So, I’m hoping to become a Dore this coming year, and I was wondering what the dorms were like. Are they big for college dorms, and what furniture do they come with (if anything at all)? Are there places nearby where people can buy furniture for their rooms? My parents don’t have big enough cars to bring absolutely everything from home, and we live far away from Tennessee so they wouldn’t be able to help me really after move-in day…
Go to Google.
Search for “Vanderbilt dorm furniture” or “Vanderbilt dorms”
Look at the hits for articles and blog posts and don’t forget to click on “images” for photos
You may also find photos on twitter with the right search terms.
Most of the student body is coming out of state. Nobody brings furniture! You have nothing to worry about. The rooms come with the basics. Dresser, desk, chair. Everyone makes trips to Wal-Mart/Target and such on move in weekend to stock their room.
Lots of Youtube videos of The Commons if you search. My D had probably the smallest room by far last year in Gillette. One of her friends from home ended up in a HUGE room in Hank. Sometimes, it just is what it is. But The Commons overall was one of the nicest freshmen living experiences we’ve seen - and we toured LOTS of schools.
She’s in McGill this year in a ginormous double room that her and her roommate picked out themselves. She actually could’ve been in a single but wanted the double by choice.
I would highly recommend shopping at your local Bed Bath & Beyond and then having it available for pickup on campus when you move in to Vandy.
Are there any ways to get furniture installed or delivered for me? I won’t have a car on campus and I’m just afraid we won’t have time to get it all on move in day and all of the stores seem to be too far from campus to walk to and back
Your family can rent a car or you can rent a Zip car at a later date. There is a Target about 10-12 minutes away from Vandy that will be jam packed on move in afternoon with families supplementing the dorm furnishings, etc. I have been there several times on move in day and each time I always hope that my 403(b) mutulal funds have some Target stock in the mix 
There is plenty of time on move-in day to make a trip to the store.
The freshman dorms are new and very nice (I saw them when I visited). The rooms are quite large compared to those of other schools. I also believe they are building new upperclassman housing so those should be nice as well
Depends on which dorm you get. I got VERY fortunate and got a huge corner room in the Hank Ingram House… (they don’t call this the “Hank Hotel” for nothing!) One of my friends has a room about half the size of mine in Gillette. Some of the houses have nicer and bigger rooms than the others; all of the houses were either built or renovated in 2008. The older houses (Gillette, North, East, West, and others) have been here for AT LEAST decades and really do show it, and the rooms are small and cramped, but the newer houses (Hank, Stambaugh, Crawford, and others) are relatively nice with more spacious rooms. It’s really all a matter of luck; your rooms are randomly assigned unless you have special accommodations. At the end of the day, people don’t really complain about their dorms all that much after they’ve gotten settled in; Vanderbilt sets up the Commons for a reason, and the friendships you’ll form with everybody around you will outweigh your frustration with having a pathetically small Gillette room.
Vanderbilt dorms come with a bunk bed (which you can lower) and a pretty comfortable chair that can kinda rock back and forth. Also, each roommate gets a desk surface that the chair fits under, as well two sets of drawers to match the desk surface. The closets are pretty small and cramped. You can arrange your room however you see fit, but be prepared to return it back to its original state when you move out!
By the way, you are NOT allowed to bring your own furniture. Bean bags and plastic drawers and simple things like that are fine, but don’t bring your own chair or an air mattress or a waterbed. You can (and should) get a microwave and a fridge. Vanderbilt has a renting service for both, but I just purchased my own.
Good luck on your quest to becoming a Dore! I hope everything works out in your favor.
I sadly got placed in Gillette, but even then the rooms here are pretty livable.