I thought I’d start a new thread for the parents of Vanderbilt 2021 Students. This is a place to share information. I know I can use the help as a single parent with a first generation student. As I transition my only son to college, I need to cut that cord but don’t really know how
He will be attending Blair School of Music with double major in Communications or neuroscience or who knows… He can’t make up his mind.
be glad my son accepted :">
Nubbiemom said: He will be attending Blair School of Music with double major in Communications or neuroscience or who knows
I would chime in: Congratulation and vandy is a very good school. However, just a quick question. Why double major? Do you think after graduation your son will work professionally as Musician with that music degree and do Neuroscience job after work (as moonlightning)? or perhaps he wants to do Communication or neuroscience job in the morning and will play in the opera or a band after work? just curious. Once again, congratulation.
he is accepted for music because he had to apply for something and music has been in his life for a while but like many 17 year old kid, he is undecided. He will continue with music in some capacity but he is not sure if spending 8 hours practicing is where his heart is. i am leaving the decision up to him. my main problem now is how do i let him go? i expected august to be hard but we are only in December, i am already a mess!
Tulanefan101, he also got in at Tulane and will withdraw from that tomorrow!
Congrats to all new parents! Vanderbilt is an amazing school. I have a freshman there now who couldn’t be happier. And I wouldn’t say the cord gets completely cut. It’s a transition time for both of you. Vandy has a great orientation for parents during move-in that will be very useful for that transition. In addition to move-in weekend, they have family weekend, fall break, Thanksgiving break and then the long holiday break. At first, we loosely scheduled a weekly check in phone call (or FaceTime). However, that quickly went by the wayside as my D decided she wanted to talk to me everyday. 
My son is currently a sophomore. If you are far enough to fly, watch the airline schedules to see when they open and book early. He flies Southwest and I try to book ASAP. You will not know their fall schedule when you can book Thanksgiving travel, but I pick the last flight of the day and it has worked well so far. Thanksgiving is the most expensive flight he needs.
Also, if you really want to stay in a hotel close to campus for move-in or parents weekend, the cost is $$$$ and you need to book early. We stay further away.
@KSMom1518 can you recommend any hotels? And they haven’t fficially announced move in day but is it safe to assume it is Saturday august 19th? My D will be flying southwest as well and we are trying to figure out dates to book. A bit stressful!
If money grew on trees, I’d stay across the street at the Homewood Suites. We did that once when I took DS to visit before he made his final decision. The rates were reasonable as there were no events on campus and that way I didn’t have to rent a car. The hotels across from campus are all expensive but it is nice to be able to minimize driving. Traffic will be bad. Walking is faster than driving around campus.
People stay all over Nashville. If we had an early or late flight I would consider staying by the airport. I don’t know where we will stay this year. Hubby has been travelling for work lately and has points we can use at the Comfort Inn family of hotels.
Move in day will be Saturday August 19th. First day of classes is Wednesday the 23rd. You will not find out your move in time until about August 1st when you get your room/roommate assignment. I would try to get there early Friday so you have time to walk around campus. If you are flying for move-in weekend and have shopping to do, Thursday might be better.
@KSMom1518, thanks for the helpful information! I am glad this thread exists. Do you know if there is also a Vanderbilt parents FB page? There is a very helpful Northwestern parents page, and I was wondering if there might also be one for Vanderbilt. Thank you!
There is a page for “Vanderbilt Parents & Family Association” but I don’t think that is what you mean. As far as I know there isn’t a parent page. Let me know if you find one!
There is a Vanderbilt Parents Club (google it) for Hilton brand hotel discounts (15% off and free nights). We joined that and Hilton Honors, and stay at Homewood Suites Vanderbilt. We prefer to be within walking distance of campus (across the street), plus they have kitchenettes (and a store within walking distance), and free shuttle service around campus and the area, and are generally Vandy family friendly (Vandy family receptions, help with move-in packages, etc.). The airport is about 15-20 minutes from campus.
There is the Vanderbilt Parents & Family Association as stated above (and FB page), and also a Vanderbilt Parents and Family page on Vandy’s website with lots of info and links for travel /discounts:
https://www.vanderbilt.edu/families/
Move-in experience: Move-in was Saturday morning. We flew in Friday afternoon and flew out Sunday afternoon, which worked well for us. D coordinated with roommate early so we could do a lot in advance, and avoid too much shopping while there. We took advantage of stores we could shop at home or online and have shipped/ready for us when we got there (The Container Store, BBB, Target). We ended up with minimal returns, exchanges and shopping while there. Vandy did a great job with the move-in crew and shipped packages.
Hi… DD will be joining the Class of 2021 as a Biomedical Engineering major. I noticed Family Weekend 2017 dates are set for September 15-17. Do you recommend reserving hotel rooms now? Do most parents attend?
A lot of freshmen parents attend the first parents weekend. Keep in mind that your son or daughter may wish to hang out with you in a few sets of 2-3 hours over that weekend rather than all the time. So get ready to enjoy Nashville a little. They will have homework. They may need sleep one of those mornings. Greek organizations and some other groups will hold get togethers for parents of upperclass students as they age up but we quit going for that weekend after year one. One thing to alert you to would be to ID places to store their belongings over summer break esp for out of state students. You can sometimes share a rental unit that has a big lock on it with a friend or two. So perhaps put that on your list of places to check out.
We attended DS’s freshman year but not this year. Instead we went during their fall break this year. It was much less crowded and there were no classes Thursday or Friday. I would plan to go freshman year and then decide. I would book a hotel now if you know you are going.
Thank you @KSMom1518 for the info. I just booked the homewood for parents weekend because my hubby had a ton of points, but for move in weekend it was triple the points! So we opted to stay at the hampton inn at elliston.
I am bummed there is no FB parents page. My other D is a freshman in college and the parent fb page is amazing. Just a bunch of parents asking questions and they have a few admin from the college who will help too. Come on Vandy - get with it! (Or maybe we can start one???)
Start it @greeny8
Oh boy! Never did it before… Cant we have a couple people be the administrators for it?
So if I do this, should the group be private or public? Should it be a basic Vanderbilt Parent or specific to the class of 2021? Suggestions…
IMO…Private & Vanderbilt Parent (not year specific) so parents of upperclassmen can join and share their experiences. 