I’m wondering what peoples thoughts are on this. My concerns are that Vandy sounds like it may have a kind of ‘divided’ culture between Greeks and non-Greeks, as well as a somewhat superficial undertone. That said, I feel like its pull and academic offerings are greater than BU’s in terms of quality (and prestige I suppose although I don’t care so much about that other than in a grad school context).
Also I want a more open and inclusive environment for my undergrad and am wondering whether Vanderbilt has that, or if it’s all rich, white snobby preppy frat boys and sorority girls (not to generalize or anything). I would greatly appreciate anyone’s thoughts on this.
Does Vandy have rich, white, preppy frat boys and sorority girls? Yes. Does Vandy have self-segregation? Yes. I understand where your notions about Vanderbilt stereotypes are coming from. I’ve seen a LOT of negative things about Vandy written on this forum, and I cannot say all of them are untrue and that Vandy is this perfect college with no problems.
I am an international student at Vandy, thousands of miles away from home, but Vandy has truly become a second home for me. You will find stereotypical people at every college, Vandy too, but most people here are warm and welcoming, even if they are rich, preppy frat boys or sorority girls. Most Vandy students are passionate and hard-working, and I really don’t see the work hard, play hard culture as detrimental. It also does not mean that everyone’s idea of having fun is the same. Some people like to go to frat parties, while some people might prefer to go downtown to listen to the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Some like to do both.
Again, I know where your idea of Vanderbilt being superficial stems from, but if you join student organizations, form study groups, and participate in your hall/house events, you will get to know your peers more meaningfully. Vanderbilt attracts people from all parts of the US and the world, and that makes for a very enriching learning and social experience. Yes, sometimes small talk and superficial interactions may seem frustrating, but if you are willing to put yourself out there and take the time to reach out to people, you will find a very dynamic community of friends here.
You can easily be a rich frat boy and still be a part of multicultural events. You can be a ‘top tier’ sorority girl, but still be an engineering student involved in state-of-the-art research. And you can still be a minority student and have friends from different backgrounds. Your Vanderbilt experience is what YOU make it to be.
@Sophie1295 Thank you so much for your insight. You have confirmed what I felt to be the case - it’s so hard reading all the negative things that people say about your best college option and it just makes the decision making harder and the feet colder, so to speak.
In your experience, how prevalent is the feeling of being a “second class student” as a non-Greek life person? I really have no interest in joining a fraternity, no matter how wonderful it’s supposed to be, because I really don’t think that it’s for me. But, I’ve heard people say that for guys it’s almost ‘mandatory’ in order to have a good time, and that’s a huge concern for me.
To be honest with you, the general consensus is that it’s easier being a GDI girl than a guy, but if you’re outgoing and involved on campus (especially more high profile/visible student orgs like VSG, VPB, VUcept, Tour guides etc), it shouldn’t be an issue making friends and having a good social life. There are other fraternities you can join, like business/service/honor fraternities which aren’t the typical social fraternities. I think @Faline2 might be a better resource for your question because her son went to Vandy and wasn’t in Greek life.
Vandy is becoming more diverse. However, you might find that the people in the relevant fraternities/sororities are rich, white, and preppy. As a guy if you want to have a traditional college experience you should go Greek. If you don’t then there’s no reason for you to rush.
As far as Vandy vs. BU Honors goes, I’m actually not sure if Vandy’s academic offerings are of a higher quality than BU. If you are in the honors program you should have access to small classes, good research opportunities, etc. I’d try to visit both schools if you have the opportunity.
@Vandy93 You really think that BU Honors would be on par with Vandy? I thought Vanderbilt’s academics were some of the best out there, and BU, while certainly an awesome school, certainly doesn’t sit up with the academic offerings of top 20 schools at least as I see it, but you’ve more knowledge than me on this.
Also, could you briefly describe what you mean by “traditional college experience”?
I think you, like many have a naive view of rankings and prestige as I used to. Prestige differences beyond a certain point is more a function of history and marketing than actual differences in academic quality. Also, by your top 20 allusion, you suggest that schools such as G-town, USC, UCLA, Emory, Michigand, CMU(just outside of top 20 or were in it) are for some reason substantially different or a step down being outside the top 20. The reality is that many schools are similar academically and it is money, resources, and non-academic offerings that make them stand out as attractive. For example, I’ve seen STEM materials from places like Michigan (not in top 20 yet) and they are often a bit more rigorous than many top 20 counterparts, especially in math and physical sciences. Let us also not talk honors courses at a strong school versus regular ones at a “top 20”…I think typically honors is preferable unless your at the truly special ones in the 20 that are maybe smaller than other.
