<p>I'm applying to Vandy (or just did, about 17 minutes ago) regular decision this year. I've heard some good things and bad things about it. When I visited, I loved the campus and the whole trip was a plus (and I wouldn't really describe it as "sketchy" either, one of the least sketchy college neighborhoods I've visited.) BUT, now that I've come back and done more reading on what people say, I have a couple concerns. I've heard that Vandy is very undiversified, conservative, and "preppy". How do you think a pretty liberal guy from Chicago, who doesn't really fit as a prep, would fit in there?</p>
<p>It depends on whom you want to have as a friend! One frequent poster will probably say you wouldn't fit in ... but there are others who will tell you that you will. My liberal, midwestern, nonpartying D is happy at Vandy.</p>
<p><em>cough</em> vandySAE <em>cough</em></p>
<p>Enigma52809-My S had the same concerns as you. After much research (talking to several recent grads) he concluded the obvious - a college campus of 6,000+ students will have ALL kinds of people. A friend of ours D who was a polysci major (just graduated) almost finds the 'stereotype" funny. She met so many smart, interesting and engaging people at Vandy and says it was the best 4 years of her life. She grew up where we live (DC) so is used to a very diverse, ever changing population. Lots of universities have similar sereotypes (UVA, Georgetown) and others have the reputation of being far too liberal for some but in the end, those people who carry-out those images are the minority not majority. Keep in mind those who post on CC represent a tiny amount of the students. In the end, my S applied ED1 and was accepted and you will be interested to know that most of the kids he has communited with on the Vandy '13 facebook group indenify themselves as "liberal" and are from all parts of the country. If you visited and were impressed, go with your gut feeling - that is usually the best indicator. Good luck.</p>
<p>lol @ ModernChem.</p>
<p>I'm just waiting for him to barge in and say:</p>
<p>"A LIBERAL??!!! From CHICAGO?!!! Who's NOT PREPPY?!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Your gayness is searing my flesh!"</p>
<p>lol :D</p>
<p>I'm glad VandySAE's personality is taken lightly ;)</p>
<p>You'll be fine. As much as people may want to differ, Vanderbilt is slowly shedding its Southern reputation as the northern population builds. There are PLENTY of liberal people here on campus; the political atmosphere here during the elections said it all. The campus majority was definitely not in favor of McCain. But lets end that note there.</p>
<p>The school is a bit preppy for sure, but its definitely not a big deal if you dress differently. To be completely honest, coming from Georgia, I feel as if even the Greeks at Vanderbilt don't dress all that preppy. The seersucker suits are relegated to a small amount of the fraternities when compared to places like UGA.</p>
<p>The best thing for you to do is visit and look at the people you see. For me, Vandy's personality was very evident upon my first visit.</p>
<p>Another sensitive question:</p>
<p>Considering Nashville is in the bible belt, has A LOT of churchs and is still considered to be quite conservative, what do you think the attitude will be towards atheists/non-christians? Living in Sydney, Australia , I've always been comfortable telling everyone I'm atheist, and always been able to have religious discussions pretty openly. Is the same possible in Vanderbilt, or outside the campus in the rest of Tennessee?</p>
<p>The Vandy campus and the rest of Tennessee are not one & the same! :)</p>
<p>You would stand out more at Vandy than you would at Reed or perhaps at an eastern LAC if you were to spout your atheist views. However, you may wish to heed this advice: Do not discuss your religious views when making small talk. Once you have made friends with a person, you may feel it is appropriate to debate religion. If you don't know someone well, I advise staying away from the topic. My D is religious, but not Bible-belt religious. If she were to meet someone who wants to save her, she would change the subject. The thing is, though, she hasn't been in that position at Vandy. Her conversations have centered around things most college kids are interested in discussing ... the fact that Vandy is in the south doesn't mean its students are any different than students in other parts of the country. It's not Bob Jones ...</p>
<p>Kelsmom's advice is applicable to any situation you may find yourself in; college, work, neighboorhood, etc. Religious discussions can often be controversial and that goes for any college campus in the country (religious kids go to eastern LACs too). Obviously, you can have intellectual discussions of all kinds in college but you will want to be sure you are comforatable with the audience first. We are strongly pro-choice and catholic and live in a very liberal area in the northeast but regardless, I would never get on a soap-box in any social situation becasue I wouldn't want to offend anyone.</p>
<p>I spent 6 weeks there this summer, so maybe I can give another perspective that hasn't been told yet.</p>
<p>The obvious: it's beautiful [this cannot be overstated]. It's an arboreum so it has plenty of trees, grass and squirrels to satisfy a nature lover like myself.</p>
<p>Yes, there are plenty of kids who are rich, wear expensive clothes, who listen to popular music and praise Jesus. But those people are everywhere. And so what? They can be as nice and passionate about their education as anyone else. But the people whom I hung out with didn't fit into that category. We were just all low-key people who enjoyed playing videogames and watching movies in the basement of Vanderbilt-Barnard Hall at night, and strolling around campus and 21st street during the day. 21st street has tons of restaurants, boutiques and coffee shops. Very laid-back. Near it is Bellcourt Theater, which plays indie/foreign film and documentaries. I went to see the Hunter S. Thompson documentary this summer. It was an enjoyable experience.</p>
<p>And then there is Vandy's best kept secret: WRVU 91.1, Vandy's own radio station. If you love underground music of all genres, this station is perfect. I visited the DJs down in the basement of Sarratt and they were all cool, nice people. My chemical engineering graduate student professor/friend even DJed there until recently, when he got his PhD and moved to Texas. These DJs attend Vanderbilt, for the most part. These are not the stereotyped people as I aforementioned, obviously.</p>
<p>My favorite idiosynchrasy about Vanderbilt is the random artwork/sculptures they have around campus. They're everywhere. My favorites are the ones outside the post office, Featheringhill and the library near Stevenson.</p>
<p>My soph D went to a rural midwest high school that is 99% white. She is really enjoying the diversity at Vandy. She is part of a tight knit group of about 8 friends that are male/female, black/white, jewish/catholic/other, athlete/nonathlete, greek/GDI, international (including Australian, sitk)/american. I think that their group is a bit unusual, but they are really enjoying the friendships and are talking about applying for a coed living/learning lodge for next year.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone's replies. I would certainly not try to offend anyone about their religion or anything else, and definitely wouldn't make small talk about religion. I was just wondering because I have never really been to the Southern states of the US, and Australians on average aren't as religious/evangelical, particularly in larger cities like Sydney.</p>
<p>I do understand your concern, sitk. My D was apprehensive about the south, because it is often portrayed as being so different from our area of the country. She has found Vandy to be a real mix of students from all over.</p>
<p>Diversity wise , yes Vanderbilt is diverse but if your expecting total diversity with close interaction like Rice don't expect it.
I have a question about this whole commons thing. Do professors live in the Commons with the students or what?</p>
<p>Yes, each "house" has a faculty leader.</p>
<p>In general, how has the "house" thing worked out. It sounds like a wonderful living situation so I wonder how the first freshman class likes it - does anyone know?</p>