Hey guys! I just got into vandy and it is my first choice,but my mom thinks that asians are segregated in the more southern areas. She is afraid that i wont enjoy the student life there. Can anyone comment about this (and hopefully ease her worries)?
In my opinion (with which others might disagree) I think asian kids do fine here. Although the school’s in the south, the majority of the student body is not from the south, so you can expect them to behave in a similar way to your peers wherever you are now. Some asian kids join frats and have a good time there, and some asian kids stay in less mainstream circles, like the asian students associations.
That being said, if you come here expecting it to be like California or UC Berkeley or something, you might be disappointed because asians aren’t a huge group of students here. Also know that greek life is a major part of social life. If you are super culturally asian (like you’re a 1st/2nd gen immigrant and you have very few white friends) you might not fit in so well with greek life. Some kids will get on and tell you that if you’re asian you’re “banned from the frats” or something, but anyone can get a bid if they actually rush.
The people who I see dumping on asian life at Vanderbilt most vocally seem to have what I have named “disaffected premed syndrome.” Basically, premed here is hard and to be successful at it, you often give up your social life. Then people make up excuses about how it was inevitable and they had no choice, rather than accepting that they themselves chose to study all the time. The excuses that people come up with are endless: I’m too short, I’m jewish, I’m asian, etc. I’ve seen it a million times. It also usually comes down to the fact that for some reason guys come here thinking that they are entitled to hook up with hot sorority girls, and are really salty about the fact that those girls typically associate with guys who go out and are social, rather than those who are studying orgo all day. Asian kids who are not pre-med seem to have a lot less complaints, so this is why I have the theory.
That’s not to say that there are no racial problems here (there are at any college campus, and the U.S. in general) but I just want to pre-empt the potential barrage of ridiculous hyperbole. I’ve seen people get on here and say that asians are banned from frat parties, that they are forced to sit alone in class and at lunch, that they were systematically excluded from social events starting on move-in day, and all kinds of stuff about asian girls being “traitors to their race” and stuff, all of which I have found to be untrue.
Thanks for such a thorough response!
Hi! I just wanted to let you know that I have the exact same concern xD
Just read this post.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vanderbilt-university/1816939-vanderbilt-diversity-p1.html
It includes current Asian students who have responded. As I always recommend, please TALK to an actual Asian-American student (who is not involved with admissions) and get their perspective. White students on CC who have no idea what it’s like to be a minority will paint the rosiest picture possible. Their point will be, “if you can’t assimilate it’s your fault.”
So go to the source. Current AASA or SACE members will give you the real scoop…or read that link and see what other students have to say.
I’ll start off by saying that I’m a white guy who graduated last year from Vandy so I’m probably not the best person to answer this.
The Asian population at Vanderbilt has been growing in the past few years (and will probably continue to grow) but it is still significantly smaller than most California schools, the Ivies, and even some other southern schools such as Duke and Georgia Tech. Vanderbilt does have several active and large Asian student groups on campus if you are interested in that type of stuff.
There is some self-segregation among the races here, which will probably be common no matter where you end up. If you want to be apart of the mainstream social system at Vandy (Greek Life) you should be able to do so. I think most house have a few Asian members, although Asians are underrepresented in Greek Life. These members are probably not the “typical” Asian students though.
Concerning racism, I have never witnessed overt racism towards any Asian students, although I’m sure it’s happened. You see Asian kids complaining on Yik Yak (which obviously isn’t the best source) on how it is to hard to get girls as an Asian guy here and how Asian girls want to date white guys and that type of stuff. There are also posts like this one on CC. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vanderbilt-university/1786771-my-vanderbilt-experience-advice-for-incoming-freshmen.html.
I’d try to talk to several Asian students and get their perspective. If you have any other questions on other aspects of Vanderbilt please ask.
AASA member here! You can DM me if you have any questions, but I’m afraid if I directly post here I’ll offend some people.
Quoting myself here…