<p>I thought I'd start a new thread for the parents of Vanderbilt Students. This is a place to share information. I know I can use the help as we transition our son to college. </p>
<p>Here's my introduction:</p>
<p>Parent of a Class of 2017 student who will be studying Mechanical Engineering. He plans to join the marching band. We are from the Central Coast of California.</p>
<p>Hi! Great idea! I have a sophomore (D1) there now, psychology/Pre-med, she loves it so much. My D2 was accepted ED1, and I can’t believe we’ll have 2 there next year. We are local, about 30 minutes away. So hopefully I can answer nashville questions! I have to say my oldest is the happiest I’ve ever seen her, and she LOVES her school and can’t wait for little sis to join her!</p>
<p>MoonPie - Two at VU. Good for you. It’s a good thing you didn’t end up with one at Vandy and the other at Tennessee. That could be trouble.</p>
<p>LOL!!! I grew up in Knoxville…and I LOVED SEC football Saturday’s, but my girls visited there and HATED it. My DH, raised here, a big vAndy fan. I always cheered for Vandy until they played UT…not anymore! Alas, my blood has changed from orange to black and gold! My grandfather (99!) went to Vandy 8 decades ago (never graduated due to war) but he has been an avid Fan his whole life! He is tickled he finally has his family there! I feel extremely blessed that I’ve been able to go to concerts and games and be present for some great college memories.</p>
<p>We’re looking forward to getting to a few football games. Fortunately I have family in Atlanta. We’ll fly in to see them and then head to Nashville to visit our son. </p>
<p>I’ve also figured out how to find the games on the internet so that we can watch them. My son thinks I’m crazy. He’s really not much of a sports fan unlike his parents.</p>
<p>Funny. That’s how I became a sports fan…years of band, had to figure the game out, or I’d have been bored to death! The band at VU is really good now! if you come for a game, we’ve got some pretty fun tailgate pals!</p>
<p>We already have our hotel reservations for Parent’s Weekend. Now I’m try to see if I can stay back east for the week so that I can go to the home game the following weekend. Is it hard to get tickets to a game?</p>
<p>And I always like a good tailgate party.</p>
<p>Great idea!</p>
<p>My daughter was accepted to the A&S college and will be majoring in Biology/PreMed. We are from West Michigan and this will be our first child going to college. </p>
<p>All sorts of feels going on as both my husband and I are very close with our daughter. We are so excited for her but will miss her very much. She has not been the typical teenager by any stretch.</p>
<p>Great to see this thread for Vandy Parents…I use the Yale one all the time for quick questions of other parents-great resource. I have a son who is a junior at Vandy (studying abroad in Rome this semester) and S2 a freshman at Yale.
Happy to try to answer any questions about Vandy. I grew up in Nashville and now live on Long Island but still have family in Nashville. Its a wonderful city and the campus is incredible…my S1 has been pleased with his choice.</p>
<p>Squirrel1968: My son is a current Vandy freshman also majoring in biology/pre-med. We are from SE Michigan, and he is our only child. I totally understand your sentiments, as we are a very close family and he was also not the typical teenager! Vanderbilt has been a perfect fit for him, and he loves it there. I would be happy to share any insights!</p>
<p>We are from Northern Alabama and our oldest daughter (D1) is a senior at Vandy. She has thoroughly enjoyed her time at Vandy (and a semester in Denmark). Her enthusiasm infected our senior (in high school) twins (D2 and S1) and they applied ED1 and got accepted. They are very excited to get started. D2 will be in Peabody/HOD and S1 will be in Biomedical Engineering.</p>
<p>Being so close to Nashville we have had the chance to visit many times, so I can try to answer any questions anyone might have about the school, move-in, the area, etc.</p>
<p>D1 has been involved with Alternative Spring Break (ASB) since starting school. For her it has been a great way to connect with other students, do some nice service, and gain some experience with organizing and planning. I know she loves that part of her life at Vandy.</p>
<p>I have to say that those with their first college student should tell their kids to be easy on their parents during the transition (ie try to call/email/communicate with their parents as much as possible). I think it was a lot harder on my wife and I then it was on our daughter during those first few months, especially the periods when we did not hear from her. When the twins go away I know it will also be hard, but probably not as hard as it was with the first.</p>
<p>Congrats to all the new Vandy parents. I know it is quite a thrill when, after all those years of hard work (parents AND kids) that acceptance letter arrives.</p>
<p>Go9ersjrh - it has not been hard to get tickets up until last year. Last year a couple of games were pretty close to sold out (although still many empty seats). If the Missouri game is the one you are thinking of it will probably be fairly easy to get tickets. Georgia and South Carolina will probably be the closest to a sell out.</p>
<p>We are also from SE Michigan - D graduated from Vandy in 2011. She majored in Medicine, Health, and Society and now works as a consultant in the healthcare industry (electronic medical records). She enjoyed her time in Nashville, where she lived for a year after graduation - she was plugged into the local music scene (even had a radio show at Vandy & brought in unsigned Nashville artists). However, she did eventually miss the midwest - she moved to Chicago last summer. It’s nice, because we can see her a bit more now. We had fun going to Nashville - we do miss that (although we like Chicago a lot).</p>
<p>Sarafina, I also grew up in Nashville.
