<p>I’ll second the Arrington vineyards! It’s a great place to visit! Garaunteed you’ll find wine there! We don’t sell in grocery stores yet… But there are plenty of liquor stores close to campus. Only can’t buy beer before 12:00 on Sundays, and some liquor stores are closed on Sundays…oh, and after midnight…yeah. We have a lot of rules : )</p>
<p>I just got a call back from Rolf and Daughters restaurant. i had called to make reservations for parents weekend. They were just named the #3 Best Restaurant in America by Bon Appetit magazine and I was able to get a reservation but they were already pretty booked.
I think if you have your sights on a specific popular spot that weekend you may want to make your reservations sooner than later. </p>
<p>I hope everyone’s kids are doing well adjusting to their new home. So far so good with my son.</p>
<p>Thought I’d resurrect this thread. We just completed moving S out of his dorm. The best thing was last night at dinner he told us how much he liked going to Vanderbilt and that it was definitely the place for him. It has been a successful year. He has matured, developed a group of friends and done well academically. He is even stared moving out of the Vandy bubble by the end of the semester. We could not be happier.</p>
<p>Go9ersjrh
Thanks for resurrecting this thread. I too moved my S out of his dorm and spent a few hours with him on the drive home. Was concerned when he went in because he was a young freshman (17 when he went in) and not very social. Coming home I was talking with a new kid. Physically and mentally he matured very nicely. He got involved in clubs and attended many events and concerts. All this while he disciplined himself to his courses and ended up with a 3.5 GPA with a rigorous major. </p>
<p>I love Vanderbilt’s way of housing all the freshmen together and helping them step through the transition to college as a group. I’ve got nothing to compare it to but I really believe it helps them.</p>
<p>As we were moving out a number of students stopped by to see if he wanted to go to lunch. </p>
<p>He has really blossomed at Vanderbilt. </p>
<p>@go9ersjrh - thanks for resurrecting this. Can you please provide links to the down comforter and memory foam mattress topper from Costco. I want to do the same and since it works for your son it should work for my DD too :-)</p>
<p>@go9ersjrh - Could you please share which brand name or the link to the memory foam from Costco. Thanks</p>
<p>Novaform 3" Memory Form Gel Topper. Item 790186</p>
<p>It may be in stock at your local Costco so that you can check it out. S really likes it.</p>
<p>Just wanted to share…Today Southwest Airlines opened flight reservations through Jan 4 so you can book your Thanksgiving and Christmas break flights. The other airlines were already available but, for us, Southwest is cheaper. </p>
<p>@DoremomCT, thanks for your post regarding SW.
DS will be a freshman so I am learning all Vandy things here. It looks like their break is Nov 22 to 30. Well, Nov 30th Wanna Gettaway price is not available anymore so I am looking at Nov 29th for DS to fly back to Nashville. My question is… would the dorms be open on Nov 29th?</p>
<p>Your DS can request to stay in the dorms on Saturday, November 29. Students go online and inform housing that they will be back in their dorm prior to when the dorms open. The dining hall isn’t open, but there are plenty of places to get food around campus.</p>
<p>If your S likes football, he may want to get back to Nashville early on Saturday anyway so that he can watch Vandy beat Tennessee. The game hasn’t been scheduled yet so it could start at 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM or 6:00 PM. </p>
<p>Thanks, @Go9ersjrh for your helpful suggestion. The game is a good incentive to travel back even as early as Friday to enjoy good fare price. </p>
<p>I just booked Thanksgiving flight and now looking at Christmas break. Vanderbilt website states: December 5-13 Reading days and final exams. Dec 13th is a Saturday. Does that mean they might have finals on Dec 13th Saturday? Should I book Dec 13th or 14th flight?</p>
<p>4beardolls, one of my work colleagues has a D who is class of "17. She took calculus both semesters and her finals for that class were the last day on the last evening. It’s very possible for your freshman to have a final on Dec. 13, so you might want to avoid that.</p>
<p>You can check the exam schedule online to see when your student’s finals are after they enroll. And yes, the freshman math class was the last final both semesters last year.</p>
<p>Our S is flying back from Mexico on the Friday after Thanksgiving for Marching Band rehearsal and the game on Saturday. There will be others in the dorms.</p>
<p>My D (also a freshman) is flying back to Nashville on Friday after Thansgiving to go to the VU-UT football game on Saturday. They will only have the chance to do that twice during their 4 years so she’s going for it. I have her booked to get back to Nashville on Saturday, Jan. 3 because the fares were so high for Jan 4! Hard to believe how quickly they sell out on the cheaper fares! Thanks for the tip re: exams (esp. calculus). I’ll have to have her check the exam schedule–hope we don’t have to change her flight home on Dec. 13 but Southwest is better than other airlines about changing flights. </p>
<p>Thanks for the football game heads-up. I changed DS’s return flight to early Sat after Thanksgiving so he will have a chance to go if he wants. I supposed it’s a big deal game, right?</p>
<p>UT is the biggest rival. Vandy has won the last two years and the former coach really pushed for students to come back early to attend the game. I’m not sure what the new coach’s approach will be but I don’t know why he wouldn’t want students in the stands. Hopefully Derek Mason can keep it going with another win (read the article about him on page 1 of the “OverVU” newsletter that came in the mail recently). Football games matter more to some kids than others but, for the kids that are fans, I’d say going back to campus early is a good call to support the team. Of course, some students would rather stay home and be with family for as long as possible during Thanksgiving break so it’s really a personal choice.</p>
<p>Thanks for the alert @DoremomCT - Thanksgiving and Xmas travel is booked. I appreciate the help in this forum</p>
<p>I posted this question on the freshman registration thread but also posting here…
DS is a freshman and I just remembered that DS should send his AP scores in. I am surprised that there were no reminders on this topic from Vanderbilt (or perhaps we missed it). If DS orders the scores today, they could get to Vanderbilt in time since he has the 3rd enrollment slot.
My question to you all is…if DS orders all the scores to be sent and later decides that he does not want to take the credit and want to take the class at Vanderbilt instead, is it a bad idea to have that particular AP score on his record ? Would not taking the higher level course make him look bad in the eyes of graduate or medical schools? </p>
<p>I don’t think AP scores are available until the first week in July.</p>