<p>I have heard from some people that Vanderbilt has the reputation of being preppy and a party school. Do you think that is true or is it just as challenging as most other top schools (i.e. Duke, Davidson, etc.)?</p>
<p>a) davidson is probably more "preppy"...most of the school comes from prep schools in the southeast and midatlantic</p>
<p>b) vanderbilt is equally if not more challenging than those listed but also has a reputation for being extremely balanced, meaning a lot of students go out and party as well, those that don't party still have amazingly balanced lives through things such as community service sports etc</p>
<p>why would it be less challenging just b/c kids dress well and party? a good social scene and top-rate academics are not mutually exclusive...although some other schools make it seem that way.</p>
<p>Actually a friend of mine who went to Alabama told me that when he visited Vandy's campus he found the school to be 'nerdy' rather than preppy. He said that it has more of a wannabe frat scene than an actual one. I trust his judgement considering that he goes to a school known for its frat row. </p>
<p>So do not expect Vandy to be an Ole Miss type of enviroment really. It's an academically focused school, on par with Rice and Emory, only it offers more of a social scene. Thats it. And that social scene is not a Southern Animal house type of thing. Think Dartmouth or Cornell really.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information.</p>
<p>Not a problem. Do not listen to those people that tell you Vandy is a prep island. It is a top notch academically driven institution on the rise (despite what US News prints). </p>
<p>A bit of warning: Vandy is stigmatized by it's location and it's southern tradition. A lot of uber-elitist people that attend northern schools tend to have have a bias against it. But they cannot deny it's high reputation at the same time.</p>
<p>Well my sister loves it and isn't as preppy as people were saying on CC. Most of her Profs have degrees from NE schools.</p>
<p>exactly. William and Mary, U. Alabama, and Ole Miss are extremely southern preppy. Williams, Princeton, those are real preppy schools. Vanderbilt has a preppy element, that is no lie, but it also has a seriously academic vibe. Like my friend from 'Bama said; it was "nerdy" and "wannabe frat". So I wouldn't expect anything on the likes of Ole Miss or Auburn.</p>
<p>I would hardly group W&M with Bama or Ole Miss. Might have it confused with UVirgina</p>
<p>Ruben, you are very misinformed about Wm and Mary...jeesh. Wm and Mary has a very serious reputation and self selects kids who may join frats or may enjoy sports but academics rule. It is nothing at all like U Alabama, Georgia or Ole Miss. It also has test scores similar to privates like Rice and is one of the hardest publics in the USA for admission. In fact, I think it resembles Rice quite a bit. My son resided there a summer and we have many friends who are graduates.<br>
UVA is very very eclectic but has a serious Rugby Road frat house scene for those who want frat life.<br>
My husband has a Vandy grad degree and we lived in Nashville many years as people with northern backgrounds. Fantastic city!! Great connection between Nashville and Vanderbilt that is truly a plus. Vandy grad schools are also excellent. Vandy kids are very serious academically but the frat scene is very traditional..maybe not as big time as UVa's, quieter than Ole Miss by far, but still a robust frat scene. At the same time, it is easy to be at Vandy and skip that life. Actually women are in sororities there with lots of traditions at a higher rate then men are in frats. Vandy is also very service oriented. Vanderbilt means a lot to the entire region and Nashville is a Third Coast melting pot city with a hot economy and with a southern accent.</p>
<p>As the mom of a W & M grad and a Vandy junior, I have to disagree with the assessment of W & M in post #8 above. It is by no means extremely southern or even, in my experience, all that preppy. Ruben, did you mean UVA? I think you'd find more of a very southern/preppy element there, though it's a diverse student body and several other groups also make a strong mark on campus life.</p>
<p>There's a Greek scene at W & M, but it's not much like the one at Vanderbilt; even less so than those at Alabama and Mississippi. I agree that Vandy has its "seriously academic vibe," but it's evenly matched with W & M in that area.</p>
<p>William and Mary, like Rice? Really? Sorry guys, I didnt mean to spread misconceptions about W&M. I had just heard it was a really preppy schools from some people. But I guess that is the type of vibe that southern schools get from people that do not know much about the schools. People just assume if its southern that its fraternity scene overshadows the academic one. And I really cannot stand how Vanderbilt's academics are downplayed by some because of its southern tradition and greek scene.</p>