We live in Central New Jersey by the shore. My son was accepted ED1 to the School of A&S. I was wondering how and when do new students register for classes as I do not think Vanderbilt has a new student orientation in the late spring or early summer for this.</p>
<p>squirell1968 and mysonsmom - It will be an adjustment for us. We also are a close family and he’s the only child. I also have to say he’s also not the typical teenager. But I don’t think Vandy admits many typical teenagers.</p>
<p>Trecho - I think you are right. It’s going to be harder on me, the parent then it is for our son. I already know from camps and trips abroad that he can go along time without talking to us.</p>
<p>It’s great to hear all the parents talk about what a wonderful experience their kids have or are having at VU.</p>
<p>Momthreeboys, D 2 got s letter yesterday with dates and details of what happens next yesterday. It has a confirmation sheet from matriculation deposit, and a place for parents to sign the $$$ page…stating you will be responsible for paying their account. DH had to go get the FA papers and read again before he would sign it LOL! You’ll probably get it tomorrow, but basically they’ll start getting email reminders and will get their student account March 1.
9er…tickets usually aren’t a problem. But with the season they had last year…I’d buy in advance. You can purchase them through parent weekend package.</p>
<p>Momofthreeboys…
My son registered for classes online but had a phone appointment with his advisor to discuss in detail what courses and requirements he needed to take (Vandy has a core distribution AXLE that has to be completed) [AXLE</a> | College of Arts and Science | Vanderbilt University](<a href=“http://as.vanderbilt.edu/academics/axle/]AXLE”>AXLE | academics | undergraduates | Internal | College of Arts and Science | Vanderbilt University)
for A & S …he then met with his advisor on campus the first week. Vandy has a wonderful orientation that takes most of the first week and they really walk the students through everything. Also, tell your son to check “rate my Professor” to check out if they will like the prof teaching the class…we had to remind our son that it wasn’t like HS where you just had to deal with a teacher you don’t like…
[Vanderbilt</a> University - Tennessee](<a href=“http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/SelectTeacher.jsp?sid=4002]Vanderbilt”>http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/SelectTeacher.jsp?sid=4002)
Also, there are special freshman seminars …encourage him to take advantage of them!
My son is a tour guide and blogger for Vandy…and if your son wants to email with him pvt message me (he’s in Rome until late May)
Oh, and make sure you get your son to fill out the papers allowing you to get his grades…and get notification if he is sick…</p>
<p>Sarafina,</p>
<p>You mention that there is some form of authorization to be filled out to allow parents to receive grades. Is this some kind of online access that you can check throughout the semester or more for an end of semester report card?</p>
<p>Moonpie - is everyone guaranteed tickets for the football game for Parent’s Weekend (understanding we pay for them) or is this something you need to jump on ordering the minute they are available? Can you purchase as many tickets as you’d like or is the amount capped?</p>
<p>Thanks for the newbie help!</p>
<p>tickets: they have a certain number blocked out for parents weekend, but it’s first come, first serve. The tailgate pre game is a TON of food and really nice. Nice to meet so many other families. So are the breakfasts! They have a chapel service (interdenominational) on Sunday that was really nice as well, and the VU choir sang at it (D1 is in that). I would put your family weekend order in ASAP. oh…the Athenian sing always sells out…Friday night activity. It’s AWESOME</p>
<p>Thank you Sarafina for all the great info.
He didn’t get the letter today Moonpie but maybe it will come tomorrow. I think we were three days behind you on the decision letter too but thanks for letting me know to look for it. Does anyone know anything about the club baseball team? Things like do they hold tryouts and do they play in a fall league?</p>