@bernie12 Yes, you are right, and I actually don’t value prestige anywhere near as much as fit, although I see why you may have garnered that from my post. What I meant was that, having visited Vanderbilt and spoken to students and faculty, I got the impression that it is a very high-level intellectual environment for those who pursue academics, and for those who don’t it can be not so education-oriented.
However, when I visited BU for an audition (I’m a music double-major) I really didn’t like the campus or the people that I met and the facilities felt cold from the get go, which surprised me since everyone speaks so highly of BU, but I did not see this. Perhaps I ought to go back and have another look, but if first impressions are lasting impressions, I really don’t think it is the campus for me. Although I love Boston so maybe that’s more important? I just don’t know anymore lol…
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@Senior2016M I wouldn’t describe Vandy as a “high-level intellectual environment” but that may just be the people I hung out with when I was there (I graduated last year). There are certainly some very studious individuals there deeply involved in research, etc.
My memories of BU’s campus is that it is more of a city campus integrated into downtown Boston. I personally do not like this, but if you love Boston, and it is a great city, you may find yourself liking that after a while. If you haven’t already I would meet with people from the honors program to see what opportunities they offer you.
As far as “traditional college experience” think of a bunch of your friends hanging out together at the house, house parties, pregames, tailgates before football games, spring breaks/formals at a beach, etc. This may seem shallow and you can get some of it if you are a non-Greek guy, but not all of it. This obviously doesn’t appeal to everyone.
@Senior2016M : Yes, but what you describe has little to do with academics and merely a social “feel” and lack of affinity for its campus and amenities…exactly what I described (this often creates the preferences within a certain range of schools, whereas some, students matriculating do look deeper at the academic programs). It is kind of like this other girl in another thread who wanted to project a personality onto Vanderbilt and Harvard after she visited only once. It seems as if you see what you expect. If you notice a ranking difference or have heard some things, you may react more to weaknesses you see (because you are kind of seeking them out). That description you gave could be for any private school I guess except that some do learn more heavily in one direction than the other (as in have more students leaning in one direction), but that tends not to be top privates. Many will be kind of balanced like Vanderbilt and others will be much more academic leaning to a student’s chagrin or delight. Either way, you could try again, but if you can afford it…it seems like Vanderbilt may be better for you. Did you get into their music school by chance (or are you even interested in that)?
@bernie12 Yes I’m a Blair School of Music admit, although I plan to double major at the College of Arts and Sciences since I was also admitted there. I think Vanderbilt is probably a better fit for me overall, though I love Boston, because Nashville is pretty awesome too. That said, I am certainly going to look into BU a little more just so that I’m absolutely sure. In fact, as far as my concerns go, I think that Blair has its own culture and vibe with those who choose to be almost exclusively involved in music (creative artsy types), but I want to have a more varied college experience with both top-level music AND academic opportunities, which is why I intend to double major wherever I end up. Thanks again for your helpful advice!
@Vandy93 I appreciate your insight, and since you’ve graduated so recently, I certainly trust what you have to say. The traditional college experience that you describe is not something I really relate to (granted I was not born in the US so it’s more of a cultural thing I suppose, since my country simply doesn’t have anything resembling the American college experience, and so it’s not important to me).
One more question: is it true that people in CAS, Engineering and Peabody look down on those who are students at Blair as though they are ‘lesser’ than them, given that some Blair admits have lower academic credentials than say an admit to the school of engineering? I’ve heard that this is the case, but I just find it shocking that people could be so awful and elitist about something like that (especially in my case since I have all the ‘numerical’ data well within Vandy’s RD range for any school there). Is there any truth to this?
In any case, BU may or may not be a good fit for me, but I’m going to look into it more, as per your helpful advice. Thanks again for your input!
@Senior2016M I would say that very few people look down on Blair students or students in any major for that matter. You may hear some jokes about HOD majors (part of the Peabody school) but the jokes are goodnatured and some of them even come from HOD students.
I’d agree that Blair definitely has its own culture, attracting different students than the other three colleges. Blair is also far away from the center of campus and Blair students spend a lot of time there practicing and attending rehearsals.
Lower admission credentials? Who cares? the school is so skewed toward the “perfect” range anyway that even 50 points on something like the SAT will not really result in differences in performance. Again, how people do at these levels becomes a function of how rigorous their academic program is and their work ethic. A person with scores that say “you should not do as well as others” can often end up doing just fine or simply just finding a higher grading academic program. With college, there is tons of choice even among academically elite students and an academically elite college. You can choose a program that will challenge you or you cannot. In HS, if you are aiming for elite colleges, you pretty much deal with whatever hand you are dealt by curricular offerings and the instructors that teach them. A person coming from a very tough high school may actually end up working and even thinking less at many elite colleges especially if they choose to not place in more advanced coursework early on.
