<p>Hi! Hoping you on the Vanderbilt group can offer some opinions. I posted in the General Admission forum but haven't gotten any replies :-(</p>
<p>My son has been accepted at Vanderbilt, Vassar, Colgate and Boston College. He's really not sure about a major yet maybe econ but he's not sure. I'm kind of a Vanderbilt fan, love the campus, love the weather, etc. What do you all think? We could really use some opinions here. </p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, my son loves Vandy and is very happy there. It's a great school in a wonderful city.</p>
<p>Buckles, one of the econ profs at Vanderbilt, is one of the best in the business. Take it for what it's worth, but he's one of the highest paid Econ professors in the country. Everyone I've spoken to absolutely adores him.</p>
<p>First, I think you should figure out whether you want a LAC or a university. Personally, I love mid-sized schools like Vanderbilt because its big enough where I am always meeting new people but it still has a very intimate classroom setting. </p>
<p>I also applied to BC, but since Vandy was my dream school it was a very easy choice for me.</p>
<p>Of the schools on your son's list (and congrats on all the great acceptances), Vanderbilt and BC are most alike. Vassar and Colgate would offer completely different experiences. Which environment does your son find most attractive? BC offers proximity to a mega-city with fantastic cultural opportunities, though the immediate setting is suburban. Vandy is right on Nashville's west side, in a really fun area with restaurants, shops, and a hopping but not hyper atmosphere. </p>
<p>I don't see how he can go wrong, in terms of the quality of his education, at any of these schools. I guess it comes down to how he learns best (LAC vs. university atmosphere), how strong his intended department is at the various schools (are there upper level classes at one in particular that he finds compelling?), and how important the city/suburban/rural setting is to him.</p>
<p>My d is thriving at Vanderbilt and today says she can't imagine being anywhere else. However, it does have a unique campus atmosphere that is probably not for everyone. The only drawback she finds is that so few people in our upstate NY town have ever heard of it. She finds this annoying (someone recently asked her if it was a community college; people always ask if she chose it because she likes country music). However, her career will be elsewhere, quite possibly in DC or southwards, so this certainly won't hold her back.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your replies. He does seem to be leaning towards Vandy, I think he likes the size of it, not too big, not too small. We're from CA so pretty much everyone's heard of it. </p>
<p>frazzled1~ can you tell me what about the atmosphere is "unique"???</p>
<p>It's hard to say exactly what I mean - before my second cup of coffee, anyway. Whenever I'm on campus, I have the feeling that we aren't in Kansas anymore (or Syracuse either). Because of the sheer beauty of the grounds, just a few minutes from the energy and noise of a big city, I almost feel the way I do at Disneyworld. They call it the Vanderbubble - has your son heard that expression yet? There is a focused yet composed quality to the people there, students and employees. I feel as if I can sense the ambition and competence of the community, but it's all presented with a palpable graciousness.</p>
<p>I don't mean the "work hard, play hard" thing or the Prada/Gucci/whatever designer thing. Those things are present, but not overwhelmingly so. In fact, whenever I visit, I'm surprised to see as many schlumpy looking kids as I do, having read endlessly online that all the girls wear makeup and designer jeans to class, when they aren't in Lilly Pulitzer dresses, and that all the guys are in polo shirts. Well, not from what I've witnessed. Of course, it's HOT there a lot of the time, and people perspire and hair frizzes whatever thier social backgrounds are.</p>
<p>Sorry to be so amorphous this morning - if I can think of anything to add, I will. Hope your son loves Vandy!</p>
<p>My son and I just returned from a visit to Vanderbilt. Son has been awarded a great scholarship and he hadn't even visited before, so we definitely needed to investigate. The thing that surprised me the most was the appearance of the students. Everything I had read made me expect to see a campus full of kids in khakis and polo shirts, girls all looking "just so". Not at all what I witnessed. Jeans and Tshirts, gym shorts and Tshirts, a few cut-off jean skirts and Tshirts, sweatpants and Tshirts. (Now I will admit that everyone wearing a skirt was a girl, and I didn't see any spiky hair and head to toe tattoos.) I was very pleased that my son looked like he would fit in just fine, appearance-wise, much better than I had feared. He's a Tshirt, cargo shorts and sandals person and that is what I saw.</p>
<p>Also, I am sending you a PM with a bit of information that may be of interest to your son as he makes his decision.</p>
<p>thank you both for the great info! I'll have to open the PM tonight, firewall at work won't let me :-(</p>
<p>My son has always attended very small private schools considered elite in our little area of the world. Our family has often heard the comments from others that those are "rich kid schools" --in a way, I guess they kind of are/were (we're not rich!!). But, thing is, it always seemed that the perception of the schools was of much more extravagance than we ever witnessed. They were nice kids from nice backgrounds who had parents who cared, they wore sandals too but they may be been $100 sandals and at the HS level there were definitely some pretty impressive cars in the student lot. I have a feeling that Vanderbilt may be similar. </p>
<p>My son is pretty laid back, personally conservative but very accepting of a HUGE variety of people and lifestyles I honestly think he'd probably be fine no matter where he goes. </p>
<p>"Vanderbubble" huh?? I hadn't heard that one yet. Is that supposed to be a criticism or a compliment??</p>