<p>The title says it all... </p>
<p>I'm trying to decide where to go to school! So, if you have some input on why you don't like vandy and why you do.. that would be great.</p>
<p>I don’t like Vandy because…
-seeing 50,000 beer cans all over the frat house lawns is really unattractive
-grade deflation is making it a pain to keep a GPA high enough to get into the grad program I want
-it’s freaking EXPENSIVE
-they’re too focused on diversity and not enough on academic merit… there are some kids here that <em>really</em> shouldn’t be simply because they’re URMs
-the meal plans after freshman year are kind of restrictive</p>
<p>I love Vandy because…
-as a freshman, I am taught by professors and only professors, with the exception of discussion groups.
-the academics are so interesting and challenging; I am encouraged to work hard and I am rewarded for my hard work
-the campus is amazing
-the food is great
-the dorms are awesome
-it’s the perfect size; I always see people I know and people I don’t know on a daily basis, and I love that
-the Greek system is great; my sorority is very tight and has helped me a lot socially
-I get to brag about going here
-they bring in people like Mitt Romney and Elie Wiesel to speak, and we get to see them for free or five bucks at the most
-the performing arts groups on campus are always fun to see
-Hillel is amazing
-Southern hospitality is alive and well
-work hard, play hard
-there’s a place for everyone
-lax opposite-sex policies… it’s very easy to bring a boyfriend/girlfriend over to stay for the night without being hassled
-spring in Nashville is AWESOME (just had to throw that out there; it’s been sunny for over two weeks straight!)
-our baseball team and our basketball team are really good (I really couldn’t care less about football, otherwise this would be under “things I hate”)
-people are balanced; it’s not like being at an Ivy where all you ever do is school, school, school. You can focus on your schoolwork during class and focus on yourself on the weekends (unless it’s finals week)
-the Commons is an awesome way to get freshmen settled into college (and even if you’re Kisslammed, it’s not bad at all)
-there’s always something to do; if you’re bored, you’re not looking around</p>
<p>Anyway, I love Vanderbilt. It represents the best of all worlds; hard work, good rewards, fun social life, great city, great weather, nice people, amazing academics, etc. The only things I’d change would be grade deflation, the cost (although most people don’t have a problem with this, given the amount of financial aid Vandy dispenses), and the amount of drunkenness on weeknights.</p>
<p>I don’t like Vandy because it’s hard.
I like Vandy because it’s hard.</p>
<p>Hm… very interesting! I visited, and I LOVED Vandy, BUT I couldn’t picture being around high-end, rich, preppy kids, all day and everyday. ( I do think my image of the campus is a bit distorted because I was only surrounded by the frat and sororities)</p>
<p>I don’t like Vandy because:
-It comes with a hefty price tag
-Some professors are hard to understand due to their accents
-Classes are never canceled
-Grade deflation</p>
<p>I don’t know the exact figure, but I believe I have heard multiple times that the majority of kids at Vanderbilt receive some amount of financial aid. Sure, there are lots of rich kids, but it’s not the absolute norm.</p>
<p>Dustin, I’ve had classes cancelled before… 
Maybe it varies by school. I’m in Peabody. One of my teachers is pregnant, and she’s had to cancel class for medical appts. before. Another teacher got stuck in North Carolina for a day and cancelled hers too (no TA). Perhaps in A&S it’s different.</p>
<p>Agreed, Vandy is not just preppy rich beautiful white people. It’s really not. There’s actually an article in the Hustler today about diversity @ Vandy… very interesting. What happens is a lot of self-segregation, which can sometimes give the illusion of a homogeneous campus. If you look for it, though, there is a huge amount of racial, cultural, and economic diversity. I’m part of the Greek system (as you can probably tell from my last post), and it really isn’t all rich white kids. My sorority, for example, has a very high proportion of Asian girls. IDK why, but we seem to be the middle-class white girl and middle-class Asian girl sorority. XD it’s great. It really is. I’ve heard stuff about the top-tier sororities, too, where there’s some ethnic diversity (especially Kappa), and I’ve seen quite a few kids who <em>aren’t</em> just old Southern money walking around in letters. Don’t be put off by Vandy’s old reputation for being white and wealthy. Of course it exists here, but the campus is a lot more diverse than you might think.</p>
<p>^^ I’ve had a class canceled like that before due to professor’s schedules but what I meant was that the Vanderbilt Administration never cancels classes campus wide.</p>
<p>Ahhhhh, gotcha. Thanks for clarifying. :)</p>
<p>Sounds like grade deflation is pretty crappy? Isn’t that extremely discouraging for future pre-meds?</p>
