What’s the social life like at Vandy? (as in parties) especially for people underage…
Are there a lot of parties on campus? Do you have to be in Greek Life to attend one?
I’m looking for a school that is academically challenging, but gives me the opportunity to party and let off steam.
Vanderbilt has one of the most active social scenes among top schools. Most students consider it a “work hard play hard” environment.
15 USNWR & #1 for "happiest students"....nuff said.
I’m also applying to Vanderbilt, and I went on a tour day this past January and talked to some students, so I’ll share their input. Our tour guide was the president of his fraternity, but you could tell that it wasn’t his major social outlet. He talked at length about how the Commons set up first year helps to get everyone together and make connections before they all go separate ways sophomore year. He also talked about how the parties are there if you want them, and that there’s generally always something going on, whether it’s a student concert on the quad, a barbecue, an intramural sport game, or something similar. Their Greek life setup is also not exclusive - a welcome break from most other southern/SEC schools, at least for me. It seemed like the general idea was that if you wanted, you could get involved incredibly easily, but you can also just participate in some activities/parties without being a part of it. Also, that being involved in Greek life is not something that you need to be a part of the social scene. If you have other questions about my visit, let me know! Good luck to us both. 
I’m a boy, and even as a freshman non-frat member I get invited to more parties than I care to go to.
Last year my daughter interviewed locally. She was asked three times if she wants to join a sorority, and all three times she answered no, she has no interest in Greek life. The interviewer (a woman) told her that sororities are very big there and tried to really convince her to change her mind. Personally, I feel that it’s there if you want it and if you do not want it, you can avoid it. I like the fact that Greek life is not exclusive. You do not see that at most schools.
@twogirls: That is generally the case at schools with a huge chunk of people who have joined Greeklife (25%+)…the people inside have plenty of friends outside of it and of course those people want their friends to enjoy themselves…at 25%+ Greeklife already isn’t that exclusive. Has no need to not allow others to participate in parties.
However, the idea that some people are trying so desperately trying to get everyone to join…maybe not good. Encourages too much uniformity.
@peyton : tourguides say lots of things…sometimes they are more half-truths than anything else. And when Greeklife is 25%+ at your school (many southern privates are like this), of course Greeklife will hard be central. Greeks will often overlap with many other social organizations.
@Skois07 : Vandy is actually a “true” work hard play hard school IMHO…and achieving this mainly seems to correlate with academic make-up and/or intensity of the school. Vandy has a more perfect balance there so you get a more consistently vibrant social scene. Many selective privates are pre-professional factories (as in places like WashU, Emory, and Penn have numbers of pre-meds, pre-laws, and business students that may rival much larger public schools…and we know which ones have unusual levels of intensity) or are just very academically intense or “STEMY” (places like Cornell, JHU, Stanford, MIT have these huge STEM scenes)…these places all have parties where students can let loose, but they aren’t guaranteed to be well-attended. Many more are likely to pass them up to study or other participate in other events (either intellectual, cultural, or professional development). Places like Vandy, Duke, ND, and GeorgeTown are kind of blessed with a student body not quite as high-strung as some other schools considering that you care about the party scene. You get different vibes from different schools and it is largely because of institutional character and student body make-up/attitude I guess.
@twogirls they don’t offer on-campus interviews so I’m not sure what you mean by “local interview”
Local as in “near our house.”
Ah I see. At my interview (with someone who graduated last year) the alum mentioned that greek life is big but did not seem to think I would lose anything without it.
My daughter does not attend Vanderbilt. My impression is that although Greek life is big, there are things to do for those who do not want to join.
Yes, I’m not a sorority, but there are many things to do on campus outside of Greek life. If you’re a girl, you can attend frat parties regardless.
Alum will emphasize the importance of Greek life, because it was a much larger presence when they were at school. If you ask current seniors who have spoken with alum, you’ll likely hear a different story. Greek life is handled well on campus - it is a positive thing for many people who choose to engage in it, but for people who don’t want to spend substantial amounts of extra money/go for the limited partial scholarships, it won’t hamper your social life.
Greek parties will be loud and have lots of flashing lights, and you may need to know a few people to get in (which makes sense - the same thing would happen for a lot of non-greek parties, rarely would you just roam into into someone’s party if you didn’t know the host/host’s friends right?), so many people on the outside are tempted to rant about its size and scope. Fact of the matter is that if you’re social, you’ll be fine. After rush and about a year, most people stop caring about fraternities/sororities.
There are some qualifying factors though - in some cases, you might feel left out during your second semester of freshman year if you didn’t join Greek life and a lot of your friends did. If you aren’t that social/outgoing and want to go to your typical college parties but find it difficult to find and attend them, it can be easy to blame Greek life. With that being said, explore some other things. Join student organizations. Befriend people in Greek life - they’re normal people too. Remember that no matter what, a majority of students at Vanderbilt are not in Greek life.
Vanderbilt has a lot to offer. Don’t over-stress yourself over Greek life. And take literally everything you read on this forum with a grain of salt.