My Vanderbilt Experience - Advice for Incoming Freshmen

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
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(If you read one thing from this thread, read #6!!!)

Hey all,

I am a rising senior at Vanderbilt and just wanted to share my Vandy experience with you. Essentially I wanted to write some things I wish I had known coming in as a first-year student. Again, I want to emphasize this is just my experience. Yours could be a lot different.

  1. Vandy definitely has a 'southern' culture People told me about this before I came here and I didn't quite understand until I got here. From accents to southern fraternities, Vandy is has a southern vibe. Although, there are students here from all over the United States, a good portion of them are from the south. It's a fairly moderate college and there is no overt racism.
  2. Greek life is BIG About half the girls and one-third of guys join fraternities. It's the social scene here. You can, of course, find other friends and activities outside of greek life, but it'll be more effort and you'll constantly hear about greek organizations. A lot of people absolutely love the fraternities here and those who are not part of them often have other huge commitments that take up all their time (athletics, debate, etc.). There are also people who feel left out of greek life and struggle to find friends/fit in. It's pretty common to hear non-greek people complain about this their freshmen year.
  3. Greek life is clique-y Also, if you were looking to escape cliques from high school, this really isn't the place for it. If anything it's more clique-y than high school ever was for me. Greek organizations are pretty exclusive. Again, some people like that a lot, others find it tough. If you're not a part of greek life you are put down because of it by people who are greek. And, if you are part of a 'lower' tier greek organization, you are also put down for it. That said, all greek organizations make fun of each other. There is are tiers of 'coolness' for both fraternities and sororities though.
  4. There's some subtle racism towards Asian students There are some of misguided, hurtful comments made towards Asian students. A lot Asian students felt somewhat excluded by hallmates. Others have also posted on the Vandy page talking about this. I'm sure this applies to other minorities as well. Not everyone does this by any means. There are lots of very friendly people as well. But, it was a jarring change for me who had a large, diverse group of friends back home. Greek life here definitely has an air of unfriendliness for Asians. Most don't feel comfortable enough to even rush. The funny thing is that no one will acknowledge this at Vandy, but quite a few of my friends have felt this way. As an Asian student I've also experienced this.
  5. The academics are great You'll be challenged here for sure and learn a lot. The professors are generally great and know their subjects well. I only have praise for Vandy academics.
  6. Keep your transfer options open I know this is strange to say, but I really do think it's the most important tip I could give you as a first-year. I've had several friends transfer because they didn't fit in here. Others absolutely loved their experience and have never thought about transferring. Most people probably thought about transferring for a bit, but ended up liking Vandy. The group I don't want you to be part of is the one that feels stuck at Vandy. They were unhappy here, kept trying, still didn't like it, and by the time they knew they wanted to transfer they had either let their grades slide or were done with their sophomore year (at which point transferring is very difficult). Don't let this happen to you. I'd recommend you make sure you get fantastic grades your first two semesters just in case something goes awry. Take easier classes if you must to do this. Try to adjust and get a feel for Vandy. If you don't like it after the first year, you'll be able to transfer successfully. Don't wait longer than that. Most students here agree if you don't like it after the first year, things won't be drastically changing for you.

Again, these are just things I wish I would have known. Thanks for reading and hope you got something out of it!

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I would comment that the freshman retention rate is 97% – certainly, some students feel the desire to transfer and do so, and all students should keep in mind that transferring is an option. Still, that’s still one of the highest retention rates in the nation (there are about 10 colleges with >97%), just to add some perspective. I think the national average is around 75% – a QUARTER of students leaving after their first year! Further, the student body certainly leans liberal.

One thing I noticed after four years at Vanderbilt is that there is such a high standard for quality of life and happiness that we tend to, well, exaggerate issues on campus. When I talk to my friends at other Universities, it’s clear that the issues that Vanderbilt has are almost negligible in comparison, whether it be the influence of Greek or the quality of food. They’re of course still important to talk about and address but, I mean, if you’ve experienced Greek life at other SEC schools, I don’t think you’d ever use “BIG” to describe what we have here!

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Re Greek life, I am sure there is a lot of Ado about Greek life and Greek events on campus are prominent…and but I would observe that those who are participating always have an inflated view of how critical Greek life is Vandy’s social scene. The fact that the majority of students are either ambivalent or outright not interested needs to be mentioned. Greeks sometimes feel that these students only wish they could be part of the Greek scene…when in fact there are scores of Vandy students who totally ignore the Greek scene on campus and they are not interested in rushing at all.

I had one son who went Greek at Duke and he seemed ridiculously preoccupied with the status of his group vs other greek chapter reputations.

Vandy son would never go Greek or belong to a group that was not truly open. Here is where I chime in to convey the following: Nashville is a hecka lot nicer and more convivial for those ignoring Greek life than are most host cities.