<p>OK Ruben, we will quit flogging you over southern stereotypes now. Wm and Mary and UVa have stats for admission very similar to the top schools in the country including Vandy, most certainly very tough stats for OOS kids. Differences then come down to details. For instance, Nashville is very exciting compared to Wmsburg for a college town. Class size at UVa is an issue that does not compare as well to Rice or Vandy in general. Sports are central to some schools more than others. Teaching assts are common in some but virtually nonexistent in some privates. No school has it all. Wm and Mary is a choice that will offer smaller classes and closer proximity to full profs. UVa has gorgeous Albemarle County.</p>
<p>Kids in the DC corridor have it very very tough re even getting into Wm and Mary or UVa due to the extreme high performance high schools in the DC burbs that send hundreds of top students to these two schools annually. These students generally are cross admitted to top schools but decide UVa is too good a deal to pass up. Did you know Wm and Mary and UVa admit 30% from OOS, and leave many A students in VA on the waitlists? This is another reason they are so competitive. Their OOS students are always top notch. Chapel Hill has a state law that limits this practice to 18%, so the sword cuts both ways. We Virginians resent it when our top students are not admitted to their flagship schools to make way for an OOS student..but we love the geographic diversity on campus, too. Also a huge percentage of VA schools are from the DC corridor schools which doesn't exactly mean the families of origin were Virginian in the first place. The people working for the feds come from all over the USA.
What it often comes down to is money and tuition costs. Vandy for instance is well known for merit scholarships for their top students. UVa offers few merit scholarships.</p>
<p>If you live in Virginia and have these choices where the student bodies resemble those admitted to Rice, Vandy, Emory etc student stats, it is hard to choose private when financial reasons are in front.</p>
<p>okay so i am having problems of figuring out where i would like to go to school next fall. i feel that everywhere i have looked so far hasn’t been my “dream” school. i live in north carolina and i would prefer to go to school not too too (still in the southeast) far away from it. My main aspects of a school i am looking for is a big well known university with a Division 1 AA football team. So a school with great student section big into sports. Also a school that has a communications major/program. Along with that, i want to attend a school that has a greek life but not one that is insanly preppy, where you must be put together 24-7 and can never be wasted. i love to party and dont want to be judged for that but i still want to be a southern belle. And frat boys are a plus but too fratty (like bowties) is a little much for me. I like ralph lauren polo. College town: it would be nice to continue living in the place my university is, so a great city is a must! Ex. East Carolina is horrible becasue greenville is so nasty, outside of ecu. To sum it all up: i want semi-preppy big into sports in the south! Thanks for the help !</p>
<p>Wake Forest, Furman, UVA or Carolina would all fit your description, although Chapel Hill is a small town, it’s a great college town.
I would disregard anything in the above posts since they are over 3 years out of date.</p>
<p>Vandy is a really preppy place and a fairly big party school imo. To the point where if you’re not going out on weekends, you will feel left out of the social scene a lot of the time, unless you’re in that rare minority who actually found a group of kids who don’t mind staying sober on weekends.</p>
<p>Now that I’m a sophomore, I feel that the novelty of going out and getting smashed has really lost its touch for me. Getting drunk as **** just isn’t as fun anymore and I wish there were more for me on weekends. Often times, I wonder what could’ve happened if I went to another school or hung out with different people and made different bonds when I got here at first. Not to say I’m not happy, because I’m perfectly fine at Vandy, but it’s just that I’m not sure if I’m the only person to feel this way about the social scene. Regardless, I’m going on huge tangents and to your original question, I still answer that yes, Vandy is a very preppy and partyish school in my opinion. I have had to update a lot of my wardrobe since coming here, maybe because I’ve become a lot more self conscious of what others think of me (not a good thing) or maybe cause I just like looking good when I walk out of my room now. I just know that I’ve changed in some ways and stayed the same in others, and I"m not sure how much Vandy culture has to do with that.</p>