<li>what are the dorms like? nice compared to others? be specific</li>
<li>is the school food good?</li>
<li>what do people do there for fun?</li>
<li>any clear characteristic or truth about the school? (for example a response might be, all the asian kids and black kids hang out with their own race)</li>
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<li><p>The dorms are pretty nice. They are clean, bright, and many of them are recently refurbished. There's none of that 50-layers-of-paint kind of stuff; it all looks pretty fresh. The unique thing about the housing at Vandy is that the split between singles and doubles is about half and half, whereas it is very often heavily skewed towards doubles at other schools. I think the choice is nice and it's really cool in Vandy/Barnard where there are singles and doubles mixed in with each other. The singles in Vandy/Barnard are, I think, a little bit smaller than the ones in Kissam, but you don't really notice it after too long. I mean, the only thing you do in your room really is sleep or do homework, so it's not bad. The doubles are pretty large, especially in Branscomb. All of the dorms are air-conditioned, so that's good. Also, I can only speak for the Vandy/Barnard bathrooms (since that's where I live), but the bathrooms are really quite nice. There are six sinks, six toilets (no urinals, though, which is bad for the guys (guys and girls switch floors every few years, so urinals wouldn't be too good on a girls' floor)), and six showers and usually at most two or three of each gets used at one time. The only time I've ever had to wait for a shower was after a game of Ultimate involving basically everyone on my floor, so there was an unusual rush. In case you don't know, Kissam is all singles and is supposed to be like the "nerdy" kind of dorm (even though it's not really), Branscomb is all doubles and is the "party" place (whcih I think it is), and Vandy/Barnard has both singles and doubles and is somewhere in between. </p></li>
<li><p>There are lots of restaurants on campus. Here's a mini description and review of most of them:
-Rand - main "cafeteria", mostly good food (Chef James is THE BEST) and there is almost always something that you will like. there are four "restaurants" in Rand: an Asian place, Chef James Rotisserie, a greek/mediterranean place, and a "corner market" that seems to just have random stuff.
-CX2 - in the same general area as Rand, but I consider it to be separate. CX2 has all the grilled and fried food (hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, chicken fingers, tater tots, waffle fries, etc.) and is REALLY greasy (but you need that kind of food every once in a while). The food is pretty good but I definitely wouldn't recommend it for daily meals since it at least seems pretty unhealthy.
-Stonehenge - the "sandwich" place on campus. it has excellent sandwiches and I find it to be the best place for a lighter and/or quicker lunch if you don't want to go to Rand (quicker, that is, only if you come at the right time and the line isn't huge). Think Subway/Quizno's except sandwiches.
-C.T. West - the "BBQ" place. Has a PHENOMENAL bbq pork sandwich. CT West is in the basement of towers and is one of the better places for dinner on campus, IMO, especially if you're in the mood for bbq. it has a pretty wide selection and the food is pretty good.
-Quizno's - Quizno's is right across from C.T. West and, well, you should know what Quizno's is like.
-The Pub - a "bar" kind of a restaurant. It definitely has more of a feel of a restaurant and if I had to categorize it I would say it's like a sports bar. There are paninis, lots of chicken things, and AMAZING banana pudding. The "entree" comes with chips or fries and overall I would say the food is good.
-Grin's - vegetarian place. I've never been there, but I here it's pretty good.
-McGugin - the athlete-only cafeteria. never been there, but rumor has it that it's INCREDIBLE.
-Don't forget about all the off-campus restaurants that take meal-money! Chili's, Papa John's, etc. Great way to mix it up.</p></li>
<li><p>Anything you can imagine. Hang out. Party. Juggle. Play Frisbee. Outrec outings. Name something that you can do for fun, and people probably do it.</p></li>
<li><p>I think most people would say we're preppier than most other places, but I want to clear up any misconceptions about this. Yes, lots of people are preppy here, but it's not this huge extreme like everyone portrays it. Girls still go to class in pajamas sometimes. Guys where athletic shorts to class. Yes, some people dress up for football games (not the majority, I assure you) and there are definitely a lot of shirts with the gator or horsie, but it's not like a cult. </p></li>
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<p>Another one is that Vandy really is a work hard play hard place. Yes, there is a lot of partying (like at practically every other college) but there is also a lot of studying. The "weekend" is usually thursday, friday, and saturday and the others are pretty much homework/studying/school. An added benefit of this atmosphere is that it's not really cut-throat here like at other top schools, so you never have to worry about full on competitions with your classmates for the good grades (although this does happen a LITTLE bit in the intro premed courses like Bio and Chem, but I think it's more that people just study so much because the classes are so hard)</p>
<p>Hope that helped</p>
<p>Dear Slipstream:
Thanks for your detailed discussion of Vandy's features. I am sure many will find it quite helpful!</p>
<p>I have some followup question; What's Nashville like? Is it a pretty safe city? Also, do students do a lot in the city on weekends, or do most people stay on campus?</p>
<p>Nashville is a nice city. There's plenty to do. As far as I am aware, it is pretty safe. That said, it is a city, so naturally one must use common sense. But I have always felt very safe in Nashville. That said, there is a lot to do on campus over the weekend. Parties, football games, concerts etc- on campus. And of course work/studying. There's a fair amount of that. Also, there are many student organizations which organize activites over the weekend, sometimes exclusively for their members but often for everyone.</p>
<p>I am going to brag about the up sides of Nashville a bit since I lived there twice and did a grad school with spouse there. Nashville is sort of like Young Atlanta (talking 30 yrs ago before the horrid gridlock and surburban sprawl) meets Friendly St. Louis. It is basicially Midwestern Friendly with southern elements. Lots of small colleges around, three historically important black universities in town, little jewel Fiske, medical center Meharry, and big TSU (Oprah went there.) Huge publishing houses for mainstream America Protestant churches, Bustling music industry which brings an interesting West Coast feeling to the city and adds more fun to eating out...you always see celebs. Every street person arrives with a guitar. Every fool in a bar can play better than you and sometimes is a huge talent. Lots of studio quality music. Big support for Classical and also new age. Wealth. Big upbeat economy. Nashville "woke up" and unlike many other metro areas, combined its City and County Gov'ts decades back which makes it the kind of place that is business friendly. They build Saturns nearby but always land new corporate business. Sports atmosphere is good. Vandy has the best town gown thing going for a school of its caliber in the US in my opinion. Sits on the edge of downtown with fun places to walk on either side of it for civilians and students. Capitol City so tends to attract everyone for internships. Quick drive up to St. Louis or Louisville or out to Atlanta. Rolling farm country south of there, big lakes a short drive away.<br>
Friendly to outsiders. Everyone calls you Hon at coffee shops. My husband was from NJ and everyone embraced him...
Grad schools and Hospital are world class.</p>
<p>I disagree on the town gown scoring. I've seen you make it a few times. It's an improving issue. Nashville/Vandy relations are OK, but it is called the Vanderbubble for a reason. Pretty much a non-issue for students.</p>
<p>The best comparative city I've found is Austin, TX. About the same size. About the same kind of downtown. State capitols. College populations. Musicial scene. Big business cores: Austin has tech, Nashville has music.</p>