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Excellent analysis of Greek life.

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To have a social life at any University, you have to find your tribe. Greek life is one way of doing that, but by far not the only way. S '17 is not greek and has no desire to be greek, but he has a active, vibrant social life and is not lacking for friends. He’s in the marching and pep band and the member of an active club. He has found his people.

I was a member of greek life during my college days. For a female engineering student, it was the best way for me to find a group of girls to hang out with. It was a big part of my college experience and in hindsight I would not do it any differently. And yes, we thought that we were the only way to have an active social life. In retrospect, my non-greek friends had a great college experience too.

I knew S would never go greek. We knew he would join the band, his tribe. The important thing your 1st year is to make the effort to get involved in something that you have passion for. If you do that, you’ll find a group of friends. It’s those friends that will enhance your college experience, not the name of the group on your T-shirt.

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Duke son told Vandy son: If you go to Duke, the social life is divided between Duke A (Greek world) and Duke B (loser non Greeks). OK, his Greek life meant a lot to him and I would not wish to interfere or take it away. We tease him relentlessly on the Duke A and Duke B comment (what hubris!!). His Greek alum classmates are operating on hearts and brains and piloting nuclear subs and are all very fine young men, despite a few seasons of college delusions of group grandeur. People of excellent character Go Greek and ditto…don’t Go Greek. Greeks at Duke were an emotional support center in a town not as wonderful as Nashville for college social outings. For some reason, sororities are still strong at Vandy despite the total shift in demographics. I wonder if these young women are there to support each other on many levels–academically, socially, in all ways… and I might have been one of them.

You can’t eliminate colleges with a strong Greek life from your list unless you can afford to go to a private college that has banned Greek life.

But if you don’t want to vote on who to admit and who to reject after rush because that selection process just feels Bleh to you, throw down the Gauntlet as Vandy son did and create a Vandy A independent life for yourself as well. He borrowed from the Band and music groups for parties via his housemates, and he found friends in his major and in his activities in politics, debate and in publications on campus. Once in a while he escorted someone to a Greek event if asked. Greek students were contributing in all these places, too. Alternative Spring Breaks are mixed affairs that are friendship makers. Personally-- glad Vandy son went to a partly Greek college. He had to “get over himself” and his ideals a little and to deal with the fact that people do clump together in various social groups, as they struggle to define themselves as individuals and as members of a group…same thing in Business World–or even in Suburban World.

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Learn time management (which leads to you not procrastinating your work) if you want good grades and a social life.

Also, I’ve seen plenty of asians in both fraternities and sororities to know that it’s probably less subtle racism and more that you don’t match well with said house.

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Best list I’ve seen about the Vanderbilt experience. This should be required reading for any prospective or incoming student.

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As a rising sophomore, I have a couple disagreements:

  1. Greek Life is big, but so are student organizations. As a member of College Republicans, I spend a lot of time with people in that organization, Greek or non-Greek. I could see how it would be tough for someone who is not in either type of organization, though. I do think the numbers given by the school are a bit low, though, especially since certain Greek organizations (such as the Christian frat and sorority- and I have friends in both) are not "official" according to the school. I'm not in Greek life myself, and it has never been a problem.
  2. The first two posts disagreed about the political nature of the campus, and, since I have a lot of experience with this, let me explain it. The campus as a whole is roughly evenly divided between Conservative and Liberal (with some students who just don't care either way). With that said, the administration often likes to seem more Liberal than we really are and endorse events for left-leaning causes. However, two of the biggest speakers on campus last year were Jeb Bush and Rudy Giuliani. In my experience, 90%+ of my friends are Conservative Republicans, but that just comes from the groups I am in (CRs, Students for Life, etc.).
  3. About half of students come from the South, but a good third or half of those who don't are pretty much Southerners in terms of what type of school they want. Vandy is really a perfect mix of so many things (did I mention SEC sports?) that really shouldn't exist, but it somehow does.
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For the record, I said the campus leans liberal based on a poll taken of Vandy students by the Vanderbilt Political Review. Unfortunately the link to the PDF on VPR’s website is dead. Wish I remembered the stats but the poll showed a fairly significant left lean, but still more conservative than other top schools.

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It’s been several years (note that younger millennials are SUBSTANTIALLY more Conservative than the slightly older ones who would have been in college say 5 years ago), and there could have been an inherent bias in who took the survey. I’ve seen other polls with a slight Conservative lean of the campus, so 50/50 seems fair to me (CRs is 2-3x the size of CDs).

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Interesting. It’s only been three years since the poll I’m referencing. Do you have a link to any of those polls? If anything, I assumed the campus was getting more liberal over time, as it almost certainly has a conservative history, and millennials in general are much more liberal leaning than Gen X. I’ve never heard of the generation suddenly becoming more conservative, would be interesting to see any evidence of that as well if you have it.