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<p>According to my daughter there is grade deflation because they bust your a** and make you not only learn the how but the why, et al… (at least for engineering). She is statistically average on her GPA for ChemE. She has friends at other schools studying ChemE and in conversation with them she feels she has a much better grasp on the subject matter…even if she does have a lower GPA. </p>
<p>As for canceling classes suck it up. It’s college…not high school. Wait and see how often your employer cancels work…</p>
<p>cdcreator: yes, we do bust our asses. We study really hard, write high-quality papers, and generally work more than students at most universities nationally. However, the grades we get are somewhat lower than would be expected from that level of work at most other universities. That’s the principle behind grade deflation.</p>
<p>I agree about cancelling classes… I never feel like my class load is too much, and we’ll be sitting in an office a lot longer than we sit in classrooms. XD</p>
<p>So there was a recent article about public vs private school GPAs: ([Want</a> a Higher G.P.A.? Go to a Private College - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Want a Higher G.P.A.? Go to a Private College - The New York Times”>Want a Higher G.P.A.? Go to a Private College - The New York Times))<br>
The study says the average private school GPA is 3.3. Vandy is what, around a 3.2? I don’t consider that to be a huge difference at all. I hear people whine a lot about “grade deflation,” but I’ve never really felt its existence. Most of my large lecture classes have been graded on a curve so that the average is 80. It’s tough because a lot of people who did very well in hs suddenly find themselves on the bottom of this curve, but doing well is not impossible. These are the “weed out” classes though. I ended up with a pretty decent GPA and was accepted into medical school, so it’s definitely doable.</p>
<p>I wasn’t whining about classes being canceled. I was just stating a fact that I see as a slight downside. If I didn’t want to go to class I didn’t go. But most other schools will cancel class due to weather or other extreme circumstances. Vanderbilt does not. The entire campus was without power for most of the day yet classes were still in session. A tornado touched down in Davidson county and classes were not canceled.</p>
<p>Congrats on your med school acceptance silversparkles! you worked hard for that! may I ask what you majored in at Vandy?</p>
<p>It’s not so much that grades are deflated at Vandy–it’s that they’re not inflated as much as they are at other schools. Grades tend to go up over time at nearly all schools, regardless of whether the difficulty of the work goes up or not.</p>
<p>I suspect anyone recruiting from big-name schools knows which ones have more inflation and which ones have less.</p>
<p>Thanks - I am a Molecular and Cellular Bio Major</p>
<p>And BasementCat, I agree</p>
<p>How did Vandy prepare you for med school? Applying… taking the required classes… were the classes extremely rigorous? Also, what do you think Vandy could do differently to prepare students for med school?</p>
<p>Classes - The pre-med reqs are usually pretty tough, but not impossible. Professors are easily accessible for help, and many hold review sessions weekly, or close to exams. Physics is probably the weak spot, but I think this is also the weakest subject for many pre-meds. Classes are a lot of work and you won’t be able to party every weekend and expect to do well.</p>
<p>Applying - Med school apps are horrible, expensive, and time consuming! Our pre-med adviser writes a committee letter after meeting with you in what they call an ASAP interview. This is great preparation for actual med school interviews and gives you an idea of some of your strengths and weaknesses. Karen Laws, who is the secretary, is amazing. She knows the AMCAS like the back of her hand, and was my rock during the application process! We also have a pre-med society called AED that holds events relating to MCAT prep courses, interview tips from Vandy Med adcoms, and other useful meetings.</p>
<p>As far as what they could do differently, I think our pre-med adviser isn’t always 100% helpful with some questions regarding applying (ie cost, how students pay just to apply, picking schools, etc). I actually applied MD/PhD, and he wasn’t very helpful in providing information about this type of program. They did get my rec letters submitted really quickly, which I appreciated! The students also tend to rely on upperclassmen for advice.</p>
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<p>I would concur with this. I think you are graded fairly on the work you do but are not given bonus points for doing the work. If GPA is the be all, end all then Vandy may not be the best fit for someone. If being well educated matters then it’s a very good school.</p>