<p>I've heard some pretty bad things, as well as some great things, about the way minorities are treated at Vanderbilt. Can anyone give me some true stories of their experiences there? (Nte: I will not base my entire decision or outlook on this, I am just wondering what others are saying. I plan to viit this fall and make my own decision)</p>
<p>When I was at Vanderbilt, I never felt any sort of negative energy directed towards me as a minority (South Asian). Frankly, though, there was a degree of self-segregation, both racially and socio-economically. I had my social network, and it was a bit more diverse than a random sample of the Vanderbilt population would be. It was also considerably less populated with the stereotypical Vanderbrats you hear of from people who still think these types of students are what all Vanderbilt students are like.</p>
<p>Still, I'd never say I felt out of my element as a minority at a school with a small population of minority than its peers. Part (or most, probably) of this stems from me growing up in the South. Even though I grew up in a college town, the minority population of the area was still lower than that of other parts of the country, like the West and the North. My theory is most of the complaining you hear about the lack of diversity at Vanderbilt comes from people from these parts of the country. </p>
<p>Yes, it's true Vanderbilt is considerably less diverse than its peer schools. However, Vanderbilt is also considerbly more diverse than the region of the county it calls home.</p>
<p>thanks! and so I'm guessing your friends never felt negativity either?</p>
<p>i agree w/ feenotype. its mostly self segregation. what you hear is mostly from ppl outside the south b/c the neighborhoods and areas they grew up in were soo diverse that they come here and associate it w/ bad race interactions</p>
<p>"It was also considerably less populated with the stereotypical Vanderbrats you hear of from people who still think these types of students are what all Vanderbilt students are like."</p>
<p>There's never one specific stereotype that every kid at the school acts like. But there might be enough kids within these stereotype that make you feel uncomfortable.</p>