I guess this isn’t particularly important. Perhaps you should prompt your group to do another survey.

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I don’t want to derail this thread on Vandy, so I’ll PM those to you. But, I think it is clear that, unlike some schools, both sides are well represented at VU.

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This is an excellent post by clouds7, which I think highlights some unspoken truths in a fair and honest manner.

To add to the discussion regarding the dominance of greek life in the social sphere, I don’t believe that it is as mutually exclusive of a system as sometimes described. In my experience, there is a sort of double ended social spectrum, with greek and non-greek both having a strong but separate presence. Unfortunately, to make a concise point I have to make a few generalizations that must be taken with a large grain of salt; before I make them, I will state that individuals have individual qualities, and no group is homogenous, and so on.

Generally, greek life will appeal to individuals who enjoy socializing and partying, and might be associated with the more mainstream definition of what is “cool.” On the other end of the spectrum, individuals more focused on alternative interests, like gaming, outdoors, club sports, or being a hippie (The McGill Project) gravitate toward their own strong communities. It seems as though both ends of the spectrum find a good sense of community: generally, the kids who come in as ultimate bros seem to fit in as much as those who come in as ultimate GDI’s. The people who don’t enjoy the community as much are those who are caught in the middle; for example, someone who would have otherwise joined a frat, but didn’t due to some sort of extenuating circumstance (like poor grades/being too shy during their freshman year to enjoy rushing).

There truly is a divide between greeks and non-greeks, in my experience. However, the degree to which this divide effects the individual really depends on demographics. Although only 1/3rd of men and 1/2 of women are a part of greek life, you have to examine of those numbers. Firstly, that number doesn’t include freshmen in the greek numbers since they join second semester, but it includes them in the student body number, so those are smaller than they should be. On top of that, certain groups are not really represented: international students are largely unaffiliated, black students are mostly affiliated with separate black frats and sororities, and asian students do seem to be somewhat excluded as mentioned by clouds7. This means that greek life is more dominant for some groups.

To put it bluntly, if you are an upper middle class white girl who is mostly friends with other upper middle class white girls, you enjoy typical sorority activities, and you don’t join a sorority?- you might feel excluded/frustrated by the focus on greek life since you are left out of activities you like with people you like. Alternatively, If you are a guy who doesn’t like drinking and loves playing league of legends, you will probably find your community and enjoy yourself - you won’t really notice the exclusion because you were probably never going to join a frat or enjoy frat activities.

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What if u r the guy who likes to go to parties but doesn’t want to be associated with being in a frat? is their an option for that guy?

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There’s opportunity to “party” regardless of whether or not you join a Greek organization. Members of any single fraternity only throw 3-4 good parties a semester, and all the rest of the weekends, they’re having to find something else to do just like everyone else on campus. That may mean going to a different fraternity because they have friends there, or could mean doing something else entirely, like throwing parties in dorm rooms or going out to bars.

Fraternities do very frequently have social events on weeknights (Tuesday and Thursday), and on those nights, it’s probably hard to for a non-Greek guy to find anything to do other than go to bars.

My advice is always to just give Greek life a chance. So many people are anti-Greek from the get-go because they have preconceived notions of what Greek students are like from movies or big state schools. If you remain on the outside of the system, it will probably reinforce those notions in your head. The truth is that there is a huge variety of students in Greek life; there are fraternities with completely different group dynamics and personalities. Vandy students reading this would certainly agree that fraternities like SAE or Beta are just completely different than DTD or Phi Psi, and that helps the Greek system accommodate students with a wide variety of personalities. There are fraternities with pockets of guys that play League of Legends, believe it or not.

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I definitely agree with Pancaked here. As a high schooler, you don’t really have any idea what greek life is like. The only way to see is to rush for yourself, and decide whether the people and activities appeal to you.

Like Pancaked said, frats here don’t correspond very well to the stereotypes surrounding state school frats. The average student has like a 33 ACT - regardless of how someone might appear on the outside, every person here is a nerd on the inside, and whatever specific or nerdy interest you have will no doubt exist within the frats.

You can “party” without being in the frats. You can also play league of legends if you are in the frats. The biggest benefit of being part of greek life is having an easy way to expand your social circle. Although it is true that frats aren’t constantly throwing huge ragers, it isn’t true that they are in the same situation as most GDIs during boring weekends. You know all the guys in your frat. You know a lot of guys in other frats from rushing, and hosting joint events. You know a lot of girls in sororities because of joint events. Cliques form based on these relationships that grow through greek life, and you get invited to do things through these cliques, which are very dominant on campus.

It’s like a symbiotic relationship; you get invited to things because people know you will invite them to things later. GDIs are less likely to have good invites to offer, so they get invited less often. In my opinion, everyone should keep an open mind and at least explore if they might like greek life, because it offers a definite benefit.