other classes are 3 credit hours… The general rule of thumb is 13-18 credits per semester, with 14-16 being the average. Most recommend that you go a little lighter the first semester (say, 14 hours) as your D has to adjust to living on her own, college distractions, and routinely caring for herself. There’s nothing wrong with a little lighter load the first semester also in order to attempt to start out with a higher GPA…</p>
<p>Our D is an athlete at Vandy, started her first semester with 14 credits, made Dean’s List and then took 17 her next semester. Of course, she was also trying to figure out college athletics on top of everything else, but virtually everyone heading to Vanderbilt has a passion–so they’ll be occupied outside the classroom as well in some manner.</p>
<p>My best advice when thinking about registering for classes:
- Freshman writing seminars close quickly, so have her choose 5-7 she could tolerate
- Have 3-4 schedules (we did an ideal schedule, and then had alternatives for every course ready to go–sort of an ideal/okay/doomsday scenario planning exercise)
- Place all the classes that might work in her registration cart and know what the ideal scenario is
- Try for the ideal scenario. Depending on which day she draws of registration, it might be easier to obtain or not.
- If she draws a later registration day, don’t panic. There are slots held in all the seminars, and in some other core classes for the second and third registration periods.<br>
- Watch what is happening prior to her registration, and make changes to her ideal scenario as the classes are filing up. Luckily, all non-freshmen will have already registered, so it will be easier for her to see.<br>
- If she does not get the classes she wants in her initial registration period, just be diligent in watching what is going on during the summer. As registration windows are open, lots will change. If she waitlists into a class, she may get in. She may decide to revamp her schedule slightly if she sees things open that interest her or fulfull AXLE. First semester is a challenge, most do not get an ideal schedule. That’s part of being a freshman. It gets easier the older they get.
- Help her do this the first time, guiding her through the rapid fire decisions. Then she can do it well after that.
- Note: the registration window opens at 8am CT. You should be online and ready to go prior to that, and act at immediately 8am CT. If you forget, don’t make the time slot, etc, you will have significantly less chance to get what she needs. </p>
<p>@Swim4School has excellent advice. It sounds like the process my son uses. Being online when registration opens up is key to getting the schedule that you want.</p>
<p>Although we haven’t officially “pulled the trigger”, my S will be attending Vanderbilt in the fall! I am making arrangements for Move-In Weekend and Family Weekend and trying to figure out how many nights of hotel I will need. For move-in, I want a day to shop/prepare before move-in and then I am wondering if there is any reason I would want to stay after Sunday. For Family Weekend, is there any reason to be there before Friday or after Sunday?</p>
<p>@jrmama496 We had our reservation for Friday-Monday but ended up leaving Nashville Sunday after we said goodbye to our son. It was hard to leave him and it felt like leaving town right after saying goodbye was sort of like ripping the band aid off quickly. That was just what we felt was right for us. I am sure everyone deals with the separation differently.</p>
<p>As far as parents weekend we flew in Thursday night because I couldn’t wait to see my son but it wasn’t necessary for the event. I don’t think any event activities took place until later on Friday. My son was happy to see us but I think was ready for us to go on Sunday. Saturday night he politely ditched us to go out with friends.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your son’s acceptance! </p>
<p>@mama496;</p>
<p>We went in Thursday night of move in, D wanted to know she was there. Friday we bought books at the bookstore, etc and had dinner wiith roommate’s family. Saturday she had a 7am move in time, we moved her in, made a list of things we had to get (extra power strip, another hanging thing for the closet, some paper towels, etc) made the Target run and got her settled. Had dinner with her, and she had dorm activities Saturday night. Sunday morning there is a breakfast, followed by a goodbye. Vanderbilt wants you gone by then, the kids have stuff they have to do. About 10:30am, we said goodbye (gulp! still brings back painful memories to write it!) and we left. She had an action packed day, figured out a few things she might need, figured out how to get to CVS for some, ordered a couple of things from Target.com and Amazon.com and went on being a college student. </p>
<p>For parent’s weekend, we went in Thursday night, and she glued herself to us. She wanted to spend every minute she could with us, and we actually did very little sponsored by the school other than the football game. We made a Target run, ate in some great restaurants, etc. This time, we said goodbye at noon on Sunday, and she would have willingly had us stay until midnight. </p>
<p>I really think its dependent upon what type of kid your S is, and to ultimately recognize that you do have to leave them there. Boy children could be different… </p>