Current students: Your FAVORITE thing about Vandy?

Considering applying ED2 and would just like some input as to why you think Vandy is the best.

I’m going to preface this with the statement that every applicant is different, and in your college search you should prioritize what you want in a school. Vandy may be “the best” for some students, and completely wrong for others based on what they’re looking for a school. We may love something about Vanderbilt that you would hate, so take our thoughts with a grain of salt. Though it might be a bit late if you’re considering applying ED2, I encourage you to visit before making such a commitment (if you haven’t already). Further, ED, as I stated, is a major commitment, and I would caution against rushing into it without giving it substantial thought (I say this because I know the deadline is soon). All of that being said, to answer your question…

For me, it’s the balance. Vanderbilt life in general is very balanced in regard to a lot of qualities: it has a balance between work and play, great academics and SEC sports (I hope you’re a baseball fan), a strong undergraduate focus but tremendous research opportunities available to undergraduates because of strong postgraduate programs, a campus that is a national arboretum in the middle of a major urban area, a tight-knit community on campus but also one integrated into Nashville as well, a diverse student body in a traditionally Southern city. You get a little taste of everything and you can delve into it as much or as little as you want to. If I had to pick a second favorite thing, I would say the social nature of Vanderbilt, both between students and between students and faculty. Most students live on campus all four years, and as a result the community is truly centered on campus. We have a tight-knit community (and lots of school pride as a result) and because of the emphasis on a balanced life Vandy students tend to have, at least in my opinion, healthier social lives than our peers at comparable schools. We work hard, but we’re happier. At the same time, if you want to get out of the Vanderbubble for a bit, you’re in Nashville, one of America’s hottest cities at the moment. In regard to faculty, small classes mean lots of personal interaction with truly amazing professors who want to see you improve. Vanderbilt, in my opinion, has a stronger emphasis on undergraduate teaching than some of its peers, and it shows. What I mean by a student-faculty “social nature” is that professors are friendly, highly accessible, and involved in the Vanderbilt community beyond their academic positions. You can get close to your professors and that can open a lot of doors for you beyond an incredible classroom experience. Living-learning communities are also at the center of housing changes to campus that further these relationships between faculty and students. The Commons (for freshmen) is a prime example, but the College Halls plan (for upperclassmen) is going to expand this to the entire university. Overall, these strong relationships make for a better school academically and socially.

I wish you all the best in your college application process, whatever choice you make. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to message me (or other students like the famous @Pancaked. I’m volunteering him.). Go 'Dores!

“Balance” sums it up precisely for me as well. I have friends at Yale, Stanford, and Princeton, as well as at state schools all over the south, so I’ve heard a lot about college experiences. Nothing comes close to Vandy in terms of balance. The combination of academics, social life, sports, location, weather, organizations… It’s one-of-a-kind and makes for an incredible environment.

For me, it is a place with good academics but also a place where I can have a lot of fun. Kind of like if you combined an Ivy and a State school.

Does Vandy feel like a large school or small school to you guys? @suffer @pancaked @impressionistic

It feels in between to me. The freshman class is ~1600. The student body and campus are large enough that it doesn’t feel like a tiny, stifling environment where you always see the same people and have nowhere to go (like a small liberal arts college, at least to me), but not so large that you feel overwhelmed and insignificant (like a state school). An interviewer for another school with a similar class size described ~1600 to me as perfect because you will have seen everyone in your class at least once before, but the class is diverse and you’re not going to always be hanging around the same people because you’re at a school with a truly tiny freshman class (~400). I’ve found it to be accurate.