<p>Vanderbilt fits most of my criteria in my college search.</p>
<p>-Smaller school
-Good class sizes
-Different area/New Experience (not SoCal)
-D-1 Sports
-School Spirit
-Film Studies Program
-Stunning campus (arboretum)
-City life nearby
-Sufficient Prestige/Alumni satisfaction
-attractive student body
-greek life</p>
<p>HOWEVER,
One resounding doubt in my mind is the "preppy feel" I get at Vandy. When I look at videos of tours/classroom feedback, I generally see all the guys wearing collared t-shirts, which is absolutely not my thing. Likewise, I have heard some people wear formal attire to games, won't ever go to class unpresentable etc.</p>
<p>My question: Is Vandy that superficial? Will I not fit in if I don't value clothing (I still present myself well, but I'm not going to wear a collared T every day) brands etc. Is there diversity at the university? </p>
<p>If my fears are valid, any other univeristy suggestions that go along the lines of my above preferences? Thanks</p>
<p>Vandy is very socioeconomically diverse. Assuming, of course, that these Pell Grant recipients aren’t the only students from low/middle-income families on campus.</p>
<p>According to my Vandy grad school daughter, many of the undergrad girls don’t wear much in the way of clothes period! I realize the OP is a male, but still… :)</p>
<p>Vandy is pretty Southern preppy, but it’s big enough that you can find your tribe. It is NOT at all “blue collar”.</p>
<p>Well so far from what you listed about Vanderbilt sounds about right, I actually find Vanderbilt interesting though I rather not attend. I have been informed that Vanderbilt is one of the most conservative schools, especially I think the most conservative elite schools known. If you are a conservative your likely to love this school, same is said for Pepperdine University.</p>
<p>Lol, the titles still worked b/c it drew me b/c I wanted to say that Vanderbilt was NOT blue-collar.</p>
<p>Anyway, if Vanderbilt matches ur interests so well, then I wouldn’t worry too much. There is no “perfect” college. That said, Vanderbilt is a bit preppy, but its not that bad.</p>
<p>Vandy is conservative relative to some uber liberal schools. But in reality its moderate. Like most schools the faculty is ordinarily left leaning and the wealthy student body is ordinarily a country club republican sect. Vandy is making strides in becoming more socio-economically diverse, but there is more room for change. They still admit a huge number of kids whose parents are doctors, lawyers and highly successful entrepreneurs/family owned business etc. MONEY. They give good financial aid, but you have to be admitted first. And while they deny it strongly, your ability to pay full tuition is a big factor in who gets in. I have seen it over and over. They favor kids from rich prep schools something fierce. The recruiter we spoke with referred to their sharpest competitor, WashU as “bohemian beer burping drunks.” So what did we do? We promptly motored up the highway (along the Mississippi River) to St. Louis and checked it out for ourselves. LOL. And while we did find the student body at WashU a bit more edgy than at Vandy and certainly more overtly liberal, I wouldnt classify them as “bohemians.” </p>
<p>Both schools are full of themselves and a tad bit wound up, if you ask me. Just my two cents. (Others may of course disagree if they had a different experience.) </p>
<p>The thing about Vandy (like Duke) is that you either fall in love with it, or you can’t wait to get away from it. To each his own.</p>
<p>One thing I noticed the other day was that it seemed like the freshman were considerably more preppy looking than most of the upperclassmen. Light yellow/blue/red shorts with a button down shirt. It looked like some of the outfits these kids wore came straight out of a J Crew/Brooks Brothers/Vineyard Vines catalog. A lot of the girls here, in general, wear dresses, but usually not too revealing/slutty.</p>
<p>Today in class, most of the students were upperclassmen and the very preppy looking kids definitely weren’t the majority. I mean there are a lot of preppy looking kids here, but you aren’t going to stand out if you just wear jeans and a tshirt. I’d say a lot of the kids here are casual prep in that the majority of our shirts are polos and button downs, but that we wouldn’t really stick out if you saw us walking through the mall. Just a lot of plain, classic looking outfits.</p>
<p>The other thing about collared polo-type shirts is that in different regions of the country, they “mean” different things. In some parts, a collared polo-type shirt is simply no dressier or fancier or any different from a t-shirt, except, well, it has a collar and a few buttons on it. It would be worn any place a t-shirt would be worn. In other parts (and parts of CA are among them), a collared polo-type shirt is “dressier” and therefore it would be seen to be “putting on airs.”</p>
<p>I had this conversation once with a Californian friend who said that she saw teens in polo shirts at a Six Flags and thought it was funny why they were so dressed up. And the rest of us esp those of us with east coast roots were thinking … what’s so dressy about a polo shirt? it’s an alternative to a t-shirt, why wouldn’t you wear it to Six Flags? LOL.<br>
I mention this only because the OP is from California, I believe.</p>
<p>Also when you all talk about preppy, there are very different meanings. There is classic Northeast / New England High WASP preppy style, which is very LL Bean, old-clothes understated. Then there is Southern preppy, which is much more pink-and-green, Lilly Pulitzer, matchy-matchy. And there is a colloquial use of preppy to also mean “upper middle class suburban,” which really has nothing to do with either of the above. Be really clear which one you’re asking about when you ask about a “preppy school.”</p>
<p>My son is an undergraduate at Vanderbilt. I’m not claiming his wardrobe is commonplace, but his uniform is old t-shirts and ratty cargo shorts, with an ancient pair of leather sandals most of the year. It may be that he just doesn’t care whether or not he “fits in”, but the fact is, he is very happy there and even spent the last two summers working on campus.</p>
<p>His girlfriend dresses much more nicely, but she is not southern or preppy–she hails from another part of the world altogether. She likes it there, a lot, also.</p>
<p>When I am on campus, it seems to me that the everyday appearance of the students is not significantly different than most other colleges. On football days, many of the students dress up. My husband thought the girls looked very pretty, indeed. You might, also.</p>
<p>I go to Wake Forest and grew up in a working class household. It is a similar culture. I haven’t found it to be a problem. There are lots of folks at Wake Forest that aren’t like that. I wouldn’t worry about it.</p>
<p>Wildmom: Its a true story. Verbatim. She asked what schools we were looking at in addition to Vandy and we ticked off several, including WashU and that is when the “beer burping bohemians” comment came out. Didnt phase us, in fact we chuckled. Little did she know I happen to enjoy a high quality beer and often drink the new Michelob small batch beers on the market, all of which are brewed in St. Louis.</p>
<p>midmo: I concur in your conclusion. The people I know who went to Vandy loved it. And it may well be your son dresses down as his sort of “cool” look, not to emphasize his family wealth, assuming you have some. And fwiw, there are lots of preppy spoiled kids at state schools. UNC-Chapel Hill is famous for that. </p>
<p>Regardless, going to college is about growing up and that includes learning to get along with people who may have different backgrounds and opinions than you.</p>
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