<p>Vanderbilt like its peer mid-sized regional lion research private colleges (Duke, Rice, NWestern, Emory), top liberal arts colleges, and Ivies is very expensive for those families who do not qualify for financial aid. Therefore there are always students from wealthier parents paying full freight because they can afford to do so, and students on full rides on need and hundreds in between as the normal curve re socioeconomic differences on these campuses. Because Vandy can offer a No Loans financial aid package, applications have gone through the roof in the last six years. Even so, many wonderfully prepared academic students will have to turn down Vandy to go to their flagship honors colleges due to the contributions required of their families based on the CSS Profile and FAFSA.<br>
Your question is a common concern and legit of course but my advice is to wait till April, see where your son or daughter has been admitted, look at financial realities and then address the social/emotional fit factors as you narrow things down. </p>
<p>No school has it all and every student will experience some dissonance socially at college. I have a son who is a non-Greek senior who has had an outstanding four years at Vanderbilt. He might have been a better fit at a liberal arts college but he followed his best fit financially and counted in the entire Nashville community and Vanderbilt community offerings in his final decision. Vanderbilt has a lot to offer not found at some great colleges due to its happy and productive interplay with Nashville.</p>
<p>Shob, the student you descibe will fit in well. Most students at Vandy enjoy a good book, a quiet night playing board games with friends and going to a party. 95% of students could care less about a classmates economic situation. You don’t want to be with the 5% who do.</p>
<p>Can someone tell me if the dorm mattresses require the twin XL bedding or regular twin? The web site says regular twin but the mattress measurement they give is somewhere between a twin and a twin XL.</p>
<p>Neither of my kids lived in The Commons, but they did use XL sheets on their beds in Towers and Branscomb Quad. The mattresses were coated in plastic, so both kids used egg crates which take up extra room underneath the mattress pad and fitted sheet and their XL sheets worked fine.</p>
<p>For frat rankings I would check sites like Collegiate ACB, in all honestly… I’m definitely not an advocate of sites like that, but that’s probably your best bet to get a general consensus, as people tend to get mad if you post frat/sorority “rankings” on this site… However, there are frats that are considered non-upper tier that tons of people (girls) love and have very fun parties, so for the most part it doesn’t matter. Try to focus on where you fit best.</p>
<p>you can also make do nicely with an XL base sheet only to cover your mattress but XL sheets are generally in packages. Don’t buy egg crate…if you can afford it --buy the memory foam XL topper. They had them at Sam’s Warehouse in August but Bed Bath Beyond coupons (sign up!) will take some of the sting out of the mattress topper pricetag. The memory foam will give you a good four years of service so cheaper is not necessarily better. a very smart investment is Amazon Prime or even better and less expensive Amazon Student Prime. Our son gets all his books shipped to school for free as well as pretty much anything else he needs. We also make up the fee every winter easily in holiday shipping alone but very handy for those who will not see their son or daughter’s often. You can also preorder all this stuff in the town where they will be going to college or directly to their college address.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advise. I know it’s early but I am a planner and this is my first child to go off to college. We are living in NJ but I grew up in Nashville so I am familiar with the area and plan to get some of his dorm stuff down there when he moves in but I would like to start putting some stuff away that we will bring down with us. I would love to hear about some of the things kids bring with them that they found really useful in setting up their dorm rooms.</p>
<p>their needs are really few in that all the rooms on the Commons…are lovely. The newer buildings have more ceiling height and some things like more closet space perhaps but the Peabody commons has its lovely quadrangle and quicker access to main campus. Boys seems to do less in their rooms re food. Our son had a microfridge (now in its eighth year of college service…and at times a tiny microwave but he doesn’t even make coffee in his room. More likely to study late hours in a single room. Printers seem also to be optional…he refused his. it is in our basement collecting dust. Perhaps the girls do study more in their shared space.<br>
Personally, my biggest recommendation is a full spectrum desk lamp…verilux sells them online for good prices. Light is so important for late night studies and reading. Son has a perfectly ugly “expandable” chair I had shipped there. It puffed out like a seahorse in water once the box was removed. Nicer than a beanbag. Not necessarily room for chairs unless you loft and each room is different.</p>
<p>Momthreeboys–we found faux wooden shelves to be very good to have, not only for textbooks but for general stuff. Faline is correct that the rooms on the Commons are very nice with fairly large closets, but I will have to say I was surprised at how little dresser/drawer space is provided in the university issued furniture. (Something like 5 or 6 drawers total between 2 pieces of furniture and that had to do duty for school supplies as well as clothes–the “desk” is like 3 sides of a cube: top and 2 upright sides/supports, no drawers or shelves as part of the desk.) Of course, I have a daughter so drawers for all her little things might be more important than for a boy
You would be wise to start looking & buying ahead of time rather than waiting to get everything in Nashville in mid-August–the Target closest to campus will be wiped out!</p>
<p>Can you give us more details of things you would recommend? I have a girl, never had a college student, so do not have a clue what is needed for her. You mention faux wood shelves–something to put on wall, or bookcase style shelves?<br>
I have heard about the mattress topper and XL sheets, as well as a light for the closet and a lamp for her desk. Anything else that you can think of?
Any help you can provide would be wonderful. </p>
<p>For my D, these were important: fridge with GOOD freezer compartment; Britta pitcher; a couple big pillows for visitors to sit on (mooshy ones that can be shoved in a corner for storage); drying rack for delicate laundry; at least two sets of sheets (increases chance they’ll be washed regularly!); 3m Command Strips for hanging things in the room (hooks for towels,etc - pictures - posters - bulletin board); printer; small stick-type vacuum for quick clean-ups.</p>
<p>Also - we bought a wire-basket that had several drawers - it went in her closet & held tshirts, pj’s, workout clothes.</p>
<p>I would hold off on shelves and most furniture until you get to Nashville. </p>
<p>There’s a mass exodus to Wal-mart and the like on move-in weekend. It’s kinda hard to know what a room needs or doesn’t need until you get there, as the rooms vary in shape and size. It’s nice to have some sort of little chair or stool for friends to sit on; helpful if it’s collapsible or doubles as storage box.</p>
<p>for boys…those bag of rocks things that absorb odors to put in closets… </p>
<p>there is a How to Loft Vandy Beds video…might be on Youtube. It isn’t very hard. They don’t let you buy lofted beds…you must use the ones provided for safety reasons. Many people do loft and put desk under. </p>
<p>I also bought a second verilux type full spectrum floor lamp for our sons’ rooms. To put next to whatever seating is possible for the room…which varies quite a bit but usually you can get at least one little reading chair set up even if it is shared. Nice reading nook.</p>
<p>This is great information. I’m already trying to figure out what our son will need. We are coming from California so I know the only things we will be bring is his clothes, electronics and instruments. I have family in Atlanta so we are planning to ship things to them. He’ll be moving into the dorm early for Marching Band so we’ll be able to get to Target, Bed Bath and Beyond and Walmart before everyone shows up.</p>