No one looks down on Blair students at all. No one really looks down at any students. It is more of a general acknowledgement that STEM majors and engineers may have it toughest in terms of exams that can seem to be merciless. Blair is a huge asset to Nashville and to Vanderbilt in general. There is a lot of camaraderie in Blair. My son used to hang out with two or three good musicians who were music majors but also in the marching band and in other performance groups. They throw parties. Friends in CAS and other subschools will show up for Blair recitals to support their friends. Some of the band and so on leadership arrives early each year to train freshmen recruits.
This is Music City. Now we aren’t going to compete with the Boston Symphony but the new home of the Nashville Symphony is out of this world gorgeous. There are very cool studio musicians who teach at Blair as well. Our CAS son took a fabulous course on film scores that was open to all students. There are always courses like that for the general Vandy student to take if they like to get some of their hours in.
Boston is one of those really great towns for college students on many levels. Personally, your springs up there in New England are pretty sad. We spent spring break in Boston one year and were pelted with freezing rain the entire time. haha. But Boston has many many rewards, I am sure. Vanderbilt as a campus is both cohesive and spills out nicely into the near downtown area of Nashville. Remember this is only four years of your life. Take the long view. What kind of experience do you want first? Where might you be heading.
best wishes! congrats on your offers
@Senior2016M My son is a double major, Music Composition / Economics. From a parent’s point of view, I agree with @Faline2 . Vanderbilt students seem pretty supportive of each other. The core Blair curriculum makes music students among the busiest on campus it seems… I think there is a lot of respect for the amount of dedication it takes to put in the amount of rehearsal and practice time the school expects. @Senior2016M The composition program is top-notch. (IMO)
@Faline2 Thank you for all of that insight. I’m so glad to hear that there is no condescending attitude toward Blair students. It’s funny how one person’s post on a CC forum can make you question everything, isn’t it? I’m also glad to hear that your son had such a great experience - hopefully mine will be equally positive.
Question for both of you: was freshman year incredibly challenging for your sons? Were their GPAs difficult to keep up? I know college is nothing like high school but I really need to keep a ‘good’ GPA when I graduate so that my grad schools won’t completely disregard me.
@Zen2015 I agree that the composition program is truly top notch, and I’m just honored to have been accepted. Supposedly a 6% admit rate for composition if you can believe it. A true honor. How has your son found double majoring? I know Blair is a rather intense program, and if I were to combine that with, say, biological sciences, I’d probably be pretty stressed and swamped wouldn’t I? Apparently there are Blair students who have done this and found it very challenging, but rewarding, but I’d be just thrilled to know how your son has done with composition specifically in combination with an economics major, which is also notoriously difficult.
Our son was almost 100% Blair this first year. As I understand it, Blair is extremely ‘front-loaded’. I’m sure you know how the Composition Majors ‘rotate’ with a different professor every semester. Those rotations and private lessons and Theory and Keyboarding will get you to 15-18 hrs before you know it. But you will zoom through the Composition Major requirements quickly that way. And your music “history” classes and the like will cover your other major’s requirements as well… (this is coming from a dad of a freshman… I am only slightly less ‘green’ than you)… But your academic advisor(s) will be on top of your every move when you are selecting classes next Summer. With such a small number of students, they seem to be literally watching you add classes to your cart. I still have concerns that there is enough time to get both majors completed. He hasn’t ruled out taking a Summer class in our home town over the next 3 yrs if he needs to cushion the work-load. But so far the advisors say he is fine. (He is having a face-to-face meeting this week I think to confirm his track.)
As for GPA… It seems that you you can throw a rock in any direction and bounce off 15 high school valedictorians. So, if you go to Vanderbilt, I assume ‘good’ is 4.0! 
From my point of view, hundreds of miles away, you just have to put in the work and you’ll be fine. My son commented a few times about how insane it was for those who party all the time… not enough hours in the day for too much of that. I think many 4.0’s are distant memories for that crowd. You HAVE to compose, whether you feel motivated or not… things like that. Great lessons from a dad’s point of view… pretty sucky from the student’s perspective… But no worries, you’ll be fine.
@Zen2015 Sounds like a biological science major would be an extreme challenge combined with composition. That’s a hard thing too - HAVING to compose even when you don’t want to. I feel as though I spend less time in creative spurts than I do out of them, but I think pursuing one’s passion around the clock likely helps with the motivation somewhat. In any case, I’ll see what’s feasible as information emerges.
Seriously, thank you for your insight. It’s most likely that I’ll attend Vandy next year I think, and I’ll probably meet your son soon! There aren’t too many comp majors (12-14 at any given time apparently). Thanks again!